After a years absence I again bring you a list of my top films of the past year. You are welcome. Please be aware that this post will probably contain spoilers
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Now you all know (or should know by now) that I am a comic book geek. I am more of a DC guy but even taking that into account I have never been a fan of Cap. The Winter Soldier however tried to deal with the serious issues of comparing traditional American Value (not in the right wing Fox news way) with the security obsessed police state America is becoming (in between great action sequences of course)
Noah – Now this was obviously not everyone's cup of tea. However Darren Aronofsky has produced a thought provoking film which has a lot more to say about our current environmental issues and man's relation with the planet, than it does about the bible. Russell Crowe provides another powerhouse performance.
The Angriest Man In Brooklyn – Losing Robin Williams last year made me remember all the joy he had bought me through his work, and his performance in this star filled film is excellent, both funny and moving as a man, accidentally told by his doctor that he only has 90 minutes to live and trying to make the most of the time he has left.
The Lego Movie – What else can be said, a super fun film which can't help but make you smile. Also it gave us another Batman, which is always a great thing.
The Monuments Men – I have read the non-fiction book that this film was based on, and though the film cuts out a lot of historical details to make a more compact narrative I still enjoyed it. True that thematically it was all over the place, going from comedic (a lot of which was down to Bill Murray and Bob Balaban), to action to semi-melodrama, still it was a compelling story with great performances throughout.
The Top Ten
10) John Wick
OK lets get this out of the way to begin with. I have a soft spot for Keanu Reeves. I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's because I only hear good things about him, maybe it's because he tries a wide variety of projects, or simply it might just be because he was Ted 'Theodore' Logan. No matter what it is, I was glad to see him back in a great film. The premise of the film may be a bit flimsy. Russian mob hit-man retires to get married, His wife dies leaving him a puppy, a couple of hoods kill said puppy, Russian mob hit-man, kills pretty much everyone seeking revenge. It's not the story so much that makes this film top ten worthy but the the world that it creates with it's organised underworld full of unwritten codes and of course the excellent Gun-Fu. Here's hoping for a sequel.
9) What We Do In The Shadows
A brilliant comedy mockumentary film from New Zealand about a bunch of vampire house mates of different ages (8000, 862, 379 and 183) living in modern day Wellington in the build up for The Unholy Masquerade a get together of vampires, witches, zombies etc. Into their strangely ordered post-lives comes the chaos of a newly sired vampire who is more in tune with modern life then the older quartet.
8) The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
An adaptation of the best selling Swedish novel, this film runs two stories in parallel, it follows the adventure of Allan Karlsson after he escapes his retirement home on his 100th birthday, as well as showing the proceeding 100 years of his fascinating life where he wandered the world, affecting world history meeting and partying with world leaders. Think Forrest Gump without the exaggerated sentimentalism (sorry Tom Hanks, you were still Great)
7) The Imitation Game
Following the real life and tragic story of a true British Hero, who may not get as much recognition as he deserves. Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Alan Turing during his high successes during World War 2, and his subsequential heartbreaking fall. This is another film with fantastic performances throughout, most notably from Cumberbatch himself.
6) Edge of Tomorrow
When I heard that Tom Cruise had been cast to be the lead in this film, I was surprised I had read the Japanese novel 'All You Need Is Kill', that the film was based on (yes I read a lot), and in the book the protagonist is a young fresh Japanese recruit (the action also takes part in Japan not Europe), which Tom Cruise is not. However I was happy with the result. The changes made in the film (including a better ending than the novel) made this an extremely enjoyable film. Tom Cruise was his usual charming self and had real chemistry with Emily Blunt, who was playing against type as a hard as nails soldier.
