My Top 30 Films of 2014: 30-21

Happy holidays, everybody. Hope you had a lovely time.

Much like last year, I post this annual best of list with the caveat that I haven't seen as many festival movies as I had in previous years and, in fact, my cinema attendance has been well down overall (for many reasons, including moving to a country where I don't speak the language and where almost everything is dubbed). But like last time around I'm sticking to a top 30 format because of the excuse it provides to revisit a greater number of movies. Even allowing for that fall in attendance and lack of much in the way of serious arthouse cinema-going, 2014 was not a vintage year for cinema. I didn't see anything this year that would have cracked the top five in 2013, though there were still a lot of interesting movies released and many, including a large swathe of those in this first installment, were ultimately flawed and uneven but proved interesting anyway.

30) Edge of Tomorrow, dir. Doug Liman, USA

What I said: "Criminally overlooked this summer by audiences who've become increasingly sick of Tom Cruise over the last decade or so, 'Edge of Tomorrow' is a genuinely smart and thoroughly entertaining piece of high concept sci-fi which takes its cues from video games and features Bill Paxton at his sarcastic, army man best. It also stars Emily Blunt as a highly capable and supremely badass soldier who used to have the strange alien power since acquired by Cruise's combat-shy press officer: an ability to come back to life after being killed, waking up in the same point about a day earlier a la 'Groundhog Day'."

Pretty slick and exciting sci-fi fare featuring a great co-starring performance by Emily Blunt - who proves herself a compelling action lead. There's not a ton more to add about it here so I'll pad this out by musing about the film's title. Originally holding the more eye-catching title 'All You Need is Kill', which was apparently changed because of fears the word "kill" would lack widespread appeal plastered on every bus stop, the film has since been marketed and released on DVD with packaging that seems to further modify the title to 'Live. Die. Repeat.' - which smacks of a complete lack of confidence in "the product" if nothing else. Anyway, whatever it's called it's worth a watch even if you're usually allergic to Tom Cruise.

29) Snowpiercer, dir. Bong Joon-ho, KOR


What I said: "The first half of 'Snowpiercer, 'The Host' and 'Mother' director Bong Joon-ho's maiden English-language effort, is one of the best things I've seen all year. Smart, funny, with inventive action set-pieces and an oddball sense of humour, the highlight being an inspired supporting turn from Tilda Swinton. However the second half of the film is one of the worst movies I've seen this year, from Ed Harris' 'Matrix Reloaded' style clunky, cod philosophy explanation of how his train-based society works to the film's spectacularly misjudged "I know what babies taste like" monologue (which star Chris Evans does his best to sell but it's not happening)."

Some of the most interesting cinematic moments of the year - from Tilda Swinton's shoe monologue to the presentation of a strange, train-based dystopian society to the battle that we see first person through night vision goggles - came in Bong Joon-ho's 'Snowpiercer'. Yet the South Korean has not been as successful as his compatriot Park Chan-wook (a producer here) in translating his talent into English - with last year's 'Stoker' a much more even and satisfying movie. There's a lot to love here, but the second half of the film is so messy and, at times, ridiculous that it doesn't make it any further up the list than this.

28) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, dir. Matt Reeves, USA

What I said: "Not as tightly focussed or emotionally satisfying as Rupert Wyatt's 2011 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' - the prequel movie for which this is the direct sequel - as it broadens the focus from one rapidly evolving ape, Caesar (Andy Serkis), to a whole array of primates and significantly less interesting human characters, but Matt Reeves' 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' is exciting and filled with great moments. The opening 20 or so minutes are particularly breathtaking, as the film opens on an organised and socialised ape hunting party communicating in sign language whilst chasing deer through the Muir Woods near San Francisco. All the scenes between the apes are really well done, technically and in terms of storytelling, with Caesar and his brethren clearly compelling enough to carry an entire film if Fox so wished, even though it would be a clear break from the apes versus humans formula of the series."

