A blog to which I express my opinions about movies by posting reviews, top 10 lists, and even my own personal awards I give to movies I believe should've conquered the Oscars in that certain category. Hope you enjoy. Please comment as well if you want.
Before I start the review, I must ask why they went with the title of Fast & Furious instead of just calling it Fast & Furious 4. I'm fully aware it is a prequel to the third movie, but it's still a sequel to the first and second movie. It also has story lines that fall with the first and second movie. I can only imagine them using that title if they ever did a reboot, but nope. This is the case.
Anyways, the plot is pretty much the same as the first two movies. Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) is back again undercover, only this time he's working for the FBI. The FBI is still trying to take down Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), but has had no luck ever since Dom's and Brian's last encounter from the first movie. When one of Dom's close partner's suddenly dies, Brian is back on the case and decides to track down Dom. This time however, Brian isn't going to Dom to convict him, but instead to ask him for help to take down an even bigger threat in the illegal street racing world, where in exchange, Dom would get full immunity and zero conviction.
It's great to see Paul Walker and Vin Diesel working together again. It's just too bad however that the plot just doesn't work here in this movie as it would've in the second Fast & Furious movie had Vin Diesel played Tyrese's part. It also feels inconsistent in the time spectrum, because unless the third Fast & Furious movie is set in the future, that would mean this movie as well as the next two movies all take place within just one year? How is that?
When Brian finally reunites with Dom's sister Mia, she says "it's been four years, Brian". The first movie came out in 2001, which means the fourth movie takes place in 2005. The third movie came out in 2006. If I'm correct on this estimation, this movie starts off the craziest year ever for the lives of Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Connor. Unfortunately, I didn't find the beginning of this crazy year for them to be as well written or as enjoyable as the first encounter with Dom and Brian. Some chemistry felt forced or lost, and the action scenes weren't that exciting to view except for the beginning. I only recommend watching this film as a build up to a much better two sequels.
This one is pretty interesting because this movie takes place in time AFTER the events of the fourth, fifth AND sixth movie. It's also a little strange because this movie came out in 2006, which makes me question if it takes place in the "future" way beyond the year 2006 or not? This isn't into the actual review yet, but I just thought it'd be interesting to point out.
We don't have Paul Walker in the movie at all this time. Instead we follow a character, Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), who's the redneck type who loves cars and street racing but is always getting into trouble as you'll see in the opening scenes. This gives him no choice but to move away from his mom and live out with his dad in Tokyo, Japan. He of course doesn't fit in and immediately gets bullied on his first day because he doesn't know how to drift in a car during a street race. Umm... okay then. He then finds a couple friends to help him learn how to drift so he can take down the bully in upcoming street races. His first friend, Twinkie, is played by rapper turned actor Lil Bow Wow, who never explains how he arrived in Tokyo or how long he's lived there and is just there to encourage him to succeed (literally nothing else). He pretty much plays himself in the movie. His second friend, Han (Sung Kang), is the one that teaches young Sean how to drift and provides him with numerous cars to practice with. There's of course this girl named Neela, who Sean is attracted to, but can't date her because she's going out with the main bully, D.K. It's up to Sean to use his mad drifting skills to win her heart and the race as well.
Is it just me or is this The Karate Kid mixed with street racing (The CARate Kid?). It surprisingly however, intrigued me to the very end. I will say that I am a sucker for karate kid related plots, but this one felt more genuine. They actually focus on Sean's character more than the street races themselves like the previous two movies. This one was surprisingly more plot driven because it felt like there was more for Sean's character to lose. It's weird, but I liked this movie overall.
This was the first movie written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin who have directed every Fast & Furious movie since this one. It's interesting how this one felt more dramatic, and yet the kind of series they turned it into later is completely opposite. I am also interested to know why they made this one before movies 4-6. Either way, I'm glad I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I would.
There's really no reason to watch this one unless you want to know the origins of Tyrese Gibson's and Ludacris' characters since they don't appear in the series again until the fifth movie (which is when they started getting good). Just FYI. Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) is now undercover again, only this time he's taking down a Miami drug lord. Yes, he moved from L.A. to Miami. He's also not a cop anymore, but has to go undercover to take down the drug lord in order to clear his arrest records and avoid jail time. What was he arrested for? Why it's street racing of course! He of course can't accomplish that plot, alone, and needs a supporting character with him. Is it Vin Diesel?!... nope. Instead it's Tyrese Gibson! Cue the cricket sounds. It's pretty obvious that the movie wasn't going to succeed if they didn't have Vin Diesel apart of this one, because that's what made the first one so entertaining was the chemistry of these two.
Tyrese Gibson plays Roman Pierce, an old childhood friend that grew up with Brian and also has records he needs erased, which leads to him joining Brian on his crazy undercover adventure. That's really about it. Ludacris' character, Tej, does provide some entertainment to the mix as the guy who runs all the races that happen in the movie. I'm not going to get into who the drug lord is, or who the love interest is, because you never do see them in any sequels again, and they're pretty much a cardboard cut out of characters from other previous cop movies.
Even though the plot is terrible, the movie is still watchable. There's some fun races here and there, and at least director John Singleton knew not to waste the charisma that Paul Walker carried in the first movie. Tyrese and Ludacris do all right with their parts too, but they do A LOT better in the fifth and sixth movies. Again, there's no real reason to watch this movie unless you like more car races or to want to know the details and origins of Tyrese and Ludacris' characters. Thankfully the movies in this franchise get better from here.
Imagine if they took the plot to the movie Point Break and instead decided to mix it with street car racing. That's literally the result of this movie. Officer Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) goes undercover and enters the street racing world to take down and convict the kingpin himself, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). The only catch is, he kind of falls in love with Dominic's sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster) as well as the street racing environment itself, and has to face the choices he has to make when it comes to doing his job, and being a true friend to the bros of street racing.
I can easily imagine a newcomer Hollywood exec was thrilled and greenlit the project immediately after hearing that shitty plotline.
Nevertheless, the movie does offer us plenty of great action scenes and surprising chemistry with each character to make the movie more enjoyable than it sounds on paper. The street racing is pretty realistic as well since the production back in 2001 required the effects to be more practical and less CGI. Most the characters are memorable as well, but it's really the bromance of our two lead characters of Dom and Brian that are the main focus to this soon-to-be major franchise.
This is probably the only movie in the franchise that takes itself more seriously than the rest do. It was just your average summer flick that got lucky at the box office back then before they turned it into what it is today (and I mean that in a good way). If you're still looking for a good racing movie with many memorable moments as well as characters to 65% give a shit about, then this one I can probably recommend.
Even though Boyhood was my number film one of the year, I'm giving Best Picture to Interstellar because I think it'll hold up longer like 2001: A Space Odyssey. It also feels more like a movie than an experiment for original achievement like Boyhood or Birdman. It also entertained me more than any other film. Boyhood also has all the respect it needs, while Interstellar I believe needs a boost in being honored.
Best Popcorn Flick
Winner: Guardians of the Galaxy
Other Nominees:
Captain America: the Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
The LEGO Movie
X-Men: Days of Future Past
No surprise really. I love all these, but Marvel has it going for all audiences to enjoy. Hopefully we have more flicks like this along the way.
Best Animated Feature
Winner: The LEGO Movie
Other Nominees:
Big Hero 6
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
A pretty good year for animated features, even though none of these came close to Wreck-It Ralph or Toy Story 3 in my opinion, but still they were great nonetheless. The LEGO Movie was the most original and that's why I picked it. It's too bad that the Oscars were too scared to even nominate it, which might be a contender for worst snub of the decade.
Best Director (a tie!)
Winners: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Winners: Alejandro G. Iñarritu (Birdman)
Other Nominees:
Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
David Fincher (Gone Girl)
Christopher Nolan (Interstellar)
I couldn't leave one out. They both accomplished something that Hollywood thought was possible. Linklater used time devotion to tell a story in a whole different manner with the best kind of message to it, while Iñarritu used artistic illusions (one enormous take trick) to make the audience feel like they were apart of the experience. I also gave Interstellar the Best Picture award and I thought it would be bullshit to not have Boyhood or Birdman get one of the top 2 awards. Problem solved.
Best Actor
Winner: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
Other Nominees:
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
Tom Hardy (Locke)
Michael Keaton (Birdman)
Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar)
With a crowded room a terrific lead actors for 2014, I still think Gyllenhaal won this in a landslide. People are calling his character, Lou Bloom, the new Patrick Bateman (from American Psycho) of this decade. I think he's actually better written and performed ten times more than Patrick Bateman. His attitude is more original, his goals/plotlines are more detailed, and he's smarter and more clever as well. I think Jake Gyllenhaal is now one of the best actors working today looking at his line of work from the past few years, and this role of Lou Bloom tops ALL of them. Shame on you Academy for not nominating the more challenged roles!
Best Actress
Winner: Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Other Nominees:
Scarlett Johansson (Under the Skin)
Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
Shailene Woodley (The Fault in Our Stars)
I'm not gonna lie, but I was very close to giving the award to Julianne Moore since she gave the best performance among any character with Alzheimer's that I've ever seen. In the end, Rosamund Pike deserved it more because first off, she's British and pulls off a great American character without breaking accent once. The second reason is that her character is ten times more complex and isn't suffering from a disease that the Oscar voters tend to vote for anyways. The last reason is that the better performances always seem to come from the villainous characters because it gives the actor more to provide instead of hold back like most of the heroic characters do (until the climax happens).
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
Other Nominees:
Adam Driver (What If)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
John Leguizamo (Chef)
Edward Norton (Birdman)
Once again, another villainous character gets awarded. I really did want to give it to Ethan Hawke since he was the best part about Boyhood for me, but J.K. Simmons knocked this one out of the park that it would feel VERY wrong not to award him for it.
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Other Nominees:
Laura Dern (The Fault in Our Stars)
Kim Dickens (Gone Girl)
Rene Russo (Nightcrawler)
Emma Stone (Birdman)
When I saw Boyhood, I didn't see Patricia Arquette from Medium or any of her other known roles in this movie, I saw a struggling parent. That's the closest thing to real life I've seen in a performance that wasn't played by Ethan Hawke, the other great half of the movie. She obviously won this in a landslide, but the other nominees are still well deserving. I thought Kim Dickens and Rene Russo were very overlooked and I thought Laura Dern was nominated for the wrong movie. Thankfully the Academy got Emma Stone right, but sorry to say she just wasn't as good as Arquette in comparison. That's what not devoting a role for twelve years will do to you I guess? lol
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Nightcrawler
Other Nominees:
Birdman
Boyhood
Chef
Locke
Nightcrawler for sure takes the top spot when it comes to originality. The other nominees are great, but this one felt the most refreshing.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Gone Girl
Other Nominees:
The Imitation Game
Men, Women & Children
What If
Whiplash
It was almost a coin flip between Gone Girl and Whiplash because both writers adapted from their own material. I ended up going with Gone Girl in the end because there were more twists and fantastic written female characters we the audience definitely don't see much of today.
Best Cinematography Winner: Birdman
Other Nominees:
Enemy
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Interstellar
They all look great, but Birdman was a pretty obvious choice. Moving onto the next one already.
