With multiplexes playing the usual dreck coming out after December (Mortdecai? You serious?), and the only films worth seeing right now being the Oscar hopefuls we haven’t seen yet, it’s going to take some time before some truly interesting new movies come out. So why not spend this time watching some films from last year that were slept on? As we mentioned previously on the site, there were over 1,000 films released in 2014, and with a large number like that some films are bound to slip through the cracks.

That’s why some of us decided to profile those films that got too small of a release, made too little at the box office, or didn’t end up getting much love on year-end lists. These are the good, the great, the little-seen and overlooked films of 2014. And luckily for you, a lot of these picks are available right now. So why not spend this weekend catching up with some of last year’s hidden gems? You certainly won’t go wrong checking any one of these out, and you might end up singing their praises along with us. Read on to see our picks, and let us know in the comments what films you thought were overlooked from last year.

Actress

Interview with director Robert Greene and star Brandy Burre

When Brandy Burre got pregnant while working on HBO’s The Wire, she made a dramatic change in her life. Putting her acting career on hold, Burre embraced the role of a stay-at-home mom, raising her two children while her partner played the role of breadwinner. Director Robert Greene started filming Burre as she tried to start acting again, showing the difficult process while exploring some fascinating themes on subjectivity in our own lives as well as documentary filmmaking. Things eventually take an unexpected turn once some information about Burre comes to light partway through, but the universality of Greene’s themes wind up playing directly into the film’s “twist.” By putting an actress front and centre, Greene puts viewers in a state of constant awareness about the validity and authenticity of what’s on-screen. And through watching the ups and downs of Burre’s personal and professional life, it’s easy to recognize how all of us play some sort of role in our lives at one point or another. Actress is a documentary about the roles we choose to play, the roles we have to play, and the struggles that come with trying to get the roles we want to play. [C.J.]

Availability: In limited theatrical release from Cinema Guild. Expect a DVD and/or Blu-Ray release later this year.

Bird People

Review

An American man and a French woman, both staying at the same hotel. He’s there on business, while she works at the hotel as a maid. Both people go through a transformative experience and must deal with the consequences. Revealing any more about Bird People would ruin the surprise. Pascale Ferran’s diptych is by far one of the most balls-out original films of 2014, and a total delight to watch unfold. It’s hard to describe without revealing too much, but few films gave me as much pleasure last year as watching Bird People open up in ways I never could have expected. The sudden shift from small-scale to large-scale, from low-key to something more like a dream, and seeing how both parts connect thematically is nothing but sublime. My recommendation: Watch Bird People with as little knowledge as possible about what to expect, and enjoy the ride. [C.J.]

Availability: IFC will release Bird People on DVD on January 13th. The film should also be available on VOD.

Cheap Thrills

Review
Interview with director E.L. Katz and star Ethan Embry

After a husband and father (Pat Healy, terrific) gets laid off, an unexpected reunion with an old friend (Ethan Embry) leads to a tantalizing opportunity once they bump into an arrogant rich man (David Koechner). He offers the two down on their luck friends a chance to earn up to $250,000. All they have to do is participate in a series of bizarre, grotesque challenges for Koechner’s own entertainment. Director E.L. Katz starts Cheap Thrills off as a sort of funny crossover between Saw and Jackass before gradually turning the film into something as vicious as Funny Games. At the heart of the film is one hell of a nasty message about class differences, one that makes Cheap Thrills feel like a modern-day update of the ’70s exploitation films not afraid to put politics front and centre. Katz’s film certainly has scorn for its rich villains, but in watching the two lower class protagonists degrade themselves to fight over cash (what essentially amounts to scraps for Koechner’s character) it’s impossible to not sit there and wonder why they’re even playing by this guy’s rules in the first place. Cheap Thrills is an angry film, one that puts viewers through a wide range of emotions before knocking them out with a stunner of a final shot. [C.J.]

Availability: Available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming on Amazon Prime.

Cold in July

Review

Jim Mickle has shown a lot of potential in the past, but hasn’t been able to get past a certain barrier with his films that really make me sit up and applaud. Things changed in 2014 when he released his gritty pulp noir thriller Cold in July. I remember hearing about it and being more ambivalent towards it than anything. Then a friend texted me: “Cold in July. Now this is a fucking movie.” I got a chance to finally see it, and as White Lion’s “Wait” played over the end credits, I had to pick my jaw up from the floor. Mickle’s film is drenched in blood, mood, atmosphere and style. If 1980’s John Carpenter made a revenge thriller in the vein of Rolling Thunder, this would be it. Assisted with a synth score straight out of the ’80s, and led by one of the best lead performances of the year (Michael C. Hall), Mickle’s film swerves from left to right, going from one dastardly deed to another. That’s what makes the film so good; you never know where it’s going until the final 30 minutes. And when you arrive at the gore soaked finale, you’ll be struggling to remember how our hero even got into this mess in the first place. [Blake]

Availability: Available now on DVD, Blu-Ray and VOD.

