Add in the complications of films that played as a fest or two but haven't seen wide release, or films released this year that I saw years back a different festival, and it all becomes a bit of a mush.
So, if the cynicism is easy, what's perhaps the most appropriate reason to do one of these list thingys has more to do with what I still think is what we as critics help accomplish: to highlight those works that stand out beyond all others for an audience that probably hasn't sifted through quite as many grains of cinematic sand as you have in order to find the jewels.
In 2014 I saw a near preposterous number of films, having finally fulfilled a decades-old promise to return to Cannes, as well as hitting up Sundance for the first time. Combined with TIFF and my jury with TIFF's Canada's Top 10, I saw over 300 features over the last 12 months, which, frankly, makes my head hurt to think about.
This led to one of the more amusing aspect that showcases my addled brain - after TIFF in September there was a press screening for the Kristen Wiig/Bill Hader film The Skeleton Twins. As the film started, I realized a fuzzy recollection that things were looking familiar. Thinking maybe I'd just seen the trailer, I gave it a few more minutes, before remembering that this was one of about 40 films I'd seen at Sundance.
I never leave screenings, it's one of my movie going promises I make to myself, but this was a unique situation - I'd seen it already! I told myself if I could remember how it ended I'd get up and go.
I had no recollection.
Critics bandy about terms like "forgettable" all the time, but here was empirical proof of that fact. The film is, well, "fine", but it's certainly forgettable. When the relatively dull and pat ending did come up, I thought, well, this is why my brain made space for other things.
So, in this sea of films, sometimes the most "unforgettable" are those that you see most recently, the "buzz" movies that all clamber toward the end of the year. Some you hold onto, others you feel downright evangelical about. Some of these films are among the first I saw in 2014, some I've seen in the last couple weeks. All provided pleasures in their own ways, and I hope will show, in time, that they remain truly unforgettable.
Because I'm making this up as I go along, there are a bunch of flicks that I'm keeping for future lists as they'll be seeing pushes in 2015 or beyond. Tops is Joshua Oppenheimer's followup to the sublime Act of Killing titled The Look of Silence, a doc that's almost preposterously amazing in both its grace and its tenacity.
Then there's a film that I saw twice at one festival, a very rare treat indeed. The Last Five Years may not be to everyone's taste, but it got under my skin in a big way, and already it's in my pantheon of top musicals. Others to come: Imperial Dreams and The Salvation which hopefully will see pushes come 2015.
Here, then are my top features and top docs from 2014. Long may they be remembered.
Nightcrawler
I called it in my ScreenAnarchy review "a modern masterpiece", and that got splashed up on the marketing for the film. It feels hyperbolic, perhaps, but I stand by the statement. No film got it so right for me, providing that delicate balance between artistic endeavour and visceral thrills.
Mommy
Xavier Dolan's film may not be to everyone's taste, but few films captivated or moved quite the way this one did. It may have triggered some supreme moments of nostalgia when it played at the Palais in Cannes, blaring Oasis' "Wonderwall", but you get so few goosebumpy moments in a year of cinema that it's churlish to ignore them when they happen.
Whiplash
One of the films I went to Sundance to see, this little movie about big ideas is structured like a mad musical, all building up to a showstopping finale. It reminded me of the pleasures of seeing J.K. Simmons yell in demonic ways, and allowed my vicarious love of drumming (matched only by my incompetence behind a kit) to play itself out.
Inherent Vice
I've actually seen Paul Thomas Anderson's film three times to date, and each time I'm getting something a bit more out of it. I was at first a bit reticent to fully fall for this work, as I still believe it may not be all quite there. Like The Master, there's some moments of sublime art and craft, but unlike There Will Be Blood it doesn't quite all gel together.
It's fair to say this film is less dense than it first appears, the opposite of its sister film The Big Lebowski (a film superficially silly but deeply profound). Still, taken on its own terms, it's a thing of beauty, one I look forward to visiting many more times.
The Lego Movie
Another of those great films that's better than it might first appear to be. Lord and Miller created a tonally perfect film, with stellar animation and impeccable voice casting.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
It's so easy to take Wes Anderson's shtick for granted (and, boy, is it shtick), but this film is simply a wonderful treat. Sure, it may be as frothy as his other works, but there's a sense of play and danger, all in an immaculately constructed world, that it's hard not to fall hard for it.
Calvary A stunning film that quietly and deliberately makes its way through to its inexorable end, it's also happens to have some of the finest performances of they year from the likes of Brendan Gleason and Chris O'Dowd
SelmaIt may not be the most obvious film for a best-of list, but there's something quietly magnificent about this film by Ava DuVernay. It's a work that does everything perfectly well, from the emotions to the historical recreations, without ever coming across as cloying or a misstep. As a story, it's one of terrific power, but as a film I believe it should be championed for doing justice to the narrative it wants to tell. Like Calvary, or Overnighters, or many other films this year, this is a a film about faith and struggle, and while it may be very different than others on this list, I feel it should be showcased as something exceptional.
The Raid 2
OK, sure, it's cheating here at Team ScreenAnarchy to go on about this film, but there's some moments of poetic beauty in this work that make it all worthwhile. Plus, hell, the first Raid is one of the reasons I write for this damn site in the first place (read my original review of that film here).
The Tribe I had the supreme pleasure this year to be on the Krzysztof Kieslowski jury at the Denver International Film Festival, and the film we picked as our winner was this intense, unsettling, unique film from Ukraine. Any worries I had that the film's use of sign language would be its only interesting attribute were quickly put to rest, and months later there are still scenes that resonate profoundly.
Killers
Not everyone 'round these parts liked this film as much as I did, but I felt its sly moodiness and deliberate pace actually worked supremely well and kept me involved right through to the end.
The Overnighters
Rarely have I experienced a doc that so convincingly shattered expectations as this one. The story of Jay Reinke and his congregation is one for the ages.
Life Itself
It's impossible to do what I do, when I do it, and not have been shaped by the work and career of Roger Ebert. To have been at the Sundance premiere of this extraordinary film is something I will cherish for as long as I'm around to love movies.
Whitey
Joe Berlinger's complex look at this kingpin of the Boston mob played in an extended form at Sundance, and this is my preferred cut. Dense and provocative, this is a master documentarian bringing his all to this complex tale.
Red Army
A doc about Soviet hockey - how good could it be? Well, amazing, actually. One of the great overlooked films of 2014, this doc is just a treat.