The Worst Best Movies of 2014

The most “overrated” movies of 2014, from “Nymphomaniac” to “Locke” to “The Double”.

There are critics, and then there are trolls. A troll is someone who enjoys raining on the parade, to take a beloved classic and tell you everything you thought you enjoyed about it was wrong. The troll only hates something because everyone else enjoys it, and the troll wants to define himself or herself by blazing their own path and forming an interesting, provocative opinion that challenges the status quo of their peers.

I’d hate to think that my opinion on an individual movie would completely define my own personality or my taste in film. That’s because each year, a number of highly critically acclaimed films come out, and not every critic can reasonably get behind all of them. In fact, some critics find a handful of films in this bunch downright bad, and they struggle to explain what all the fuss is about. It happens every year, with just about every movie. Yes, even “Boyhood.”

And yet each year, there are angry commenters who shun the first critic to break the 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, and there are people who aim to invalidate a critic’s entire reputation by saying, “How could you hate X and yet give a good review to Y?”

This year I found myself on the far end of a few of these critical spectrums; that doesn’t change the fact that I absolutely loved loved LOVED so many of the other critical darlings and cultural hits from 2014. Yes, that one too.

So take this list with a grain of salt. It’s not meant to be contrarian or say these movies are overrated. Just know that much as I disliked this small batch of films, they’re each admirable, ambitious and memorable in a way you could very well love. Just don’t hold it against me.

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CIFF Review: Closed Curtain

Jafar Panahi is still under house arrest, “Closed Curtain” IS a film, and it’s a puzzling mess.

“Closed Curtain” screened as part of the Chicago International Film Festival, where it had its American debut. This early review is just an impression from the festival. The film does not yet have an American release date.

“Closed Curtain” starts with a stark reminder that its director, the Iranian Jafar Panahi, is still under house arrest by the Iranian government and banned from making films. His first under these conditions was the critically acclaimed “This is Not a Film.” This is a film however, and it’s a strange hybrid of fantasy and documentary that, with the strenuous nature of its making, collapses under the weight of being so meta.

The opening shot is an extended take of the camera facing out a barred window. It sits there as though it’s just recording whatever may pass by, and over agonizing minutes, we see a man pull up in a car, take a bag out and carry it all the way inside the house. He has just smuggled a dog into the home, but the man is not Jafar Panahi.

He’s a writer (Kambuzia Partovi), and he’s illegally harboring this dog in his home, covering up the windows with black curtains to hide that he has it. But one night as he is cleaning out the dog’s litter box, two refugees find his way into his home. One goes to look for help while the other, a young woman named Melika (Maryam Moqadam), remains and causes the writer unnecessary stress. Continue reading “CIFF Review: Closed Curtain”