Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

The Films of 2014: Mid-Year Check-In


Control

Recommended Posts

Most of the summer blockbusters have debuted, and many of the highly touted independent and foreign films are starting to make their way to iTunes/DVD, etc. And for once, I've actually seen almost 1/2 or 1/3 of what I'd like to see. So, what are the best films you've seen this year?

 

I'm gonna rank 'em:

 

  1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  2. Jodorowsky's Dune
  3. Snowpiercer
  4. Nymphomaniac Vol. 1
  5. Blue Ruin
  6. Under the Skin
  7. Guardians of the Galaxy
  8. The Lego Movie
  9. Enemy
  10. The Double

I won't go into too many details, but: I'm not a big Wes Anderson fan, but GRAND BUDAPEST had me engaged from beginning to end. Easily the most fun I had watching a film this year--moreso than any of the blockbusters I've managed to see. JODOROWSKY'S DUNE did an amazing job of conjuring up what could have been, without making me angry that I never got to see the proposed project. Dan O'Banon's description of meeting Jodorowsky is the highlight of the whole film. SNOWPIERCER really brought to mind late 80s-90s Schwarzenegger SF films. That's a good thing. Violent without being overly gory, great characters, and some amazing actors and set pieces. Everyone should go out of his or her way to see BLUE RUIN, a revenge film that starts with the revenge and then deals with the consequences. UNDER THE SKIN is astonishing to look at. GUARDIANS and LEGO were both fun, and I've probably forgotten almost everything about them already. But fun and stuff. ENEMY and THE DOUBLE share a theme, but approach them in very different ways, both thematically and aesthetically.

 

There are still a ton of films I'd like to see, but I'm feeling pretty good about 2014 as a year for quality film. 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll probably forget some but top 5:

 

1. Wolf of Wall Street (hey, it was released in 2014 over here. Just about.)

2. Calvary

3. Snowpiercer

4. Cold in July

5. Starred Up

 

I've never seen a three hour film fly by the way Wolf did. Normally in my part of the world, cinema audiences are usually reserved and shit but THAT quaaludes scene? Fuck. Ing. Up. Roar.

 

I saw Calvary in the cinema and then again last week on DVD and liked it even more the 2nd time. It's all powerful and dark and funny and Gleeson is Gleeson.

 

TILDA! Goddamn. Then you get to the end and ED HARRIS shows up. Yeah.

 

Only saw Cold in July and Starred Up in the last couple of weeks so they're still fresh in my mind and may have sneaked on the list ahead of ones I'm forgetting but I did really like both. I knew Cold in July was good when it nearly made me forget about the shittiness of the last few series' of Dexter. The glorious mullet alone was nearly enough.

 

I'm not a comic book dude at all but enjoyed X-Men and Winter Soldier as well. Quicksilver scenes were fucking awesome in X-Men and could have done with more of him actually. Haven't really been into any of the Marvel films but I liked Winter Soldier, if only because it finally had a baddie who you thought would fuck shit up every time he was on screen. I felt one dude with a bionic arm was way more of a threat than a million and three aliens lining up for The Avengers to smash.

 

Haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy yet though but I'm hearing nothing but good things.

 

Oh yeah, Her as well. That would probably be No. 6.

 

And, because why not? Worst of the Year? Undoubtedly, A Million Ways to Die in the West which was a big steaming pile of shite and pish. I knew I'd hate it going in. I have no idea why I do these things to myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've only seen 5 movies from this year, so far (Having been extremely lazy and missed stuff I legitimately wanted to see in theaters 'Edge of Tomorrow' etc.)

 

But I liked all 5 to varying degrees, so I'm gonna rate all 5!

 

05. Captain America: The Winter Soldier: I'm not really sure why but I'm liking the Cap series more than any other modern superhero series this side of the rebooted Batman.  This was fun, neat stunts, appealing actors.

 

04. Godzilla: Enjoyed this a lot, too.  I thought the reveal of Godzilla was really well-done.  Effects were great.

 

03.  Alan Partridge: The rare movie of a beloved TV show that honors the feeling of the original series while still breaking some new ground.  

 

02. Noah: An absolutely brilliant total mess of a movie.  I believe I referred to it as the most "metal" movie I've seen in some time.  Dark, depressing, heavy with moments of occasional hope and a stellar cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins and Ray Winstone.