It would be here for that "ape takes a tank" shot alone but there's not a lot wrong with this sequel, even if it doesn't match its immediate predecessor which had the benefit of being less sprawling and focussed on one character. It's Andy Serkis' ape Caesar who remains the most interesting presence here and it's always very good when he's the focus but, perhaps in service of the brand, there are also a lot of less interesting human characters. Many of them, notably Gary Oldman's would-be villain, suffer as a result of not being in the film enough to be interestingly developed but conversely have just enough screentime to make you miss the apes. None of the stuff with the humans is bad necessarily, just not as good.

27) The Boxtrolls, dir. Anthony Stacchi & Graham Annable, USA


What I said: "Not in the same league as 'Coraline' or 'ParaNorman' (the best animated film of this decade so far), but Laika's latest stop-frame animation is still very polished and endearing, with its heart very firmly in the right place. But intention isn't everything, of course, and a cross-dressing villain has perhaps rightly invited criticism that the film is transphobic, which I can't rebuff with any force... This is made all the more unfortunate by the way it undermines the film's great message of tolerance and not being afraid of those who are different from you."

Typically beautiful animation from Laika, though this is easily their least satisfying film, partly because of a potentially transphobic plot twist and partly because the production design is a little drab. Yet it's heart is still very much in the right place, with some interesting things to say to its young audience about a scaremongering media and incompetent authority figures, as well as the perils inherent in trying to be somebody you're not.

26) Blue Ruin, dir. Jeremy Saulnier, USA

What I said: "With a low budget crowd-funded on Kickstarter and a very slight plot, 'Blue Ruin' is a taut thriller that mostly gets by on atmosphere, with the camera often uncomfortably close to Dwight (Macon Blair) who, when we first meet him, is a soft-spoken, reclusive vagrant - apparently sleep-walking through the past several years of his life in a traumatised stupor and living on a beach in a rusted, blue Pontiac. This changes when a local cop informs him that the man who killed his parents is due to be released from prison, prompting Dwight to start moving with a zombie-like single-mindedness on a quest for revenge. He starts up his old car, gets himself a gun, and heads out on a path of endless and empty ultra-violence with no clear winners."

A revenge thriller without the usual romanticism/tawdry fantasy element, 'Blue Ruin' (to my mind anyway) is about the reality of that idea: that revenge is not only a mutually destructive act but also an inherently childish one. Our protagonist is stuck in a juvenile state caused years before by the death of his parents, which he never moved beyond, and finds support on his anti-social rampage in the form of an old high school friend who is equally well adjusted. There's an air of early Coen Brothers menace tinged with black comedy to the whole thing, which on the film's very low budget suggests director Jeremy Saulnier is one to watch.

25) Muppets Most Wanted, dir. James Bobin, USA


What I said: "Disney's sequel to 2011's well loved 'The Muppets' might not hold together as neatly as a movie, lacking that earlier film's pathos and clearly defined character arc, but it's every bit as fun (and possibly more so) thanks to a high gag-count and some typically enjoyable musical numbers from Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie... Also extremely fun to watch is Tina Fey as the Kermit-obsessed warden of the gulag, stealing the show with her performance of one of the film's most toe-tapping songs and getting some of the best gags. It's a bit baggy in places but made with obvious love and a complete lack of cynicism, something backed up by dozens of celebrity cameos which feel less like an attempt to sell tickets and more like genuine expressions of the affectionate regard held for these fading icons within popular culture. 100% joyful from start to finish."

One of the funniest out-and-out comedies of the year and there isn't a duff musical number in the whole thing . I can't decide what the best song is, but it's between the catchy, Tina Fey sung "Big House", Constantine the Frog's disco-infused love song "I Can Give You What You Want", and the "Interrogation Song" as sung by the year's stand-out comedy double-act (Sam the Eagle and a scene-stealing Ty Burrell). I've rewatched it a bunch of times, including one occasion where it made a transatlantic flight feel far less arduous, and I expect I'll watch it many more times over the years.

24) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, dir. Francis Lawrence, USA


What I said: "It's not as exciting as the second movie or as focussed as the first, but this is the one where the hitherto wobbly political themes start to actually get interesting and take on added weight. In that sense it's the cleverest so far. It's also refreshing to get moving on the wider plot across Panem - outside of the titular games (this film has none) - which finally takes centre stage after being glimpsed at the margins of the previous films. All in all a satisfying run-up to the final chapter that even manages to craft a decent ending out of the arbitrary half-way point as hewn from the source novel."

The added room for character development and the slower pace afforded by the increasingly common, dollar-sign inspired "part 1" format means we get to see the franchise's impressive supporting cast a little more than we otherwise might have if the series was racing towards its conclusion. In terms of action it doesn't hit the highs of the previous movie, 'Catching Fire', but it's clearly head and shoulders above other tween-lit adaptations.

23) Only Lovers Left Alive, dir. Jim Jarmusch, USA


What I said: "Languid and atmospheric - with musing about art, literature and music taking precedence over matters of plot - 'Only Lovers Left Alive' casts two supremely watchable actors, Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, as Eve and Adam, a pair of above-it-all vampires whose love has spanned the centuries. Making the most out of its compelling leads, slick editing and a terrific soundtrack, the combined effect is something that washes over you for an enjoyable two hours without leaving much in the way of a long-lasting impression. That said, it is interesting to see vampires played as these eternal art critics, whose often downright snobbish opinions are invested with an unassailable amount of cultural capital when compared with us mere mortals."

Perhaps not destined to live long in the memory but Jarmusch managed to do something relatively fresh with vampires, which is an achievement in its own right. With little plot to worry about, the pleasure here comes from listening to one of the year's best soundtracks whilst watching two of the most consistently interesting actors of recent years lounging about, talking about the arts whilst being amusingly world-weary and condescending.

22) Nymphomaniac, dir. Lars von Trier, DEN/BEL/FRA/GER

What I said: "There is always, nagging in the background, the question of morality (to what extent are Joe's actions potentially "wrong") though the film makes no judgments in most instances - except when combatively challenging the judgements of others (for instance regarding the subject of so-called 'sex addiction' and, in it's bravest and best scene, attitudes towards pedophiles). Even its ending, that could read as a pessimistic final judgement on humanity - or, at the very least, men - is more even-handed than it might first appear, with denial of experiencing sexual urges the ultimate villain of the piece rather than an interest in or enjoyment of sexual behaviour itself."

Shown in some territories, including the UK, over two installments, Lars von Trier's latest doesn't really feel like something that's meant to be seen that way. It's one long, disturbing, rambling movie with an arbitrary break in the middle. But taken as a whole film it's always interesting and occasionally brilliant stuff, typically confrontational and sometimes very funny. Charlotte Gainsbourg is brilliant in it as the older version of the sex-obsessed Joe, whilst Uma Thurman is particularly memorable in a one-scene cameo that constitutes one of the funniest scenes of the year, playing like something out of Chris Morris' Jam.

21) Calvary, dir. John Michael McDonagh, IRE/UK

What I said: "Hinging on a stunning central performance by Brendan Gleason, as a good man and dedicated priest in a rural Irish town, 'Calvary' is writer-director John Michael McDonagh's typically tragicomic follow-up to 'The Guard'. Behind that great performance is a screenplay which not only boasts a lot of smart and darkly funny dialogue but also a simple yet ingenious premise... Even-handed to a fault, the supporting cast of broad archetypal characters - played by the likes of Aiden Gillen, Dylan Moran and a particularly superb Chris O'Dowd - air a number of popular (and generally justified) grievances against the church's exploits, whilst in return Lavelle is shown to be a pretty smart and witty guy who more often than not has an amusing rebuttal, even if he doesn't always mount a counter-offensive. It's as much about the Catholic church as an institution as it is about religious belief and the very idea of a good priest - or even a good man - as it is a compelling, occasionally tense crime mystery and acidic, jet-black comedy."

