The Most Memorable Films of 2014

 

Now that 2014 is almost over everyone is compiling their obligatory lists for best/worst films of the year and heaven forbid I don't jump up and drive the bandwagon.  I am far too lazy to write two separate lists so I have combined them and created, for your pleasure, a list of my most memorable films whether they be good or bad. 

 

As a general FYI Oscar Season doesn't kick off here until January so expect to see any memorable Oscar baiting films in next years list.  Exciting stuff.  I am sure it will be worth the wait.

 

10 – Fury

Despite the fact that Brad Pitt dresses up as "Brad Pitt in WW2" and phones in the only performance he is capable of giving Fury is a pretty good film.  Pitt may be the A-List cast member but Fury is the story of Logan Lerman’s young Norman Ellison.  Fury is the first time I have seen Lerman in an adult film and he more than held his own against Brad Pitt although it wasn't much of a challenge.  The chemistry between Pitt and Lerman was strong but every time Pitt stared intently at Lerman I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was trying to figure out a way to adopt him.  Fury was a solid, action heavy war film which more than deserved its viewing in the cinema. 

 

9 – Noah

2014 seems to be the year when Hollywood decided to go all biblical on us and force feed tales from the Old Testament down our throats.  Noah was first out of the gate and this was enough to earn it a place on the list over the equally horrific Exodus: Gods and Kings.  Watching Russell Crowe’s Noah stomp around the ark like a raving lunatic was not pleasant viewing and let’s not forget the creepy scene when Jennifer Connelly wanted to marry off two new born girls to her teenage sons.  An awful, awful film.

 

8 – The Judge

http://karina-mundanerambling.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-judge.html

With another cast The Judge would have been a perfectly good film but casting Robert Downey Jnr to play the lawyer version of Robert Downey Jnr was the laziest choice of 2014.  RDJ finally morphed into a caricature and he has become so bloated by his own ego it has become impossible to watch him on screen without feeling immense hatred.

 

7 – X-Men: Days of Future Past

I hated Brian Singer for leaving the X-Men franchise and I wasn’t willing to forgive him until I saw Days of Future Past.  I finally got the X-Men of my childhood.  The only criticism I have would be that Ian McKellen got short changed on screen time.  Bring on Apocalypse!

 

6 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

There was nothing but negative press surrounding the latest remake of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a dodgy trailer did nothing to pique my interest, and yet, by the time the film arrived there were rumblings of it being not too bad.  Chalk it up to nostalgia or chalk it up to Will Arnett, either way, I had a great time.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is probably the most surprisingly entertaining film of the year.  It was by no means perfect but going along to see the next instalment doesn’t feel like too much of a chore.  A job fairly well done.

 

5 – Gone Girl

A much hyped film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel.  This is one of those rare occasions when I had read the book before the film was announced.  I knew the story well enough to hate the casting of Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.  My hatred was misplaced as Gone Girl was an engaging film despite my having read the book twice.  Gone Girl is one of those films that was watched, enjoyed and then instantly forgotten about.  David Fincher was the right man for the job and keeps up his near perfect streak of making films that I love yet only feel the need to watch once. 

 

4 – Lone Survivor

I finally blew the dust of my Lone Survivor DVD and watched it for the first time quite recently.  I was blown away.  Lone Survivor was an amazing film which had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.  The only problem was that the film lacked a few big emotional punches but it saved them for the closing credits by honouring the fallen soldiers who were killed in action.  It could have been a cheap ploy for manipulated tears but it was well handled, poignant and any tears that I shed were genuine.  I so desperately want Peter Berg to become one of my favourite directors and he always gets so close but then cranks out a Battleship or Hancock to slide him back down the rankings. 

 

3 – Deliver us from Evil

http://karina-mundanerambling.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/deliver-us-from-evil.html

The only horror film to make it onto the list this year purely because The Babadook got such a limited release in the cinema it was impossible to see it.  Deliver us from Evil could have been a familiar tale of possession and exorcism but it switches up the format by playing out like a grimy thriller on the streets of New York.  It is a bit dry in parts but the biggest problem with Deliver us from Evil is that it is a film – It would have made an excellent tv show.

 

Imagine tuning into this every week.

