Reading books by female folk...a new mission

So a few months ago a friend of mine shared this article on her facebook...

http://theconversation.com/the-stella-count-is-in-women-authors-dont-get-fair-treatment-31357


And it got me thinking. Outside the realm of sparkly vampires, teenagers fighting to the death, what I'm sure is dreadful sado-masochistic romance (can someone explain the appeal of the 50 Shades series to me? Actually don't...I'm pretty sure I can figure it out and it horrifies me), and teenage wizards (I'm really sorry to lump J. K.Rowling with these folks as Harry and co deserve better but the sad fact remains that these are the only female authors who get anywhere near Rowling's sales), do we read books by women? If they aren't getting reviewed, then the main stream public surely isn't- sure literary types will read Hilary Mantell, A. S. Byatt or Margaret Atwood; crime lovers Patricia Cornwall, P. D. James and Agatha Christie (because there is always more Agatha Christie to read); classics lovers Austen, Brontes and Eliot...but aside from the above list of works by popular female novelists (the Twilight, Hunger Games, 50 Shades and Harry Potter books) when was the last time you saw masses of people reading a book written by woman on public transport? And one that was written for adults (so not Harry Potter, Twilight or The Hunger Games) and had literary merit of some kind (so not a 50 Shades book or Twilight...yep come at me fans of those novels...I've already laid into Hunger Games on this blog in the past so I'll give it a break from insult by me, especially as I do enjoy the movies) at that?

So this has inspired a mission for me...the mission is to read more books by women...granted I already read quite a few as I used to work on 19th century female authors for my erstwhile PhD so another caveat from the 20th century and another not Agatha Christie (OK maybe some Agatha...because seriously she was awesome and her output somewhat ridiculously prolific) and as many genres/types as possible. And I will blog what I think so you can be inspired to go out and do likewise...though maybe you might like to include the 19th century or earlier as maybe you haven't read as much of the ladies of that era as I have.

The books I've planned on reading/ have already read thus far are (blogs to come on those):

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (already read...some words on it below)
• The Protected by Claire Zorn (already read...some words on it below)
• All That I Am by Anna Funder (already read)
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (already read)
• Emerald City by Jennifer Egan (already read) (Egan is one of my favourite authors and if you haven't read anything by her, I strongly recommend you do...in particular that you read her Pulitzer Prize winning, A Visit From the Goon Squad)
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (already read) (an actual graphic novel by a woman! SO rare!)
• The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer (already read)
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
• Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
• Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
• The Harp in the South by Ruth Park
• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
• Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt (currently half way through)
• All of the works of Nancy Mitford
• The Keep by Jennifer Egan
• Three Lives by Gertrude Stein (at the insistance of my friend who posted the original article- she is currently reading her thesis in part on Stein)
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (shockingly I have never read it)
• The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
• Just Kids by Patti Smith
• The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers

I need to add to this though...if you have recommendations, particularly of non fiction, sci fi, fantasy, short stories, or crime, or by author that don't hail from Australia or the States or the UK...let me know! I won't reading books by women exclusively (I just read the latest Nick Hornby and the latest Discworld based Terry Pratchett in fact) but just making an effort to bulk up that part of my reading repertoire.I'm already contemplating adding some Zadie Smith, A. S. Byatt, and Ursula Le Guin to this list.

So getting down to business with a bit of a post about two books I technically read before I started this mission but which fit the parameters...Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (the one book by a woman in recent years that might pass my public transport test) and The Protected by Claire Zorn. Crime in one camp and YA in the other!

I had never been particularly compelled to read Gone Girl until I saw the trailers for the film and being a David Fincher fan who has a belief that Ben Affleck does have some solid acting muscles (you are welcome to disagree but I think he has increasingly proven himself, including in Gone Girl), I decided I should read it before I saw the film. I didn't even realise it was by a woman until I bought it- horrible I know BUT I don't read the paper except online so I rarely read book reviews (maybe I'm part of the problem) and I also tend to actively rebel against books that are read by lots of people on public transport (you can call me a snob, you are probably right, but rarely has a book that got broad bus readership been something I've enjoyed- the Harry Potter series was a rare exception). It is also a crime novel and they have to be outstandingly unpredictable (or by Agatha Christie or a little bit 1920/30s noir) or they struggle to hold my attention.Therefore I approached Gone Girl with caution.