Lower down on this list than it probably should be - I know many people have this near the top of their list and I won't argue - but for me it fell short of matching John Michael McDonagh's first film, 'The Guard', and verging into more melodramatic, emotionally manipulative territory. Still it's beautifully made and Brendan Gleeson has never been better, whilst Chris O'Dowd comes close to stealing the spotlight with a nuanced and complex dramatic performance that suggests a previously unseen depth from an actor more closely associated with playing affable comedic nice guys.

Read entries for films 20-11 here.

Review Round-up: 2014 Catch-up

I've not written anything on here in a long while since I've moved to Spain and missed a lot of movies. However on returning to the UK for Christmas I've been on a catch-up binge. Here's some brief thoughts on what I've seen.

'Lucy' - Dir. Luc Besson (15)

The last half-hour is probably a little too action-y - with a full-blown gunfight between an Asian criminal gang and French police which is a lot less fun than everything that precedes it - but Luc Besson's 'Lucy' is otherwise a terrifically paced and entertaining slice of brainless nonsense. In fact it's a rare thing in this age of overblown, bloated Hollywood fare: a zippy little 90 minute movie that manages to wrap up long before it's worn out its welcome. Scarlett Johansson makes a very strong case for that elusive Black Widow solo movie as she kicks the asses of all present as an American tourist who stumbles into the wrong place and winds up overdosing on a new drug that unlocks the untapped potential of the human brain, granting her powerful abilities but also making her seem cold, alien and inhuman. It's a bit like watching her character from Under the Skin parading around with superpowers, which is pretty great.

'The Boxtrolls' - Dir. Anthony Stacchi & Graham Annable (PG)

Not in the same league as 'Coraline' or 'ParaNorman' (the best animated film of this decade so far), but Laika's latest stop-frame animation is still very polished and endearing, with its heart very firmly in the right place. But intention isn't everything, of course, and a cross-dressing villain has perhaps rightly invited criticism that the film is transphobic, which I can't rebuff with any force even if my own view on it more closely aligns with this defense.

This is made all the more unfortunate by the way it undermines the film's great message of tolerance and not being afraid of those who are different from you. This is the studio that presented audiences with an openly gay high school jock character in 'ParaNorman' (revealed in a line which can be dismissed as throwaway, but is actually deeply embedded in that film's message) and 'The Boxtrolls' attempts to be similarly right-on as it tells another story where the great evil is basically intolerance which drives people to scapegoat those who are different to them as the cause of society's ills (something for which there is no shortage of real world parallels). Though as with the recent Batgirl comic controversy, it seems serious errors in judgement have been made here.

'Hercules' - Dir. Brett Ratner (12A)

Could have been fun. The Rock as Hercules! He throws a horse! But it's ultimately just very boring, especially as Brett Ratner's film half-heartedly tries to walk away from presenting Hercules as the literal son of Zeus with the apparent aim of grounding the stories and explaining away their fantastical elements as exaggeration. Yet it neither commits fully to playing it straight or to making a big, brash, campy film about a demigod, existing somewhere unsatisfying between those two points.

'Snowpiercer' - Dir. Bong Joon-ho (TBC)

*SPOILERS*
The first half of 'Snowpiercer, 'The Host' and 'Mother' director Bong Joon-ho's maiden English-language effort, is one of the best things I've seen all year. Smart, funny, with inventive action set-pieces and an oddball sense of humour, the highlight being an inspired supporting turn from Tilda Swinton. However the second half of the film is one of the worst movies I've seen this year, from Ed Harris' 'Matrix Reloaded' style clunky, cod philosophy explanation of how his train-based society works to the film's spectacularly misjudged "I know what babies taste like" monologue (which star Chris Evans does his best to sell but it's not happening).

This isn't helped by a final scene which makes no sense (they get eaten by that polar bear, right?), following a truly superfluous action sequence which sees some sort of fancy dress party revellers attacking Song Kang-ho's character with seemingly no objective in sight. With a premise this convoluted and insane (the last surviving humans all live on a train around the world built conveniently by a mad industrialist before the apocalypse hit) the first half works because it seems self-aware and broadly satirical, but the more po-faced it becomes - the more melodramatic it gets - the harder it is to enjoy.