Best Production Design
Winner: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Other Nominees:
Big Eyes
Foxcatcher
The Giver
Snowpiercer
It might not seem like it, but this was actually a very hard decision for me to make. I was heavily debating between this and Snowpiercer from the way they make that train look. I eventually caved in and gave it to this because there were more sets and designs involved with this production. Plus it's a friggin Wes Anderson film for crying out loud! Also for those questioning the Foxcatcher nomination, it had one of the best replicas of the Du Pont estate and wrestling rings that I've seen when comparing it to the original footage.
Best Costume Design
Winner: The Giver
Other Nominees:
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
Maleficent
I think that due to the failure of this movie that its brilliant production was vastly overlooked. Even Harvey Weinstein who's the producer of this movie couldn't save it. Either way, I thought the costuming was really good when it came to the setting of a futuristic utopia. It's like they focused more on making the film look good instead of its screenplay or actors (with the exception of Jeff Bridges of course). I still liked the film for what it showed, but it really could've been much better. At least they got the costumes perfect.
Best Film Editing
Winner: Whiplash
Other Nominees:
Nightcrawler
The Raid 2
Snowpiercer
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Screw you movies of 2014! The fact that I had to pick only five nominees for Best Editing among MANY is excruciating! Thankfully, after seeing Whiplash's final sequence, I finally calmed down and declared it my winner. X-Men almost had it though with the Quicksilver sequence.
Best Sound
Winner: Godzilla
Other Nominees:
Begin Again
Fury
Interstellar
Whiplash
The roars and atomic breath sound effects still hold up after 8 months. Even though there wasn't much of Godzilla in the movie, it was still worth it the way they made him look and sound.
Best Visual Effects
Winner: Interstellar
Other Nominees:
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Godzilla
Guardians of the Galaxy
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Pretty much any movie that uses practical effects for most of the movie gets an automatic win for me. I love that Christopher Nolan still respects old school filmmaking. My mind was blown when I first found out that the robot, TARS, was nearly all practical effects. Well deserved in this category for sure.
Best Makeup
Winner: Guardians of the Galaxy
Other Nominees:
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Maleficent
Snowpiercer
I always found that the Sci-Fi genre always seems to hire the best people in the Makeup department, and it really showed off in Guardians of the Galaxy. Foxcatcher almost had it though.
Best Score
Winner: Interstellar
Other Nominees:
Birdman
Gone Girl
Jodorowsky's Dune
Nightcrawler
This was the easiest pick among all the categories. Not only is this EASILY the best score of 2014, but probably the best score of the decade so far. This is Hans Zimmer at his best and probably most personal. When I first heard the music to the cornfield chase scene (which is presented in the video above), I was immediately hypnotized and awed by that sound of music. I listen to that track (along with nearly every other from the movie) at least once a week (sometimes once a day). This is like on John Williams scoring E.T. level of genius. I wouldn't be surprised if Christopher Nolan had to re-edit the film due to Zimmer's touching score like Spielberg did with the ending of E.T.
Best Song
Winner: Begin Again [Lost Stars]
Other Nominees:
The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies [The Last Goodbye]
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 [Yellow Flicker Beat]
The LEGO Movie [Everything Is Awesome]
Lucy [Sister Rust]
Every time John Carney makes a film, it just happens to have the best song of the year in it for me. First it was Once, now it's Begin Again. I like this one the most because it's the most poetic, and there's also other versions of the song performed in the movie which gives the characters the dilemma of which version sounds the most right. This version does of course, and that's why I'm giving it this award.
Best Ensemble
Winner: Birdman
Other Nominees:
Begin Again
Gone Girl
Guardians of the Galaxy
Men, Women & Children
Another easy pick, giving that this is an actors movie after all. Having to perform 15 pages of script in one take for each scene of the movie sounds like a daunting task. Glad to see that Michael Keaton and his co-stars pulled it off perfectly.
Best Film Debut
Winner: Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy)
Other Nominees:
The Babadook (Jennifer Kent)
Bad Words (Jason Bateman)
I wish there could've been more options for that year in this category, but I probably would've given this to Nightcrawler anyways. One hell of a great job for a first feature film.
Most Overrated
The Theory of Everything
Just for the record, I do not hate this movie. I think Stephen Hawking is an exceptional gentleman who deserves to have his story told from everything he struggled with and what he accomplished. I just thought the film was very dull in the second half and didn't make me want to stand up and clap for it in the end. The performances were good, it was well filmed, and even the above average score didn't emotionally impact me with what was going on in the movie. If you replaced the music in the movie with Hans Zimmer's Interstellar score, it wouldn't make much of a difference. It's still a good movie for what it could provide, but the nominations it's getting for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay?... no. I can't believe Eddie Redmayne could possibly win an Oscar for this in comparison to Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler who wasn't even nominated. It means to get in the Academy's club in winning, all you have to do is play someone physically handicapped, especially if that physically handicapped person is still alive today. I have massive respect for Stephen Hawking, and decent respect for this movie as well. Calling it one of the best of 2014 though seems pretty extreme in comparison to what else came out that year.
Most Underrated
Men, Women & Children
I honestly don't get why this movie was so hated if American Beauty was that much of a hit. It's like American Beauty for the next generation almost, and the audience missed the opportunity to wrap their minds around it. To be fair, it does address certain subjects that would be a little difficult to bring up in therapy even. It is also really dark on a Requiem for a Dream level, only the mental health is more at stake than physical health. Nevertheless, the film addresses the issues perfectly enough to understand, and it seemed like the attention span for most of the audience came up short. There were a lot of underrated movies of 2014 like Chef, Edge of Tomorrow, Bad Words, What If, Begin Again, Locke, and MANY others, but it was easy enough to list this as my most underrated movie because of the opportunities missed to discover what this movie really is. Now with the low rating on rotten tomatoes (since critics didn't get this either for some reason), it's just gonna be another ignored and forgotten piece of cinema that was made by that guy who made Juno, only he wanted to be "darker" with his films. When I hear that in times to come, I will say nothing but "bull fucking shit!".
My Most Guilty Pleasure
The Giver
To be fair, it did get plenty of things wrong, like making Meryl Streep's character too big a role; or making it seem really fast paced when it really didn't need to be; or turning the main characters from age 12 to age 17, pretty much nearly ruining the whole meaning of the book when it comes to discovering the true meaning of life! I digress though, because the movie did do plenty of stuff right as well. The actors were good with the roles they were given, the first half was completely in black and white like it was supposed to be, and the cinematography, sets and costumes were fantastic! It also was pretty entertaining to where I wasn't as bored as I thought I'd be. It's kind of funny on how I thought the talking scenes were less boring than the "action" scenes (when the whole movie should've been talking in the first place). I like this movie because it is beautiful looking and I hope to see more work by the people behind the scenes that aren't the writers, director, or producers especially. Overall, this movie is pretty all right if you're looking for some nice eye candy, which is what I look for when I'm bored.
Best Hero
Starlord
(Guardians of the Galaxy)
Some Guardians fans are probably shouting at me for not going with Groot or Rocket Racoon, but if your favorite character from the movie is the MAIN LEAD character, then he has to be a damn good protagonist to root for. A hero is great if he or she is funny, likable, kicks ass, charming/good looking (or both) and uses interactive pop culture references. Starlord does all that in his sleep, and that is why he is EASILY my top pick for Best Heroic character of 2014. Plus he uses a Walkman for his own entertainment. That's what already sold me in the first place. :)
Best Villain
Louis Bloom (Nightcrawler)
A character who is desperate for money but takes care of themselves very efficiently results in very good or very bad situations. That's what you see in Louis Bloom on screen. He gets too god at his job of night-crawling that he eventually alters the situations he films in order to get more money for the more accidents he films. He is very cutting edge, but also very polite to characters that decide to be on his side. He's so much of a villain that even the score of the movie is performed like you're supposed to be rooting for him, like HE IS the one who made the movie Nightcrawler. Such fun stuff.
Best Scene
Winner: Whiplash [Final Sequence]
Other Nominees:
Begin Again [Dan's Epiphany]
Interstellar [Cornfield Chase]
Nightcrawler [Montage]
X-Men: Days of Future Past
[Quicksilver Time Sequence]
I can't really explain too much why. You just have to watch the movie for it to impact you the way it did me. If you already have seen the movie, all I can ask is, WASN'T THAT A GREAT ENDING?!
Special Category
(Best Documentary)
Winner: Life Itself
Other Nominees:
Citizenfour
Jodorowsky's Dune
I will say that it was quite the year for documentaries, even though I only saw three of them. I can already be sure that a documentary about my favorite film critic of all time would've easily won this category anyways, had I even saw ten times more. It's great to see that Steve James still has it in him after making Hoop Dreams 20 years ago. Glad he could make one about the guy who honored that film as well.
Best Quote
Terrence Fletcher: "There are no two words
in the English language more harmful than good job"
(Whiplash)
There's a back story that his character tells about someone in the movie, which is why that quote makes so much sense after hearing it. It's what I consider to be the best quote because it makes me wonder if that's more truthful than I want it to be. Do I want it to even be true at all? It makes for a whole debating topic that would have so many different pros and cons to it. It also makes for a great proposal from the character of Fletcher, with him asking if they want to step into his world or not. I can't tell if it would make me a dark person or not by using this quote if I want someone to succeed at something. What do you think?
I know I'll already get crap for saying this, but 2014 was the best year for movies possibly ever. It was the first time ever among any year that I've given 10 movies, of the same year released, 4 out of 4 stars. I thought 1999 couldn't be beat with the 9 movies I gave 4 stars to. Of course it doesn't only fall under how many movies I give a certain high rating, but I also consider it the best year for movies because it had the most ambitious work that I've seen in quite a long time all released within the same year. Certain genres and styles that I thought were dead/out of style or couldn't be done because it sounded corny or impossible were prevailed. I'll do my best to explain why for nearly each film I list.
Here we go:
50. Maps to the Stars
Definitely, David Cronenberg's best film to date within nearly the past decade. It has everything a Cronenberg fanatic needs when it comes to style, storytelling and actors willing to portray characters with messed up motives. Also the character Benji is worth a watch if you're looking for a new type of comedy.
49. Inherent Vice
Maybe
not P.T Anderson at his best, but a nice homage to movies like The Big
Lebowski when it comes to druggy detective type movies (which we don't actually get much of today). I honestly still
don't know what the movie's about, but Joaquin Phoenix and Josh Brolin
especially entertain nonetheless. Also best portrayal of the 70s I've seen since Dazed and Confused. 48. Ida
I thought I would be bored with this movie as it seemed like another boring Oscar contender about life after the holocaust, but thankfully it turned out to be an entertaining, emotional, character study, road trip movie about a girl who visits her aunt just trying to uncover the truth about her dead parents. Thank god I was under sold on this one.
47. The Skeleton Twins I couldn't tell whether I would love or hate this movie when I first heard about it. I was thankful to know that Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig would be okay outside the Saturday Night Live universe after I saw their performances in this movie. I did not see Bill Hader we know in this by the way. I just saw an openly gay man going through deep depression. Same goes for Kristen Wiig. I'm glad she has something besides Bridesmaids to put on her acting resume. Well done by the both of them.
46. Million Dollar Arm
A nice surprising true story distributed by Disney that they didn't fuck up. As charming as Disney can be with their projects, they seem to make them look as Hollywood as possible. Thankfully, not this one. Then again it's either because the screenwriter Thomas McCarthy knows how to avoid Hollywood's idea of bullshit or Disney succeeded at the dumb idea of making the "tagline" 'Slumdog Millionaire meets Trouble with the Curve' actually work. All I can say is, nice work.
45. Under the Skin
It's weird to say it's Scarlett Johansson at her best when she barely speaks throughout the whole movie. It does still prove to this day though that actions do speak louder than words. It's slow, grim, and not pleasant for those that don't go to the movies much. It is however the most literal character study I've seen in quite some time. Also high praise for Mica Levi making the creepiest score I've heard in decades.
44. St. Vincent
I honestly thought I was going to hate or be undeniably bored throughout this movie, but I wasn't. I loved how the movie followed the kid around more than the adult. I loved how the kid was the one presenting the message of the movie after figuring it out himself INSTEAD OF his single mom, school teacher or therapist giving him the hint through some bullshit pretentious dialogue we've heard in movies a million times before. It's worth checking out if you ever have time on your hands and want to see Bill Murray just being himself with a New York accent.
43. Lucy
Once again, Scarlett Johansson makes the list. The script was interesting with it's theories, the action sequences were very cliche, but the style of it all with it's cinematography and visuals is what made it worthwhile. I wouldn't be mad or surprised at anyone though if this was #1 for their worst of 2014.
42. A Most Violent Year
I wish I could've liked this film more. Don't get me wrong, I still really liked it, but I wish they could've developed our main character's back-story a little more. I'm sure the point of the movie was to show the emotional struggle of running a business, and it did that part great. The only problem is, what kind of business is it exactly? How did he manage to come to America and immediately make a business of his own to get rich quick and buy a mansion? That would've made a great movie of its own while this film would've made a fantastic sequel. Either way, the performances are worth watching (especially Jessica Chastain and Albert Brooks).
41. Still Alice Well it's good to know that Julianne Moore can still deliver a terrific leading performance no matter how average the script and direction is and that Kristen Stewart and Kate Bosworth do not suck at acting after all. That alone makes this film deserve a spot in my Top 50 of 2014 because this accomplished in what most thought was impossible. Good going.
40. Wild
Still not as good as the movie INTO the Wild, but it's still a good biopic about a woman who hikes a thousand miles to redeem her past. It's easily Reese Witherspoon's best performance of her career.
39. Neighbors
Most of you are probably saying that this should be lower on the list. You're probably right, but this was just more of a favorite I could watch more frequently. I also like the message it sends out to parents who are currently raising an infant. Oh and Zac Efron is actually pretty funny in this movie... just not as much as Seth Rogen or Rose Byrne.
38. Selma
I find it kind of sad that it took over 50 years to FINALLY make a movie about Martin Luther King Jr. I am glad however that it was a good movie that actually has you on the edge of your seat even though you know what already happened. Excellent direction by Ava DuVernay. 37. Foxcatcher
Just like Under the Skin, it's slow, dark and grim and definitely not made for those that don't go to the movies as much. It is however the best visual representation of a true story I can think of. Director Bennett Miller knew what he was doing in showing the kind of stuff that Hollywood is afraid to put on film; which is regular every day life. There is still narrative events happening, but the lack of dialogue and music makes it seem more realistic. I loved that.
36. Big Eyes
Thank god that Tim Burton decided to make a movie about real life instead of a Johnny Depp starring flick where the character's have no character and are over the top with white makeup all over their faces. Definitely his best movie since Big Fish. I hope Burton keeps up with these kinds of movies and less adaptations/terrible remakes like Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
35. The Imitation Game
Definitely the best performance by Benedict Cumberbatch that I've seen since BBC's Sherlock. The script is really well spoken and I'm glad that someone like Alan Turing finally had their story put on the big screen. Also I'm glad they finally made a movie about the first computer ever invented since pretty much the whole world is run by computers now.
34. John Wick
John Wick I see as a bad-ass R rated action packed tall tale. The way his narrative is told is in the same manner as if Disney was behind the whole thing. The best thing though is that it works and that Keanu Reeves is FINALLY back to making great movies again.
33. Fury
Fury is definitely up there with Saving Private Ryan and Lone Survivor when it comes to grim action packed war movies. David Ayer has no bounds when it comes to making his worlds as real as possible. The only reason why this isn't higher is because I didn't see much chemistry with any actor together except for Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman who were easily the best parts of the movie.
32. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
I can already assume that most readers are already furious at me for putting this above Foxcatcher and Selma. I probably deserve it; but nevertheless, I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish with this movie. I am aware that our lovable character of Katniss Everdeen is a lot weaker in this one than in the previous movie. That is the only problem I have with this movie. Other than that, Jennifer Lawrence is still great as always, the sets look amazing and I wasn't bored with it like everyone else seemed to be for some reason. I'm calling this my Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince of the year, because everyone seemed to be bored with that movie as well except me. Also on a quick side note, that Zero Dark Thirty like rescue scene was friggin' awesome! Okay, I'm done. You may now continue with your hatred towards my list as long as you keep reading it.