The odd thing was I was also intrigued as I kept seeing things that said that they couldn't tell you practically any of the plot or it would be ruined, and increasingly people whose taste in books I trust enough I let them recommend things to me started saying it was amazing (to those in the know, yes that pun was completely intended).

So I picked it up and I read it in about a day (maybe two I can't remember but needless to say I read it quickly). Not assuming that all of you have read the book and/or seen the movie, I will limit what I say as others were right when they said that you share anything and you potentially ruin everything.

Basic plot summary, a woman, Amy Dunne, goes missing and suspicion leans towards her husband, Nick, and the book is split between his first person narrated account of events from the day she disappears onwards and her diary entries from their first meeting up until she goes missing. It is much more fascinating than that makes it seem and that is part of why I can't tell you much more. It is intriguing and compelling and since reading it, I have been madly recommending it to people (I even got my Dad to read it which is a rarity and he loved it). This is not just the suspense of the novel as a crime thriller but the broader implications, Flynn neatly weaves into the action of the novel. The novel has a lot to say about the media (the film latched onto that aspect of the novel and amplified it a tad, but not in a way that changed the message, not surprising considering Flynn wrote the script), community response to tragedy in the modern age of the two second attention span, the dynamics of relationships and the role of power in different relationships, constructed versus real identities especially as both of the main characters are writers, societal norms and expectations on men and women, and construction of gendered world views and prejudices. It has an immensely rich pool of subject matter floating just beneath what could be dismissed on face value as just another crime thriller. The characters are complex,flawed, and not particularly likeable- for those who have seen the film but not read the book, film Nick is more affable than book Nick, not because of Affleck (he is perfect casting) but because the less likeable aspects of Nick were lost with the loss of his internal monologue- and that just adds to the suspense. Actually just to contradict myself for a minute, personally I found Go (Nick's twin sister) and Detective Boney (the lead detective on the case) likeable but as they are strong, no nonsense women in traditionally male jobs who speak their minds with abandon and to varying degrees actively reject the power that the men in their lives try to overwhelm them with (particularly in their interactions with Nick), I feel that sadly many readers will miss how likeable they are which further hits home some of the points Flynn is to be making about gender construction and about the interplay of power and gender, taking them beyond the novel and into the mind and hearts of her reader challenging their assumptions of how female characters in a book should behave (something they surely need to grapple with first before they reinvent their view of real women in society). Of the recently written books that I have read in the last year or so, this is possible the one (for adults) that I would most strongly recommend because it has a richness to it that draws you in and a toughness in its tackling of large ideas that really packs a punch. And don't forget I don't really like crime novels for the most part so that is strong endorsement. Even if you have seen the film, I would recommend the book as there is more to be found. Also if you read the book but not seen the film, I would also recommend the film- it is quite good and Rosamund Pike is truly amazing (yep I went there again) as Amy.

 

From adult crime to teen emotion...

I have to declare a bias here as I know the author. In fact I have memories of reading some early drafts of what would become some of the first chapters of The Protected many years ago when she and I were in a book club together. That said, she is getting a lot of traction with the teen community (if the teens I know are anything to go by, my nieces and nephew were super excited that I gave one of the them The Protected for Christmas, as they had LOVED Claire's first book...and my copy has been out on loan to teens from my church for several months) and has been nominated for awards (her first novel, The Sky So Heavy, was not only short listed but went so far as to be named as a honour book in the YA category of CBC Book of Year awards, and The Protected has been shortlisted for 2015 Victorian Premier's Literary Award (winner soon to be announced...wishing Claire so much luck with that)) so this isn't just the rantings of a friend.

Thankfully in the case of The Protected I don't have to be so guarded with discussions of the plot as it is not a crime thriller. It is the story of a 15 year old girl called Hannah who had viciously bullied by her classmates until her elder sister, Katie, dies in a car accident, and immediately their response switches to completely ignoring her whilst she is simultaneously trying to cope with a home life that is falling apart. Hannah is a delightful bundle of teen emotion and vulnerability, and the boy who jumps across to chasm around Hannah to befriend her, Josh, is just a delightful young man (I suspect many teen girls who read this book will get quite the crush on Josh). I think in some ways, The Protected could be taken as a good counterpoint to John Green's The Fault in our Stars- if Claire will excuse the comparison (I don't think it would bother her as she likes Green's work and I like to think if he read hers, there would be some mutual appreciation going on there). Just as The Fault in our Stars is engaged with making death a reality for teens before the fact, The Protected is about the grieving process and processing death after the fact through the eyes of a teen. That is where I stop the comparison as that is probably all that there is as a linkage (one is very American, the other is very Australian; one is written by a man, the other by a woman; one deals with cancer, the other with bullying and relationships between sisters) but I just think they would be interestingly paired as one walks towards an understanding of death and the other wades through the aftermath...OK one more common elements, they both made me cry. The Protected is at times quite a harrowing depiction of grief especially in the passages that deal with Hannah's parents as her mother withdraws and her father weighs himself down with guilt (he was driving the car when Katie died) and both of them neglect Hannah, but it is not so drenched in misery to be unreadable by a long way, hitting a quite good mix of tone as it moves for family grief to Hannah's isolation in the times before Katie's death (told in flashback) to the more lighthearted moments of her growing friendship with Josh. Dealing with bullying and grief in an honest way, it is not without hope and humour. It also nicely walks that line that reads a YA novel readable and enjoyable for adults.

If you want to buy a copy of Gone Girl, you can get one pretty much everywhere that sells books.
If you want to buy a copy of The Protected, it depends on the shop- it is becoming more available in Australia but overseas people will struggle. Best bet to be certain of finding it is to go straight to the publisher, UQP, where you can easily buy it- http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/Book.aspx/1300/The%20Protected

See you next time, people of the internet.

Films! So many 2014 film recommends!

Welcome to 2015!

Last year was been a somewhat big year and just to finish it off I felt I'd give you the lowdown on my 16 top films released in Australia in 2014 (starting from 16 and working up...a weird number but I couldn't bring myself to lose number 16 and make it a clean 15)...
 
16. X-Men: Days of the Future Past

In any other year, this might have cracked the top 15 which is why I couldn't leave it off but it has been a STRONG year for adaptions of comics. Split across two generations the story of the Sentinels overpowering the X-Men of the near future and the origins of why that was possible. A solid return to Bryan Singer at the helm as director- in his absence, I have been uninspired by the Wolverine films to the extent that I haven't even bothered with them and X-Men: Last Stand (aka X-Men 3) was far, far from brilliant (I refuse to even own the DVD)- and a total payoff in the move to incorporate the cast from X-Men: First Class (which I thoroughly enjoyed) and the older cast from the earlier films. I loved seeing James McAvoy interact with Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Jackman were all very solid, and the treatment of Quicksilver was better than expected (still looking forward to seeing what Avengers: Age of Ultron does with him as I suspect that will possible knock this out of the park). I did miss my favourite X-person as she was reduced to just a cameo but that said and as hard as Anna Paquin tries with the role, the films have always struggled to present Rogue well so I could deal. I'm very much looking forward to X-Men: Apocalypse after this as Apocalypse has always been one of the most interesting Marvel villains.

15. Pride

For a film that could easily have become too politically pointy, this was a delight. It didn't push or ask too much from its viewers at all- it didn't have a hard core issue pushing agenda. Based on the true story of a group of gay Londoners who, sick of being oppressed by the Thatcher government and mistreated by the law enforcement of the late 1980s in the UK, decided to show solidarity with other groups in the same boat and therefore to support the striking miners in particular banding together with the miners union in a small Welsh village. It is a lovely show of two very different communities over coming personal prejudice for a common cause with the base line belief that if the same group of people is oppressing both of us we should unite and back each others' differing causes not hide in separate corners. The film is packed with great performances but in my opinion the true stars of the film are Andrew Scott (known to most people as Moriarty in Sherlock), Imelda Staunton, and the amazing Dominic West (who overpoweringly steals every scene he appears in and shows off some dance moves that make me think of him very differently then when he was the star of The Wire and The Hour)