'Jodorowsky’s Dune' - Dir. Frank Pavich (TBC)

An entertaining if slightly shallow look at one of the great unmade movies, which doesn't lack charm and enthusiasm even if it principally consists of talking heads making grand ("it would have been better than 2001 and Star Wars") statements. Most frustrating the the continual insistence of all involved that this Dune adaptation would have been so powerful in terms of its ideological content that it would change humanity. Indeed Nicholas Winding Refn, of 'Drive' fame, suggests the reason this massively expensive, potentially 8-hour long arthouse film wasn't made by Hollywood studios was a fear of said epoch-bending ideas. Yet all we get in this doc, really, is a lot of (really awesome) concept art, with these nebulous 'ideas' never really explained. An enjoyable watch but I personally didn't fully buy into the cult of this unmade film, which would certainly have been interesting but, on this evidence, I'm not sure would have been good.

'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' - Dir. Jonathan Liebesman (12A)

Ugly, over-detailed CGI characters in a loud and cynical blockbuster re-working of a late-80s cartoon/toy nostalgia property featuring Megan Fox, brought to the screen by Michael Bay. This latest attempt to reboot the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' for today's kids invites obvious comparison to the risible 'Transformers' franchise. It's not quite as bad as all that though and, with Bay only acting as a producer and Jonathan Liebesman directing, it never gets nearly as offensive. It doesn't quite have the leery male gaze to the same extent as 'Transformers' and thankfully ditches the broad racist caricatures and militaristic politics too, though if you want to go there it's probably guilty cultural appropriation perhaps inherent to the franchise.

So it isn't 'Transformers' level bad, but that's not to say it's good though or that it succeeds on any level. Like their robots in disguise counterparts, the turtle redesigns are overly busy and extremely unappealing and their voices never feel like they fit, whilst the usually excellent Tony Shalhoub is an odd choice to voice their sensei Splinter. Most puzzling is the wholesale lifting of plot points and sometimes specific action beats from 2012's 'The Amazing Spider-Man' (itself not a great movie). There's the convoluted way William Fichtner's villain, Fox's reporter and the turtles are all connected by coincidence, and more directly a scene on a rooftop in which the baddie is thwarted from releasing some chemical McGuffin into the city, ultimately climaxing in a television tower falling down.

'Interstellar' - Dir. Christopher Nolan (12A)

*SPOILERS*
If something takes itself seriously enough people will take it seriously in return. That's what 'Interstellar', and the broader Christopher Nolan canon, has taught me based on the reactions of movie fans. Yes, this is cerebral sci-fi. Intelligent cinema. A thinking person's blockbuster. We know that because of the tone, the cinematography and the music. It screams "take me seriously!" Like 'Inception' and the Batman (sorry "Dark Knight") trilogy before it this is something silly dressed up so that people who take themselves very seriously can still enjoy it and not feel too juvenile. Like the bit in 'Batman Begins' where Michael Caine explains how he mail orders Batman's ears in bulk to avoid suspicion, 'Interstellar' follows the proud Nolanverse tradition of explaining and explaining and explaining everything presumably out of a paranoid, insecure fear that somebody in the audience might think the whole thing is stupid. "It's not stupid!", cries 'Interstellar', "it all makes sense! The robot explained how it all worked!"

'Interstellar' is the story of a small-town farmer who breaks into a military installation, is tasered and held prisoner and then refuses to answer any questions or co-operate at all and is then told "we can only answer your questions if you agree to fly this spaceship for us". Because that makes sense. Yes, Cooper (Mathew McConaughey) used to be a pilot before the film's post-apocalypse scenario occurred but that's still an enormous logical stretch. Not that it would matter most of the time: I enjoy films with wonkier premises and crazier logical leaps than that, but they don't tend to take themselves so seriously to such an oppressive degree. Similarly, and I'm going all-out spoilers here, we are asked to believe a man who regrets abandoning his daughter for decades will leave her on her deathbed without argument after about 2 minutes of conversation because she says "you shouldn't have to see this" and he's like "ok then, dying daughter" before rushing off to win Anne Hathaway in spite of the fact there was no romance plot between them in the entire movie. But her never-seen boyfriend has died off-camera so she's his by default now, I guess. Because movies. Oh and he also never asks about his son once when he gets back.