5) Pride
The little known story about a group of Gays and Lesbians in 1980's London who band together to support and raise money for another oppressed group, the striking Miners may not seem like it will make a feel good film, (especially if you know the outcome of the strikes themselves), however Pride does the seemingly impossible and at the end you leave feeling quite positive. Full of lots of great moments, including possibly the best dance scene in any film this year (Sorry Starlord)
4) X-Men: Days of Future Past
Bringing together the two halves of such a huge movie franchise as the X-Men would have seemed to be near impossible, especially as there were a lot of discrepancies between the original trilogy, the Wolverine films and the First First Class film. However the returning Bryan Singer, with all the major X-Men returning for this time travelling adventure which sees Wolverine being sent back from a dystopian future into his own body in the 70's to try and fix what once went wrong (yes that is a quantum Leap reference), he was able to do so and with the extra added bonus of wiping out the events of The Last Stand.
3) Interstellar
A big budget film that is as full of big ideas as it is of huge special effects. It also pulls of the trick of being a very personal story about a father and daughter, separated by time and space, both on a mission to try and find a new home for humanity as our world slowly dies. Trust me it is not as depressing as I just made it sound. We haven't had a thought provoking science fiction film about space and our place in the universe for a while, but it was well worth the wait.
No I have not made a mistake. There were two films that were vying for top spot in my top 10 and I kept changing my mind between them, Then all of a sudden It occurred to me, it is my list and I set my own rules so why not have both as my no. 1 film. If you have a problem with that, please write a letter and then throw it in the nearest bin.
1) The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Grand Budapest Hotel is possibly the most Wes Anderson a film can be. Quirky characters [check], Gorgeous colour palette [check], Fun soundtrack [check], Brilliant ensemble cast [check], Bill Murray [check], you get my meaning. Now I hope you understand that I don't say this in a disparaging way, (or you should understand, I have just made this my joint number one film of 2014), I am a huge fan of all of Wes Anderson's work (a bit iffy on Bottle Rocket but then nobody is perfect, scratch that I am perfect), and this is my favourite film by him. What gives this the edge over all his previous films is Ralph Fiennes' incredible comic performance as Gustave H, the concierge of the titular hotel. This is a side of Ralph Fiennes' talent that we have only briefly witnessed in 'In Bruge', so to see him fully spread his comedic wings, was a joy to behold. Not to say that the other performances in this film are to be sniffed at, everyone is great especially the villains of the piece. So All round a must see film.
1) Guardians of the Galaxy
As you should all I am comic book fan (if you don't then either you skipped my paragraph on Captain America, or have something seriously wrong with your memory and should possibly see a doctor), anyway having said that, I have to confess that I was not that familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy title (mainly a DC guy remember), I was aware that they were a team of heroes in space, one of whom was a Tree and one was a Racoon, and they had something to do with Thanos, but that was about it. And in a way I'm glad about that, you might not know this but some comic book fans can be a bit nitpicky when it comes to story lines and character changes, I have been guilty of this myself from time to time. So coming into this film without any major background allowed me to enjoy this fantastic romp in all its glory. With the exception of Ronan the Accuser, all the characters were fully filled out, all the performances were fantastic, including the mocap Rocket and Groot, (there was this one scene that if I was capable of normal human emotions I may have cried). Added to that was the amazing soundtrack of fantastic 70's tunes, which was a wonderful surprise. Trust me people this film was 2 hours of fun, and I for one can't wait for the sequel.
And my worst film of the year for 2014 is.........
Transformers: Age of Extinction
As if there was any doubt. Now I grew up with the Transformers, I wasn't into them that much (I always preferred He-Man or Thundercats), but they were part of my youth growing up. When the original Transformer film (live action) was announced I was like 'OK could be fun', which it wasn't, and every subsequent film had gotten worse. So when I heard that the quite awful Shia Labeouf had left the franchise and been replaced by Mark Wahlberg I got my hopes up a bit. Wahlberg is OK, he has a bit of charm and can act, (and to be honest he is not the worst thing in this film), but again the Michael Bay has gone for big bangs, special effects, attractive (questionable in this case) talentless actresses instead of plot and character development, and the entire film suffers for it. In the right hands, for example Christopher Nolan, Bryan Singer, Joss Whedon we see that even with big budget blockbusters, plot and character development are the foundations that the films are built on. Not here unfortunately, this is a lowest common denominator of big budget films.