14. Begin Again

This film managed to fly very low under the radar for most people but particularly if you are a fan of Once (this is same director), I recommend you hunt for it on DVD. Against the backdrop of New York City, an English inspiring singer/song writer whose now famous ex-boyfriend cheated on her and a formerly highly successful record producer whose life has fallen apart after his divorce bond as they record her debut album which incorporates the background sounds of the city. Keira Knightley isn't the strongest of singers (don't expect her to be in a big musical adaptation I'd say) but her voice has the perfect alt pop lilt for this role and whilst her singing isn't outstanding, it is still pretty good- I'm having a bit of a Renaissance with Keira Knightley at the minute; I've always found her highly variable but I think that is the roles more than her personally and after seeing this and The Imitation Game (a 2015 release in Australia), I think she is in for a solid 2014/5 and possibly a well deserved Oscar for The Imitation Game. Mark Ruffalo is an actor I would watch in anything (not just because he is attractive but also because he is amazingly talented) and he is great as the grumbling, disenfranchised, absentee father and broken man. A great film about two broken person fixing each other and a delightful surprise turn by James Corden as Knightley's friend- I didn't even know he had broken in the US but he is now everywhere (looking very forward to seeing him in Into the Woods).

13. The Wind Rises

 Miyazaki's last feature length film (probably last film full stop) is as always a stunner. The story of Japan during WWII and one man's quest to be an engineer and built planes- not just for war winning reasons but just because he is fascinated with air travel. I've only seen two other Japanese films about WWII previously (both also anime- one of them of course the amazingly outstanding Grave of the Fireflies...I only saw it this year  and never have I cried so much in a film) and, like them, this is quite heartbreaking in its depiction of war...in this case particularly the aftermath of bombings of villages that were largely of wooden construction. It is outstandingly animated and solidly voice acted (or seems to be, I saw it subbed not dubbed) but part of me would have liked Miyazaki to go out on more fantastical fare like some of his earlier films. Sadly (and this is my own fault), the only non English film on my list...must watch more non English films next year (I only recall watching two others beside this one).

12. Frank

And Michael Fassbender appears yet again... The story of a young guy who joins a quirky alternative band fronted by a man in a paper mache mask (at all times...even in the shower) and composed of a very eccentric group of musicians, and the band recording their latest album in an isolated cabin. Madness and chaos flavour this whole film and it has an overwhelming quirky charm that means you can't look away in either the lighter or the darker parts. The band's music is so strange that it is almost unbearable but you can imagine it randomly becoming popular. Michael Fassbender is convincing despite the paper mache head and he pulls off some solid Ian Curtis like dance moves, and it is a good thing because the amazing Maggie Gyllenhaal threatens to steal every scene she appears in with her stellar performance but he doesn't let her in the scenes in which they are both appear and Frank is the title character after all. Hilarious at times, sad at times, always amazing.

10 (tied). Gone Girl and The Veronica Mars Movie

I couldn't split two films at ten which adapt or continue things I loved.

Starting with Gone Girl...the story of a man whose wife disappears, the ensuing police investigation, and, through flashback diary entries of hers, their first meeting and falling in love. When I read the book, I already knew Ben Affleck had been cast but even so I think I would have imagined the character as somewhat like him regardless; it was about the most perfect casting I've ever seen as if the novel was written with him in mind as the main character. David Fincher is as always brilliant in direction, Gillian Flynn's script of her own novel deftly avoids all the issues of adaptations by novelists in that it doesn't cling too closely to the original to be unbearable, and the score by Trent Reznor is suitably creepy and atmospheric, plus surprising amazing performance by Neil Patrick Harris (in a drama I mean, I already count him as a very good comedic actor and singer). All that praise aside, the film truly belongs to Rosamund Pike who I questioned the casting of but ultimately was spot on as Amy and she blew me away- I hope she gets the Oscar for her performance (though I'll have serious confusion on that front if she and Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game end up in the same category- they shouldn't as Pike is leading and Knighley is supporting but who knows). The only issue is the lose of some of the character of Nick's unpleasantness now that he had no internal monologue- Affleck conveyed some of it but he seemed like a much more likeable character than book Nick.