31. American Sniper
Hey, bitch all you want about the controversy, but I still liked the way this movie was made. It is Clint Eastwood's best movie since Gran Torino (which isn't saying TOO much in comparison to his past projects). The only problem I have with this movie is Sienna Miller's character was written and portrayed terribly (like most Hollywood female characters), and that damn fake baby. Other than that, I thought the pacing was great and it looked and sounded spectacular. Oh, and I thought Bradley Cooper did such a phenomenal job at playing the part that I'm not mad about his Oscar nomination. :) On a personal note: I know people are saying Clint Eastwood's being too bias with making Chris Kyle look like a hero in this movie with him being a Republican and talking to invisible Obama in that chair, but from my observation, he makes Chris Kyle look like a total asshole from start to finish... and that's kind of what I enjoyed about it. More of like an anti-hero in this movie if you ask me. 30. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Another terrific adapted tale by Studio Ghibli for all ages. Yeah it's a little slow and I wish it could've been drawn out a little more like Miyazaki's directed pieces, but the heart and magic are still with this one like every other movie Studio Ghibli brings us. :)
29. Big Hero 6
This pretty much ties up with the Tale of Princess Kaguya for me. The only reason why this is ranked one spot higher is because it's more drawn out and a quicker movie. Usually I'm not for that, but this movie convinced me otherwise. Marvel does it again I guess.
28. Jodorowsky's Dune
Possibly the best documentary about the making of a movie which never got made. For film studies, this one should be a requirement to watch. It visually shows that every idea one has will eventually get made. It also gives us a fun idea to examine a filmmaker's mind and play a guessing game of whether he's insane or a genius (or both).
27. How to Train Your Dragon 2
I was happily surprised that this sequel did not suck like most do now today. I was even more surprised that I found this one to be better than the first one. It's probably because there's less comedy in this one and the situations that happen feel more real. Whatever the case, I really liked it.
26. Enemy
A fun mind-bender to watch if you feel like you need a puzzle to solve. It's a terrific visual look at how one battle's their subconscious and how spiders can be used as symbolism to how the human mind thinks. I know what I'm saying probably makes no sense, but it will if you check this movie out.
25. The LEGO Movie
I really loved this charming product placement. I can see how ridiculous it seemed at first in pitching the idea of a LEGO movie to Hollywood (or pretty much anyone). Obviously the script was that brilliant and it's pretty cool knowing it's the filmmakers that made the R rated Jump Street movies. They can connect to pretty much any audience now I would say.
24. Bad Words
This is like an R rated version of St. Vincent, only much more clever and raunchy. Jason Bateman's first time in the directing chair, and he nails it. A movie about a full grown adult in a spelling bee to get revenge on a certain person shouldn't work as a premise. Somehow it worked, and I was laughing through the whole thing. I also enjoyed the chemistry between him and the kid a lot more than Bill Murray and the kid in St. Vincent. St. Vincent might have a better message, but Bad Words was just A LOT more entertaining to me.
23. Life Itself
A documentary about my favorite film critic of all time, Roger Ebert. It talks and shows every major detail about Roger's life and what movies meant to him. Filmmakers talk about how their career changed because of Roger's thumbs up reviews. Directed by Steve James who made Ebert's #1 film of 1994 AND the decade of the 1990s, Hoop Dreams. One of the best tributes to any human being I've seen in quite some time. The only reason why it's lower on this list than it should be is because I'm not a huge fan of documentaries. I'm more into fictional narratives because they're just more artistic to me in my opinion. I'm sure even Roger Ebert would disagree with what I just said, but I'm sticking with it.
22. 22 Jump Street
Did I make this movie number 22 on my list on purpose just for giggles? Surprisingly, no. The first one took an old TV show that wasn't good to begin with and made an unnecessary reboot that surprisingly was well written and hilariously entertaining throughout. They then decided to make a sequel, which once again seemed VERY unnecessary, and once again surprised us all with very clever jokes about how the movie itself is unnecessary which makes it once again hilariously entertaining throughout. First the LEGO movie idea, now this. They might as well come up with an idea for anything at this point because they'll know how to somehow make it work.
21. X-Men: Days of Future Past
This is the first time that I've seen the regular franchise and the prequel franchise together in the same movie. The premise for it is clever too. Just send the most popular character back in time from the regular franchise to the prequel franchise to change all the plot holes that were in the previous movies. Why can't every franchise do that? Because Hollywood is obviously not as clever as the filmmakers themselves. Well done Bryan Singer and Matthew Vaughn. Also the Quicksilver scene is worth checking out.
20. The Fault in Our Stars
Yes people, I'm aware of the movie I just listed at number 20 on my list. I have no regrets about this because this movie was well written, well acted, and entertaining throughout. It also had a great message to it about enjoying what's right in front of you instead of wishing for something that might never happen. It might be presented in the chick flick manner, but it's far from that.
19.Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Just like 22 Jump Street, we were surprised by the first one but thought there's no way they could make a sequel out of it. We were wrong once again. Never did I think the sequel would be better than the original, but this was. Andy Serkis again adds more depth to the character of Caesar and makes us care for him even more than in the first movie. There's also plenty of great human characters as well, especially our main one, Malcolm, played brilliantly by Jason Clarke. I love how much action there is in the movie, even though the main plot of the movie is for the humans and apes to negotiate successfully without starting a war. We root for both sides, but also hate both sides. It kind of winks an eye at our politics today if you really think about it. ;)
18. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson knocks it out of the park once again with what most people are gonna consider to be his best one. I personally like Fantastic Mr. Fox a lot more, but this is still in my Top 5 Wes Anderson movies for sure, maybe Top 3 even. The sets of course are great, the shots and edits are clever, and the acting is phenomenal. Ralph Fiennes pretty much gives the best LEADING performance of his career (I say leading because SUPPORTING is Schindler's list). It's also great to see Wes Anderson's other regulars in it as well like Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson. My most favorite of course of Jeff Goldblum because he seemed like he was made to be in a Wes Anderson film.
