2014--The Year in Review

At the end of 2014, I was so mesmerized by Alejandro Inarritu's genuinely wild cinematic experiment Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance that its late December appearance, and Michael Keaton's slashing comeback performance, sneakily erased my admiration for the real film achievement of the year: Richard Linklater's autumnal release, a furtive production called Boyhood, filmed in secretive fits over the course of a decade in a certainly comparative experimental mode. Low-key as it is, it's a singular achievement, completely moving and so well executed. Its transitions from year to year are among the film world's most special special effects, and while watching it you say to yourself "Am I actually SEEING what I'm seeing?" I was glad that Richard Linklater's consistent brilliance was now being noticed, even so many years after Dazed and Confused and the Before series. As enjoyably chaotic as Birdman was (and I sense I'm in the minority in thinking so, even if it did become one of the most unlikely Best Picture winners ever), Boyhood contained the ensemble of the year, with Ellar Coltrane becoming the bravest hero of 2014 as an untrained actor jumping into this long commitment feet first, bringing so much authentic heart to it. And then we have veterans Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke providing umph to the story, making it more a movie about parenthood. I have to add Lorelei Linklater, the director's daughter, as a major asset, since she almost steals the movie from them all (seriously, she's terrific here). A shining needle-drop song score and adept editing adorns Linklater's movie, making the year's must-see achievement. It would work well on a double bill with another of my 2014 faves, Lukas Moodysson's adaptation of his sister Coco's graphic novel We Are the Best!, about a trio of nerdy, '80s-era Swedish tween girls haggling over their desire to launch a punk band; what a fantastic joy that film is.

