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Author Topic: Top Discoveries of 2014  (Read 12653 times)

smirnoff

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Top Discoveries of 2014
« on: December 19, 2014, 07:47:54 PM »
What were the twenty best films you saw for the first time in 2014?  Not the Filmspot-eligible stuff.  The older films you just caught up with this year.



Link to 2008 discoveries.
Link to 2009 discoveries.
Link to 2010 discoveries.
Link to 2011 discoveries.
Link to 2012 discoveries.
Link to 2013 discoveries.



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« Last Edit: January 09, 2015, 09:29:51 PM by smirnoff »

roujin

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2014, 07:56:34 PM »
Been waiting for this.

StudentOFilm

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2014, 08:38:18 PM »
Bit more than 20, but these would be all the non-Filmspot-eligible/olider movies I saw this year.

Had a lil sci-fi marathon...
Metropolis (1927)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The Brother From Another Planet (1984)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Stargate (1994)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Mimic (1997)
Existenz (1999)
The Host (2006)
Monsters (2010)

Got caught up on films I had missed...
Killing Them Softly (2012)
August: Osage County (2013)
Her (2013)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Nebraska (2013)
Oblivion (2013)
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Watched two movies from my favorite directors...
The Elephant Man (1980)
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

And now I'm looking at popular 1980s movies as my next little binge category...
48 Hours (1982)
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2014, 08:51:43 PM »
The only good thing about the end of the year.

Already have a list of 20 since I only plan on watching 2014 films for the rest of the year. Will wait until the end of the year to post, though, just in case.

Jeff Schroeck

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2014, 08:58:03 PM »
It's hard for me to keep current with movies, so this is my kind of list!

The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (Carl Dreyer, 1928)
Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)
A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)
Cleo From 5 To 7 (Agnes Varda, 1962)
Harold And Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971)
Images (Robert Altman, 1972)
Picnic At Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)
The Last Wave (Peter Weir, 1977)
Three Women (Robert Altman, 1977)
The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
Thief (Michael Mann, 1981)
Brother From Another Planet (John Sayles, 1984)
Vagabond (Agnes Varda, 1985)
Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant, 1989)
Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr, 2000)
George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)
All The Real Girls (David Gordon Green, 2003)
The Orphanage (JA Bayuna, 2007)
Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
The Hunt (Thomas Vinterberg, 2012)

mañana

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2014, 09:28:55 PM »
Love this thread. Pics encouraged, y'all.
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Sandy

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2014, 10:48:43 PM »
1. Dan in Real Life
2. All That Heaven Allows
3. Mortal Storm
4. Warrior
5. Groundhog Day

MartinTeller

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2014, 11:58:11 PM »
A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)
Picnic At Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)
Drugstore Cowboy (Gus Van Sant, 1989)
Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr, 2000)

All from my top 100, nice!  Huge fan of Thief, too, among others.

I have a list almost ready, but still hoping for another great discovery in the next 12 days.  For one thing, it would mean I wouldn't have to think about the 4-way tie I've got 20th place at the moment.

verbALs

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2014, 02:31:43 AM »
All my A/A- ratings

Hiroshima, mon amour (1959)
The Lovers (1958)
Narc (2002)
Wise Blood (1979)
Tyrannosaur (2011)
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Nine Queens (2000)
The Tenant (1976)
Liberal Arts (2012)
The Celebration   (1998)
I Live In Fear (1955)
A Farewell To Arms (1932)
Jubal (1956)
Big Wednesday (1978)
Broken Arrow (1950)

Films I didn't see in time from the year before
Her (2013)
Short Term 12 (2013)
American Hustle (2013)
The Past (2013)
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Starred Up (2013)

It'd be a better idea to do a best of 2013 list now

Top Ten 2013- reconsidered

1. American Hustle
Quote
This is about what makes the American aspirational working class tick as they scratch their way to a position where they can hold their hands under the money fountain of capitalism and scoop up the coins in their arms. Damn right that's loud!
2. Starred Up
Quote
"Anger management" What did we learn in class today?
3. Upstream Color
Quote
All hail piggy power!
4. Her
Quote
Is it love that you are feeling? Or is it super-love?
5. Gravity
Quote
Cuaron is a master.
6. Side Effects
Quote
Soderburgh's desire to stay true to the indie-philosophy of good story first...box office hopefully, is writ large here
7. Before Midnight
Quote
Some doubt Linklater's claim to greatness as a director, but by the time this run of films has been completed, I shouldn't think anyone will begrudge his right to be thought of as a great director.
8. The Hunt
Quote
The entertainment value was absolutely zero. I was dragged against my will into this world, but I was so fully engaged in it that it felt more like I was personally involved.
9. John Dies At The End
Quote
It feels very much like horror-fantasy for a new generation, instead just a rehash of old stuff. As much as Evil Dead 2 did.
10. Short Term 12
Quote
Dancing on the edge of emotional cliché, which a film on this subject has to.

Now that's what I call a year!

From my noir marathon early in the year
Armored Car Robbery (1950)
Gun Crazy (1950)
Criss Cross (1949)
Raw Deal (1948)
The Red House (1947)
Dark Passage (1947)
T-Men (1947)

Discoveries actors/ directors

1. Jack O'Connell- physicality and intelligence (emotion and intellect; varieties).
2. Delmer Daves
3. The astonishing fact that Alain Resnais knew what he was doing. He understood the slippery concept of memory. Marienbad wasn't a one off. Hiroshima proves it.
4. Dan Gilroy- for some reason directors move on from noir like its a bad smell, but when they treat the genre right, they get rewarded.
5. Scarlett Johansson- all is forgiven. She can stand there saying nothing like the best of them. She can also play a disembodied voice like the best of them too.
6. Tim Spall's grunt- an entity of its own.
7. The one redeeming feature of the British Legal System. At least you need to turn the security cameras off before you attempt to murder someone.
8. Not making great the enemy of good. Enjoyed a lot of OK movies without forcing higher standards (the ones you get constantly watching classics) on them. Probably a good idea in a fairly mediocre year.

9. The Lovers
« Last Edit: December 20, 2014, 04:01:19 AM by verbALs »
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verbALs

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Re: Top Discoveries of 2014
« Reply #9 on: December 20, 2014, 04:06:16 AM »
4. Warrior
Where'd that come from? Missed that. Review please.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy