Mr. Reed’s Metaphysical Neighborhood Presents the Best Technical and Artistic Film Work of 2014

Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its 2015 Oscar nominations. Some time before the official February 22 live broadcast of the awards ceremony, I hope to post my thoughts on the films (and actors and other artists and technicians) that made it into the final group of nominees. Before then, however, I would like I finish up my “best of 2014” summary with my list of favorites from the technical and artistic side of things (what is often called “below-the-line” work). If interested, you can check out my “best film list” and “best acting list” first. Again, the title’s hyperlink will take you to my review. I also hyperlink (mostly to IMDb) the artists, themselves, so you can see what other work they have produced over their careers. In the case of best score, I also link to the movie’s soundtrack on iTunes.

For each category, I stick to 5 candidates, in alphabetical order. These are the films where I thought that the work in that particular area truly enhanced the quality of the movie. I do not list my best screenplay favorites, since you can assume that any film that was in my list of overall favorites for the year would also be among the ones for which I loved the writing, as well. Enjoy, and feel free to leave comments after you look it over!

Best Cinematography: