Wahey! It’s that time of the year where movie critics get to round up their list what made 2014 great and. . . . well, not so much! As always, I will be listing the movies in alphabetical order rather than rank them because they’re all different from each other, and feel unfair when it is like comparing apples and oranges. Lastly, I like to apologise for being late on submitting this list. So with that being said, let’s get right to it!
BEST
This critically acclaimed Australian horror movie is nothing short but brilliant! Not a single jump scare was used, it’s all about tension building and atmosphere and that’s something you don’t find in a lot of horror films nowadays. Never has a horror movie made my skin crawl from start to finish and all credit goes to writer and director Jennifer Kent (making her directorial debut). You know you’ve done something extraordinary when the director of The Exorcist declares your horror movie to be the most terrifying movie he has ever seen. Seriously, it puts The Conjuring to shame!
This is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking! Immensely innovative with its direction and execution and could be Iñárritu’s most ambitious film to date. It deals with themes about the media, society and celebrity culture in such dark but satirical perspective that it’s both hilarious and tragic. Michael Keaton delivers an outstanding performance that more or less mirrors his own career and supporting cast do equally amazing jobs. Though the star was Emmanuel Lubezki, the cinematography is mesmerising and keeps you hooked to the very end.
This is quite possibly Richard Linklater’s masterpiece. How on earth can he top this inspiring movie that deals with time and told a coming of age story like none other before? It could’ve been easily done by hiring different actors to play different ages of the same character. Though Linklater decides to go with the ambitious route; capturing 12 years of one boy’s life to adulthood. It’s mind boggling the movie is 2 hours 45 minutes long and yet feels we only scratched the surface. This is my bet to win big during awards season because all the hard work deserves to be rewarded.
Probably one of the most talked about movies of 2014. That and also quite possibly the worst date movie of 2014. David Fincher yet again takes an average novel and turns it into one of the most entertaining yet bleak thrillers. Ben Affleck is actually good as a guy being constantly scorned by the media, yet it’s Rosamund Pike who steals the show as the most bat-shit insane wife from hell. I think the amazing feat is having Tyler Perry actually being amazing and not another one of his cringe-worthy Madea performances. The movie raises questions more than answers and it is more fascinating with that in mind.
Who’d knew that a Marvel Comics property that non-comic fans never even heard of would become a smash hit AND receive critical acclaim? This film was an absolute blast and wasn’t just from the kick-ass soundtrack. The entire Guardians team from Christ Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper as Rocket and Vin Diesel as Groot all managed to make the whole thing work. Though writer/director James Gunn is the one to applaud to, as he managed to turn this sci-fi space opera something worth investing. Joss Whedon, it’s your turn to shine!
One of the most gorgeous looking movies of 2014. This hilariously stunning movie couldn’t be in better hands than Wes Anderson and he makes his best film to date. Ralph Fiennes delivers a genuinely funny performance that surprised me, and many others as we were accustomed to his serious roles from his previous work. The whole look of the movie played out as it was a pop-up book but with as much love and care you’d expect from Anderson. All the Wes Anderson regulars (from Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe etc) continue to make great performances but newcomers as Saoirse Ronan, F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law and Harvey Keitel all make a strong presence.
This may not be one of Christopher Nolan’s best movies, though I can’t deny the movie’s ambitions and scope. This is reminiscent to science fiction novels of 50s-70s, dealing about humanity and its venture to the unknown. Matthew McConaughey gives us a protagonist full of determination, even when put against all odds. Though both Mackenzie Foy and Jessica Chastain steal the show as the young and adult Murph. The visual effects are mind-blowing and Hans Zimmer’s score is refreshing with its church-organ score. This is definitely a sci-fi movie worth exploring.
Hey, another movie with Chris Pratt being on my list! If there was one movie I would pick as my favourite, this is the movie. Phil Lord and Chris Miller (same duo behind 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street) have made a genuinely hilarious and charming animated movie. Everyone thought this would be a quick cash grab for LEGO but they delivered something special. Immensely creative and not only my favourite animated movie of 2014 but one of my top favourite animated movies of all time!
I must admit, I wasn’t really a fan of The Raid: Redemption. So I walked into this one with not a lot of expectations. My god, this movie blew me away! Not only is this one of the best action movies of 2014 but one of the best action movies I’ve seen in the past 5 years. Gareth Evans is a competent director and doesn’t hold back from the brutality this movie has in store. Sure, the story is something we’ve seen from a dozen other crime movies such as Infernal Affairs (and even the remake, The Departed) but it’s all done in a refreshing way. Just be warned, this movie will make you wince from its pain-inducing action.
The first movie I watched in New Zealand and it was the biggest surprise of 2014. Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi creates a mockumentary that makes a unique and hilarious take on vampire lore. You fall for these characters as they are somewhat likeable and still come across being human than monsters. Definitely one of the funniest movies of the year and North American readers should definitely check this out when released in cinemas.
Ever imagined dealing with a school teacher from hell? Okay, a bit of an exaggerated question to ask but this movie shows us a teacher you pray you don’t come across. This film has such flair and energy that’s impossible not to get involved. Miles Teller is becoming an incredible talent and he truly shines as the emotionally tortured student on becoming the best drummer. Though not mentioning J.K. Simmons’ outstanding performance would be a crime, it is utterly electrifying that you’re preparing the unexpected.
WORST
This new Spider-Man series is anything but amazing. If the first movie didn’t make it clear that Sony Pictures had no idea what to do with Spider-Man franchise, this movie shows it clear as day (didn’t even need a hacker to prove that). This movie is not interested on telling a story with compelling characters, it’s more interested for the studio to keep the licence so it can make more sequels and spin-offs to make an easy cash grab. It’s heart-breaking that everyone’s top favourite Marvel superhero is treated this way. Edward Garfield is wasted with this directionless series and the villains were just cringe-worthy. This movie even makes Spider-Man 3 look good. . . . think about that!
This movie left me feeling uncomfortable. The movie comes across wanting to view this tragic but honourable soldier. However, it feels it is very one-sided and not having a clear direction on what story to tell. Is it an anti-war movie? Pro-war? It doesn’t really give any insight about the man, other than he wants to protect his country from the “savages” and those “savages” are purely evil (something I feel Paul Greengrass would’ve been a better director to handle this material). The movie doesn’t tell anything new and has been done better before in terms about the conflict and biopic about a military soldier (such as The Hurt Locker and Born on the Fourth of July).
Remember how The Conjuring terrified audiences and almost side-tracked with the doll that kinda went nowhere? Well they decided to make this movie and got the director of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. What we got was a horror movie with boring characters that have zero chemistry and investment whatsoever. If you find jump scares scary, this will absolutely terrify you. However, they grew tiresome and extremely irritating with each one that popped up. Anyone can make a jump scare, though that does not mean your movie is scary!
Imagine two of your favourite film series based on popular books (in this case, Harry Potter and The Hunger Games) and turn it into the most bland, generic movie you could imagine. It also reminded me of Equilibrium, though they left all the boring parts in this movie. Shailene Woodley has been in my radar since her performance in The Descendants and was also fantastic in The Spectacular Now. This breaks my heart to see her involved in this series that feels so contrived, it left very few surprises and ended up bored out of my mind.
Just to make one thing perfectly clear; Sleeping Beauty is one of my all-time favourite Disney animated movies. This movie, however, takes everything you loved about it and went with the completely wrong direction. The reason we loved Maleficent was she was purely evil, it even scared me when I was a child and didn’t hold back on killing the princess. Here, they decided turn her story into a tragic one and something I, quite frankly, thought we didn’t need. Though what shocked me was the adult subtext and kinda turns into a rape revenge story. None of the characters were developed enough to be invested and the whole movie was a complete mess.
