2014 Retrospective: The Best Films of 2014
Before I compile my 2024 best of the year list, I wanted to include my retrospective list for 2014. This will be final retrospective list of the year as I [...]
Nightbitch
Amy Adams delivers a raw and nuanced performance in Marielle Heller's Nightbitch, but whatever made Rachel Yoder's debut novel such an acclaimed success doesn't quite work here; it's uneven with [...]
Queer
Coming straight off the explosive ménage à trois sports drama Challengers, Luca Guadagnino impresses once again with Queer. The film's lead, Daniel Craig, is generating Oscar buzz. It helps that [...]
Juror #2
Clint Eastwood's latest legal thriller Juror #2 has a very odd and unusual rollout; there is speculation that the release is in spite of current Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, [...]
Maria
Chillian filmmaker Pablo Larrain delivers another intoxicating biopic about privileged women in peril. With Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021), and now Maria, Larrain has now made a subgenre about wealthy, [...]
All We Imagine As Light
A visually sublime and richly intimate exploration of womanhood and friendship in India, and an impressive sophomore feature by Payal Kapadia. All We Imagine as Light is both elliptical and [...]
Small Things like These
Tim Midlands's Small Things Like These is a heavy, distressing watch—involving flashbacks about a troubled childhood—but it also offers levels of courage that resonate thanks to a devoted, soul-searching performance [...]
A Real Pain
There are many actors that pivot towards directing, and often they have an uphill battle; some succeed more than others, and whether or not critics and audiences approve of their [...]
Blitz
Just because Steve McQueen made a WWII movie doesn't mean it's this contrived Oscar "Bait" movie, as some other reviewers have labeled it. For starters, McQueen has always delivered emotionally [...]
Emilia Perez
Emilia Perez is a gritty musical in the vein of Sergio Leone, a fearless fever dream in the spirit of Nicholas Refn's Too Old To Die Young meets the work [...]