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2. Gone Girl

The story of film in 2014 will be told, I predict, by the daring vision of one of the best and most under-appreciated directors of our time, David Fincher. Not close to Fincher’s best work, Gone Girl is still leagues above the rest of the 2014 field. Here’s the story that never gets told. The woman who has had enough, and who is a lunatic. But she’s the heroine, unlike Aileene Wuornos in Monster. She’s that dark vile heroine you hate to love and love to hate, one we have had since Vito Corleone and Hannibal Lecter for men. Rosamund Pike is thrilling, Angus Baxter’s editing is poignant, Gillian Flynn’s adaptation is incisive, Trent Reznor’s soundtrack is bone chilling, and David Fincher’s directing is simply magnificent.

The movie, of course, generated controversy. Men in particular don’t like the ending (that they could stay subjugated to a more powerful female’s grasp and, sardonically, enjoy it). Feminists didn’t like it: not all women are insane, they complain. But Flynn’s take on modern marriage, relationships, and gender, and Fincher’s dark spin on it in his perfectly-paced plot are brutally honest and relevant. Perhaps the biggest sign of the exactness of the portrayal is the cacophony of the controversy - which, funnily enough, brings me to my favorite year of 2014.

1. Interstellar

I was surprised when she won the Oscar that hatred for Anne Hathaway was as strong as it appeared to be. But when at least half of the devastating reviews for Christopher Nolan’s inspiring and haunting epic Interstellar began and ended with hatred for the casting choice of Hathaway, I knew I had entered a twilight zone I would never understand.

As I said when I first discussed this movie on this site, in an age when Hollywood produces film after film based on a comic book, a sequel, a prequel, a rehash, or a remake (only Interstellar is a wholly original work among the top ten highest grossing films of 2014), to see a creative mind placing his whole soul on that movie canvas is exhilarating. The soundtrack is the best (and most personal) I have heard since perhaps Titanic’s. The story is about love but of a different kind than the usual trite subject Hollywood thinks of as love. It’s a father-daughter relationship, with both playing strong emotional and intellectual anchors. It’s a story that is relevant today, challenging our arguably dangerous notions that there is no room for space exploration and that life on this planet is ecologically safe. It is a thrilling adventure, an action movie, and science-fiction piece about the future of humanity. Recognized for its technical prowess with five technical nods, Interstellar will likely go home empty-handed at the Oscars but will resonate in the future as the most daring movie of the year.

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