A remake that didn’t need to be remade in the first place. The original 1987 movie by Paul Verhoeven still holds up today as being one of the best sci-fi movies of the 80s and wrote the book about action movie satire (something like Gamer failed to deliver). This was a dull, directionless remake that got neutered down to an audience friendly PG-13 rating and was worse for it. This movie also wastes talents like Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson. This movie should get a life sentence!
You know when somebody says “it’s just a kids movie”? Let me ask you this; would you let your kids watch a movie that’s based on a kids property that has one of our heroes saying this line when he first lays eyes on Megan Fox as April O’Neil “she’s so hot, I can feel my shell tightening”? The answer should be “no”! This movie is everything on what you should not do when making a blockbuster, especially based on a franchise everyone knows and loves. Director Jonathan Liebesman continues to deliver uninspired movies that have been done better. There’s absolutely no reason we should not even put enough effort to tell a basic story with characters we should care about.
This is probably the top contender of the most boring science fiction movie in recent memory. Wally Pfister’s directorial debut thinks it is making a thought-provoking sci-fi tale about technology, though when the movie’s extremist group can’t even make a logical reason why we should hate Will Caster and the technology he’s creating but instead pretty much say “technology is evil”. . . . okay, care to expand on that? None of the characters speak naturally and the third act’s action scene feels almost out of place. Sorry Wally, you aimed just a little too high with this one.
Both Boyhood and this movie are 2 hours and 45 minutes long. The former was engrossing, this one was a drag! Not the worst of the series (that still belongs to Revenge of the Fallen) but it is still lifeless and tedious. Even replacing Shia LaBeouf with Mark Wahlberg wasn’t enough to improve the things that are still wrong with this movie. This is probably the first movie that made me want John Goodman to stop talking! Also, they spent an awful amount of time explaining the ‘Romeo & Juliet’ act between the two teenage lovers and it pretty much encourages under-age love (even to the point of sex. . . . thank you Mr. Bay, that’s exactly what we wanted in a Transformers movie). When we do finally get to the Dinobots (after 2 hours and 20 minutes in), we’re beyond caring on what’s going on! This series does need to die out soon but it’s not soon enough!
Kevin Smith is one of those filmmakers I admire; he’s a symbol of everything about geek and no shame to it whatsoever. Unfortunately, the days of Clerks and Chasing Amy are long lost with this dreadful horror film. Based on a fake Gumtree ad and Smith let fans vote whether to make this film, it is a complete pretentious mess. Justin Long’s character is unlikable, so it’s hard for us to feel sorry when horrible things start happening to him. Also a certain cameo from an A-list star goes for far too long than needed. Definitely not worth the hype.
DISAPPOINTING MOVIE OF THE YEAR
Remember when Guillermo del Toro was, at one point, going to direct a two movie adaptation of The Hobbit? That’s what has been on my mind since watching the first movie and stayed with me till the end of this final entry of Peter Jackson’s trilogy. Stretching it to three movies was unneeded, the second movie had huge pacing issues. Though those issues for being too long were reversed, the 2hr 24min duration went by and actually made me say “oh, that’s it?” Those emotional moments in The Return of the King is completely missing in this movie. When characters get axed off, there’s little investment to care and it’s a real shame. The Hobbit could’ve been spectacular, instead it feels average in comparison to The Lord of the Rings (which I do admit is unfair to compare). Not terrible by any means but could’ve been so much more than it is.
MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIE OF 2015
It would be really easy to say Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and it is definitely up there. Though choosing from the line-up was incredibly difficult. You have from Avengers: Age of Ultron, Terrence Malick’s latest Knight of Cups, and return of James Bond in Spectre. I finally narrowed it down to this sequel to one of the most influential post-apocalyptic action movies of all-time. George Miller finally returns after having his run on making those penguin movies (have to admit, I wasn’t a fan) and Tom Hardy takes over from Mel Gibson as the titular role. Co-starring Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Keays-Byrne (returning to series since Mad Max). The movie looks edgy, raw and unbelievably fun! Looking forward to going back on the road.