As I attended the Atlanta Film Festival, the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival this year, my final lineup is packed with obscure films. Chief among them is Raymond St. Jeans' resplendent A Chair Fit for an Angel, which certainly, for me, leads a powerful lineup of documentaries this year by deftly conflating so many art forms in its short running time. It's nearly impossible to put this film's jolt into words. The Shakers are a religious community founded in 18th Century England, and their music, transmitted entirely by voice, sounds like it's being beamed from medieval times, while the modern works of Finnish choreographer Tero Saarinen provide stunning counterpart, perhaps against the stern grain of the Shakers but somehow melding with their musical relics perfectly. Documentaries really exploded this year, with fantastic entries as diverse as Frederick Wiseman's regal National Gallery, as well as Jodorowsky's Dune, Red Army, Stray Dog, Sunshine Superman, the little-seen The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue, Finding Vivien Meier, Steve James' Roger Ebert bio-pic Life Itself, and Albert Maysles' final film Iris (I was not an enthusiastic fan of the eventual Best Documentary winner, the scooping but visually dull Edward Snowden profile Citizenfour). Meanwhile, world cinema contributed brilliance with films like the remarkable Wild Tales from Argentina's Damián Szifron (the finest anthology film in all of cinema), and three radically different tales of family dissolution from Sweden's Reuben Ostland and Force Majeure, Russia's controversial Leviathan by Andrey Zvyagintsev, and Two Days, One Night by Belgian superstars Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, led by an aching performance from Marion Cotillard. In the end, 2014 acquitted itself mightily as a major year in film history. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: BOYHOOD (US, Richard Linklater) (2nd: Wild Tales (Argentina, Damián Szifron), followed by: Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (US, Alejandro Inarritu); Inherent Vice (US, Paul Thomas Anderson); We Are the Best! (Sweden, Lukas Moodysson); A Chair Fit for an Angel (Finland/Canada, Raymond St. Jean); Whiplash (US, Damien Chazelle); Force Majeure (Sweden, Reuben Ostland); National Gallery (US, Frederick Wiseman); Leviathan (Russia, Andrey Zvyagintsev); Two Days, One Night (Belgium, Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne);  Jodorowsky's Dune (US/France, Frank Pavich); Red Army (US/Russia, Gabe Polsky); Mr. Turner (UK, Mike Leigh); Stray Dog (US, Debra Granik); Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (US, Matt Reeves); The Grand Budapest Hotel (US, Wes Anderson); Nightcrawler (US, Dan Gilroy); Sunshine Superman (US, Maura Strauch); '71 (UK, Yann Demange); A Standing Still (US, Scott Ballard); The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue (US, Tim Wilkerson); Foxcatcher (US, Bennett Miller); The Foxy Merkins (US, Madeleine Olnek); Wild (US, Jean Marc Vallee); Finding Vivien Meier (US, John Maloof and Charlie Siskel); Only Lovers Left Alive (US, Jim Jaramusch); Life Itself (US, Steve James); Love is Strange (US, Ira Sachs); Gone Girl (US, David Fincher); Edge of Tomorrow (aka Live Die Repeat) (US, Doug Liman); Iris (US, Albert Maysles); A Most Violent Year (US, J.C. Chandor); Cheatin' (US, Bill Plympton); The Babadook (Australia, Jennifer Kent); Guardians of the Galaxy (US, James Gunn); Evolution of a Criminal (US, Darius Clark Monroe); Selma (US, Ava Duvernay); 120 Days (US, Ted Roach); Limo Ride (US, Gideon C. Kennedy and Marcus Rosentrater); The Lego Movie (US, Chris Miller and Phil Lord); American Sniper (US, Clint Eastwood); Saint Laurent (France, Bertrand Bonello); Are You Here (US, Matthew Weiner); Kids for Cash (US, Robert May); Tracks (Australia, John Curran); The Homesman (US, Tommy Lee Jones); Begin Again (US, John Carney); Cesar Chavez (US/Mexico, Diego Luna); Runoff (US, Kimberly Levin); The Overnighters (US, Jesse Moss); Top Five (US, Chris Rock); Art and Craft (US, Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman, and Mark Becker); Fed Up (US, Stephanie Soechtig); The Kill Team (US, Dan Krauss); Out of Print (US, Julia Marchese); Get On Up (US, Tate Taylor); Dear White People (US, Justin Simien); Having Fun Up There (US, Frankie Frain); 99 Homes (US, Ramin Bahrani); Bobo (Portugal, Inês Oliveira); The Trip to Italy (UK/Italy, Michael Winterbottom); Eden (France, Mia Hansen Love); What We Do in the Shadows (US/New Zealand, Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi); Little Accidents (US, Sara Colangelo); Nymphomania (Denmark, Lars Von Trier); Chef (US, Jon Favreau); WildLike (US, Frank Hall Green); Jersey Boys (US, Clint Eastwood); Still Alice (US, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland); Deli Man (US, Erik Anjou); St. Vincent (US, Theodore Melfi); Maps to the Stars (US/Canada, David Cronenberg); Midlife (US, Greg Travis); Cake (US, Daniel Barnes); 15 to Life: Kenneth's Story (US, Nadine Pequeneza); The Sublime and Beautiful (US, Blake Robbins); I Believe in Unicorns (US, Leah Meyerhoff); The Frontier (US, Matt Rabinowitz); Obvious Child (US, Gillian Robespierre); The Fault in Our Stars (US, Josh Boone); And So It Goes (US, Rob Reiner); Kumiko The Treasure Hunter (US/Japan, David Zellner); The Imitation Game (UK, Morton Tyldum); The Theory of Everything (UK, James Marsh); Interstellar (US, Christopher Nolan); Citizenfour (US/Germany/UK, Laura Poitras); Labyrinth of Lies (Germany, Giulio Ricciarelli); The Skeleton Twins (US, Craig Johnson); Big Hero 6 (US, Don Hall and Chris Williams); The 50 Year Argument (US, Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi); Manakamana (Nepal/US, Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez); The Rover (Australia, David Michôd); The Immigrant (US, James Grey); John Wick (US, Chad Stahelski); Clouds of Sils Maria (France/Germany/Switzerland, Olivier Assayas); White God (Hungary/Germany/Sweden, Kornél Mundruczó); Rich Hill (US, Andrew Droz Palermo and Tracy Droz Tragos); Godzilla (US, Gareth Edwards); It Follows (US, David Robert Michell); Jauja (Argentina/Denmark, Lisandro Alonso); God's Not Dead (US, Harold Cronk); Into the Woods (US, Rob Marshall); Enemy (Canada/Spain/France, Denis Villeneuve); Left Behind (US, Vic Armstrong); Unbroken (US, Angelina Jolie); God's Pocket (US, John Slattery); Noah (US, Darren Arenofsky); Frank (UK/US/Ireland, Lenny Abrahamson); Locke (UK, Steven Knight); Fort Tilden (US, Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers)) 



ACTOR: Michael Keaton, BIRDMAN, OR: THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE (2nd: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner, followed by: Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice; Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler; Aleksey Serebryakov, Leviathan; David Oyelowo, Selma; Steve Carrell, Foxcatcher; Chadwick Boseman, Get On Up; Bradley Cooper, American Sniper)

