Top Eleven Movies of
2014
2014 has come to a close, and what a year it has been for
films. All across the board, critics and audiences alike responded to the
plethora of quality productions, including remakes and sequels that surpassed
expectations and original films that came out of nowhere to be the best of the
year. I saw so many good movies this year, that I had to turn my top ten list
into a top eleven.
Disclaimer: there
were many highly acclaimed films that I have not been able to see yet from
2014, and chances are good that they would have been in my top ten/eleven had I
seen them (this is for the hardcore cinema goers who will freak out when they
see I don’t have a certain few films among my top ranking for the year.)
-Boyhood
-Whiplash
-Nightcrawler
-The Imitation Game
-The Theory of
Everything
-Life Itself
-The Babadook
And many more.
11. Edge of Tomorrow (A.K.A. Live, Die, Repeat)
Coming in at eleven is what I originally expected to be just
another Tom Cruise sci-fi action money grab, but what turned out to be an
exceptional sci-fi action adventure that wasn’t just another Tom Cruise money
grab (it actually did poorly at the box office this summer, which is
unfortunate). Edge of Tomorrow, sort
of re-titled Live Die Repeat, is
about aliens that have invaded earth, and the ongoing war to stop them. Tom
Cruise’s character gets drafted into the army and strapped into an exo-suit to
fight the aliens, but when he kills one and gets killed himself during a beach
front ambush, he gains the power to go back in time one day with all of his
memories intact, but only when he gets killed. He uses his newfound power
alongside a war veteran played by Emily Blunt to figure out a way to defeat the
alien leader and save humanity. This is probably Tom Cruise’s best sci-fi film
since Minority Report, and in my
opinion, his best overall film in quite some time. What really impressed me was
the way the filmmakers took a story that essentially sounds like Groundhog Day with aliens and made it
consistently entertaining, despite retreading a lot of the same ground over and
over with the repetition of time. The action was swift and extremely
impressive, Cruise and Blunt were excellent in their roles (it was especially
great to see Blunt play such a strong female character), and it was
surprisingly funny at times. Everything down to the little details, including
the design and behaviour of the aliens and the weaponry worked, and I highly
recommend you check this one out if you haven’t seen it yet.
10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
This second solo Captain
America film was on my list of top ten most anticipated films of the year,
and it didn’t fail to deliver. Fans got what was promised to them, a superhero
action adventure rolled up into an espionage thriller, and it thrilled indeed.
Chris Evans was great as always as Cap, and seeing him try to reintegrate
himself into society after having been asleep for decades frozen in ice and
saving New York from an alien invasion was every bit as interesting as all the
action going on. The introduction of Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie, was a
nice addition to the story, and having Cap go up against The Winter Soldier
raised the stakes enough that this standalone Marvel film far surpassed the
previous Phase Two entries (Iron Man 3
and Thor: The Dark World). The acting
talent was exceptional, the visual effects were great, but what really blew me
away was the way they were able to ground it in reality, despite having some
outlandish ideas. Multiple helicarriers flying around and firing weapons and crashing
sounds kind of preposterous in what really is essentially a political spy thriller,
but it worked (and was an appropriate step up from what we saw in The Avengers as well). Captain America: The Winter Soldier managed
to exceed my expectations and boost not only my interest in what I think of as
a lesser Marvel hero, but everyone’s interest in the Captain America standalone films, and make the upcoming Captain America: Civil War one of the
most anticipated superhero movies to come in the near future.
9. The Lego Movie
When I heard they were making a movie based on Lego, I
thought it was a dumb idea. When I saw the trailer, it only reaffirmed my
scepticism, as I thought it looked terrible. Yet I continued to hear stellar
things about. After much delay, I finally watched it to see what all the fuss
was about. Let me go on record as saying I love to be proven wrong, especially
proven vastly wrong. As soon as I saw The
Lego Movie, I completely forgot why I ever thought this movie was a bad
idea. What could have went so bad turned out to be a fantastic family film,
rendered in stunning animation that mimics stop motion so well it genuinely
looked like it was stop motion at times. The voice cast was excellent, including
the rising star Chris Pratt as Emmet, an average Lego figure who becomes the
key to saving Lego Land, along with many other unusual and hilarious
characters. The main concern I had with The
Lego Movie from the start was, how could you make a cohesive movie about
something that is designed to promote creativity and originality to a degree
that the possibilities are endless? Well, writer/director duo Phil Lord and
Chris Miller embraced the creativity of Lego and spun a story that takes some
unexpected turns, generates many laughs, and offers family friendly fare that is
hard not to enjoy. For me, this was definitely the most surprising film of
2014.
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson makes excellent films, and he has a very
specific style of filmmaking that cannot be mistaken as the work of any other
filmmaker. His latest production may be his greatest work yet. The Grand Budapest Hotel is a peculiar
and fascinating story about a girl reading a book about a man telling a story
about a man named Zero telling him a story about how he came to own the old and
rundown Grand Budapest Hotel and why he won’t close it down. Got it? Good. The Grand Budapest Hotel has what is
debatably the most outstanding cast of the year, even though many of the big
names in it (including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and many more)
only have small roles or cameos. The acting is fantastic across the board, and
I especially enjoyed seeing Willem Dafoe as a vampire-like villain and Jeff
Goldblum in his best role in far too long.
The story is a bit darker than other Wes Anderson films, and it’s more
mature compared to other excellent works of his such as Fantastic Mr. Fox. It’s also hilarious in a clever and
unconventional way, as has become expected of Anderson’s films. If you’re
familiar with the distinct stylized filmmaking at work here, it may not feel as
original and groundbreaking to some, because it’s essentially Wes Anderson
doing a typical Wes Anderson film, but what I appreciate so much is it’s the
best typical Wes Anderson I’ve seen since Fantastic
Mr. Fox (I wasn’t a big fan of Moonrise
Kingdom) and he took some chances with the story, characters, and dialogue
to give it a bit of a different feel, and it paid off. The Grand Budapest Hotel is complicated without being overly
complicated, quick paced without being too fast, and stylish without being
style over substance. All in all, it’s a great film.
7. X-Men: Days of Future Past
2011’s X-Men: First Class
was a return to form for the X-Men
franchise. By casting new young actors in the roles we came to know and love in
the original X-Men trilogy and giving
Wolverine a break from being at the center of things, my interest in the X-Men films was reinvigorated. This year’s
latest installment took what I loved about the first two X-Men films, what I loved about First
Class, mixed it with some time travel and Sentinel robots, and became my
second favourite X-Men film so far.
It somehow managed to balance a huge number of mutant characters without ever
losing focus—giving us enough time with past favourites like elder Magneto and
Professor X, as well as the younger versions from First Class, and with Wolverine in the middle of them. But by far
the most memorable character, who was a part of one of the most memorable
scenes of the entire year, was Quicksilver. This mutant came out of nowhere and
was funny, clever, and completely overpowered. However, his ability to move at
super speeds was by far the greatest addition to this complex superhero film,
which righted the wrongs of previous installments while also paving the way for
successful sequels to come. It had a great story, great acting, great special
effects, and was all around satisfying.
6. Gone Girl
David Fincher is one of the greatest directors working
today, so it wasn’t a big surprise that his latest film made it into my best of
the year. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen a genuinely thrilling thriller
that had me on the edge of my seat multiple times throughout, and Gone Girl had me riveted for the entire
two and a half hour running time. Ben Affleck was excellent as the distraught
husband whose wife has mysteriously gone missing, but it was Rosamund Pike as
his wife who gave the standout performance and completely owned her character.
The less you know about the plot going into this movie the better, so I’m not
going to say too much more on this one. It has many twists and turns, the bulk
of which I never saw coming, and the direction by David Fincher is flawless. It
might not be quite as cohesive or visceral as some of Fincher’s other films,
but it is definitely well crafted, extremely suspenseful, and even darkly funny,
making it one of the must-see films of 2014.
5. Snowpiercer
I wasn’t sure I would like Snowpiercer when I first sat down to watch it. It’s from Korean
director Bong Joon Ho, who directed the monster movie The Host, which I was not a fan of. It was quickly apparent my
concerns were folly. Snowpiercer
stars Chris Evans (among a cast full of talent) as a man living among the lower
class on Snowpiercer, a train powered by a perpetual motion engine that goes
around the planet and has what little is left of humanity living in it. Outside
the train is a post-apocalyptic ice age that has killed all life, and is
uninhabitable (or is it?) Chris Evans leads a revolt against the upper class living
in the front of the train, and they fight their way to the front one car at a
time to try and overthrow them. Not only is Snowpiercer
well directed, well acted, and well structured, it’s highly original and
unlike any American-produced sci-fi film I’ve ever seen, despite having a
mostly American cast. It has plenty of action, all very well done, but even in
the quieter scenes, it’s thrilling, sometimes even more so than the action
scenes. Chris Evans brings an incredible intensity to his role, and the plot
has a forward momentum (not unlike the train itself) that keeps the story
moving forward, and it’s not until the third act that you realize there’s more
going on than what it seems like at first. For those who want some original,
clever, and potent sci-fi action, Snowpiercer
delivers.
4. Godzilla
_poster.jpg)
Gareth Edwards’ American Godzilla
reboot topped my most anticipated movies list last year, and while I can’t
say it was precisely what I was hoping for, it came pretty damn close, erased
the bad memories of the 1998 film, and satisfied the fanboy within me. A lot of
fans and casual viewers were left dismayed that Godzilla himself often took a
backseat to the human characters and even the villainous MUTO monsters, but I
didn’t have a problem with this. In fact, I applaud Gareth Edwards for making
his risky decision. Godzilla only appears on screen for about as long as the
shark does in Jaws, as long as the
dinosaurs do in Jurassic Park, and as
long as the original Godzilla did in the 1954 film (which this one pays plenty
of homage to). Is it fair to compare this film to those films? Maybe not, but
it’s definitely comparable to the original Godzilla,
as well as the many sequels and remakes from which it takes inspiration.