 

Deliver us from Evil also introduced me to Joel McHale and Community which in turn has saved me a small fortune in DVD’s this year as I have been watching Community on a loop for the past six months.  It’s always nice when a film I like introduces me to a hidden gem.  Director Scott Derrickson has joined the Marvel team which bodes well for Dr Strange although I wouldn't be unhappy if he treated us to a sequel in the interim (provided it isn't called Deliver us from Evil Again.)

 

2 – Calvary

http://karina-mundanerambling.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/calvary.html

A couple of years ago John Michael McDonagh and Brendan Gleeson brought us The Guard which is one of my all-time favourite films.  In 2014 they teamed up again with Calvary, the story of a Priest who is given one week to live before he is murdered.  Rather than go to the police and save himself Father James sets about getting his house in order and attempts to reach out to his parishioners.  Although there is some black humour the film is a dark drama and gives Gleeson an opportunity to show that he is one of the finest actors around.  Gleeson has already picked up some awards for his performance but I expect the film to be too quiet to pick up any Oscar traction.  This is Oscar’s loss.

 

1.5 - Frank

 

http://karina-mundanerambling.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/frank.html

 

Maybe I forgot to find Frank a place on the list, maybe I wanted to add a bit of tension before we got to number 1 - I will never tell.  Frank is one of those random films that appeared in the listings without prior notice and gave me an excuse not to see Godzilla on opening weekend.  It is very much worth a look and proves that the Gleeson talent did not skip a generation.

 

1 – Pride

http://karina-mundanerambling.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/pride.html

The top spot was a toss-up between Calvary and Pride but Pride stole it by a whisker.  Right from the trailer I knew that Pride would be a film that I would enjoy.  Pride is set during the 1984 miners’ strike when a group of friends set up the GLSM to provide relief to the struggling minors.  There is plenty of humour and heart which makes it easy to fall in love with the characters.  It is a perfect, feel good film, which made a dismal year in the cinema worth it.

 

This is hardly the most inspiring list of films but it is what it is.  Hopefully 2015 will be a much more successful, movie watching year.  I don't think it could get any worse!

And there is always this to fall back on:

 

Trance

 

Guillermo del Toro is my favourite director but Danny Boyle is a very close second – Shallow Grave and Sunshine easily make my top ten list of favourite films. 

As much as I love James McAvoy, Danny Boyle was the main reason I was ridiculously excited for Trance.

PLOT:  During a robbery of an auction house auctioneer Simon (James McAvoy) hides a valuable painting but is knocked out causing him to lose his memory.  Attempted burglar Franck (Vincent Cassel) tracks Simon down and forces him to undergo hypnotherapy in order to recover the missing painting.  END PLOT

I don’t want to inadvertently give away any spoilers so my thoughts on the plot of Trance are going to be minimal.  I will say this – If you don’t pay attention you will lose track of what is going on very quickly.  The pace is fast and there are enough twists to ensure that you are one step behind at all times. 

There is an argument to be made the plot borders on messy and if you sit down and really think about what you have just watched a few plot holes may creep in.  On my first viewing I didn't spot any although my friends did.  I think this will become a problem with repeat viewings.

James McAvoy is an actor we don’t see enough of and in Trance he is as watchable as ever.  As the plot unravels Simon’s character goes through some dramatic changes and McAvoy plays this very well.

Rosario Dawson is very good as Elizabeth, Simon’s hypnotherapist.  Once the twists start unravelling Dawson is more than able to hold her own against McAvoy.  Trance contains some scenes of full frontal nudity which means I now know Rosario Dawson on a more personal level than I ever intended to.  The nudity is actually an important part of the storyline so kudos to the writers for finally figuring out how to work a naked lady into the plot.

Vincent Cassel, who has that ever threatening quiet danger rounds out the very small cast.

The cinematography is slick and is polished to within an inch of its life.  There are some gorgeous but arty shots of motorways at night which are supposed to contrast with a human brain.  It just about works but isn’t particularly subtle.

There is plenty of action and a few gory moments of finger nail torture which will always be uncomfortable viewing. 

The soundtrack is usually a key feature in Danny Boyle’s films.  My favourite musical moment is the use of Dean Martin’s Happy Heart at the end of Shallow Grave.  The score worked very well in the film but it isn’t as i-pod friendly as Slumdog Millionaire.  The Heist has been listened to quite a few times so I think the soundtrack might grow on me.

