Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/439085
VIII This Week maltatoday, Sunday, 28 december 2014 THE BEST The best and worst films of 2014 5 3 5. Frank (dir. Lenny Abrahamson) It could have been a disastrous, self-loving hipster road trip that appeals to indie kids and indie kids alone. Instead, we got an affecting insight into the creative process, that eschews clichés and delivers some dark laughs along the way. Oh, and Michael Fassbender remains hidden behind a bobble-head mask for its duration, but that this isn't the film's be all and end all is a testament to its poignancy. 2. Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater) The making of Linklater's intimate epic is well documented, because it is, in effect, a news story in its own right. Filmed over 13 years, it's a coming-of-age story happening in real time: the all-too-normal journey of Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from the age of six to 19. Seeing the character grow before our very eyes is already cool enough, but it's Linklater's deft hand that gives it that extra magic. The premise would have made for a dull film in the hands of a lesser director, but Linklater is an old hand at this sort of thing: the 'Before' trilogy of romantic films operating on a similar philosophy. Boyhood is a breath of fresh air in a film landscape increasingly devoid of real humanity, littered as it is with comic book and young adult adaptations, reboots and remakes. 3. Under the Skin (dir. Jonathan Glazer) This arthouse sci-fi film may be a tad too willfully obscure for some, but it remains a chilling portrait of an alien threat that feels truly alien. Razor-sharp stylist Jonathan Glazer sends Scarlett Johansson to prey on unsuspecting men on the Glasgow streets, and the result in a mesmerizing exercise in horror. Nothing is explained away, though Glazer's film has the power to work on the subconscious. The woman-as-predator is hardly new to cinema, much less the sci-fi genre (the Natasha Henstridge-starring Species being the obvious example), but Glazer isn't interested in sexist femme fatale stereotypes. Rather, Johansson's unblinking and unnamed protagonist challenges us to confront all the stereotypes about on-screen women we have already internalized. 4 2. Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater) 2. Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater) 2. Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater) 2 4. Guardians of the Galaxy (dir. James Gunn) Laughs, action and more laughs. B-movie stalwart James Gunn directs the rough diamond of the Marvel Studios stable with sensitivity and aplomb, keeping one jittery eye on the superhero universe it tangentially forms part of, but a closer focus on the hearts and minds of its rag-tag group of reluctant anti-heroes. Less of a superhero film, 'Guardians' is more like Star Wars… if each character from Star Wars were Han Solo. The sequel can't come soon enough. 1. Ida (dir. Paweł Pawlikowski) Our film of the year is yet another coming-of-age tale, albeit being an entirely different beast to Boyhood. There is an angelic touch to this tale of a young Jewish nun-to-be seeing to some unfinished family business in post-war Poland. Hotly tipped for the Foreign Language Oscar, the quiet, carefully composed story is a reminder that good visual storytelling requires both restraint and aptitude. A quietly bewitching performance by Agata Trzebuchowska crowns Pawlikowski's film, which is shot in black and white – not as a gimmick, but as part and parcel of this sparse and crystal-clear narrative. 1