2014 Movies

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The Films of 2014

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My Top Picks

What an incredible year for movies. It was so hard to pick a number one this year because there were so many fantastic films.

  1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier: This one was clever, sort of like an espionage film with superheroes in it. It had a lot of story. I really never thought that Captain America had a chance to succeed as a franchise but the first one was unexpectedly good. The second raised the bar considerably.

  2. Book Thief, The: A lovely film, it had a beautiful look to it and it handled tragedy so well. I guess I wanted this to win but in a year full of amazing films, there was just too much competition.

  3. Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, The: I was waiting for this and it didn't disappoint.

  4. Edge of Tomorrow: Ignored by audiences mainly because of Tom Cruise's reputation but this turned out to be very good -- and the 3D was top notch too.

  5. X-Men Days of Future Past: A very clever film which not only managed to entertain but also massively adjusted the franchise to correct the mistakes of the past.

  6. Into the Storm: All we were expecting was a twister knock-off, and that's all that was delivered. Not a movie for thinking in but a great thrill ride all the same.

  7. Maze Runner, The: A challenger for the Hunger Games, the Maze Runner contained a lot of action and some very good young actors.

  8. Lego Movie, The: The whole concept of a lego movie sounded very silly but they did a brilliant job with this one. It's reminiscent of the never ending story in the way that it breaks the fourth wall. The animation was good but it was the screenwriting that was most impressive.

  9. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies: The Hobbit isn't a bad series of films and in fact, this third film was by far the best of the three. It's just that there was no room for it in 2014. There were too many other great films.

  10. Heaven Is for Real: An uplifting tale which relies on belief via innocence rather than bashing a concept into the audience's head. If you've recently lost someone, this is the movie to watch.

  11. Non-Stop: Liam Neeson punching people, need I say more?

  12. Pompeii: Sure, this was just going to be like Titanic and Gladiator but with Jon Snow. It wasn't a film with great character development but when there's an active volcano, who cares?

  13. Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The: Now this is how you make a remake. You take an old film that most people have forgotten (the original was 66 years old) and then you remake it.

Notable Mentions ("Surprise" Films)

  • In the Blood: Half action flick half hostel, mostly a B film but a good one.

  • Book Thief, The: A beautifully shot film

  • Interstellar: Brilliant. I was sort of expecting "pretentious" but it ended up being quite fun.

  • Maleficent: I don't know what I was expecting from this dark fantasy. Probably something a bit dull. This was a beautiful film with incredible art direction and special effects. It looked great in 3D too.

  • Boxtrolls, The: Totally unexpectedly good. I sat down to watch what should have been a run of the mill kiddie flick but it was genuinely interesting and funny.

  • Fault in Our Stars, The: I really wasn't expecting to like this film. In fact, I expected to find it a very tough experience. I certainly didn't think I'd be laughing in it. But I did. It's funny and sad at the same time and it has a great message about infinities within infinities. Sort of the "the Bridget Jones of Cancer films". Well worth a watch.

  • Wolf Creek 2: I went into this one somewhat reluctantly expecting a rehash of the first one. The sequel was completely different and scary in so many different ways.

  • Book of Life, The: This cartoon was very different to most and I think that gave it an edge over Big Hero 6 (which was good but quite derivative)

  • Sex Tape: It got terrible reviews but I was pleasantly surprised.

  • Divergent: Clearly another attempt, like the Maze Runner to replicate the success of the Hunger Games. This one was quite good.

  • Giver, The: Having read the book, which IMHO was rather dull and felt exactly like a school novel, I wasn't expecting much from the film. Fortunately, they cut out all of the boring bits and made it a whole lot better.

  • Guardians of the Galaxy: I wasn't expecting much from this but it was a sleeper hit. Of course, by the time I did see it, I knew it was a sleeper hit, so then I was expecting too much.

  • Gone Girl: More or less this generation's Fatal Attraction. Unexpectedly good.

  • Other Woman, The: I was expecting a normal romantic comedy but this one was actually very funny.

The Biggest Disappointments

  • Walk Among the Tombstones, A: Started off good but got ridiculous and was over-long. Probably an hour longer than it needed to be. It's got action, it's got Liam Neeson but somehow they got it all wrong.

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: I wasn't looking forward to this at all. It did help me to take a nap though. The 3D was "flat as a tack" too.

  • I, Frankenstein: I was expecting rubbish but this was worse than expected.

  • Godzilla: Miles better than the Matthew Broderick film but it still left me a bit bored. Way too long. Watched it twice, fell asleep (briefly) both times.

  • Transcendence: One of those movies where you've forgotten what is was about within a couple of days of watching it. Move along, nothing to see here.