17. The Raid 2
It's funny how it's known to be Asian cinema (which it is), yet it was written, directed and edited by a white guy who's welsh named Gareth Evans. I would recommend watching the first one before you view this one to get to know the characters, but this one is almost completely different than the first one. The first one is like Die Hard while this one is like The Godfather. They both have the same amount of action, but in storytelling, that's what makes them different. The first one is also only your average 1 hour and 40 minutes long while this one is nearly 2 and a half hours. It sure doesn't feel like it though since I was into everything that was going on. Overall, a fine entertaining piece of cinema for a the ages.
16. Locke
Who'd have thought that a movie about just a guy driving a car while talking to his family and co-workers the whole movie would be entertaining from start to finish. Tom Hardy easily gives the performance of his career by playing a struggling man trying to make things right with his peers. When it comes to leading performances, Tom Hardy is right up there with James Franco in 127 Hours and Tom Hanks in Cast Away when it comes to being the only actor to keep a movie going. I mean, sure he's talking with different people on the phone, but he's only in the driver's seat the whole freakin' movie! A terrific job on Steven Knight's part in writing and directing this highly original piece of work.
15. What If
I'm gonna go out on a limb by saying this, but this is 'When Harry Met Sally...' done right. I still like that movie a lot, but this one I thought had better chemistry and jokes to it. I also liked the characters a lot more. It's great to FINALLY see a great movie that Daniel Radcliffe is in that isn't Harry Potter. With his failed attempts like Woman in Black and Horns, What If is a movie he can finally put on his résumé proving he's not just a one hit wonder from the one of the biggest franchises. He and his co-lead Zoe Kazan are wonderful in this movie, and their supporting co-star Adam Driver is one to look out for when it comes to future big Hollywood actors. He nearly out stages his lead actors with his hilarious performance. A very overlooked movie which is definitely worth checking out.
14. Edge of Tomorrow
How on earth did this very clever, hilarious movie that's full of action with extremely likable characters get overlooked and not make any money at the box office?! Everyone I talked to loved it (or at least liked it) and every critic seemed to love it. I don't get it. What I also don't get is why they changed the title on the DVD/Blu-Ray release to 'Live Die & Repeat'. Was it so they could get more sales? Sorry, but stick with what you released with because that's how it should be remembered. Also I was very glad to see Bill Paxton back on the big screen again, because the character he plays is one hilarious asshole.
13. The Guest
Talk about an underrated surprise at last minute before starting this Top 50 list. Imagine if they took the plot of a Nicolas Sparks novel, but decided to turn it into an extremely badass 1980s inspired action horror flick with characters that turn out NOT to be cliché. That is the amazing surprise you get when you watch this movie. The soundtrack is also worth getting after watching this.
12. Captain America: the Winter Soldier
After thinking the first one was only okay and that The Avengers was a fun movie, only Captain America could've been written more skillfully; I finally rooted for him in this, which is not only the best Captain America movie, but also one of the best Marvel movies. It's great because it's more of a spy thriller like Three Days of the Condor. Speaking of that movie, Robert Redford is excellent in this and is one of many saving graces in this movie. The other main one being Anthony Mackie who plays, Falcon, my favorite supporting character in any Marvel movie so far. The two directors Anthony and Joe Russo have come a long way after directing 'You, Me & Dupree'. 11. Men, Women & Children
I still to this day don't get why so many people hated this movie. I guess it came off like a more real version of American Beauty that most of the world could not handle at all. Writer and director Jason Reitman still has his magic after I thought he'd lost it with Young Adult and Labor Day. I love this film because it covers subjects that Hollywood (and sadly audiences as well apparently) are afraid to talk about even though it happens everywhere and all the time. I'm glad it's R rated because all the high school drama and cheating spouses I saw in this movie are more realistic than most movies today. It's a real shame that the audiences (and even most film critics?) couldn't handle it. As it should be said, it's better to root for a movie than against it since there's always something you can learn from it.
10. Chef
With this year's films being so great, I honestly did not expect this to be at number 10. This was the first movie of 2014 I gave four stars to, which means every other film you see in the top 10 I also gave four stars to. Now for this film, I still watch it today on Netflix. It is up there with Little Miss Sunshine as one of the greatest R rated family road trip movies I've ever seen. It's also the greatest product placement for the internet in general that I've ever seen. I would explain more, but knowing it's on Netflix, I say just check it out on Netflix to know what I'm really saying.
P.S.: Don't watch this on an empty stomach.
9. Begin Again
It's always a major relief to see a movie about how the music business REALLY is. In all honesty, it shows about maybe 30% of that in this movie, but in comparison to every other movie about this subject that's been released recently, that's more than good enough! It also gives us extremely likable characters to root for and it honors music in the way it is discovered, performed and interpreted. It also has a great soundtrack to it, because it's REAL music with REAL instruments. That's something we really don't hear much of these days.
8. Guardians of the Galaxy
I will say it now before the sequel comes out, this is Marvel's best movie they've produced thus far. They hire an unknown writer and director and just let them do whatever they want and this is the result. It is a fantastic result because it has contenders for the most well written likable characters of 2014, fantastic visual effects and makeup artists, and the perfect cast actors for the roles of those likable characters. I love how they make it a character study before diving into the plot. The only reason why it's not higher because the villain could've been A LOT better. They should stop casting Lee Pace in movies because he was the worst part among the whole Hobbit trilogy. Other than him and his character, everything about it was great.
7. Snowpiercer
Like The Raid 2, it's Asian cinema only this time with an Asian directing American actors. The result nonetheless is spectacular. The plot is simple, have the lower class in the back of the train keeping them alive fight towards the front of the train to get revenge on how they've been mistreated. The plot is explained at the beginning in title sequences for like a minute, then we get to know the characters a lot more than most movies provide. It's great because you don't find out everything about each character from the start. They're poker players holding back their cards until they decide to go all in before they possibly go all out. Yes people die in this movie, but will I be that guy that tells you which ones? Of course not. It's also on Netflix, so please watch before it goes away.
6. Gone Girl
I'm gonna keep this short since I feel like if I explain too much, I would possibly give maybe one for two of the eight twists in this movie away. All I can say is, the writing is great, the acting is great, and it's one of David Fincher's best EVER. This is also the movie with the best female written characters among many movies so far this decade. How is that? Probably because it was written by a woman who wrote the novel as well. Seriously, have her be one of Hollywood's new writers! She's the exact opposite of Skip Woods and Ehren Kruger, two of Hollywood's worst writers today. I'll move on now.
5. Whiplash
It is the best of pretty much everyone involved in helping this movie get made. The writer/director, actors, editor, cinematographer, etc. It also shows a great look in what it's like to live in that person's "world". I'm not gonna say which person or character it is. What I am gonna say is that J.K. Simmons has never been better and Miles Teller really is doing all his own drumming. I can't speak for the hand/arm shots, but what you see is what you hear. Also that final sequence of the movie... HOLY SHIT! Just don't go on YouTube and look it up. Watch it from start to finish, please.
4. Nightcrawler
Probably the most original narrative of the year. Most idiots would think it's about that damn superhero, but thankfully it's about the business of night-crawling where people just film incidents to sell to news stations for a lot of money. The thing that makes this movie so great is not about the business itself, but the character Lou Bloom played FLAWLESSLY by Jake Gyllenhaal. We follow his character in need of money as he discovers what the business is like and jumps to it quick to make quick cash. As he gets better at the job, the movie gets more exciting. That's all I can really say. Please note that this is what most people now consider to be Jake Gyllenhaal at his all time best. I don't see him in this movie, I see a character. If you need a label that bad, I'm calling this the American Psycho of the 2010s but MUCH BETTER.
3. Birdman
I could say the full title of 'Birdman: or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance', but that to me would be dumb. Like Dr. Strangelove, do you really have to say the full title? Especially since that full title could be spoiler for the movie itself.
ANYWAYS, the movie is like a play. It's all made to look like one take, shot by my favorite cinematographer and has one of the best comeback performances I've seen in awhile. Michael Keaton has obviously never been better after seeing this movie. Edward Norton plays himself pretty much but still gives a great performance. and Emma Stone pretty much hits the nail on the head when it comes to playing the daughter of a struggling actor putting his life and career on the line by writing, directing and acting in a Broadway play that's based off a Raymond Carver piece. Hard to believe the guy who made this is the same guy who made Babel and Amores Perros (he also wrote and produced Birdman as well). The drum score by Antonio Sanchez is hypnotizing and matches with the moods of each scene. If you want to see the art of new filmmaking, this is a perfect example. 2. Interstellar
Christopher Nolan just keeps getting better and better EVERY time he makes a film. This one I consider to be his 2001: A Space Odyssey. A lot of audiences didn't understand this movie, but at the same time couldn't stop watching it. I think as time passes, this will be regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time. If not, then our future generations are just wrong. I was very lucky to get to run this on the IMAX 70mm projector because it is pretty much to my knowledge the last to ever run on IMAX film. I saw it 5 times in the IMAX theater and it looked better in IMAX than it ever did on the regular screens in comparison because Christopher Nolan KNEW what to do for the IMAX audience. He knew the imagery to show off. Even though there probably won't ever be an IMAX film run again on the old 70mm projectors, it's great to know that this was the last one, and that it was a movie about time and space; a subject that's best for IMAX to show off on its minimum 4 story size screen. Even for those that didn't like the film, at least no one I know hated Hans Zimmer's score in the movie, which to me is the best he's ever done. If you decide to check this movie out, please to god do NOT watch this on your phone. If I said that about the movie Gravity last year, it goes double for this movie.
1. Boyhood
The amount of time put into this project seems unreal. Even when people hear that it took 12 years to make, they still don't give it enough credit. A million things could've gone wrong in making this movie, but they didn't. Richard Linklater's devotion to this film classifies as the greatest achievement any director has made in this decade so far. I'm not just thinking behind the scenes by the way, the movie itself is entertaining as hell! Linklater's script isn't boring and includes so much nostalgia from my childhood. I don't mean just certain events that happened or old products like Gameboy SPs, but situations that the family goes through. The parents played by Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke pretty much give the most realistic performances I've ever seen, as parents go, in any movie. I'm amazed that the kid grew up to look like a young Ethan Hawke at the end of the movie. If they ever added an Oscar category for Best Casting Director, the one for this movie would win in a landslide. Like Interstellar, this was another personal movie for me that I admired and could cherish in years to come. Both movies are also over 2 and a half hours long, yet they both feel so short. I almost had to flip a coin to see which one would be my number 1 of the year since they're both such great achievements. I ended up going with this one because it took 12 years to make. If people think that's such a stupid gimmick and doesn't, I'd really like to see them try to make a movie for that long. They try and use the defense of "It didn't take Birdman 12 years!", which can only lead to them missing the point. People shouldn't have the credibility to judge others if they don't have the empathy. Linklater had empathy for his entire cast and crew and would always have to check on them and treat them like family if he was going to continue making this movie over time. It's okay not to be entertained by this movie, but it's not okay to consider someone to be a "bad director" because of that. Boyhood I thought was entertaining, but also presented the best observation in how people grow up. I'm aware that documentaries like the 'Up' series and Hoop Dreams filmed people growing up overtime with a goal in mind, but Boyhood was the first and only narrative that was filmed and edited over periods of time together with an already planned story and script in mind. That's why I'm proud to have it be number 1 on my list.