The Den

When my girlfriend and I peruse the selection on Netflix, I usually just let her pick something as I can get too picky. She chose The Den, and as I clicked on the icon to start it, I couldn’t have rolled my eyes any harder at the horrendous cover art (bad cover art usually equals bad movie). Boy was I wrong. Running at a lean 75 minutes, The Den is a very strong entry into the found footage genre. A young woman decides to experiment with a new website allowing users to talk to one another in rapid succession (exactly like Chatroulette). She stumbles upon a user that looks to have been murdered on camera and decides to investigate. The deeper she goes into this grotesque rabbit hole, the more dangerous her every turn becomes. The Den expertly builds tension with each subsequent scene, and the way the film shows the walls of one’s privacy slowly crumbling around them is chilling. The film also has a lot of its scares during the day in sunlight, which is something I really admire, and it all builds to one of the most intense endings 2014 had to offer (I remember turning to my girlfriend at one point during the finale and saying “Oh my god.”) While The Den isn’t a game changer by any means, it’s one of the best found footage movies in years. [Blake]

Availability: Currently available on DVD and streaming on Netflix Instant.

Grand Piano

Review

Grand Piano is nothing more than plain, absurd fun. Its premise is like a laughable remake of Phone Booth or Speed (after telling a friend of mine the premise, he said that a more appropriate title for this would be “Tempo.”) The film takes place during a pianist’s (Elijah Wood, continuing a string of great work in genre films) comeback performance after coming out of retirement. Before he starts the concert, he’s given a message from a man hiding in the building. Apparently a psychopath has a gun aimed at the poor pianist, and if he plays one false note he’ll get shot in front of everyone. It turns out there’s a reason why Wood’s character can’t play one false note, and it’s the definition of ridiculous. But so is all of Grand Piano, which knows how to take its silliness seriously. Director Eugenio Mira goes full Brian De Palma here, and screenwriter Damien Chazelle (yes, that Damien Chazelle) continually ups the absurdity without slowing down the film’s lean pacing (seriously, between this and Whiplash, Chazelle has mastered how to write a film without any fat whatsoever). This is the perfect kind of film to watch when you just want to sit back, turn your brain off and have a good time. [C.J.]

Availability: Currently on DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming on Netflix Instant.

Housebound

Housebound introduces a simple yet kind of ingenious twist to the standard haunted house movie: What if you couldn’t leave a house you know is haunted? That’s the case for Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly), a young criminal sentenced to house arrest at her childhood home. Kylie’s talkative, overfriendly mom (Rima Te Wiata) drives her nuts with claims of hearing ghosts, but soon Kylie starts noticing strange things backing up her mom’s claims. Writer/director Gerard Johnstone deliberately plays into narrative conventions at first before cleverly revealing he has plenty of tricks up his sleeve: the officer assigned to look over Kylie responds to her claims of paranormal with excitement instead of skepticism (turns out he’s an amateur ghost hunter), and Kylie soon learns her mom might be hiding dark secrets about the home’s past. To reveal any more of Housebound’s curveballs would ruin the fun of watching the narrative frequently reboot itself into a completely different film. Those twists end up turning the film into a case of too many spinning plates, but Johnstone makes up for it by masterfully switching between tones with complete ease. Housebound is wicked fun, and one of the few horror/comedy hybrids that excels in handling both genres. [C.J.]

Availability: Currently available on VOD and iTunes, and you can purchase the DVD or Blu-Ray for the film exclusively from Amazon.

It Felt Like Love

Review

One of the most fearless movies of the year, It Felt Like Love centers around Lila, a young teenager starting to experience her sexuality. Where most coming-of-age dramas wear a hopeful badge of honor, as sex is something that may be initially awkward but ultimately rewarding, Lila’s path feels dangerous and dirty. Lila fixates on an older teen with a reputation of sleeping around. He’s the type of bad boy usually idolized in this type of story, but he has a rough edge here. He mostly ignores Lila, but as she grows more confident and promiscuous, his response is cruelly realistic. That’s what makes It Felt Like Love so transfixing – using our expectations of the genre, looking upon a coming-of-age as some sort of fairy tale (that’s how Lila sees it herself), when it is actually realistic in the worst way possible. Debut filmmaker Eliza Hittman tells the story with an appreciable amount of grace, however, keeping the film from beating down its viewer as it does to its main character. Gina Piersanti, in her first acting role, shows a desperation and sadness well beyond her age. [Aaron]

Availability: Currently out on DVD, streaming on Netflix, and available to rent/buy on iTunes.

Life of Riley

Alain Resnais, one of the greatest directors of our time, passed away in early 2014 at the age of 91, mere weeks after unveiling his latest film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The fact that Life of Riley won an award at Berlin dedicated to opening new perspectives on film showed that, even at 91, Resnais continued to excite and innovate. Adapted from Alan Ayckbourn’s play, the film opens with three couples learning their mutual friend Riley has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, giving him a few months to live. They invite him to join their theatre group, but soon the complicated histories between Riley and the three wives begin to emerge, causing tensions to rise between all three couples. Resnais fully embraces the artificiality of theatre in his adaptation, using sound stages with painted backgrounds and hand drawings for establishing shots among several other distinctive visual styles throughout. Resnais makes it all work, and with the help of his amazing cast (Sabine Azéma, his wife and longtime collaborator, is especially great), Life of Riley is always light on its feet, even when dealing with such somber material. Resnais’ final film, an unintended swan song, also happens to be one of 2014’s liveliest movies. [C.J.]

Availability: Still in a (very) limited theatrical release by Kino Lorber. A Blu-Ray and DVD will be released on March 10th.

Los Angeles Plays Itself

I’m going to do a bit of cheating here. Los Angeles Plays Itself originally came out in 2003, but 2014 saw a  proper release of the film with remastered video and audio. Before 2014, you could only see Thom Andersen’s incredible video essay through crappy online copies or a rare screening. Now the film is available for all to purchase and watch, and if you have any interest in Los Angeles it’s absolutely essential viewing. Andersen opens the film with an idea: if people can appreciate documentaries for their fictional qualities, why can’t the opposite be true? So he does exactly that, using countless features taking place (or shot) in Los Angeles to show the development of the city, as well as how decisions on and off the screen impact each other (one of my favourite parts: when Andersen explains how the city’s modernist architecture was devalued by having the movies always associate the look with antagonists). Andersen’s incredible, in-depth research and personal touches elevate the film into more than just an academic piece, and it’s so involving the nearly 3 hour runtime flies by. In fact, by the end you’ll wish it kept going. [C.J.]

Availability: Available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD, and currently available to stream on Netflix Instant.

Lucky Them

In last year’s feature on overlooked films, I put Megan Griffiths’ underseen thriller Eden on the list. Now, one year later, I’m putting yet another film by Griffiths on this list. Why is it that her films seem to attract little attention? Lucky Them is a really solid work, a grade above a lot of romantic comedies because of its cast, screenplay and themes. Toni Collette plays Ellie, a music journalist ordered by her boss to cover the disappearance of her ex-boyfriend, a legendary musician who vanished over a decade ago. Ellie teams up with an eccentric aspiring filmmaker (Thomas Haden Church) to travel across the country and find out what happened to her ex. Collette and Church have great chemistry, and both actors do a terrific job making their characters feel like fully realized people despite their eccentric qualities. Griffiths also does a great job sustaining a low-key, breezy tone to her film, one that makes it effortless to invest in Ellie’s quest to confront her past. Lucky Them is far from extraordinary, but so what? I wish more movies could be as consistently charming as this. [C.J.]

Availability: Out now on DVD and available to rent or buy on iTunes.

Open Windows

I’m going to take a bit of a defensive stance here, since Open Windows got a thrashing from critics when it came out (its average rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 33%). One of the main criticisms lobbied against Nacho Vigalondo’s film was its stupidity, dumb plot twists piled on top of each other, technology that made no sense, and an intriguing gimmick that eventually gets tossed off. But give Open Windows a break. Do you honestly think a movie that casts Sasha Grey as an A-list actress not willing to do nude scenes doesn’t know what it’s doing? Open Windows is as fun as it is silly, a visually inventive little thriller taking place entirely on someone’s computer screen. Vigalondo throws some clunky messaging about the dangers of technology in there, but he’s far more impressive when he prefers showing over telling. One of the film’s gimmicks is a piece of software (seriously, the programs in this movie make the “Zoom, enhance” stuff on CSI look 100% real) that renders people and locations into abstract, polygonal shapes made up of multiple camera angles. It’s a strange sight to behold, and a pretty fascinating way of showing how modern technology distorts the way we see things. The originality in something like that alone makes it easy to forgive any shortcomings Open Windows might have. [C.J.]

Availability: Available to rent or buy on iTunes.

The Overnighters

Review
Interview with director Jesse Moss

When I caught The Overnighters at Hot Docs last March, I felt it was going to make waves when it finally got released. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out that way; it’s in the running for a Best Documentary nomination at the Oscars, but despite critical praise The Overnighters hasn’t taken off with audiences. It’s a huge shame too, since The Overnighters feels like the kind of documentary people will look back on and revere years from now. It’s a remarkable look at the town of Williston, ND, one of the only towns in America that found itself booming during the country’s recent economic hardships. Jay Reinke, the town’s Lutheran minister, allows people arriving in town looking for work to sleep in his church, and his commitment to helping out those in need of shelter triggers a disastrous chain of events. It’s incredible filmmaking, and my pick for the best documentary of 2014. Run to catch this one if it’s playing near you; calling The Overnighters unforgettable feels like an understatement. [C.J.]

Availability: Drafthouse Films currently have the film rolling out in a limited release across the US. No word on home video/VOD availability yet, but you can arrange a screening in your town through here.

Pride

Review
Interview with screenwriter Stephen Beresford and Jonathan Blake

As I’ve gotten older, I’m become more and more cynical about movies that seem like blatant crowd pleasers – I can see right through those middlebrow films taking on fairly obvious and safe political stances, playing them off as something progressive. Matthew Warchus’s Pride fits this description, and yet it somehow hit just the right spot for me. The mid-80s true-life story of a group of young gay and lesbian activists raising money for a small community of striking miners is incredibly sweet, big-hearted and funny. It hits many of the well-trodden gay and lesbian cinematic tropes, but the relationship between the two groups gives a new perspective on the issues, with a bit of fish-out-of-water humor that feels refreshing. Pride also scores one of the year’s best ensembles, with great performances from veterans Imelda Staunton, Paddy Considine and Bill Nighy, along with relative newcomers Ben Schnetzer and Faye Marsay. And if that’s not enough, what other film features an extended dance sequence with Dominic West and disco? Despite being one of the most successful indies in its native UK (it beat out Mr. Turner, Calvary and The Imitation Game, all films with a much higher profile, for the British Independent Film Award), and a decent theatrical release, I don’t feel Pride got much love stateside. Outside of a rather surprising Golden Globe nomination in the Best Musical or Comedy category, I haven’t seen the film get much mention with critics as one of the year’s best. Pride certainly deserves more attention from us yanks. [Aaron]

Availability: Out on Blu-ray/DVD and available to rent/buy on iTunes.