Now for something I must declare a slight bias on as I helped funded it...does crowd funding really count as bias? I don't know. Veronica Mars (the movie) picks up about nine years after season 3 of TV series ended, Veronica has finished college and law school and is headed for a top tier position in a New York law firm, she is dating Piz with who she reunited several years ago, and all seems well until a certain ex boyfriend calls from Neptune asking for help after he is accused of the murder of his current girlfriend. OK so some of that may be gibberish to those who've never seen the TV series and whilst I think a non fan could watch and enjoy the film without needing a catch up on the series, they would miss a lot of the fun and they definitely should never watch it around fans of the series. I loved Veronica Mars the TV series (I blogged about my joy in this film existing several months ago just before it hit cinemas...the few that it hit, I was lucky to score one of the small number of tickets for the only Sydney cinema screening...it was mainly an internet and DVD release) but that doesn't mean I was guaranteed to like this- for example, I loved Dead Like Me but the follow up movie was awful and resolved nothing; I loved Twin Peaks, but found Fire Walk With Me a tough ask even for the most hard core Lynch fan; and I loved loved loved The X-Files but all of the movies weren't stellar and had massive continuity holes (as my mother always says when the first X-Files film is mentioned, "How did they get back from Antarctica? How?!?!"). Thankfully this was not the case, the characters I loved were still just as loveable and the actors were clearly just so happy and content to be living in these people's shoes again (Ryan Hansen especially...never change! I'm ridiculously sad we can't get Play It Again, Dick in Australia yet...we need it! And we need more of Dick Casablancas generally!). The soundtrack was great (the busker playing "We Used to Friends"...priceless), and the direction and script spot on and had perfect tones of light and dark when needed, and even the follow up spin off book was decent...I just have to say I'll happily pay for sequel! The only tiny possible flaw was maybe a few too many minor character cameos...I loved them but they were the main thing that means non fans can't watch this with fans...that said, more Dax Shepard and James Franco as their cameos were AMAZING!

9. Captain America: Winter Soldier

This one was a shock for me as Captain America: The First Avenger is to my mind one of the most boring and possibly worst movies ever made, and before Avengers I had serious doubts about Chris Evans's acting skills (oddly this is one of two films featuring him on this list so clearly I was very wrong...my apologies to him), and I find Captain America a highly uninteresting superhero to begin with. This second Captain America film picks up with Steve Rogers carrying out his Captain America duties tag teamed with Black Widow- thankfully with neither suffering the mild PTSD that seemed to impact Tony Stark post Avengers and was one of the reasons that Iron Man 3, whilst enjoyable as a blockbuster, wasn't great- BUT something is rotten in the state of S.H.I.E.L.D. and an unstoppable mercenary called The Winter Soldier is on their tail. I can't believe I'm about to say this considering the existence of Marvel films and TV series written by Joss Whedon, but this film is without compare the smartest superhero product yet to make an appearance anywhere outside of comics and it will take a massive effort to top its plot as something that even people who dislike comics might buy into. That is a massive call and I hope it is just a sign of Marvel's film and TV division amping it up in terms of plot and characterisation and setting this as the mark to beat. Solid work by all involved and a combination of the best action sequences I've seen in years and actually thrilling intrigue,and I'm still clinging to it the increasingly slight hope of a standalone Black Widow film as Scarlett Johansson has more than earned it. Bring on Captain America: Civil War- which, in light of this film, is now the comic book film I'm most looking forward to in the next few years!

8. Snowpiercer

See told you I wasn't done with Chris Evans...he has had a stellar year only topped another actor who makes her first appearance of my countdown in this but will appear twice more. In a dystopian future, there is a train that travels around the world once a year and following the massive cooling of the Earth into an Ice Age, this is where all of the remnant of humanity can be found (poor people in the back carriages in what is effectively a slum and rich people in luxury up the front). The film follows an uprising by the poor people on the train led by their aged leader and his gruff but it appears soft hearted younger deputy, and aided by a drug addled Korean engineer and his equally drug addled young daughter. Dystopia as genre is ridiculously popular right now but this film manages to outshine its rivals for the dystopia crown by a mile. Chris Evans proves that he actually has some serious acting muscles that go beyond making a superhero look believable and buff as he plays the tough but also at times sweet, Curtis, deputy to the leadership of the poorer community on the train. He has solid support from the rest of the cast and it is great to see a Korean director whose work I like make the transition to Hollywood with a great film like this that landed him with much critical success. Nothing remains to be said except that here begins the repeated references to the brilliance and versatility of Tilda Swinton who is outstanding in this as the mouthpiece for leader of the train community from the front...

