Review: "A Most Violent Year" (****½)

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac star in "A Most Violent Year."

From the opening credits, "A Most Violent Year" is hypnotic. A tracking shot shows our lead, Abel (Oscar Isaac), jogging through a chilly New York. It’s 1981. Passing graffiti-covered buildings, piles of dirty snow and junk yards, we’re introduced to a New York rarely seen in film. The gorgeous, crisp sepia-toned colors and cool, clean tracking shots call to mind some of David Fincher’s more recent films. Perhaps writer director JC Chandor took a page from Fincher’s how-to-make-anything-and-everything-look-amazing playbook. It’s beautiful. The sun starts to rise as the city wakes up. After Abel finishes his morning run, we see his wife, Anna (Jessica Chastain), applying her make-up and listening to the local news on the radio as she stares into the mirror and exhales cigarette smoke. Soon after, the couple meets up in a damp, snowy parking lot as Abel grabs two brief cases from the trunk of his car and tells Anna that she “looks very nice.” At the same time, a young man driving a large truck pays his way through a toll booth on a bustling highway. The man is immediately blocked in by two cars, pulled out of his truck and beaten up by two strangers with hand guns. The words “A Most Violent Year” appear on the screen accompanied by the sound of a passing train.

Georgia Film Critics Reveal Nominees for 2014 Awards

"Birdman" narrowly leads nominations; "Ida," "Nightcrawler," "Snowpiercer," "Under the Skin," make a splash across the board.

Most critics groups have had their say already, but the Georgia Film Critics Association doesn't mind giving themselves time to think about their top picks of the year. This is their fourth year handing out best-of designations.

"Birdman" leads the pack with seven nominations, but "Boyhood," "Gone Girl," "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and Georgia-lensed "Selma" are all close by with six mentions each (not counting the individuals mentioned for Breakthrough Award).

Perhaps most noteworthy is the dominance of "Nightcrawler" (with five nods), "Snowpiercer" (with four nods) and "Ida" (with three nods)—all including Best Picture. Foreign films "Force Majeure" and "Two Days, One Night" pop up in the Best Actress category. Documentaries garner several mentions outside their own category, with "Sepideh" receiving a Foreign Film nod, "Life Itself" mentioned in Best Score, and both "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me" and "Virunga" earning Best Original Song nominations.

"Calvary" earned a rogue screenplay nomination, as did "Wild" and "The Imitation Game." There was plenty of love for "Inherent Vice," "Interstellar" and "Under the Skin"—each receiving three nominations.

Several of these films were found on the Georgia film festival circuit this year. "Whiplash," "Two Days, One Night," "Foxcatcher," "The Imitation Game," "Life Itself," "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me," "Finding Vivian Maier," "Keep On Keepin' On," "Big Hero 6" and "The Book of Life" all featured at the Savannah Film Festival. "Ida" played at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival early in the year.

Winners will be announced on Friday, January 9th. Check out the full list of nominees after the jump.