We’re already halfway through 2014, so that means it’s time to take a look back over the last 6 months and see what’s stood out. As a preview for our staff list of the 15 best films of 2014 so far, a few of us will be pairing up and going through our top five films of the year.

This is the first of three Hangouts we’ll be doing. I’ve teamed up with fellow Way Too Indie reviewer Nikola Grozdanovic, and we’ll both be going through our respective picks for best of the year. Watch our Hangout below, and take a peek at our Top 5’s as well if the anticipation is killing you. In our Hangout we also discuss a few honorable mentions, the films we wish we could have seen, and we end things by looking at what’s to come in the second half of the year.

Be sure to look out for Part 2 of our Best of 2014 (So Far) Hangouts, where our West Coast writers Ananda Dillon and Bernard Boo will discuss their picks.

CJ’s Top 5

#1  Only Lovers Left Alive (review)

#2  A Spell To Ward off the Darkness (review)

#3  The LEGO Movie

#4  Vic + Flo Saw A Bear (review)

#5  Omar (review)

Nik’s Top 5

#1  Nymphomaniac (Volume I & Volume II)

#2  Only Lovers Left Alive (review)

#3  The Immigrant

#4  Ida (review)

#5  The LEGO Movie

Hangout Timestamps

0:00 – 3:49 – Intro
3:50 – 12:59 – Honorable Mentions
13:00 – 17:56 – Films we wish we could have seen in time
17:57 – 27:11 – CJ’s #5
27:12 – 35:00 – Nik’s #5
35:01 – 48:03 Nik’s #4
48:04 – 57:50 CJ’s #4
57:51 – 1:09:42 – Nik’s #3
1:09:43 – 1:10:25 – CJ’s #3
1:10:26 – 1:22:05 – CJ’s #2
1:22:06 – 1:33:17 – Nik’s #2/CJ’s #1
1:33:18 – 1:48:47 – Nik’s #1
1:48:48 – 1:59:30 – Looking ahead
1:59:31 – 2:03:00 – Outro

A few shades darker than your average thriller, writer-director Hany Abu-Assad’s Omar, a nominee for the 2014 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, explores the psychological trauma endured by the eponymous Palestinian twentysomething (Adam Bakri) and his childhood friends Amjad (Samer Bisharat) and Tarek (Eyad Hourani) as they struggle to survive in the violently, psychologically oppressive climate of Israeli-occupied Palestine. Though narratively uninspired and lacking strong performances to lead us through the tale, Abu-Assad’s pensive examination of the toxic environment in the Middle East is as riveting as it was in his lauded suicide bomber drama Paradise Now.

Omar is a brazen, handsome young man with a ferocious will; he scales the twenty foot wall standing between him and Tarek’s house with ease, only to be met at the top by Israeli gunfire, which grazes, but doesn’t phase him. He’s on his way to meet with Amjad and Tarek for their regular “freedom fighter” training, which includes sniper rifle target practice and planning an attack on an Israeli army base over cups of tea. Serving them the tea is Tarek’s beautiful sister Nadia (Leem Lubany), who slips Omar a love note on his saucer as they play eyes. (Amjad’s clearly interested in Nadia too, though his tiny frame suggests he shouldn’t be serious competition for Omar.)

The trio carries out their covert assault at night, and they successfully pick off an Israeli soldier from atop afar (Amjad pulls the trigger). The next day, Omar is caught (following a conventionally choreographed foot chase) and imprisoned by the Israelis and forced to choose between a lifetime in prison and freedom, providing he brings them Tarek (who they believe shot the soldier) on a silver platter. He’s got a month to deliver his friend to the enemy, and the rest of the film follows Omar as he scrambles to placate the suspicions of his people (why was he released so quickly?), win Nadia’s hand in marriage, smoke out the real rat in his inner circle, and keep himself out of prison. It’s an impossible juggling act, but Omar’s nimble of foot and wit and driven by the hope of a future with Nadia.

