The Best (and Worst) Stuff of 2014

In the past, I would craft a best list of my favorite movies of the year. But since my movie-going habits have not kept up to pace with others, I have opted for a different approach this year. Instead of sharing my top 10 movies of the year (of which very few would grace it), I decided to share my favorites in tons of different venues. Enjoy.

Movies

BEST MOVIE FOR ADULTS

Grand Budapest Hotel: This movie is fresh in our minds, since we just saw it a few weeks ago. You wouldn’t believe the trepidation we had in approaching this film, since Wes Anderson has never done anything for me. But in this audacious work, it somehow strikes the right tone in terms of stature and lunacy, of pathos and whimsy, of intrigue and heart. All in the service of a story that’s nearly impossible to concatenate in a few small sentences. At the center of this exhilerating farce is the grounded hilarious performance of Ralph Fiennes, never better.

BEST MOVIE FOR FAMILIES

The Lego Movie: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were saddled with the near impossible task of taking a project that every person had zero interest in watching, and crafting a bizarrely entertaining rollercoaster of a film that surprises at every turn. Everything may not be awesome, but this movie is.

MOST OVERPRAISED MOVIE

Boyhood: Upon leaving the theater, I was waxing rhapsodic on this miracle-of-a-movie: twelve years caught on film with a child growing up within your eyes. But upon further reflection, I realized that this was a one-note trick, one that can be easily be replicated with a Netflix or Amazon Prime account and access to a long running television series with a child actor in the principal cast. Furthermore, I realized that the kid himself had very little personality as he aged; it was almost as if they were deliberately making him as bland as possible, not resolving most every major story point, so we could put ourselves in his shoes. As an experiment, I see most everybody bought it, but as a story, it is the emperor’s new clothes.

MOST BORING GUY MOVIE

The Raid 2 Make no mistake: when it gets down to the final forty minutes of this epic, sprawling mess of a film, it is as heart-pounding as any actioner out there, exceeding expectations and being absolutely riveting. But to get there, you have to wade through a slog of a plot that is as incomprehensible as it is unneccessary. The filmmakers took what made the original Raid as the very best action movie since Die Hard, and threw them out the window. What a disappointment.

WORST MOVIE EXPERIENCE

Penguins of Madagascar: Sometimes you make sacrifices for your children. This was one that I regret.

MOVIE THAT SURPRISED ME HOW MUCH I LIKED IT

Noah: Many Christian film reviewers loathed it, others greatly admired it. I found myself aligning with the latter group, noting my general agreement with the main problems with the former group. I cannot reiterate this enough: if the filmmakers merely changed the names of the story, and said it was “influenced” by the Noah story, it would’ve gotten universal raves.

BEST RELIGIOUS MOVIE

Ragamuffin: in the midst of all the hubbub of this year being the year the ‘Christian’ movie broke through to the masses, it was this small Christian indie biopic honoring one of Christian Contemporary Music’s great figures, that moved me the most. This did not get a full release, but I caught it on Netflix, where it still resides. Catch it before it disappears.

BEST CLASSIC MOVIE REDISCOVERY

You Can’t Take It With You: Watching classic movies is a big thing in my house, and this year I finally saw Frank Capra’s 1938 Best Picture winner. What inspired lunacy! What a great cast! What a fantastic heart. This ought to be required viewing to follow up on “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

Television

BEST TV ADDICTION

CNBC’S Shark Tank / The Profit
I was late to the charms of Shark Tank, but CNBC has done me the favor of making Tuesday and Wednesday nights into Shark Tank marathons. And then CNBC offered “The Profit”, where Marcus Lumonis tries to rescue failing businesses. This is your own MBA program.

FAVORITE SITCOM

The Big Bang Theory: What can I say… sometimes the general public gets it right.

BIGGEST ASSURANCE THAT JUMPING OUT MID-SERIES WAS THE BEST DECISION

How I Met Your Mother: M and I were totally into this show in the beginning (where it was exec-produced by future Lego Movie helmers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller). But around season 6 the laughs had gotten sporadic, and we just gave up on it. When the hullabaloo of the final season was being trumpeted, we decided to give it one more shot: only to turn it off within the first five minutes. We didn’t even know the finale aired until the day afterward.
In fairness, there was one week where we did watch: I heard of the episode where the mother finally had her own episode, and it was pretty effective. But then we gave up on it.
So when we heard about what happened at the finale, we were absolutely dumbstruck. Talk about the worst ending of a series in the history of television. They invest all this energy to build these characters, only to have the rug pull out and make you loathe these selfish ignoramuses.
Turns out the makers of the series had this ending in their plans for six years, and had to film the (2030) kids’ responses way back then, before they grew any older. Okay. But then they should have crafted multiple endings, and tried them out before committing to the final script. Over time, characters develop and change, and the audience’s responses to them change as well. What would’ve possibly worked at Season 3 could not work at the end of Season 9.

BEST TV

Parenthood: We like this show. Not much else to say, really.

MUSIC

BEST WORSHIP SONG REDISCOVERY

Beneath Our Lady’s Shadow – Marian Pentecost Song
I discovered this hymn when I was crafting my Pentecost-specific worship set for Prayer Meeting Podcast.

BEST ALBUM

“Weird Al” Yankovic – Mandatory Fun: 2014 was the year the Weird Al debuted with his very first number one album, and his writing was as sharp as ever. It will also be the year our children finally “got” Weird Al, and requested him every night. Yay!

BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN SONG

Greater – MercyMe: I don’t ask for much… just a song that combines a profound Biblical precept, accompanied by a great creative musical backdrop. This exceeded my expectations.

BEST NEW WORSHIP SONG

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail): This song according to Billboard Magazine, hit atop the Christian Charts for most of the year. Which goes to show that the Christian music charts are currently having a hard time adding new songs. But if there was to be a worship song at the top, this emotional plea for us disciples to take those daring steps upon the water, ought to be on every worship team’s playlist.

BEST REDISCOVERED GUILTY PLEASURE

Rick Springfield: Earlier this year M+I discovered “Affair of the Heart” a documentary of Rick Springfield fans in the last few years. It was such an eye-opener, and he seemed like a generously huge lover of his fans, that it made me rediscover his work. Granted, much of his 80s output is gloriously dated (Celebrate Youth!) and one of his current albums is way too angry at religion. But nonetheless, I find myself admiring his musical craftsmanship, and his generosity to those who like his music.

BOOKS

BEST NON-FICTION

The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler. This was a fascinating read, allowing me to understand the extreme sports subculture that dominates much of today’s youth. As he discussed the great trends of the last two decades, and the immense strides that have taken place in that time frame, he introduces the concept of “flow”, which could apply to many diverse situations outside of sports. I openly wonder how much of past revivals and worship music has been influenced by this concept.

BEST CLASSIC READ

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: It’s a wonderful discovery to find a classic work of literature, one that is universally acknowledged, and discover how religiously profound it is. Forget the story; this is a book about how things do not define us, but how to stay faithful in the midst of great trials.

DEVOTIONAL OF THE YEAR

The Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli: this happened to be the devotional I used over the last year.

BEST CHILDREN’S BOOK

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
We all know the movie. It’s one of the greatest movies of all time. Here’s a shock. The book is better. (Get the Whispersync version with Anne Hathaway doing the voices! Tremendous!).

BEST GIFT I BOUGHT MYSELF

The Hymnal of the Hours by Fr. Samuel Weber, O.S.B.: This year I learned to chant! With this book, and the iChant – Gregorian App, I have found chanting to be very easy to accomplish. The words are profound and deep, but the melodies are inspiring.

BEST PRODUCTIVITY TOOL

Amazon’s WhisperSync + Cheap Classics
We all want to read more of the classics. Let Amazon’s Whispersync be your gateway drug. With it, you can read a book on Kindle, and on audio. And it remembers where you left off on one device and syncs up to the next. But with public domain classics like Moby Dick or A Princess of Mars going for as little as $4.00 for each set, you cannot lose with the combination.

What were your high points/low points of 2014? Share below!