Everything about Trance screams Danny Boyle which is a massive compliment.  I am slightly worried that twists will turn out to be plot holes but at the moment my first opinion is that I loved every second of it.  Trance gets 9/10.

The Conspirator

Norman Reedus season had taken a short hiatus due to lack of funds, dvds and willpower to sit through Blade2 but it was back with aplomb as The Conspirator was finally released.

PLOT:  Abraham Lincoln has just been assassinated and with The Conspirators safely behind bars Fred Aiken, (James McAoy) a young captain who fought in the war, has been given the charge of defending Mary Surratt, (Robin Wright) the mother of the only conspirator who managed to escape.  Aiken reluctantly prepares his defence and discovers that Mary was not directly involved in the conspiracy but has been arrested as she refuses to give up the whereabouts of her son.  Aiken tries to find John Surratt in order to save his client from the gallows but is up against a courtroom and a society hell bent on revenge/swift justice on those involved in Lincoln’s assassination.  There is a conspiracy (poor I know).  There is severe miscasting.  There is no happy Hollywood ending.  END PLOT

Right off the bat I should point out that I know very little about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln other than he was shot and killed at the theatre by John Wilkes-Booth and keeping true to form I have carried out no research whatsoever in order to determine if the events which took place in The Conspirator are historically accurate. 

The film well written and the content of the plot is strong.  Aiken constantly put forward the argument of Mary’s constitutional rights and that she should be tried under a civilian court of her peers but this never happened.  The Conspirator also played up the hysteria which followed the assassination and the fact that the Court Tribunal was hell-bent on having people hang for the crime regardless of their level of involvement.  This is the part of the film which really caught my attention and I think it would have made it stronger if they developed this further. 

The pace of the film is very slow which suited it.  This is not a modern courtroom thriller complete with stylish linguistic manipulation of the jury - the drama within the courtroom scenes is very much in line with what was acceptable at the time. 

The story of Mary Surratt was completely new to me and I blame Hollywood, rather than my own historical ignorance, for the fact that I watched the entire film waiting for the moment she would be released.  I waited for John Surratt to turn himself in thereby saving his mother right up until she went to the gallows and it obviously never came. 

During the closing credits we were informed that John Surratt was given a civilian trial and as his involvement could not be proved beyond all reasonable doubt he was set free - this is a story I will keep in mind if I ever move across to American historical novels.

I will watch James McAvoy in anything - he is an actor of my generation and when my grandchildren are discovering film he will be the one I force upon them as the dashing young star of my time.  As the film was paced so slowly it fell to McAvoy to hold the audiences interest and he led the cast and the film with ease. 

Robin Wright is one of those actresses who pops up occasionally and she also very good as Mary Surratt.

The supporting cast of Tom Wilkinson, Danny Glover and Evan Rachel Wood also put in strong performances. 

The weak link in the film is Justin Long.  The how’s and whys of his casting are totally lost on me in all of the films he has appeared in but his surprise appearance irritated me and every time he was on screen I couldn’t stop the stomach clenching hate that is attached to him.

Norman Reedus’ role is tiny - so tiny he does not have many lines or much to do at all.  He does get a couple of scenes in flashbacks but mostly he sits in the courtroom and scowls at everyone.  The Daryl Dixon Stare is attractive and downright distracting in any era - there are few people I will stop watching James McAvoy to look at and he is one of them.  October cannot come quickly enough.  It does have to be said that with The Conspirator McAvoy was the reason and Reedus was the bonus.

The only way I could have loved Lewis Payne more is if he said something charmingly racist.... I am a flawed person........

The Conspirator is the first Robert Redford directed film I have watched although it is also the first which appealed.  I do like a good historical film and The Conspirator is just that.  It lacked a certain spark or that one big scene to tip it over into the lower end of the epic scale but it cannot be considered a shabby film.  It gets a very solid 7/10 and will most likely be picked up on dvd sometime down the line for a rewatch. 

X-Men: First Class

Last night finally marked the return of X-Men to the big screen. After the major disappointments of X-Men 3 *shudder* and Wolverine I did not err on the side of caution and deployed full scale excitement mode despite the cautious advices of the other 2/3 of The Nerdy Trio.