ACTRESS:  Marion Cotillard, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (2nd: Essie Davis, The Babadook, followed by: Reese Witherspoon, Wild; Lisa Loven Kongsli, Force Majeure; Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl; Jackie Monahan, The Foxy Merkins; Lisa Haas, The Foxy Merkins; Julianne Moore, Still Alice; Sara Robbin, A Standing Still) 

 
SUPPORTING ACTOR: J.K. Simmons, WHIPLASH (2nd: Ethan Hawke, Boyhood, followed by: Edward Norton, Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance; Roman Madyanov, Leviathan; Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice; Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher; Michael Shannon, 99 Homes; Martin Short, Inherent Vice; Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler) 

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette, BOYHOOD (2nd: Katherine Waterston, Inherent Vice, followed by: Erica Rivas, Wild Tales; Marion Bailey, Mr. Turner; Rene Russo, Nightcrawler; Emma Stone, Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance; Kim Dickens, Gone Girl; Lorelei Linklater, Boyhood; Laura Dern, Wild)



DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater, BOYHOOD (2nd: Damián Szifron, Wild Tales, followed by: Alejandro Inarritu,  Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance; Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice; Lukas Moodysson, We Are the Best!; Reuben Ostland, Force Majeure; Andrey Zvyagintsev, Leviathan; Damien Chazelle, Whiplash; Raymond St. Jean, A Chair Fit for an Angel)  



NON-ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FILM: WILD TALES (Argentina, Damián Szifron) (2nd: We Are the Best! (Sweden, Lukas Moodysson), followed by: Force Majeure (Sweden, Reuben Ostland); Leviathan (Russia, Andrey Zvyagintsev); Two Days, One Night (Belgium, Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne); Saint Laurent (France, Bertrand Bonello); Bobo (Portugal, Inês Oliveira); Eden (France, Mia Hansen Love); Nymphomania (Denmark, Lars Von Trier))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: A CHAIR FIT FOR AN ANGEL (Finland/Canada, Raymond St. Jean) (2nd: National Gallery (US, Frederick Wiseman), followed by: Jodorowsky's Dune (US/France, Frank Pavich); Red Army (US/Russia, Gabe Polsky); Stray Dog (US, Debra Granik); Sunshine Superman (US, Maura Strauch); The Oracles of Pennsylvania Avenue (US, Tim Wilkerson); Finding Vivien Meier (US, John Maloof and Charlie Siskel); Life Itself (US, Steve James); Iris (US, Albert Maysles); Evolution of a Criminal (US, Darius Clark Monroe); 120 Days (US, Ted Roach); Limo Ride (US, Gideon C. Kennedy and Marcus Rosentrater); Kids for Cash (US, Robert May); The Overnighters (US, Jesse Moss); Art and Craft (US, Sam Cullman, Jennifer Grausman, and Mark Becker); Fed Up (US, Stephanie Soechtig); The Kill Team (US, Dan Krauss); Out of Print (US, Julia Marchese); 15 to Life: Kenneth's Story (US, Nadine Pequeneza); Citizenfour (US/Germany/UK, Laura Poitras))



ANIMATED FEATURE: CHEATIN' (US, Bill Plympton) (2nd: The Lego Movie (US, Chris Miller and Phil Lord), followed by: Big Hero 6 (US, Don Hall and Chris Williams))

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: THE PHONE CALL (UK, Mat Kirkby and James Lewis) (2nd: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (US, Ellen Goosenberg Kent) (won as Documentary Short), followed by: Thirteen Blue (Greece, Jacqueline Lentzou); Waging War (France, Cosme Castro and Léa Forest); Butterfly Fluttering (Russia, Roman Kayumov))



ANIMATED SHORT FILM: ME AND MY MOULTON (Norway/Canada, Torill Kove) (2nd: The Bigger Picture (UK, Daisy Jacobs), followed by: Feast (US, Patrick Osborne))
 
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Richard Linklater, BOYHOOD (2nd: Alejandro Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo, Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, followed by: Damián Szifrón, Wild Tales; Ruben Ostland, Force Majeure; Oleg Negin and Andrey Zyvagintsev, Leviathan) 



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Lukas Moodysson, WE ARE THE BEST!, (2nd: Spike Jonze, Her, followed by: Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice, followed by: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash; James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, Guardians of the Galaxy)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, BIRDMAN, OR: THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE (2nd: Jean-Francois Lord, A Chair Fit for an Angel, followed by: Dick Pope, Mr. Turner; Robert Elswit, Inherent Vice; Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel)

ART DIRECTION: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, Mr. Turner, Inherent Vice, Into the Woods, The Imitation Game 

COSTUME DESIGN: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, Saint Laurent, Mr. Turner, Inherent Vice, Maleficent



FILM EDITING: WHIPLASH, Wild Tales, Boyhood, '71, Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance

SOUND: WHIPLASH, Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Wild, Edge of Tomorrow, American Sniper 



SOUND EFFECTS: AMERICAN SNIPER, Edge of Tomorrow, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

 

ORIGINAL SCORE: Antonio Sanchez, BIRDMAN, OR: THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE (2nd: Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner, followed by: Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel; Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Gone Girl; Johann Johannson, The Theory of Everything)



ORIGINAL SONG: "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from GLEN CAMPBELL...I'LL BE ME (Music and lyrics by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond) (2nd: "Ryan's Song" from Boyhood (Music and lyrics by Ethan Hawke), followed by: "Glory" from Selma (Music and lyrics by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn); "Hate the Sport" from We Are the Best! (Music and lyrics by Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne, Julia Forssell, and Niels Berglund); "Lost Stars" from Begin Again (Music and lyrics by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood); "Everything is Awesome" from The Lego Movie (Music and lyrics by Shawn Patterson); "Everyone Hides" from St. Vincent (Music and lyrics by Jeff Tweedy); "Heart Like Yours" from If I Stay (Music and lyrics by Heitor Pereira))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Interstellar, Guardians of the Galaxy, Birdman, or: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Edge of Tomorrow 

MAKEUP: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, Guardians of the Galaxy, Foxcatcher

Forgotten Movie Songs #1: "Je T'aime Tant" from BEFORE SUNSET

Welcome to the first in what is meant to be a very long series of short posts dedicated to my favorite forgotten songs in movies--that is, the songs that did not become hits or get nominated for Oscars. In my heart, I'm as much of a music fan as I am one of the movies. In fact, one of the things that helped me LOVE movies is that they combined so well with music. The two loves have gone round and round my entire life feeding off of each other probably since I saw Norman Jewison's Fiddler on the Roof on TV in 1973; if not then, certainly since I fell in love with Ken Russell's Tommy in 1975. That movie definitely hooked me. Kubrick and Scorsese, with their combining of film and music, sealed the deal.

This series will cover songs only, and not themes to films. That would be a whole other series. I will limit myself only to 150 songs that did not become hits or that did not get nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar. Some of these are not forgotten songs, but ARE forgotten in the context of the movies in which they first appeared. My lofty goal here is to have completed at least 150 of these posts upon the arrival of 2012. Let's see if I can keep it going. With that, I commit myself to my first choice.

Richard Linklater's sequel to his already profound and more youthfully hopeful Before Sunrise is energetically infused with honesty, wisdom, and complex emotions. Written by Linklater and his two stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, it increasingly seems to be a guidebook for millennial romantic maturity. It, and its predecessor, still are ranked by most cinephiles as two landmark film offerings from the last decade. I won't go into plot details here: if you haven't seen them, do so immediately.

But I'm here to talk about the song "Je T'aime Tant." It's written and performed by Delpy, who plays another song of hers, "Waltz for a Night," for her beloved Jesse onscreen earlier in the film. This song I'm picking, however, appears as the closing credits accompaniment, and as such, it might seem like a throwaway. But it isn't. First off, it's Celine's deepest feelings about Jesse--so deep that they are delivered in a French he cannot understand. And it comes at the apex of a powerful moment--after the final, memorable fade-out. As such, it provides answers maybe some viewers may still to this day be seeking. (Then again, perhaps it raises more questions than it answers, which deepens its impact.)

Maybe one of the reasons that this distinctive Euro-rock tune, punctuated by a tuneful American-tinged banjo, did not get an Oscar nomination (even though Linklater, Hawke and Delpy did, as screenwriters) was because Before Sunset as a whole got lost in the jumble of the awards season (it was an early-year release). Or maybe it's just because that category, and the people voting for it, are out of their minds anyway. But never mind that. The song stands as a heartfelt and worldly achievement, particularly when you see what the lyrics convey.

So, here, as I will do for all the movie songs I profile, I'll be providing the lyrics to readers as well, following the song. Again, these will be the French lyrics, followed by the English lyrics in all caps (the translation was kindly provided to me by someone out there in the internet ether, and I ironed out the kinks in the English). So here is "Je T'aime Tant," music and lyrics by, and performed by Julie Delpy.