A Spell to Ward off the Darkness

Review

A film I saw very early in 2014 that still feels like I only saw it yesterday, A Spell to Ward off the Darkness follows a quiet, unnamed man (Robert A.A. Lowe) as he tries out three completely different lifestyles: living on an Estonian commune, living alone in a Finnish forest, and fronting a black metal band in Norway. Directors Ben Rivers and Ben Russell come from a background that includes experimental filmmaking and ethnography, and through their film’s structure put a heavy emphasis on how location defines a person, as well as throwing in plenty of existential and philosophical themes. Their approach is completely absorbing, but it’s in the film’s final third that Rivers & Russell let out a loud, transcendent howl as they observe Lowe perform a concert with his band. Not many people had the chance to catch A Spell to Ward off the Darkness last year, but in my eyes it’s one of the year’s biggest cinematic achievements. It’s a truly unique and transfixing experience through-and-through. [C.J.]

Availability: Still in limited theatrical release at the moment, and currently streaming on Fandor. Readers across the pond (or people with region free capabilities) can purchase a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack in the UK.

Stop the Pounding Heart

Since 2011, Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini has made three films taking place in Texas, using nonprofessional actors and seamlessly merging documentary with fiction. Stop the Pounding Heart is the final film in this trilogy (note: the films aren’t linked narratively, so you don’t have to see the other two first), and quite possibly the best one out of the lot. Minervini follows Sara, a 14-year-old living with her Christian family on a goat farm. Her family is extremely devout, with her mother home schooling Sara and her siblings with teachings from the Bible. Sara starts hanging out with Colby, a young bull rider, and soon goes into a crisis of faith over whether or not she should follow her desires or the role God intends for her. It’s hard to find a moment in here that feels forced or set-up; Minervini appears to create a fictional narrative from his documentary footage, and it’s fascinating to see how well his methods evoke Sara’s inner struggles with such potency. Minervini never shows an ounce of judgment towards his subjects’ lifestyle either, and by doing so he opens the film up to explore fascinating issues delving well below the surface. [C.J.]

Availability: Big World Pictures are currently showing the film in limited release across the US. No word yet on when the film will be available on home video.

Vic + Flo Saw A Bear

Review

Released early in 2014, Denis Cote’s Vic + Flo Saw a Bear is quite a beguiling film. It’s quirky, but Cote’s approach is so precise (yet off-kilter at the same time) it’s on a completely different planet than the sort of indie comedy you’d expect. It’s like a thriller that doesn’t realize what it is until much later. The title characters are lovers from prison. At the beginning, Vic goes to stay at a dying relative’s after she’s out of jail on parole. Flo eventually joins her, and the two try to start a life together in rural Quebec. For a time, Cote hits a really funny groove with his film as his characters’ uncompromising attitude clashes with everyone they encounter (including Vic’s parole officer). Eventually things take an unexpected turn, although it’s easy to go along with the film’s abrupt shift in tone. Vic + Flo is the best kind of unexpected movie, one where it’s impossible to guess what will happen from one minute to the next. And in case you’re wondering: they don’t see a bear. You’ll have to watch the film to take a guess at the title’s meaning. [C.J.]

Availability: Available now on DVD, Netflix Instant, iTunes and other VOD services.

Watchers of the Sky

Review

Raphael Lemkin dedicated his entire life to stopping genocide from ever occurring again (he actually invented the word “genocide” as part of his quest to make it a recognizable crime), but his efforts were barely noticed. He died penniless, with less than a dozen people showing up to his funeral. Edet Belzberg’s documentary aims to give Lemkin the treatment he deserves by focusing on several people around the world still continuing his fight today. What her documentary shows is a beautiful portrait of the human condition, of people continually fighting against the current to make the future a better place. Lemkin, as well as the different subjects Belzberg profiles, know they’ll face impossible odds. They know they’ll go to their grave without seeing their dreams and goals realized, and with little appreciation from others for what they’ve done. But they know their actions will make it easier for the next generation to continue the fight, and that their own needs are trumped by the scale of their battle. There’s nothing more awe-inspiring than seeing that level of selflessness on display. [C.J.]

Availability: Currently in a limited theatrical release.

White Bird in a Blizzard

Review

Not many people liked Gregg Araki’s latest film (including some of us on this very site), but count me as a fan of White Bird in a Blizzard. Taking place in the ’80s, White Bird focuses on the coming of age of Kat (Shailene Woodley), a bored suburban teenager with little else to do besides sleep with the cute boy across the street. One day her mom (Eva Green, in full-out Virginia Woolf mode) disappears, and from there the film turns into a sort of lazy mystery. Yes, Kat wants to find out what happened to her mom, but she’s also busy trying to figure out herself as she transitions from high school to college. Araki shoots the film with a unique, melancholy tone, underscored by gorgeous cinematography and a killer soundtrack (no matter what your opinion of Araki is, his music taste is impeccable). And it should be mentioned that this is by far Woodley’s best work to date, showing that she’s the real deal within her group of young, up and coming actors. In my eyes, this is Araki’s best film since Mysterious Skin. [C.J.]

Availability: Currently on VOD, and will get a DVD & Blu-Ray release on January 20th.

Zero Motivation

2014 saw a lot of great new talent emerging behind the camera, including Israeli writer/director Talya Lavie. Zero Motivation, her debut feature, focuses on young female soldiers counting the days until their mandatory conscription finishes. Close friends Zohar and Daffi can’t stand their boring office work, but soon a strange series of events leads to a falling out between the two. Lavie structures her film in a way similar to her characters’ feelings of frustration and boredom. She’ll switch focus at times, suddenly following a different character on the base, or even introduce some surreal elements into the mix. It all comes together to make a confidently pleasant experience, one that’s surprisingly funny and likable. The film’s episodic structure (split into three parts), and emphasis on character over narrative make Zero Motivation feel like an extended pilot for a TV sitcom about soldiers dealing with their humdrum day-to-day lives. And I won’t lie: if it actually was a TV show, I’d probably tune in every week. [C.J.]

Availability: Currently in a limited theatrical release.

While watching Gregg Araki’s White Bird in a Blizzard I had the silly thought that the experience seemed similar to what it might be like to watch someone put on a two-hour theatrical using a doll house and brightly costumed dolls. In the same way a child playing with dolls is apt to exaggerate movements and voices to animate soulless toys, so do the performances and tableau of the film feel embellished and dream-like.

Shailene Woodley plays Kat Connor, a teenager deep in the throes of sexual awakening and exploration. Her mother Eve (Eva Green) disappears when Kat is 17, failing to return from the grocery store one day. Through flashback, Eve’s emotional decline is evident in her interaction with her husband Brock (Christopher Meloni) and her seething disdain for his every loving sentence, action, and breath. Leading up to her disappearance, Eve’s interactions with Kat — especially when her boyfriend Phil (Shiloh Fernandez) is present — get more and more vindictive. Strutting about in mini skirts and waking Kat in the night to slut shame her only scratch the surface of her paranoia and desperation in her housewife life.

After Eve disappears, Kat and Brock find their way through life. Kat goes to therapy to discuss her feelings and, more often, lack of feelings about her mother’s displaced status. She goes to college. She dates new boys. She takes up smoking.  It isn’t until she visits home during a school break, checking in with her old friends (Gabourey Sidibe and Mark Indelicato) and meeting her dad’s new girlfriend, that a conversation with now ex, Phil, causes her to question everything she thought she understood around her mother’s disappearance. Revelations that casts every relationship she has into question.

To think of White Bird in a Blizzard as a mystery would be mostly inaccurate. Mystery implies suspicion, and until very late in the film, there is none of that. Even the temptation to classify it as a character study feels wrong, as everyone is clearly filtered through Kat’s immature and narrow-sighted purview. In her eyes her mother is a drama queen, her father is a coward, Phil is a disposable sex toy, and Detective Scieziesciez (Thomas Jane) isn’t important for his work on her mother’s case, but instead as an example of the raw manly sexual ideal Kat’s decided is most attractive. And all of this would work just fine if the film’s ending didn’t throw real emotional revelations into the mix and expect us to accept them despite having spent all our time in a dream world until then.

As for performances, Eva Green and Christopher Meloni play their doll house roles with amazing style and energy. At first almost Stepford wife scary, Eve is robotic with her mannerisms and sharp in her candor. It starts out as off-putting and by the end is absolutely entrancing. Similarly as Kat’s idea of a wimp, Brock literally slumps his shoulders, hands hanging aloof at his sides, his every sentence exuding the cluelessness of a man trying to make sense of the marriage that’s crumbling in front of him and a daughter he holds little connection to. It’s almost hard to watch. Both deserve accolade, but Woodley’s Kat shows little signs of maturation despite the passage of time or the intensity of the truths she discovers by the end of the film, though I will hand it to her, she has teenage rebellion down pat.

Her lack of development may be due in part to what is clearly the film’s biggest failing, and that is the rushed ending. It’s possible the novel the film is based on spent a similarly short amount of time on the plot’s twists, but certainly its slower format in general must have given its readers more chance to process the information they are given. In the film, the editing fails by focusing on the wrong things, not allowing us enough growth with Kat to feel the impact of her self-revelations. It’s hard not to want her to care more about her life, though to give the film due credit, it well reflects the selfish preoccupation teenagers have in prioritizing their lives according to their daily dramas.

Another badge Gregg Araki deserves is in the perfectly curated music of the film and a great score from Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie. Full of great ’80s fare it’s worth staying through the end credits to create a playlist from the offerings, including Cocteau Twins, The Psychedelic Furs, and New Order. The art direction is equally enthralling — a well-crafted picture of the ’80s with a touch of ’50s sensibility.

Many beautiful elements and strong performances make White Bird in a Blizzard a stimulating watch, but its utter lack of real emotion do great injustice to the cruelty of loss and the very real emotions flooding through the average teenager at any given second. Kat’s only passion seems to be sexual, giving her an impractical flatness on which the entire film falls. Araki, known for reveling in unpleasant material in earlier films such as Mysterious Skin, manages to direct all discomfort into watching each characters’ overblown identity play out on-screen, while rushing past the hairy exposition without allowing it some influence. It’s just too hard to care for the story endings of dolls.

With the Oscars looming on the horizon, it’s time for filmmakers, actors, and studios to bring out the big guns and fight to nab one of those wee golden fellows. For cinema-goers, the fall season is the best time of year: With the summer blockbuster melee out of the way, our focus is shifted to the foreign dramas, auteur showcases, and breakout performances that will populate theaters through to the winter. It’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty, and with so many excellent films to look forward to in the next few months, we’ve compiled our list of 20 must-see films of the fall. Some we’ve seen, and some we haven’t, but all in all, this fall season is shaping up to be one to remember.

20 Essential Fall Films

#20 – Force Majeure

Ruben Östlund made a splash at Cannes back in 2011 with Play, a controversial film based on real-life incidents of a group of children elaborately mugging other kids their age. This year, Östlund returned to Cannes with a different kind of film. A family vacationing at a ski resort in the Alps has a close call with an avalanche, and an impulsive fight-or-flight action by the father causes the family unit to break down. Like it or hate it, Play showed that Östlund has remarkable directorial skills, and the praise from Cannes only has us more excited for his follow-up. After a bow at TIFF, Magnolia will release Force Majeure in October. Keep your eyes on this one, as it’s been one of the more buzzed about foreign films this year. [C.J.]

#19 – Tusk

In 2011, when Kevin Smith released his last feature film, Red State, he announced (with his usual long-windedness) that he’d be retiring from film directing after completing one more film. Since then he seems to have calmed down. At Comic-Con Smith did his usual “Evening with Kevin Smith” where he spent a lot of time talking about the new Star Wars film, before revealing the first trailer for his upcoming film Tusk. Based on a conversation Smith had on his podcast discussing a craigslist ad a man posted offering a free place to live to someone willing to dress as a walrus while there, Smith’s always-buzzing brain of course ran free with the very dark way such a scenario could play out. And the trailer indicates the film is just as creepy, dark, and (because it’s Smith) funny as his imagination could make it. Starring Justin Long as a podcast host investigating a reclusive old mariner in Canada, and playing up Smith’s offbeat sense of humor in lieu of Red State’s politically-charged tension, it seems like Smith may finally have found his perfect style of horror. Release date is September 19th, just in time for some pre-Halloween fun. [Ananda]

#18 – The Two Faces of January

A throwback to ‘60s romance thrillers (and appropriately set in the ‘60s itself), Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January throws three excellent actors—Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, and Kirsten Dunst—into a dizzying, dangerous love triangle set in sun-drenched Greece. An adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel, the film is rife with deception, jealousy, and murder, a treat for those of us with a taste for such noir-ish goodies. The film has gotten some decent buzz on the festival circuit, though it’ll likelier to please retro lovers than the mainstream masses when it hits in early October. [Bernard]

#17 – The Theory of Everything

I’m pretty much a sucker for anything involving Stephen Hawking. While he is most known for his brilliant advancements in physics, The Theory of Everything appears to center more around his personal life. Before being diagnosed with a fatal illness at 21 years old, he fell in love with his first wife while studying at Cambridge. Dealing with this tragedy, the film aims to be both heartbreaking and inspirational. Based on the trailer and the award season release date of November 7th, it seems that Eddie Redmayne (who plays Hawking) could be in early contention for an Oscar nomination. We hope to catch its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, so stay tuned for our coverage. [Dustin]

#16 – The Interview

The Interview received a good amount of unexpected publicity thanks to North Korea’s decision to file a complaint with the United Nations over the movie’s plot; TV personality Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) become involved in a secret CIA plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park). This film, the 2nd from Rogen & his writing partner Evan Goldberg as directors following This Is The End, finds the Pineapple Express duo partying hard, rescuing puppies and manning DPRK tanks. Despite Sony’s decision to digitally alter aspects of the movie and (supposed) cutting of a rumored “face melting” scene, reuniting Rogen with Franco in this premise seems absurdly promising. [Zach]

#15 – Listen Up Philip

Because Alex Ross Perry had already mesmerized us with his previous no-budget film The Color Wheel, his newest film Listen Up Philip has been on our radar since its announcement. Then overwhelmingly positive reviews flew in from its Sundance premiere. Combine all of this with the fact Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss star in the film and you’ve got our full attention. Schwartzman playing an arrogant novelist seems like a perfect role considering his character from HBO’s Bored to Death. Perry is quickly becoming an independent director to keep an eye on, so mark your calendars for when Listen Up Philip opens in theaters on October 17th—we already have. [Dustin]

#14 – The Skeleton Twins

If someone wanted to convince me to watch Craig Johnson’s The Skeleton Twins and began the sentence with “Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play twins,” I will most likely tune out anything else after that. Deep down I know my mind would already be made up: there’s no way I’m not watching this movie. Hader and Wiig have both grown out of their SNL multi-personas and transitioned into film; Wiig has been the more successful of the two thanks to Bridesmaids, but Hader’s small charming role in The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby hints at his untapped dramatic talent. In any case, The Skeleton Twins looks like a perfect showcase for both actors to show they have what it takes to be both funny and serious. Unveiled at Sundance to very positive response (it’s currently 100% fresh on the Tomatometer) the story deals with the reconnection of twins Milo and Maggie after they both manage to cheat death on the same day. [Nik]

#13 – Big Hero 6

Over the past two decades, Pixar Studios has taken most of the shine away from Disney Animation, and rightfully so. Toy Story is coming up on 20-years-old. Think about that for a second. Disney has had its share of recent hits with Tangled and Frozen, but those are films that aren’t really catered to me. What about a super-hero film about a boy and his robot companion with flavors of Japanese anime? Yeah, that sounds pretty good to me. Big Hero 6 has a lot of potential as a unique entry in the overpopulated super-hero genre. It doesn’t hurt that Baymax looks to be an impossibly cute robot character, on the level of Wall-E and the Iron Giant. I don’t know if the film will be as good as those films, but if it can deliver on the fun premise, it has a chance to be one of the most satisfying films of the year. [Aaron]

#12 – The Overnighters

Earlier this year at Hot Docs I called The Overnighters “a roller coaster” that’s bound to be one of 2014’s best documentaries. My feelings haven’t changed since. Jesse Moss’ remarkable film follows a small town in North Dakota going through an oil boom. As people across the country flock to the town looking for work, a local pastor’s decision to let new arrivals sleep in his church (housing is next to impossible to find) triggers a surprising chain of events. With a narrative so cinematic the doc could easily be adapted into a drama, The Overnighters starts out riveting and never stops. Drafthouse will release the film on October 24th, and don’t be surprised if this one ends up becoming an Oscar nominee. [C.J.]

#11 – White Bird in a Blizzard

This novel adaptation looks to be a stylized coming-of-age story about a teenager (played by Shailene Woodley) whose mother (Eva Green) suddenly disappears one day. The early buzz from its Sundance premiere had people praising Woodley’s brave performance as she swears up a storm and spends a fair amount of time undressed. Perhaps her acting career is evolving from Young Adult hits like Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars to more serious and adult roles. Although Green doesn’t have as much screen time as Woodley because of her character’s mysterious disappearance, it’s been said she makes every minute count. White Bird in a Blizzard will be available on VOD September 25th and in theaters October 24th. [Dustin]

#10 – The Guest

Adam Wingard is proving to be one of the most formidable directors in modern horror, with 2013’s excellent You’re Next infusing the tried-and-true slasher genre with a quirky style that’s both primal and electro-cool. The Guest, his latest offering, again takes an old-school set-up and kicks it in the teeth, straight into the new millennium. Dan Stevens plays a soldier who visits the Peterson family, claiming to have been a close friend of their son, who was killed in action. The family invites him to stay, but as random acts of violence begin to pop up throughout town, young Anna (Maika Monroe) suspects they may stem from their mysterious visitor. I’ve just come from a press screening of the film as I write this, and let me tell you—The Guest is bloody freakin’ brilliant. Go see it when it’s released on September 17th. [Bernard]

#9 – Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy’s debut feature as a director burst onto the scene with a trailer full of frantic energy. Led by what looks like a batshit performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, he continually reiterates the motto, “If you want to win the lottery, you have to make the money to buy a ticket.” The actor looks increasingly unhinged as freelance crime journalist Lou Bloom, pursuing cop cars and moving bodies to get the perfect crime scene shot before that chill-inducing shot where he screams while grasping at the bathroom mirror. The director, Gilroy, has written several films including Tarsem’s The Fall; however, worthy of note he is the brother of Tony Gilroy (also a producer on Nightcrawler), whose debut as a director (Michael Clayton) became one of the most compelling adult dramas of the last decade. Nightcrawler debuts at TIFF in September before its October 31st U.S. release. [Zach]

#8 – The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

Most years when I sit down and think about the best films of the year, there is usually one or two picks near the top of my list that are unquestionably flawed, but incredibly daring in its writing and structure — last year’s The Place Beyond the Pines, for example. I don’t know a lot about The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, but the thought of one film basically splitting into two different films from the differing perspectives of a failed relationship has me beyond intrigued. The studios recent decision to theatrically release the film in three different version (labelled Them, Him, and Her) has me wondering if this is going to be cinema gold or a complete train wreck, but it definitely has my attention. [Aaron]

#7 – Stray Dogs

I caught Ming-liang Tsai’s movie at last year’s TIFF, and was floored by its audacious nature and relentless control. It’s a very particular wheelhouse that Tsai’s movies play in, but if it happens to be yours then Stray Dogs will not disappoint. The central narrative storyline deals with a small impoverished family unity (a father and his two children,) as they move around the outskirts of Taipei and try to survive. Those familiar with Tsai’s won’t be surprised to hear about incredibly long takes of actors staring off into oblivion, or a slightly grotesque scene featuring cabbage, but Stray Dogs is nothing if not one of the year’s greatest examples of transcendental and deeply captivating works of cinematic art. The film is finally getting a theatrical release on September 12th courtesy of Cinema Guild. [Nik]

#6 – Foxcatcher

Capote and Moneyball director Bennett Miller returns with what many have described as his passion project, a film about the late John du Pont, whose attempt to support the US wrestling program in spite of declining mental health. The unlikely actor portraying du Pont is comedian Steve Carell in a part tailored for Oscars consideration, flanked by both Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo in strong roles. While the film was among our writer Nik’s Cannes disappointments this year, there are many touting not only the highly anticipated performances. After stops at TIFF and NYFF in September and October, Foxcatcher opens everywhere on November 14th. [Zach]

#5 – Dear White People

It’s about time a filmmaker set their sights on race in America, especially with people claiming the country is now living in a “post-racial” society. Justin Simien’s debut feature Dear White People is an ensemble following several black students at an Ivy League school, a premise Simien uses to open up a funny and probing insight into what race and identity means today. Back at the LA Film Festival, our writer Ananda said Dear White People is “sharply written” and “progressive and humorous”, and we can’t wait to see it once it comes out on October 17. [C.J.]

#4 – Whiplash

Whipping up a mighty buzz-storm at Sundance, Damien Chazelle’s drummer drama Whiplash stars Miles Teller as a young percussionist pushed to the breaking point by his vicious drum instructor, played by JK Simmons. Teller has been living up to expectations with each role he tackles, proving to be one of the most promising new faces in movies, and combined with Simmons’ veteran savvy, sparks should fly as their combative mentor-pupil story unfolds. Since Sundance in January, the excitement surrounding the film hasn’t fizzled in the slightest, a strong indicator that we’re in for a treat when it drops in October. [Bernard]

#3 – Interstellar

I’m partly tempted to explain Interstellar’s placement toward the top of our most anticipated Fall films list by simply stating “Because Chris Nolan” and “Because Matthew McConaughey”, but if you need qualifiers, I bet I can think of a few. For starters, the ambiguity surrounding the film for so long indicates (and it would be par for the course with Nolan) that Interstellar might be more than we yet know. The latest trailer gives us plenty to stew over. Dirt storms show a water shortage on Earth and Matthew McConaughey’s character, Cooper, is a father faced with the difficult decision of leaving his children to travel through a wormhole to find a new planet for humans to survive on. Along with fellow spacetraveler, Brand (Anne Hathaway), and a few others, Cooper and the small team travels through some gorgeously crafted foreign galaxies. Further motivation to see the film in IMAX. But knowing Nolan, who loves his late reveals and complicated relationships, we can almost guarantee that Interstellar will, ahem, take us further into space and story than we can even imagine. The film releases on Nov. 7th, which seems like forever. [Ananda]

#2 – Birdman

Despite some slight foreboding after watching the trailer for Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film is still one of my personal must-see films of the year, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, Iñárritu has yet to truly disappoint me (yes, I even liked Babel) and perhaps I’m even more inclined towards his new film because his last one, Biutiful, was so undeservedly neglected by many. Secondly, this is cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s first post-Gravity project to see release and he’s a guy who knows how to make pretty pictures, plus there’s reports of more long take wizardry in Birdman. Add to that the ensemble cast of Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis and Naomi Watts all lead by a resurgent Michael Keaton, and there’s really no need to go any further. The film will open the Venice Film festival, play the New York Film Festival, and then unspool for the public on October 17th. [Nik]

#1 – Gone Girl

Top of the list is the latest from a perennial favorite, David Fincher. Not only is he master of the book to film adaptation, but he excels when working with crooked characters. And Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel Gone Girl is a character-study in marital crookedness. In the film, Ben Affleck plays Nick Dunne, a man whose wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), goes missing on their 5th wedding anniversary. When her disappearance goes public, Nick finds himself the primary suspect and the most hated man in the country, and as detectives uncover more around the case, Nick begins to question just how well he knew his own wife. I predict the sort of character mastery we’ve seen in House of Cards and Social Network combined with the nerve-fraying plot development of Se7en and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Rumor has it the ending is slightly different than the book, co-written by Flynn and thus having her blessing, so even those of us familiar with the novel should be in for some new twists come October 3 when the film is released. It’s going to be a dark and twisty fall, and we can’t wait. [Ananda]

Take a look at the first clip released for the upcoming film White Bird in a Blizzard, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies.

In the clip, stars Shailene Woodley and Shiloh Fernandez make out in montage form, all scored to Depeche Mode. The film, which debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, is a coming-of-age story about the sexual awakening of a young girl after the strange disappearance of her mother.

White Bird in a Blizzard is directed by Gregg Araki, who isn’t a stranger to sexually explicit films involving young people. He often gets his actors to go places they haven’t gone before on screen, so this may be an important film for Woodley, who doesn’t exactly have a squeaky-clean film persona, but is typically the good girl.

The film opens in theaters on October 24, but you will see it pop up on demand on September 25.

First clip from White Bird in a Blizzard