Category: 2014

  • Force Majeure (2014)

    Early in Force Majeure, a young, good-looking family – father, mother, son and daughter – is enjoying a leisurely outdoor lunch at a ski resort in the French Alps. The vista, a gleaming and snow-packed mountain, is spectacular. A controlled explosion in the distance triggers an avalanche that commands the attention of the restaurant patrons, including…

  • The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

    There isn’t much middle ground when it comes to how one feels about writer-director Wes Anderson. His meticulously fussy visual style, offbeat humor and unflagging quirkiness have won both ardent fans and equally ardent detractors; one viewer’s delight is another’s eye-rolling preciousness. The Grand Budapest Hotel, quintessential Anderson, will not woo the unconverted. As with…

  • Boyhood (2014)

    The swooning of critics over Boyhood upon its theatrical release reached near-embarrassing heights. There’s no getting around it; this is a remarkable movie and a testament to the singular vision of writer-director Richard Linklater. And while that doesn’t make Boyhood an unqualified triumph, its minor deficiencies are more than made up for by its overall…

  • Calvary (2014)

    Brendan Gleeson exudes world-weariness as if it were a pheromone. Craggy and thick-bodied, his eyes hinting at untold sadness, he routinely makes a strong presence in most of his movies, no matter how modest the part. And he is at his dour best in Calvary, a tough, theologically minded film in which Gleeson portrays a…

  • 99 Homes (2014)

    Early in his career, filmmaker Ramin Bahrani found an influential champion in the person of Roger Ebert, so it is only fitting that this Bahrani picture, one of his best, is dedicated to the late film critic. Ebert undoubtedly would have given an enthusiastic thumbs up to 99 Homes. Like The Big Short, another movie…