Tu me suis tu me souris dans la nuit tu me seduis
YOU FOLLOWED ME AND MADE ME SMILE THE NIGHT YOU SEDUCED ME
Je sais que tu sais que je ne sais plus qui je suis
I KNOW YOU KNOW THAT I NO LONGER KNOW WHO I AM
Je t'aime tant, je t'aime tant pourtant
I LOVE YOU A LOT, I LOVE YOU NEVERTHELESS
Comme le temps qui passe et ment j'attends
LIKE THE TIME THAT PASSES AND LIES, I WAIT

Toujours perdante tu me tourmentes
ALWAYS LOSING, YOU TORMENT ME
Et tes desirs me prirent pour me detruire
AND YOUR DESIRES BROUGHT ME TO MY DESTRUCTION
Je prends un certain plaisr a souffrir
I TAKE A CERTAIN PLEASURE IN SUFFERING
A me punir a me repentir
PUNISH ME AND I REPENT

Toujours soumise tu me meprises tu me rejettes tu me maltraites
ALWAYS YOU TOOK ME, YOU REJECTED ME, YOU MISTREATED ME
Douleur et desir sont synonymes de mon plaisir
PAIN AND DESIRE ARE SYNONYMS OF MY PLEASURE
Je m'abandonne aux hommes sans souci ni tourment
I HAVE ABANDONED MEN WHO DON'T CARE OR ARE MEAN
Je me suis perdue sans retenue pour un jeune homme
I AM LOST WITHOUT THE SEARCH FOR A YOUNG MAN
Un peu hors de la norme
A BIT OUTSIDE THE NORM

Tu me cherches tu me guettes tu me tiens et je me sens bien
YOU LOOK FOR ME, YOU WAIT FOR ME, YOU HOLD ME AND I FEEL GOOD
Tu me prends si lentement je desapprends
YOU TAKE ME SO SLOWLY AND LET GO,
Puis tu me rends mon tourment
THEN RETURN ME TO MY AGONY

Je serai ce qui te plait la lumiere sur ta peau
I WILL BE THE ONE THAT PUTS THE LIGHT ON YOUR SKIN
Celle qui t'attend a la porte
THE ONE THAT WAITS FOR YOU AT THE DOOR
Et celle qui peu importe je serai ce que tu veux
AND THE ONE THAT DOESN'T CARE, I WILL BE WHAT YOU WANT
La sueur sur ton front la brise dans tes cheveux
THE SWEAT ON YOUR FOREHEAD BREAKS IN YOUR HAIR
Ou celle qui te brisera le cou
OR WILL BE THE THING THAT BREAKS YOUR NECK

Je te souris je te nuis je t'aime, je t'aime
I SMILE FOR YOU, I HURT YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU
Je te detruis je te tiens et tu viens
I DESTROY YOU AND I HOLD YOU AND YOU COME
Tout est bien qui finit bien
ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Tu sais que je sais que tu ne sais plus qui tu es
YOU KNOW I KNOW THAT YOU NO LONGER KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
Depuis que tu t'adonnes a nos petits jeux hors de la norme
SINCE YOU HAVE DEVOTED YOURSELF TO OUR LITTLE GAME, A BIT OUTSIDE THE NORM

Je te plais tu me plais
I PLEASE YOU, YOU PLEASE ME
Nous sommes les amants du tourment
WE ARE THE LOVERS OF AGONY
La nuit nous tuons l'ennui l'amour toujours nous suit
THE NIGHT KILLS US, THE BOREDOM. THE LOVE ALWAYS FOLLOWS US
L'amour toujours nous fuit, l'amour toujours nous detruit
LOVE ALWAYS ESCAPES US, LOVE ALWAYS DESTROYS US
Comme la pluie et l'oubli comme des cris dans la nuit
LIKE THE RAIN, AND FORGETFULNESS CRIES IN THE NIGHT
Je t'aime tant je t'aime tant pourtant
I LOVE YOU A LOT. I LOVE YOU A LOT, NEVERTHELESS
Je t'aime tant, je t'aime tant
I LOVE YOU A LOT. I LOVE YOU A LOT.
Je t'aime tant pourtant
I LOVE YOU A LOT, NEVERTHELESS
Je t'aime tant, je t'aime tant
I LOVE YOU A LOT. I LOVE YOU A LOT.
Je t'aime tant pourtant
I LOVE YOU A LOT, NEVERTHELESS.