Godzilla’s presence is felt throughout the whole film, the human characters
weren’t terribly annoying (Bryan Cranston was fantastic, but that’s no big
surprise), the visual effects were exceptional, the action was great, and the list
of positives goes on. It wasn’t without some draw backs, but I was just so
overjoyed to see a new Godzilla film
(in a theater, which was a first for me), and one that didn’t suck, that the
positives overshadow the flaws, and it left me eagerly awaiting the sequel. Which
I will have to wait another four years to see...
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Rise of the Planet of
the Apes was an unexpectedly awesome reboot to the Planet of the Apes franchise. It introduced Andy Serkis as Caesar,
the leader of an ape revolution, and made talking apes cooler than ever. Going
into Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,
I had pretty high expectations, but I never expected it to be the best sequel
not just of this year, but of many years. With the obligatory character intros
and world building out of the way, Dawn
was able to dig deeper and flesh out the apes even more than before.
Practically all of the choices made with this sequel were good. Apes on horses
with machine guns? Check. Even better visual effects and motion capture than
before? Somehow, yes, it’s even more of an improvement from what already seemed
flawless. Stronger human characters? Yep, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Kirk
Acevedo, and many others were great in their roles. Mainly what I enjoyed the
most was the story. Even though the visual effects were astounding and the
acting was of a very high caliber, the story didn’t take a generic, easy, bland
direction. In fact, it turned out quite differently than what the trailers
seemed to be advertising. I won’t spoil it, but the actions of the apes, and
the roles they played in the overall plot, were unexpected, bold, and at times
shocking. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
was hugely entertaining, a step up from its predecessor, and left me hungry for
more.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
If you had told me my second favourite movie of the year was
going to a Star Wars-esque space
opera featuring a Han Solo-like leading man, a green-skinned alien assassin, a
grey and red skinned alien that doesn’t understand metaphors, a wise-cracking,
gun toting Racoon, and a talking tree that only says, “I am Groot!”, I would
have told you to get your brain checked. As I said before, I love being proven
wrong. Director/co-writer James Gunn managed to bring all of these crazy
characters together in a film that is as much a superhero movie as it is a
straight up comedy, and make it one of the most wildly entertaining things
Marvel has ever done. It’s crazy to think before Guardians of the Galaxy came out, people were concerned it might be
Marvel’s first real misfire and it was going to suck. The only aspect of this
movie I didn’t like was the villain, and Mr. Gunn himself admitted the villain
plot had to be a bit edited down and wasn’t as good as it could have been.
Marvel knew exactly what they were doing, and I feel bad ever doubting them. Guardians is my favourite Phase Two
Marvel film so far. I actually liked it better than 2012’s The Avengers. Every character was great, the dialogue was full of
wit, I laughed many times, the visual effects were top notch, the action was
well done, the 3D was the best of the year, the soundtrack was best I’ve heard
in I can’t remember how long, but most of all, it was great to see a Marvel
superhero film that didn’t rely on previously established characters and ties to
other films to succeed, and it was fun. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind dark
and gritty superhero films, but it was just so nice to see something on the lighter
side. Guardians of the Galaxy was the
most fun I had at the movies this year.
1. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of
Ignorance)
There was a lot of positive buzz surrounding Birdman. Normally I would skip a movie
like this at the theater and maybe check it out on blu ray or rent it. I thank
the numerous critics who implored me to go see Birdman. This is without a doubt the best movie I saw in 2014. What
I liked about Guardians of the Galaxy
better than Dawn of the Planet of the
Apes is that Dawn was a sequel,
whereas Guardians was an original
film. However, no movie on this list was more original than Birdman. I can honestly say I have
never, ever, seen anything like Birdman before.
It’s more like watching a play, or real life, than a movie. The story follows
Michael Keaton’s character, who (in the movie) is a formerly famous actor known
for portraying the superhero Birdman, but now he wants to do a production of a
play on Broadway and star in it. Along the way he encounters a lot of issues—the
press, difficult actors, and more. But mainly, he has issues with himself.
Throughout the movie, you will ask yourself, is he crazy, or does he actually
have super powers? The film is done to look like one continuous long take, the soundtrack
is almost entirely drums, and it’s one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever
seen. The acting is out of control—Keaton especially, but everyone else in the
cast is just as great, especially Emma Stone as his daughter and Edward Norton
as an insane actor—and the film as a whole is flawless. Birdman is the only movie I saw this year that gets an
unquestionable 10/10. There’s nothing else I can say except you have to see
this movie, more so than any other on this list.
Well, there it is folks. I recommend you check out all of
these movies if you haven’t yet, and thanks for reading CCC all year long. I
will hopefully be back in 2015 for more lists, movie predictions, reviews, and
more!
No comments:
Post a Comment