In fairness: any excuse for not working is acceptable to me

PLOT: Back in the days of yore, before Toads got struck by lightening, Rogue became a whiney little bitch and Cyclops became criminally underused, Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) were involved in a bromance to which all future bromances shall be forever compared to. The two become friends and create the first team of X-Men in order to defeat Sebastian Shaw.
The Hellfire Club spend the first 2/3 of the film running back and forth between America and Russia trying to upgrade the Cold War into a Flaming Hot War. During the final act Sebastian suddenly remembers that he has the power to start the nuclear war himself and is promptly defeated by the Xavier and Magneto.
Xavier and Magneto continue the merry dance of being best of friends/greatest of enemies. Mystique finally gets a decent amount of screen time but almost strays into whiney Rogue territory. Havok is most definitely the most interesting Summers and I discover that my hatred of January Jones runs deep. END PLOT

I was ridiculously excited for this film and it is my pick for summer blockbuster of the year so my hopes were high. I went into X-Men 3 with delirious levels of excitement and came out of the screen with worryingly suicidal levels of disappointment. I think we were all grateful that X-Men: First Class ended much more positively.

Professor X and Magneto are a strange characters as they are so familiar yet also completely unknown. It was nice that we went back to their younger days and got an insight into their backgrounds - Charles with his rich upbringing and Erik and his torturous time in the concentration camps.

Charles is the never flinching voice of hope throughout each X-Men film and although he is the most consistent character it is Magneto who is the most interesting as he is the one with the inner conflict. X-Men: First Class is essentially the telling of how Magneto joined the dark side.

James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender were fantastic choices for Xavier and Magneto. They are both great actors and did not bring shame to the performances of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan.  The two played off one another really well whether it be in the more light hearted scenes such as the traditional “bring the team” together montage or the emotional moment when Xavier brought a happy memory out of Magneto's buried subconscious.

Fassbender proved that he can act in Spanish, German and French but his English accent did slip a few times. There were several occasions when Magneto became very Irish and during one particularly mean moment of badassery he appeared to be possessed by Batman and deployed a level of growl to his voice that would scare the shit out of Christian Bale. He is fantastic and dare I say it - slightly better than McAvoy........

Kevin Bacon rocks back onto the big screen as Sebastian Shaw and does a good job. I can't think of a stand out moment though as he basically walked around and looked quite smug in his dashing suit.

The special effects were all fine. There were a few nice little moments with Banshee and Havok learning to use their powers but the big set piece was reserved for the Magneto vs. Submarine battle.

The original X-Men Trilogy suffered greatly as Wolverine and Storm got FAR too much screen time and other characters who should have been given more to do (Cyclops and Nightcrawler) were relegated to the background.

In X-Men: First Class the screen time seemed to be spread out a lot better and although there is a distinction between leading and secondary cast I didn’t feel like any actor forced their way to the front of the queue ala Hallie Berry.

This is the summer of reboots and I think with X-Men: First Class we now have a reboot which worked and can be followed up with a new wave of X-Men films which will hopefully be as strong as this one.

X-Men: First Class will not be everyone’s idea of a great film but these are characters I grew up with a kid. I absolutely love watching them in film. It gets my first 10/10 for the year. There are flaws yes - we got a bit too much Cold War stock footage and no one can be forgiven for hiring January Jones but I don’t care.

I have fallen in love with these characters all over again.


****

I have added to my original review as a friend thought that the CGI looked a bit dodgy in parts and as I didn't bother to cover it at the time I've decided to add it into my review.

I thought that the CGI was fine for the most part.  If I were to pick a fault it would be the character of Beast who did look bad - even X-Men 3 did a better job.  According to Wiki the budget is in the region of $120million so maybe they should have done better with the budget.  I read that there were quite a lot of reshoots so perhaps time became a factor.

Matthew Vaughn hasn't directed many films, but I do like the Vaughn/Goldman partnership which also brought us Kick-Ass and Stardust (another Vaughn film where the effects are poor), so I hope that his ability to work with big action set pieces which require CGI improve.

Did it dampen my love of the film? That would be no! It still gets 10/10.

Facebook - 30 Day Film Challenge = Day 11-20

Back by absolutely no demand whatsoever - it is days 11 - 20 of my facebook movie challenge:

Day 11: A Film By Your Favourite Director
Choice: Blade 2 Guillermo del Toro

This isn't his best film by far nor is it even in the top three but it is the last del Toro film I watched so it gets a place on the list. You can see del Toro's influences throughout the film and it looks all the better for it. I haven't watched the first Blade but own Blade Trinity - the drop in quality is not subtle. One of the few times that vampires appeared cool.

Day 12: A Film By Your Least Favourite Director
Choice: Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarintino

It does worry me that the vast majority of film lovers are all huge Tarintino fans as it makes me feel as though I have missed the point as I just don't get him. He is a very stylish director I will give him that but this is the only concession I will make. There are some good moments in Inglourious Basterds - the opening sequence is fantastic between Landa and the farmer. The rest is just hammy acting by Brad Pitt and some violence. He is also one of the smuggest egotistical pricks involved in film. Meh.

Day 13: A Guilty Pleasure
Choice - Pathfinder

I have so many guilty pleasures it renders the term guilty pleasure redundant and more likely means I just have bad taste in film.

The Nerdy Trio saw this film in an empty screen and it was one of the most entertaining cinema experiences we have had as a group. This film is so awful it boarders on brilliance. We didn't think it could ever be beaten until we rented the directors cut and our love for it grew. This is probably the only group choice in my list. Pathfinder to this day is the bad/good film we compare all others to. This film will always remind me of how much I love my friends.

Day 14: A Film No One Expected You To Like
Choice: Dirty Dancing

To this day my friends do not believe I have watched this film let alone own the dvd. I don't know why it is so hard for people to believe that I am a Dirty Dancing fan. I love musicals and I do have a soft spot for dance movies so technically Dirty Dancing is my ideal film - not that I would ever admit it.

Day 15: A Film That Depicts Your Life
Choice: Saturday Night Lights

This is one of the more ridiculous days of the challenge and there is no film out there that comes close to depicting my life which is completely run of the mill and mundane. I chose this film as the football are the underdogs which get to the final and ultimately lose. I have a habit of falling at the final hurdle (although this is due to lack of commitment) so this is the only common ground. I am not a lover of sports movies and the only reason I own this one due to a little crush on one of the cast members. This method of buying dvds usually fails (Ala the short lived Ryan Reynolds phase) but this is actually a really good little film.

Day 16: A Film You Used To Love But Now Hate
Choice: Chicago

I used to love this film and would have placed it as my favourite musical. This changed as soon as I saw the stage musical a couple of years ago as it highlighted just how awful Renee Zellweggar's performance was. People who are familiar with my tastes know just how much I hate Renee so the fact that I loved this movie to the extent that I did speaks for itself. The movie hasn't been watched since and isn't likely to be any time soon. Bitch

Day 17: Your Favourite Drama
Choice: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner and its sister novel A Thousand Splendid Suns are two of my favourite novels both of which had me in tears on several occasions. The film version of The Kite Runner is a fantastic adaptation of an exceptional novel. I hope that a script for Suns is being prepared as I type.

Day 19: Your Favourite Action Film
Choice: Aliens

This should be the template for all good action films. The tag line for this film is "This time it's war" and it is 100% accurate. I love all the bad ass marines and their decent into complete panic. It is also a good film for quotes too - I am working out of the office at the minute and have to take a lift to the third floor (yes I am that lazy) of the building I am based in. Every time I go down the lift I have to fight the urge to hell "I'm on an express elevator to hell! Going down!"

For me Aliens is the best sequel ever made!

Day 20: Your Favourite Love Story
Choice: Atonement

This is the genre I knew I would struggle with - films like The Notebook and Dear John are watchable but for me totally forgettable. Atonement is another story altogether. I absolutely love this movie and have yet to watch it without dissolving into floods of tears which isn't like me at all.
I love the way this film is shot I tend to stay away from the technical side of film when I write my blog as I don't really know too much about it and tend to sound like an idiot.
Atonement has one of my favourite ever movie scenes - the steady cam shot around Dunkirk is just amazing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5dqmUgu0SI&feature=related

I also love the performances - McAvoy, Knightly and Ronan are all amazing and I also love the score which is now on my ipod. This film will considered a classic in years to come.

Days 21-30 to follow....