  • Amazing Spider-Man 2, The: It looked promising but was ultimately too crowded with characters and too underdeveloped. I miss Sam Raimi's Spider-man though the cheekiness of Garfield is better.

  • Equalizer, The: I wasn't looking forward to this film until everyone else hyped it up. Then I became interested. The bits that I saw before I fell asleep were pretty good. Unfortunately after I kept crashing out in the second half, I lost interest. It just seemed to go on forever and I was very glad when it ended.

All the films I've seen at the Cinemas in 2014

  1. Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The

  2. Book Thief, The

  3. Non-Stop

  4. Wolf Creek 2

  5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  6. Lego Movie, The

  7. Noah

  8. Neighbours (aka Bad Neighbours)

  9. Godzilla

  10. Other Woman, The

  11. X-Men: Days of Future Past

  12. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  13. Sex Tape

  14. Lucy

  15. Inbetweeners Movie 2, The

  16. Into the Storm

  17. Walk Among the Tombstones, A

  18. Tammy

  19. Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, The

  20. Water Diviner, The

  21. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

Films from 2014 that I saw on the "small screen"

  1. 3 Days to Kill

  2. 300: Rise of an Empire

  3. Adventurer: Curse of the Midas Box, The

  4. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

  5. Amazing Spider-Man 2, The

  6. Big Hero 6

  7. Book of Life

  8. Boxtrolls, The

  9. Divergent

  10. Dolphin Tale 2

  11. Edge of Tomorrow

  12. Equalizer, The

  13. Exodus: Gods and Kings

  14. Expendables 3, The

  15. Fault in Our Stars, The

  16. Fury

  17. Giver, The

  18. Gone Girl

  19. Guardians of the Galaxy

  20. Haunted House 2, A

  21. Heaven Is for Real

  22. Hercules

  23. Hercules: The Thracian Wars

  24. Home

  25. How to Train Your Dragon 2

  26. I, Frankenstein

  27. In the Blood

  28. Interstellar

  29. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

  30. Jupiter Ascending

  31. Legend of Hercules, The

  32. Maleficent

  33. Million Ways to Die in the West, A

  34. Mr. Peabody & Sherman

  35. Muppets Most Wanted

  36. Need for Speed

  37. Night at the Museum 3

  38. Open Grave

  39. Paddington

  40. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

  41. Planes 2: Fire and Rescue

  42. Pompeii

  43. Purge 2, The

  44. Ride Along

  45. Rio 2

  46. RoboCop

  47. Sabotage

  48. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

  49. St. Vincent

  50. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

  51. Transcendence

  52. Transformers: Age of Extinction

  53. Walk of Shame

What's Left to See from 2014

The boldfaced titles are the ones I'm most interested in;

* Denotes titles I've acquired but haven't gotten around to watching yet.

  1. 22 Jump Street

  2. About Last Night

  3. Addicted

  4. Annie

  5. Bad Words

  6. Bears

  7. Belle

  8. Best Offer, The

  9. Best of Me, The

  10. Beyond Outrage

  11. Blackbird

  12. Blended

  13. Business or Pleasure

  14. César Chávez

  15. Chef

  16. Deliver Us from Evil

  17. Devil's Due

  18. Dom Hemingway

  19. Dracula Untold*

  20. Draft Day

  21. Dumb and Dumber To

  22. Dumbbells

  23. Earth To Echo*

  24. Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes

  25. Endless Love

  26. Frankie & Alice

  27. Get on Up

  28. Gimme Shelter

  29. Grace of Monaco

  30. Grand Budapest Hotel, The*

  31. Green Inferno, The

  32. Horrible Bosses 2*

  33. Hundred-Foot Journey, The

  34. Interior. Leather Bar.

  35. Interview, The

  36. Into the Woods

  37. Jane Got a Gun

  38. Jersey Boys

  39. Jessabelle

  40. Judge, The

  41. Labor Day

  42. Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return

  43. Life of a King

  44. Loft, The

  45. McFarland

  46. Million Dollar Arm

  47. Monuments Men, The*

  48. No Good Deed

  49. Nut Job, The*

  50. Quiet Ones, The

  51. Raid 2: Berandal, The

  52. Railway Man, The

  53. Raze

  54. Search Party

  55. Single Moms Club

  56. Son of God

  57. Step Up All In

  58. Stretch

  59. That Awkward Moment

  60. Think Like a Man Too

  61. This Is Where I Leave You

  62. Unbroken

  63. Vampire Academy*

  64. Veronica Mars

  65. Welcome to Yesterday

  66. When the Game Stands Tall

  67. Winter's Tale*