7. Boyhood

A film filmed over 12 years mapping the growing up of a small boy that is almost 3 hours in length sounds just ripe for disaster and the shock of Boyhood  is how amazingly it avoids that potential disaster. Basically that is the plot, a boy grows up....in long form, a boy grows up in the household of his single mother with his sister and he occasionally interacts with his mother's horrible second and third husbands and his charming but absentee father (his mother's first husband). There are no words for the amazing feat that is Richard Linklater and his cast pulling this film off and doing it so masterfully. Ellar Coltrane (the boy who, along with Linklater's daughter who plays his sister, surrendered a large chunk of his childhood to this film) is outstanding, and Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette (especially Arquette) are equally great as the boy's parents. I honestly don't know what else to say but see it...it might not be a film for everyone as they might not get the concept but I have an inkling that through I enjoyed other films more, this will be the one that we are still talking about in 20 or 30 or 50 years time, it is a master class in film.

6. The One I Love

Another film that demands a bit of a buy in for the viewer as you know from the outset that there are only three speaking parts on screen...actually four if you count a line from a waitress and there are a few voicemail message that you hear...but when it comes down to it, there are only two people on screen for the bulk of the film, and unfortunately I can't tell you much about it without giving too much away. The basic starting point of the plot is that a couple, who are considering separation/divorce, are advised by their marriage counsellor to go away to a retreat he recommends in a last ditch effort to save their marriage. As the couple, Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass are amazing- even more so if I could tell you more about the film- and I agree with many critics that this has the potential to redefine the rom com (but then again I would have said that about a few other indie rom coms and sadly nothing has come of that as yet). Don't let the rom com tag put you off though as this is so much smarter than that tag leads you to expect and whilst it is a comedy about romance, it is definitely quirkier and darker than your regular rom com. Brilliant acting, brilliant script, brilliant direction...

5. Calvary

The darkest drama on my list and don't let the presence of several comedic actors in the cast make you think otherwise or this film will be too much of an ask. Calvary opens with a priest listening to a confession but not your normal confession, the person in the confessional is telling the story of how he was abused by a priest (not this one) as a child and that because of this, he wishes to take vengeance not on the priest who abused him (who has already died) but to enact it on this priest, killing this good man in place of the abusive one- the confessor then flees before the audience can see who it is but the priest knows from the outset who is plotting to kill him (a big shock in some of the scenes when you realise who it is). The film then charts what is due to be the last week of this priest's life as he prepares for his death at the hands of his parishioner the following Sunday as the village starts to turn against him and as his suicidal daughter (he became a priest late in life after the death of his wife) visits him from London. I guessed the identity of the confessor in the opening scene from their voice during that scene but I understand from others who didn't that they found it quite compelling to try and discover the identity of the confessor...it is possible to be gripped by this film either way. Brendan Gleeson is phenomenal as the stoic, good priest at the centre of the film and brilliant performances are also turned in by Dylan Moran, Chris O'Dowd, Aidan Gillen and Karen Reilly. The cinematography of this film is outstanding. This film just hits at the heart of the ragged state of Catholicism and faith (especially Christian faith) in Ireland at present, and it just shines a torch on the fissures not just in the church but also in society in general as they grapple with reconciling their strongly held national nominal Catholicism with what they see of the fallen state of man. It will take a lot of out of you but there is something in this film that speaks straight to your heart.

4. The Grand Budapest Hotel

The release of a Wes Anderson film pretty much automatically means I've found one of my favourite films of that year and this was no exception. Told in double flashback about a hotel high in the mountains of a fictional European country- an aged author remembers his time in a formerly luxury hotel long after its hey day when he met an aged former bell boy of the hotel who recounts to the author the story of the hotel at its peak. The bulk of the film lands in furthest flashback as Gustave H., the best concierge in the world (supposedly) and quite popular with the older ladies of the hotel, trains Zero, the hotel's newest bellboy, in the time between the two World Wars but soon enough hijinks ensue as an elderly lady dies and leaves Gustave H. a priceless painting much to the disappointment of his crazy, sadistic family. This is pretty much the typical brilliance you'd expect from Wes Anderson- the pastel, the wacky antics, the whimsy, the Owen Wilson, the Jason Swartzman, and of course the Bill Murray. Ralph Fiennes delivers what may be one of the finest performance of his career as Gustave H., Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe as great as the villains of the piece, and Tilda Swinton, though she isn't around for long, is memorable as the old lady (playing many years above her age). A special mention should also go to Jeff Goldblum and a cat  who provide the greatest, but also saddest scene of the film. In addition the great thing about this film is that suddenly more people seem to have got hip to the Wes Anderson vibe (this is his most popular/successful film to date) so there is sure to be a massive upsurge in people discovering his past works and delighting in them soon (or there may already have been one this year) and I'm so happy for these people who get to be introduced to such joy. The sad thing for Anderson and Fiennes is that this film will likely be overlooked in the upcoming awards season due to its early in the year release and the fact it is a comedy- I'd say it's the favourite for many of the writing gongs but a long shot for the well deserved accolades in the categories of direction, lead acting, and best film.

3. Only Lovers Left Alive

Jim Jarmusch's films are an acquired taste so I'm not surprised when others don't appreciate them as much as I do, especially since it took me more than one attempt to get into them, and you'll get have to go with me on this one. Only Lovers Left Alive is a vampire movie stripped for most of the horror and the decadence one expects of that genre and seeking mainly to ask the question what would it be like for intelligent cultured people to live forever. It begins with Eve living in Morocco with a vast collection of books and chilling with Christopher Marlowe (yes Marlowe is a vampire in this world) before she gets a phone call from her husband of centuries (yes they are married, multiple times in fact), Adam, who is in America recording music on vintage instruments and engineering his own off the grid existence, and who desperately needs to see her as he is increasingly depressed by the modern world and the humans around him. The story slowly unfolds as the lovers reunite in America and she seeks to revive his lost appreciation of this world- for a while briefly interrupted by her unstable sister, Ava. It doesn't sounds like your regular vampire film at all and the question you may ask is where is the blood...well it comes in small vials from the black market or stolen from hospitals and it only taken in small amounts as it simultaneously sustains and induces a drug like state in the vampires. This marks Tilda Swinton's third appearance on my list (she plays Eve) and John Hurt's second both on the list and costarring with Swinton (he plays Marlowe in this and is the aged leader of the oppressed masses in Snowpiercer)- if the film's original cast had gone ahead it would also be the third time lucky for Michael Fassbender but he pulled out of this due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by the equally talented and gorgeous Tom Hiddleston as Adam. This film is like a slow dance in a beautiful but fading world with its stunning visuals and gorgeous performances, especially by Swinton and Hiddleston in the lead roles. Many will find the slow pacing a bit much but if you lose yourself into the world and embrace the pacing as it seeks to invoke in you the experience of being a creature whose life span is potentially endless, it is a journey well worth taking.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy

From the arthouse to the box office smash...or some may argue (probably rightly in the eyes of the creators of this film) from the sublime to the ridiculous. Guardians of the Galaxy follows Peter Quill (aka (at least in his head) Starlord) kidnapped from Earth as a child and now working as a scavenger/thief far out in the galaxy as he steals a mysterious item and makes him the target of bounty hunters- Rocket (a genetically mutated talking racoon) and Groot (Rocket's bodyguard- a talking (well if you call the three words "I am Groot" talking), walking alien tree)- and an infamous assassin, Gamora, in her case at the behest of the greatly feared religious and racial zealot, Ronan the Accuser (she is also the adoptive daughter of Thanos (seen previously in Avengers and watch out for him as he will be a BIG villain in Marvel films to come)). Quill ultimately teams with Rocket, Groot, Gamora and Drax the Destroyer (a strong man they met in prison who wants to kill Ronan) to seek to sell the item and stop Ronan getting it. Talking racoon, talking tree, and people of many bright hues (Gamora is green, Ronan and Gamora's adoptive sister Nebula are blue, and there are also some bright pink people in the mix)...this film sounds silly and therein lies the brilliance. I said that Captain America: Winter Soldier was the smartest comic film yet, this is the funnest. The problem inherent in comic book films is that the believability for a large audience of ridiculous ideas that work in comic books can be an insanely tough ask and the issue with this one is that Guardians of the Galaxy even as a comic is super high on the ridiculous scales. What can you do in such a case but run with ridiculous! This film's strongest point is that it does not take itself remotely seriously and the film makers seemed to have been laughing (along with their audience) and enjoying the ride as they made this. I'm a big fan of Chris Pratt's work in Parks and Rec and this is perfect leading man role for him and you know it from the initial over the top credit sequence dance, and he is well supported by a surprising turn from former wrestler Dave Bautista as Drax, quality voice work from Bradley Cooper as Rocket, and nice acting through the body paint by Zoe Saldana as Gamora and Lee Pace as Ronan.  Singling out one support player for special praise, Vin Dinsel gives his best ever performance as Groot...somehow emoting more with just a few words than he does in all of his other films combined. The joy of the performances and the soundtrack of 70s/80s hits that just make you want to sing along or dance or both make this far and away the funnest film of 2014...so fun in fact that it is the first film in a long long while that I went to the effort of seeing three times at the cinema... I hope the sequel (slated for release in 2018) is just as joyful.

1.God Help The Girl

This one might be a cheat of sorts as whilst it had its Australian premiere at the 2014 Sydney Film Festival (which is where I caught it), it is yet to be slated for theatrical or even straight to DVD release here (it did have small releases in several other countries in 2014 though). That aside, I couldn't ignore it on this list as it is my film of the year and I do very much hope it gets a theatrical release some time in 2015. Eve, a young Australian girl, is in hospital with an eating disorder in Glasgow and she entertains herself by writing songs. One day, she runs away from the hospital to go to a rock concert where she meets James an inspiring guitarist and through him, his young guitar student, Cassie, and they form a band with many musical interludes along the way. Based on the album of the self name by the group of the same name, this is Stuart Murdoch's (the lead singer of Belle and Sebastien, and the architect behind the God Help the Girl band/album/concept) directorial and script writing debut, and to my mind, it is strong one. I've long been a big fan of Belle and Sebastien's style of Scottish alt pop and the songs in this film (all of them previously released by God Help the Girl or Belle and Sebastien) are delightfully rendered by the young cast- Emily Browning may not quite reach the brilliance of the lead vocalist of the original band but she gets close. The performances by Browning, Olly Alexander (whose band Years & Years I discovered via this film and now love) and the superb Hannah Murray (I've been a massive fan of hers since she played another Cassie- my favourite character in original UK version of Skins) are charmingly unaffected. The film artfully juggles subject matter that varies from very dark (Eve's mental illness) to at times comical (James's lifeguard work and his hopeless crush on Eve) with a oddly cheerful pop soundtrack that somehow works perfectly. In the age of the reborn musical, this is definitely in the grungier low budget end of the spectrum (Once being the other hallmark of that category and also Begin Again now joining that side too (though it is a little bit shiner)) and it is the side of modern musicals I'd be more than happy to see decidedly more of- just charming!

So those are my top 16 films of 2014... hope you enjoyed know what I liked last year.

In closing to balance things out, worst film of 2014 has no close competition for its spot. Why Peter Jackson, why? I used to trust you...I even defended King Kong when others hated it and railed against it. Please, please stay far away from Tolkien or any books I love again! That's right, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies is my worst film of 2014 and I only saw it on the last day of 2014 and I have seen some less than stellar films this year but nothing compares to this. Two and a half hours felt like 5, and all the actors (most of whom I admire and count as very talented...some of them appear in films listed above) seemed to be struggling to commit to the dreadful script and the over acting that was repeatedly asked of them. That said, not a surprise considering Jackson was ringing two and a half hours of film including a 45 minute battle scene out of about two chapters of the original book. If The Hobbit was to be filmed, it should have one film and it should have retained the whimsy of the original book and not been attempted to be beefed up into another Lord of the Rings! I refer you to the faulty but still effective cartoon version. I firmly believe Tolkien would be horrified by what Jackson did to The Hobbit- no matter how much he might have approved of Jackson's solid treatment of Lord of the Rings. And here endth the rage...until next time all!