The music is always telling you how to feel in the most overbearing, melodramatic way possible and the dialogue explains everything to the point where there is little room for existential discussion a la '2001' (so much dialogue in the bookcase scene detailing where Cooper is, why he is there, what it means - Nolan would have just explained the obelisk and the bedroom scene at the end of Kubrick's masterpiece would have included a monologue). There's even a moment when you see a spaceship smash into a frozen cloud and before I could finish saying "frozen clouds are a cool idea" in my mind a character on-screen had said "frozen clouds". Again, there's a paranoia there about somebody not understanding exactly what that was and a terrified Nolan had to have somebody explain lest anyone have to think about it too long.

The space stuff is amazing, in terms of the scale of what is rendered on screen and the way it plays with the idea of what time relativity would mean for astronauts, which is pretty mind-blowing. I have no idea if it's accurate (I presume it is based on the latest knowledge of how these things work) but the depictions of a black hole and a wormhole, as well as the planets visited, are pure cinema. It's technically very well made, as you would expect, and as such is not a bad film or a bore even though it is overlong. There's a lot to like about it but not so much that I could ever hope to like it as much as it so transparently likes itself.

'Ida' - Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski (12A)

'Ida' is a European arthouse film du jour. To the extent where you'd only have to modify it very slightly to make it an amazing, pitch-perfect parody of what a festival favourite, black and white Polish film would be. It's 80 minutes long, supposedly, but it must be pulling some of that 'Interstellar' time relativity stuff because it's 80 minutes that feels like two hours. Everybody loves it though so I am probably missing something deep and profound. However I have decided - somewhat facetiously - that positive reviews by critics are akin to the oft-derided spin of estate agents, where "cosy" means "small".

In its round-up of the year's best movies, The Guardian wrote of it: "Pawlikowski never dwells on the social or political points: the aunt is a compromised Stalinist lawyer; Poland is in the grip of cold-war communism; and Ida herself is forced into existential self-doubt. Yet these things lie lightly over the film – nothing is hammered home, or pointed up."

To me this translates as "none of the interesting themes and historical, socio-political context are explored at all". Similarly the claim that the film is "so delicate you are afraid [it] will collapse in the first puff of wind" may mean "it's insubstantial and its premise is stretched thinly over the running time".

I have to admit, for me it's this year's example of that annual film that comes out that makes me feel like I just don't understand cinema - the film everybody else says is amazing and I can't see what they are talking about. It's not that I hated 'Ida' or found nothing of merit in it, just that it didn't personally speak to me or move me very much. I'll say this for it: I liked the off-centre framing of a lot of it, with the characters pushed to the margins. I also thought the idea (spoiler warning) of a nun having a few days of sex, booze and rock 'n roll before returning to the convent was potentially interesting. Is the idea that she is in a better place to make her vow now that she knows what she's giving up? Does that make her vow more meaningful than those of her fellow nuns who have never indulged? Interesting ideas and set at a fascinating time in Polish history, with the second world war and its atrocities a living memory and the socialist government in full swing - I just wish there was more to it.

'Boyhood' - Dir. Richard Linklater (15)

Richard Linklater's 'Boyhood' generated a lot of buzz due to the curiosity of its production: shot over 45 days spanning an eleven-year period, the film dramatises adolescence as we follow Mason (Ellar Coltrane) - who starts the film as a small boy of six and ends it a college student. Not only do we see the young actor who plays him go through physical changes almost from scene to scene, but naturally we also see those changes in the actors around him (like his parents played by Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke). Being a sprawling epic about one boy's childhood there isn't really an overarching plot, but rather it's a series of small developments and micro-plots held together by an emphasis on character development. And it works really well.

As well as the thrill of seeing these characters age and change in such a unique way, the film presents a look at attitudes and lifestyle in Southern Texas - with events likes the invasion of Iraq and election of Barack Obama in the background, as well as obligatory changes to cell phones and video games - as the family move around the Lone Star State. If there's an ongoing plot it's in seeing Mason constantly pressured into not being himself by a succession of douchey stepdads, shortening his hair against his will and taking an interest in sports. You get a sense of what it must be like to be an introverted, creative kid in Linklater's home state and so, in some sense, this might even serve as a semi-biographical film about its director. Incidentally his daughter Lorelei plays Mason's older sister and she steals every scene she's in with natural screen presence.

Not just one of the best films I've seen in 2014, but a genuine contender for a place among the best of the decade so far.

'Two Days, One Night' - Dir. Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne (15)

Subsisting on the sort of tight concept I tend to love, the Dardenne brother's latest stars the always-excellent Marion Cotillard as Sandra: a severely depressed woman who is ready to return to work only to discover that her colleagues have voted her out of a job. Having learnt they can manage without her on payroll, her bosses decide to cut costs by making staff choose between Sandra and their annual bonus payment. In her absence they overwhelmingly voted for the money, but when Sandra convinces them to recall another vote after the weekend she has the titular timeframe to convince each individual to back her over personal financial gain.

It's an interesting moral question which the film explores in all its complexity as Sandra visits each person in turn and makes the same basic argument with mixed results. Some are outright hostile, some can't look her in the eye, many are sympathetic but insist they need the money, whilst others agree to back her for reasons ranging from solidarity to shame. Perhaps the film treats an attempted suicide too casually and Sandra's apparent defeat of bed-ridden depression by the credits is a little too sudden, but this is a complex and original film which deserves to be seen. Especially as the Dardenne's again display an impressive knack for marrying social realism with something more hopeful and optimistic than that term usually suggests.

'Nightcrawler' - Dir. Dan Gilroy (15)

'Network' for the modern age, 'Nightcrawler' is a darkly comic and very disturbing thriller which casts Jake Gyllenhaal in a potentially career redefining role as Louis Bloom - a sociopath who, lacking in empathy or anything approaching a moral code, is perfectly suited to filming grisly accidents for an unscrupulous TV news network. Riz Ahmed is almost equally impressive as the glassy eyed, vulnerable young intern he manipulates and Rene Russo is perfectly cast as the news director he threatens and simultaneously covets - without hint of warmth or desire - as a sexual outlet. Bill Paxton also makes for an interesting foil as a cocky, alpha male rival in his quest for accident and murder footage, but there's no doubt this is Gyllenhaal's show.

It's pretty grim and though not physically violent (with one notable exception in the opening scene) Bloom is a menacing, unsettling presence who seems to threaten an aggressive outburst during every encounter. It speaks to writer-director Dan Gilroy's skill that he never releases that pressure valve. To allow that outburst would grant the character a level of interest in other people and a degree of emotion that he just doesn't have. Much scarier is how coldly and calculatedly he seems to regard everybody in his orbit. There's something of Patrick Bateman in him and maybe a slice of Travis Bickle too. The film itself invites that company not only with its lead character but with its complexity and quality.

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' - Dir. Francis Lawrence (12A)

The theoretically difficult "part one" literary adaptation is by now almost its own sub-genre. As studios seek to eek every bit of profitable life out of popular franchises with limited lifespans (this is based on the third of a trilogy of books) conventional wisdom says the 'Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part One's of this world are all set-up and no pay-off - at their worst they could be considered extended trailers for their concluding sequel. However, as with the aforementioned penultimate Potter (the only other film of this trend I have personally seen), I found 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' to benefit greatly from the sort of extended character development and patient build-up stuff this practice lends itself to, whatever its cynical intentions at boardroom level. What we have is a movie that doesn't have to hurtle along towards the action climax but which instead can spend a bit of time (like Potter) moping about in the woods and giving screentime (and still too little) to the film's incredible supporting cast.

