Top Five Essential Films of 2014

By Caleb Henry

I love film, I love what it stands for and I love the influence it can have on people. I believe that film has the ability to change people’s lives by inspiring us to greatness, teaching us about the unknown and by showing us something about ourselves that we didn’t know. Every year we see films that change our lives, and that was definitely the case in 2014. Here is my top five most essential movies of 2014.

(Four of the five films are rated R. I don’t believe these films are for everybody, but I do feel like they could not have been as powerful as they are if they had not received an R rating.)

 

5. Gone Girl

Rating: R (for a scene of bloody violence, some strong sexual content/nudity, and language)

David Fincher is back with one of the top movies of the year for numerous reasons. This is possibly the most disturbing movie on the list and is not for everyone, however it is extremely important for anyone involved with media. Gone Girl opens the viewer’s eyes to how much the media can change a story or how we perceive events.

In the film, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) is searching for answers about his missing wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike). As the story unfolds, Nick is becoming a suspect for his wife’s disappearance. The media fuels this. Stories get changed or twisted, people start saying things they shouldn’t have and the whole time the viewer can see Nick’s life unfold before him.

Never before have I felt like a film captures the media and how they can twist the truth like Gone Girl did.

On a technical note, Gone Girl is a masterpiece of filmmaking. Rosamund Pike gives an Oscar-worthy performance that some critics are calling the best performance of the year.

 

4. Nightcrawler

Rating: R (for violence including graphic images, and for language)

Nightcrawler is such a powerful movie about the broadcast media and how someone can push the limits past his point of no return. Jake Gyllenhaal gives one of the greatest performances of his career as Louis Bloom, a mid-30s guy finding thrill in a new job. Louis’ job is a stringer; he listens to police scanners and hunts down the dark, gritty news as it happens.

Louis lands on a slippery slope and slides down to a whole new level. As the movie progresses, we see Louis become fascinated with having the best stories, so much so that he’s willing to bend or even break the law in order to become the best.

The character of Louis starts out as someone you don’t necessarily like, but you sort of understand why he’s doing the things he is. It’s a great character study into the mind of someone who lets power corrupt his life, and how he changes so much because of a couple events.

Nightcrawler can be tough to watch because no one in the movie is especially likable, not a single person. But it has good insight into the mind of the character Louis, and it shows how much media can change things. Much like Gone Girl, this movie tells all the dirty secrets of what goes on behind the scenes at a television news studio.

 

3. Whiplash

Rating: R (for strong language including some sexual references)

This film breaks down what it means to be great and how far a person is willing to go to get there.

In the film, Andrew (Miles Teller) joins the best music school in the country in hopes of becoming the next all-time great drummer. Unfortunately for Andrew, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) is a cutthroat instructor who’ll do anything to get the best out of his students.

What makes this film so compelling and important is the way it deals with greatness and what it takes to get there. In the film, Fletcher has no filter or limit to his rage. He yells at people, throws chairs, kicks drum sets and even physically slaps students. His reasoning? Only the greats overcome such scrutiny.

Fletcher says, “The two most dangerous words in the English language are good job.” That’s the motto he teaches by.

Growing up in high school sports, I saw parents and coaches use verbal abuse to get the most out of their kids, and it rarely worked. You know why? Because they’re in high school. In Whiplash, these students are going to the MIT of music schools and they expect to be the best. So does Fletcher go too far?

That’s one of the great questions to answer after you see the movie. How far are you willing to go to become the next Hitchcock, or the next Da Vinci? J.K. Simmons is my pick for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars.

 

2. Birdman

Rating: R (for explicit language, some sexual content and brief violence)

This film is a filmmaking masterpiece with some of the most unique filming techniques ever used. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu gave us a film unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

Birdman is shot and edited to look like one continuous take from start to finish. That in itself is amazing, but then you add into account the amount of time it took to block and layout the film, it becomes even more amazing.

The film follows the life of Riggan (Michael Keaton), a retired actor who is now trying his hand at stage directing. We follow Riggan’s life leading up the opening performance of his play and the struggles he goes through to get there. Riggan has to deal with his past and leaving it behind, while also not wanting to let it go because of the success it brought him.

Birdman is extremely hard to explain. It delves into the deep parts of the soul and brings out something inside all of us. What that something is depends on the person. I myself learned about sadness that can come with fame. It’s so well represented in the film that I found myself feeling sorry for actors and musicians who get criticized by the media and critics.

It also made me think of my dreams, how much I want to pursue them and how far I’m willing to go to get there. Birdman deals with sadness, loss, death, depression, happiness, love and most of all life itself. And yet it still manages to be one of the best films of the year in terms of cinematic quality. The acting is superb. Michael Keaton is my pick to win the Best Actor Oscar.

 

1. Interstellar

Rating: PG-13 (for intense, perilous action and brief strong language)

Not only is Interstellar my favorite movie of the year, but it’s also the most important movie. Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy) brings us the greatest science fiction movie since Alien in 1979, and quite possibly the greatest theater experience I will ever have.

Interstellar is a work of genius, a throwback to the great films of the past as well as a great film for the future. The film follows Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and a crew of pioneers as they travel through a wormhole to find another planet for human kind to live. During the trip we get to go inside of Coopers mind and find out what he’s really about… family. The exploration in this film is on par with “2001: A Space Odyssey”, and Nolan gave us a great character study along the way. Interstellar is powerful, it’s sad, and most of all it’s inspiring. Do yourself a favor and see Interstellar in 70mm IMAX. It’s a once in a lifetime experience for us and it may never happen again like this.

 

Caleb Henry is a senior at Oklahoma Christian University.