Eyes Wide Open 2014

The Year's 25 Greatest Movies (and the 5 Worst)

Non-Fiction - Music/Entertainment
154 Pages
Reviewed on 03/19/2015
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Suzanne Cowles for Readers' Favorite

Book and film critic, Chris Barsanti measures up the best and worst films of 2014 in Eyes Wide Shut: The Year’s 25 Greatest Movies (and the 5 worst). If you are looking for a quick synopsis of films to see or avoid, this easy to read guide captures the highs and lows in a refreshingly fluid writing style that is sure to entertain. Divided into 6 chapters, the top 25 movies are critiqued with wit and a highbrow command of the English language. This work is a follow up to Eyes Wide Shut 2013 and captures the same honest dissection of the movie industry, directors, actors and screenwriters. Barsanti’s sublime reviews hit home by describing the utter demise of an industry once capable of captivating the heart with stunning visuals, operatic music scores and taglines that stick.

Whether you agree with his opinions or not, Barsanti clearly has one. His focus on the mediocrity of the year can be echoed in the Sony email scandal and the Christmas time expected release of The Interview. It’s as if the creative genius of Hollywood has atrophied to a lifeless crust where the real modern issues of the world are avoided to escape to the Hobbit filled fairy worlds of a dystopian era. Even the five worst films have the same qualities that make the best films lackluster and morose. Eyes Wide Shut: The Year’s 25 Greatest Movies (and the 5 worst) by Chris Barsanti will make you laugh, cry, scream angry words or just numb out as the movie machine continues to crank out a disappointing dribble mixed with the occasional gem.