Julianne Moore enters the series here, as the president of the rebel organisation that rescued Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss at the end of the second film, whilst Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Jeffrey Wright and Stanley Tucci make welcome returns in eye-catching character roles. As does the late Philip Seymour Hoffman who gives presence and integrity to an understated and uncharacteristically calm part as one of Moore's advisors. Then we have Natalie Dormer as a ridiculously cool propaganda filmmaker, with this year's best on-screen haircut. The weak links remain the two love interests: hunky bore-fest Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and wet-blanket bore-fest Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Neither is the fault of the actor but rather the characters themselves, who are equally boring in the novels. (Sam Clafin's Finnick Odair is far more charismatic and interesting.)

It's not as exciting as the second movie or as focussed as the first, but this is the one where the hitherto wobbly political themes start to actually get interesting and take on added weight. In that sense it's the cleverest so far. It's also refreshing to get moving on the wider plot across Panem - outside of the titular games (this film has none) - which finally takes centre stage after being glimpsed at the margins of the previous films. All in all a satisfying run-up to the final chapter that even manages to craft a decent ending out of the arbitrary half-way point as hewn from the source novel.

'Gone Girl' - Dir. David Fincher (18)

It goes without saying that 'Gone Girl' is technically excellent, gripping, peerlessly made stuff. It's a Fincher movie, for God's sake. The guy knows his craft. The casting is excellent across the board, with some surprising choices (like Neil Patrick Harris as a slightly sinister stalker and Tyler Perry as a slick lawyer with a shit-eating grin). It's all top-level stuff. Only I really didn't like it very much. I've argued with people about whether or not it's outright misogynistic (there are a lot of good arguments that it is and a lot of strong evidence in that direction) but ultimately I come down on the side of this being a black-hearted film that just hates all humans equally. People suck and are bad for each other and are inclined to bring out the worst in each other, it seems to say.

Rosamund Pike's character - the "abducted" wife - is perhaps the most obviously 'evil', but Affleck's husband is almost equally manipulative and not somebody you'd ever want to meet or be friends with. Arguably the only two characters who aren't completely hateful are female, in the form of Affleck's sister (Carrie Coon) and Kim Dickens' detective. Yet these could easily be written off as "some of my best friends are women" plants to support Affleck's consistent mistrust and dislike of (most of) the women in his life (from his wife's mother to the shrill lady on the TV), seeing as they mostly ally with him throughout.

You can discuss the ins and outs of the film's sexual politics all day and never come to an agreement. I'll probably leave it at "they are troubling" for now and just say it wasn't ultimately my cup of tea. I've really grown to like Fincher's output in recent years as he moved away from what I considered the nihilism and nastiness of films like 'Seven' and 'Fight Club' towards films like 'Zodiac' and 'The Social Network' - which were equally grim, disturbing and dark but had more of a human dimension. For me 'Gone Girl' is a step back towards that older stuff. I know a lot of people would rate 'Seven' and 'Fight Club' as his best work, so maybe for those folks 'Gone Girl' is possibly a return to form. Personally, for all its technical prowess I found nothing to like here.

'Mr. Turner' - Dir. Mike Leigh (12A)

A lot to admire, not least of all Timothy Spall's deservedly lauded performance, but Mike Leigh's biopic of the late life and career of famed landscape painter William Turner left me oddly cold. There are plenty of interesting character moments and colourful period details and it's also a rare period piece that doesn't glamourise the past, painting London as very modern, lived-in place, but still (unlike the vast body of Leigh's work) didn't make me feel any way in particular. Perhaps that's born of a lack of investment in the subject matter, I don't know. It's possibly down to the fact that Turner, as portrayed by Spall, is a gruff, grunting, mumbling figure who often seems apathetic towards everything except boats and landscapes. There's something deeper going on with this man who denies the existence of his children and treats his housemaid so callously, but who is depicted as falling deeply in love in his twilight years and who weeps over the loss of his old dad. A nuanced, interesting character study, but lacking something I can't quite identify.