Notable mentions
These are the films which I really enjoyed and were the closest to being in my Top Ten:Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Now you all know (or should know by now) that I am a comic book geek. I am more of a DC guy but even taking that into account I have never been a fan of Cap. The Winter Soldier however tried to deal with the serious issues of comparing traditional American Value (not in the right wing Fox news way) with the security obsessed police state America is becoming (in between great action sequences of course)
Noah – Now this was obviously not everyone's cup of tea. However Darren Aronofsky has produced a thought provoking film which has a lot more to say about our current environmental issues and man's relation with the planet, than it does about the bible. Russell Crowe provides another powerhouse performance.
The Angriest Man In Brooklyn – Losing Robin Williams last year made me remember all the joy he had bought me through his work, and his performance in this star filled film is excellent, both funny and moving as a man, accidentally told by his doctor that he only has 90 minutes to live and trying to make the most of the time he has left.
The Lego Movie – What else can be said, a super fun film which can't help but make you smile. Also it gave us another Batman, which is always a great thing.
The Monuments Men – I have read the non-fiction book that this film was based on, and though the film cuts out a lot of historical details to make a more compact narrative I still enjoyed it. True that thematically it was all over the place, going from comedic (a lot of which was down to Bill Murray and Bob Balaban), to action to semi-melodrama, still it was a compelling story with great performances throughout.
The Top Ten
10) John Wick
OK lets get this out of the way to begin with. I have a soft spot for Keanu Reeves. I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's because I only hear good things about him, maybe it's because he tries a wide variety of projects, or simply it might just be because he was Ted 'Theodore' Logan. No matter what it is, I was glad to see him back in a great film. The premise of the film may be a bit flimsy. Russian mob hit-man retires to get married, His wife dies leaving him a puppy, a couple of hoods kill said puppy, Russian mob hit-man, kills pretty much everyone seeking revenge. It's not the story so much that makes this film top ten worthy but the the world that it creates with it's organised underworld full of unwritten codes and of course the excellent Gun-Fu. Here's hoping for a sequel.
9) What We Do In The Shadows
A brilliant comedy mockumentary film from New Zealand about a bunch of vampire house mates of different ages (8000, 862, 379 and 183) living in modern day Wellington in the build up for The Unholy Masquerade a get together of vampires, witches, zombies etc. Into their strangely ordered post-lives comes the chaos of a newly sired vampire who is more in tune with modern life then the older quartet.
8) The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
An adaptation of the best selling Swedish novel, this film runs two stories in parallel, it follows the adventure of Allan Karlsson after he escapes his retirement home on his 100th birthday, as well as showing the proceeding 100 years of his fascinating life where he wandered the world, affecting world history meeting and partying with world leaders. Think Forrest Gump without the exaggerated sentimentalism (sorry Tom Hanks, you were still Great)
7) The Imitation Game
Following the real life and tragic story of a true British Hero, who may not get as much recognition as he deserves. Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Alan Turing during his high successes during World War 2, and his subsequential heartbreaking fall. This is another film with fantastic performances throughout, most notably from Cumberbatch himself.
6) Edge of Tomorrow
When I heard that Tom Cruise had been cast to be the lead in this film, I was surprised I had read the Japanese novel 'All You Need Is Kill', that the film was based on (yes I read a lot), and in the book the protagonist is a young fresh Japanese recruit (the action also takes part in Japan not Europe), which Tom Cruise is not. However I was happy with the result. The changes made in the film (including a better ending than the novel) made this an extremely enjoyable film. Tom Cruise was his usual charming self and had real chemistry with Emily Blunt, who was playing against type as a hard as nails soldier.
