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It's that time of the year again :). I have enjoyed many movies this year but when it comes down to distilling my Top 10, it was surprisingly not that tough. Allow me to iterate that these choices are personal and where possible I have stated why I feel it is a worthy film. If there are opposing views and I am sure there are, I would love to read them and perhaps your own Top 10. I must also stress one important thing - a great movie does not mean it will be an entertaining movie or is even a box-office hit. A great film has a certain aspect that is difficult to pin down but easy to recognize. It sometimes tells an age old story in such a refreshing manner that you think you are seeing it for the first time. For me, these films have a vision and they are great movies.

 

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10. John Wick

This is exactly what I want in an action film - explain the motivation well and shoot the action well. It has oodles of coolness oozing out of every frame and I love how the background information is revealed in such subtle nods that makes me feel damn smart. A superb return to badass form for Keanu Reeves. I know the film in such a list doesn't give me much credibility but it is such a guilty pleasure to watch and the execution has so much panache that I don't care.

 

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9. Blue Ruin

If John Wick is an uber-cool revenge thriller, then Blue Ruin gives the age old genre an adrenaline shot in the arm. It is disquiet, sparse, feral, sudden and focus to a point. The unlikely protagonist is the main reason the movie is more suspenseful than all the typical revenge thriller pretenders around.

 

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8. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Not since Rushmore (1998) have I seen Wes Andersen get the cinematic stylistics and his favourite off-kilter narratives look like a marriage made in heaven. The balance between illusion and story is beautifully held with grace throughout. The movie feels like a meditation on love for times past, the tricky present and an imagined future.

 

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7. The Lego Movie

The jokes come fast, slow, thick, razor-sharp and hit me like a whiplash. Cleverly written in that it plays on the squarish shape of a Lego brick, both metaphorically and structurally with finesse. This is the most complete family movie this year. No matter how old or how young a person is, he or she definitely will be able to draw a life lesson out of it.

 

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6. Gone Girl

I know every twist and turn coming up, but nothing takes away the thrill. Wickedly funny and sickly perverse. I love the book but I love the movie even more.

 

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5. Her

This is a film from last year but released earlier this year, and it is testament to a superb film that it continues to stand up and be counted for me even now. Spike Jonze has made a perfect film that is emotionally hard-hitting and yet also a cautionary tale for our present i-device times.

 

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4. Interstellar

IMHO this is the film that many people love to attack and even enjoy doing so. I think the reason is precisely because it is a Nolan film and the expectation is sky high. If this movie has been made by a nobody, everyone would probably be lauding it as a masterpiece. Let me be the first to say that it is not but I truly admire the grandeur ideas of cosmic proportions and Nolan has come agonizingly close.

 

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3. Nightcrawler

The social subtext runs like an undertow pulling me in, all in. A sharply written pitch black satire of our current times. Gyllenhaal turns in a reptilian masterclass performance that is wickedly perverse but yet it strangely makes me want to aspire to his level of work ethics.

 

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2. The Lunchbox

This is the debut film of a new director and the one thing that strikes me is how restrained and perceptive it is. It deftly plays with the "will they or won't they" notion and makes you fall in love with the characters slowly, amidst a cacophony of Mumbai sights and sound. Ritesh Batra who nails the social diaspora so beautifully must be a wonderful human being. I am very sure of that.

 

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1. Boyhood

IMHO there is no other film this year that could displace Richard Linklater's masterpiece from its perch. Its scope is ambitious and the execution is perfect. It's a tender ode to the joys and pains of growing up. The final result represent 12 years of the life of a boy squeezed into a 2h 45min film. It is a cumulative experience of life's milestones shown sequentially with such humility. It is honest and hits the spot. The film never judges, it leaves that to you. I love the brilliant use of music and historical elements as milestones. Nothing here feels episodic and every little thing coalesce so magically well. The editing is seamless and not one time was I confused which year I was in. The ending is such aching bittersweet. This is as perfect as they come. It is a simple film of an unremarkable life remarkably made.

 

The shortlist - Edge of Tomorrow, The Journey, The Fault in Our Stars, Blue is the Warmest Colour

 

 

 

 

 

Posted
  On 05/01/2015 at 6:12 AM, neeravks said:

Dude where is Haider?

 

IMHO Haider is an important film but not one of my faves. The Lunchbox on the other hand is near flawless and it captures a budding friendship/love that is so unique and in such subtle ways. I have seen it twice and will definitely see it again.

 

If I were to rank last year's Hindi films that deserved to be watched, this would be my list:

 

4. Queen

3. Highway

2. Haider

1. The Lunchbox

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