What are the best films you have seen this year? Why did you like them so much?

That's your biopic, right Lordyaswas?

I wholeheartedly agree. Michael Keaton was superb, but not so much more so than the others. There should be a lot of awards going to that one.

TAKEN 3

One can't just trust the number of viewers of a film or a video, in order to catalogue it as good, mediocre or bad.

I myself am one of the millions who watched a Youtube video, but I stop watching it after 30 seconds because it was a piece of crap. Still, in the TV news, just by watching it, I was counted as one more of the viewers, and caused "without my consent" for this video to be at high rank.

The movie TAKEN 3, the sequence of the former ones, is not intense. There is action but so sporadic and without a continued pulling that only deserved a clap here and there in the movie theater when a shaking hands took place.

Liam Neeson walks and jogs like a grandpa, so, no idea how at that age he can jump fences like a teenager... desperation can perform miracles in old dudes...

The movie is OK, and my guess is that the high assistance of viewers was because the fame of the "Taken # movie series" itself, always with foreign bad dudes who lack of good aim when shooting, weird tattoos in their bodies, killing more innocent people than the US troops did in Iraq in five years of invasion, beautiful girls surrounding them, and by coincidence, always ugly.

A futuristic Taken 4 might be Liam Neeson trying to rescue his grandchild from North Korea mafia members, a grandchild that if it is a boy, he will be given the mother's step father's name...

Birdman is so much better than Boyhood!

I have to agree with you there. Boyhood was a very ambitious technical exercise. Storywise, it's pretty traditional and not that groundbreaking. Birdman on the other hand, was bizarre, original, and pitch perfect.

Birdman has far more ... um... rewatchabilityness... then Boyhood.

Totally agree. Boyhood was as boring as a more than average boring day in everyday life.
Plus I don't like the "Life is pointless, let's smoke dope" philosophy.

If I had known it is by the same director of Waking Life -innovative, but superficial, pseudophilosophical and ultimately annoying- I would have thought twice before buying the cinema tickets.

I'm really glad you liked it. It's not a mainstream movie, and I'm not sure why I liked it so much, but it's a keeper.

For me, unpredictability is one of the most important qualities of a good film, and that one had plenty of that.

We saw American Sniper last night. It's intense, disturbing and incredibly realistic. Bradley Cooper does a terrific job of showing the numbing experience of war. I think it's worth seeing, we have so many soldiers in harms way but the their reality is lost on most of us.

Fbaezer...and others as well.....did you like Tree of Life?

Thank you for the heads up about Birdman from me, too.

I've got American Sniper coming down the chute at the moment.

Eastwood is an incredible director.
I had qualms about seeing this but I'm gonna take your recommendation...

Did not watch it. Is it any good?

I loved it....others found it murky and pretentious.

I'd just be interested in your opinion. It's very long if you hate it, though!

SELMA

A good movie.

(The movie is looooooong. I guess it's because president Lyndon Johnson was very undecided thinking if signing or not Kings petitions...)

I did enjoy watching American Sniper, but I thought some parts were a bit flag-wavy. And I think they should have put a little more of the budget into getting a believable baby in that one scene.

Since then I've seen John Wick and The Drop. IMO, The Drop was the better of the two. John Wick was a bit too typical of what's been coming out of Hollywood over the years. Still worth the watch, I'd say.

The Cabbage Patch baby was pretty scary.

I don't want to focus too much on the fake baby, but yes I do. You'd think that somebody in the cast or crew would've been or had connections to a real person with a real baby who would've loved to have it cast as an extra for like, 30 seconds, eh? I'm not even a stickler for details in films, but the instant the "baby" appeared on the screen, I was like, "What? Seriously?" And of course, couldn't take my eyes off it.

Still, it's a very good film. Clint Eastwood has turned out some junk as well as some gems, and this one tends towards the latter, IMO.

So glad I chosen a perfect movie this evening.

‪Leviathan‬ (2014) is a particularly brutal look at Russian life. Stunning cinematography. Heartbreaking acting. Blistering and dark, Russia has a long way to go in order to become a viable democracy. So far, I predict Andrey Zvyagintsev is getting the Foreign Language Oscar. I have a copy of Ida (2014) that I 'll try and watch this weekend. Hopefully, I'll get to see Timbuktu next Friday or Saturday. That one looks as equally brutal and tough to watch given its subject is Islamic terrorists.

The only glitch I had tonight wasn't with the movie itself but with the poor sightlines from the Film Forum screen and seating. I had one hell of a time competing with the squirming lady and her wandering head in order to be able to read the English subtitles. I can only imagine what blocking nightmare I might have presented to the person directly behind me.

I'll watch for it