5) Pride
The little known story about a group of Gays and Lesbians in 1980's London who band together to support and raise money for another oppressed group, the striking Miners may not seem like it will make a feel good film, (especially if you know the outcome of the strikes themselves), however Pride does the seemingly impossible and at the end you leave feeling quite positive. Full of lots of great moments, including possibly the best dance scene in any film this year (Sorry Starlord)
4) X-Men: Days of Future Past
Bringing together the two halves of such a huge movie franchise as the X-Men would have seemed to be near impossible, especially as there were a lot of discrepancies between the original trilogy, the Wolverine films and the First First Class film. However the returning Bryan Singer, with all the major X-Men returning for this time travelling adventure which sees Wolverine being sent back from a dystopian future into his own body in the 70's to try and fix what once went wrong (yes that is a quantum Leap reference), he was able to do so and with the extra added bonus of wiping out the events of The Last Stand.
3) Interstellar
A big budget film that is as full of big ideas as it is of huge special effects. It also pulls of the trick of being a very personal story about a father and daughter, separated by time and space, both on a mission to try and find a new home for humanity as our world slowly dies. Trust me it is not as depressing as I just made it sound. We haven't had a thought provoking science fiction film about space and our place in the universe for a while, but it was well worth the wait.
No I have not made a mistake. There were two films that were vying for top spot in my top 10 and I kept changing my mind between them, Then all of a sudden It occurred to me, it is my list and I set my own rules so why not have both as my no. 1 film. If you have a problem with that, please write a letter and then throw it in the nearest bin.
1) The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Grand Budapest Hotel is possibly the most Wes Anderson a film can be. Quirky characters [check], Gorgeous colour palette [check], Fun soundtrack [check], Brilliant ensemble cast [check], Bill Murray [check], you get my meaning. Now I hope you understand that I don't say this in a disparaging way, (or you should understand, I have just made this my joint number one film of 2014), I am a huge fan of all of Wes Anderson's work (a bit iffy on Bottle Rocket but then nobody is perfect, scratch that I am perfect), and this is my favourite film by him. What gives this the edge over all his previous films is Ralph Fiennes' incredible comic performance as Gustave H, the concierge of the titular hotel. This is a side of Ralph Fiennes' talent that we have only briefly witnessed in 'In Bruge', so to see him fully spread his comedic wings, was a joy to behold. Not to say that the other performances in this film are to be sniffed at, everyone is great especially the villains of the piece. So All round a must see film.
1) Guardians of the Galaxy
As you should all I am comic book fan (if you don't then either you skipped my paragraph on Captain America, or have something seriously wrong with your memory and should possibly see a doctor), anyway having said that, I have to confess that I was not that familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy title (mainly a DC guy remember), I was aware that they were a team of heroes in space, one of whom was a Tree and one was a Racoon, and they had something to do with Thanos, but that was about it. And in a way I'm glad about that, you might not know this but some comic book fans can be a bit nitpicky when it comes to story lines and character changes, I have been guilty of this myself from time to time. So coming into this film without any major background allowed me to enjoy this fantastic romp in all its glory. With the exception of Ronan the Accuser, all the characters were fully filled out, all the performances were fantastic, including the mocap Rocket and Groot, (there was this one scene that if I was capable of normal human emotions I may have cried). Added to that was the amazing soundtrack of fantastic 70's tunes, which was a wonderful surprise. Trust me people this film was 2 hours of fun, and I for one can't wait for the sequel.
And my worst film of the year for 2014 is.........
Transformers: Age of Extinction
As if there was any doubt. Now I grew up with the Transformers, I wasn't into them that much (I always preferred He-Man or Thundercats), but they were part of my youth growing up. When the original Transformer film (live action) was announced I was like 'OK could be fun', which it wasn't, and every subsequent film had gotten worse. So when I heard that the quite awful Shia Labeouf had left the franchise and been replaced by Mark Wahlberg I got my hopes up a bit. Wahlberg is OK, he has a bit of charm and can act, (and to be honest he is not the worst thing in this film), but again the Michael Bay has gone for big bangs, special effects, attractive (questionable in this case) talentless actresses instead of plot and character development, and the entire film suffers for it. In the right hands, for example Christopher Nolan, Bryan Singer, Joss Whedon we see that even with big budget blockbusters, plot and character development are the foundations that the films are built on. Not here unfortunately, this is a lowest common denominator of big budget films.