 

01. The Grand Budapest Hotel: Completely not what it was advertised as.  Rather than a typical twee Wes Anderson flick set inside an affected giant fairy-tale-ish hotel, it was actually darker and more of a Wes Anderson twee little murder mystery.  Lots of fun actors having fun, a nifty dark streak of humor and solid performances.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's late (2am) so i can't be bothered looking up what date these all came out in the US so this will have to be UK Dates.

 

Only seen 23 films that have been released. Not been a great year personally.

 

1. Dallas Buyers Club

2. The Lego Movie

3. August: Osage County

4. 12 Years a Slave

5. Nymphomaniac: Vol. I

6. We Are the Best!
7. Blue Ruin
8. The Past
9. Grand Central
10. American Hustle

 

To show how much i've not loved this year so far, i've only given the top 4 four stars.

 

Looking forward to Snowpiecer, Joe, How to Train Your Dragon 2, 22 Jump Street, Neighbours

 

I really didn't like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Calvary, Enemy, Her or The Wolf of Wall Street.

 

Top 10 first watches

1. Nebraska
2. Man in Love
3. Kauwboy
4. The Grapes of Wrath
5. Harry and Tonto
6. Dallas Buyers Club
7. Wish
8. The Broken Circle Breakdown
9. Forbidden Fruit
10. Uno

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Outside of franchises, I've barely seen anything at all this year. I'mma definitely still catch Snowpiercer and Under the Skin.

And, man, that title Jodorowsky's Dune pisses me right off. Almost feels like entrapment, to try and sucker in some confused film geeks who think they're buying a ticket to actually see Jodorowsky's version of Dune. Yes, that's one incredibly microscopic nit to pick, but come up with an original title already. It's not that goddamn hard.

But, how has nobody pimped out Edge of Tomorrow yet? Yeah, the ending is a little weak; and I'm really getting tired of "big explosive shoved right into a critical point" as a deus ex machina. (Pacific Rim disappointed me in a similar way.) But this movie does the idea of a time loop, or video-game logic, or however you want to define it, VERY damn well. It really gives a thorough workout to the concept of respawning from a save point, with an infinity-minus-one number of tries at an impossible goal. Yes Groundhog Day did it first, but this is Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers. And the aliens in this movie are legitimately threatening and nasty. And it's hilarious to see Private Hudson turned around as a badass martinet drill sergeant. Tom Cruise dies on screen like a thousand different times and different ways, and it's one of those movies like Eyes Wide Shut or Magnolia where the Tom Cruise Charm is mocked and vivisected. And Emily Blunt is indeed a full metal bitch; who knew that "action star" was within her frighteningly talented grasp?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have a ranked list, mostly because nothing has grabbed me enough to be my #1.  But here's a brief list of movies I liked that haven't been mentioned yet.  It's been a good year for movies starting with B.

 

Boyhood: Suffers a little from being overhyped, but it is really good.  The kid ages very naturally, obviously, and there were a couple of times where I thought "He looked so different just like 45 minutes ago, but I barely noticed him changing."  Interesting that they could keep a consistent tone over more than a decade of filming.  There's one great gut punch almost out of nowhere (well, "great"... it's not fun to watch), and then several teases of more gut punches that keep you thoroughly engaged.

 

Borgman: This was like the long con version of Funny Games, but it has a dispassionate feel to it, like if it was produced by the National Geographic channel or something.  It ends up being shocking because it's so not shocking.  And it keeps teasing us with the idea that there's something more to what we're seeing, some greater scheme that we don't understand.  Granted, if you want a movie where a guy has a very unkempt beard and shaves it off halfway through, Blue Ruin is better.

 

Begin Again: It's by the same guy who did Once, and it's similar, but it's been just long enough since Once and there are just enough differences that I'm down for the ride again.  Love the scene early on where Ruffalo discovers Knightley and is imagining the accompaniment to her singing.

 

Locke: Tom Hardy is good enough to make a movie about nothing but a guy in a car making phone calls worth seeing.  Just found out recently that he apparently didn't know his lines in advance and was reading them off a teleprompter.

 

What If: It's a typical romantic comedy, but the dialogue and chemistry between the leads elevates it to something worthy of low-end best-of-the-year consideration.  The Exploding Girl made Zoe Kazan a must-see actress for me, and that's been working out pretty well so far.

 

Need to see The Missing Picture, Coherence and Stand Clear of the Closing Doors.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Locke: Tom Hardy is good enough to make a movie about nothing but a guy in a car making phone calls worth seeing.  Just found out recently that he apparently didn't know his lines in advance and was reading them off a teleprompter.

 

I dug the unique concept of this and Hardy was very good in this 1-man show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...