Doom and danger dominate Omar’s life, as his role in the Palestinian cause takes precedence over his love for Nadia whether he likes it or not. Tarek will only agree to endorse he and Nadia’s marriage after they carry out an ambush on the Israelis. Omar obliges. The ambush is botched (this is surely the work of the rat), and the film rinse-and-repeats–Omar is caught, sent to prison, and set free again, gifted with one last shot at retrieving Tarek by prison warden Rami (Waleed Zuaiter), who we can sense is taking a liking to Omar. The film ends with a bang, a startling flash of violence that is the film’s most resonant moment.

Like many filmmakers depicting the volatile climate of the Middle East, Abu-Assad is evasive in his moralistic statements about the conflict itself, so as not to incur a backlash from either side. What he instead chooses to focus on is the tragedy that the fog of death will forever lie between these young men and their friendship, hopes, and dreams. Omar’s connection to the Israelis instills mistrust and paranoia in the group, and Amjad carries with him a secret about Nadia that could cause their group to implode.

The cast (with the exception of Zuaiter) is non-professional, and it shows. Bakri and Bisharat in particular wear perpetually blank faces, even in the most intense scenes, and it hurts the film. Zuaiter, Hourani, and Lubani’s efforts are more than respectable, but their parts are secondary. Abu-Assad is a storyteller of symbolism; a shot of an older, depleted Omar struggling desperately to scuttle up the wall from the beginning of the movie, is a powerful visual indication of just how far our hero has fallen.

Omar trailer

Where to begin with the Foreign Language Film category? The nomination process will always annoy people: Foreign countries submit one film they consider their ‘best’ for the year, said list is whittled down to 9 films, and a small committee chooses their 5 favourites from the shortlist. This year was also, unsurprisingly, home to some controversy because of the process. Blue is the Warmest Colour was not eligible because it was not released within Academy guidelines (a film must be released before October 1st in its home country), and Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Like Father Like Son wasn’t even submitted by Japan.

All things considered, despite a few snubs, this isn’t too bad of a list. But first, let’s get some nominees out of the way. The Hunt is a terrific drama that gets a great response out of audiences, but the subject matter will probably turn off voters. The Missing Picture is a personal film about the director’s experience in Khmer Rouge labour camps as a child, and while it covers ground the category has been kind to in the past the film hasn’t been generating much buzz. The fact that it was nominated is an achievement in itself.

It really comes down to two films this year: The Great Beauty and The Broken Circle Breakdown. The Great Beauty has been working like gangbusters with audiences, enjoying mass praise from critics and still healthily making money well into its theatrical run (it opened in November). The Broken Circle Breakdown, and all other nominees really, haven’t matched the success of The Great Beauty, but Broken Circle will reduce most of its viewers into a sobbing mess with its story of a terminally ill child. Granted, I thought it was manipulative garbage (see review below), but the film has been resonating with audiences.

In the end, I think prestige will win out over emotions. The Great Beauty already has a Golden Globe win under its belt, and the story will probably appeal to members more. I could be absolutely wrong about all of this (and I’ll be the first to admit it if I am): for the first time since the 1950s voting on this category has been opened up to all Academy members. This might shake up things considerably, so we’ll have to wait and see come March.

As for who should win, it goes to the only nominee I haven’t mentioned yet. Omar is a terrific thriller that uses genre elements (specifically film noir and, to a lesser extent, western) to comment on the inescapably tragic way of life that Palestinians live daily. Hany Abu-Assad’s political angle never feels preachy or overwrought for one second, and even if one disagrees with the film’s stance they can still appreciate Omar as great genre filmmaking.

To be fair I decided to go with my ‘shoulda’ pick by looking at this year’s official submissions. Naturally I haven’t seen much, including some films that had people fuming over being snubbed (looking at you, Wadjda). From what I’ve seen, then, I decided to go with The Past. Asghar Farhadi’s latest film may be a step down from A Separation, a film that won this category, but Farhadi is still creating great dramas that no one else appears to be attempting right now. Farhadi’s film about characters failing to escape from their pasts is, funnily enough, unable to step out of the shadow of the director’s last film but that shouldn’t take away that it’s still quite good.

Category Predictions

Best Foreign Film Nominees

The Broken Circle Breakdown (review)

The Great Beauty (review)

The Hunt (review)

The Missing Picture

Omar

Previous Category Analysis

Best Shorts
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay