The Best and Worst Movies of the Year and Holiday Viewing Recommendations

Film critic and author Peter Rainer previews the best and worst movies of the year and also names his top films – both new and old – to check out during the upcoming holidays.

The first film discussed is The Theory of Everything, the story of renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, and his romance and marriage to the love of his life, Jane Wilde.

“I think it’s worth seeing because of some of the performances – Felicity Jones and especially Eddie Redmayne as Hawking, it’s really an amazing performance,” said Peter, the film critic for the Christian Science Monitor. He adds that he thinks Redmayne will be a definite contender for the Best Actor Oscar for his performance.

“The movie itself I found very conventional, and a kind of by-the-book biopic,” he added. “Not very exciting on any sort of cinematic level – in a way it’s as much the wife’s story as it is Steven Hawking’s, although it’s not promoted that way.”

Peter also found that the movie also has a distinct muted British tone. “I don’t think that people really explode through their emotions, which would seem to make emotional sense for a story like this. The movie is always kind of reserved in that sense, and I think that that cuts back on the power of it.”

Turning to Wes Anderson’s quirky comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel, Peter says his take is that it was a “strange” movie that probably should be seen more than once to fully appreciate.

“I think this is one of his better movies, even though on the surface it’s kind of a burlesque, or jape, or some sort of weird kind of comedy,” he said. “It does have a very serious, tragic undertone about the fate of Europe and the war, and the people who were dispossessed.”

Overall, Peter feels the movie was quite fascinating and included some very good performances, particularly from lead actor Ralph Fiennes. “I came out of this movie having laughed a lot, but also feeling that I’d seen a tragedy, which is a difficult thing to pull off, and I think he does it successfully.”

Another film that’s getting critical acclaim but not much publicity and buzz is the drama The Immigrant, starring Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix. The movie is about a Polish nurse (Cotillard) who is newly arrived in America and is forced into prostitution by a theater manager (Phoenix) who moonlights as a pimp.

“It’s beautifully shot and the period recreations of New York at that time are almost on a level with The Godfather II – it’s an extraordinary movie in many ways,” said Peter, who also authored the book Rainer on Film: Thirty Years of Film Writing in a Turbulent and Transformative Era.

He said Cotillard was honored for her work in the film by the New York Film Critics Association. But being an excellent film, it has received next to no publicity from The Weinstein Company.

“It’s not like a movie like this comes along every day, a movie of this quality. There are plenty of movies that are being promoted heavily by the Weinsteins and every other company in Hollywood, that are nowhere close to this – so it’s a mystery.”

Watch the full interview for more from Peter, including his views on current releases Boyhood and Interstellar, as well as his top film picks for viewing over the holidays.