BOF's top 25 movies of 2014. Full list Page 5. The forum worships at the altar of Nolan.

[Chewy]

My guess is I'll like Interstellar when I see it.

 

It's solid. Overrated and underrated at the same time

 

Like most Nolans, actually

[grim22]

Number 1

 

 

Interstellar – 337 points, appears on 23 lists, #1 on 9 lists

 

 

 

 

So it comes down to this. For the second year running, a space epic which is a director’s vision and must be viewed in IMAX for the best possible experience wins the “Best movie of 2014” spot based on user lists. It was close run, but the very last list made Interstellar’s one point deficit into a 2 point win.

Interstellar. What can be said about the movie that hasn’t already been told by everyone in shouting matches on this forum? For one, it definitely was an amazing cinematic experience in IMAX. The acting was brilliant, the conception of the tesseract and the execution was very well done and Nolan is on form. I loved the movie personally, and I know opinion is divided among forum members, but the fact that the general audience found the movie rewatchable enough to give it the leggiest run of the fall cannot be overlooked either. Interstellar also had an amazing run overseas earning almost 500M from OS territories. WB is probably really happy with the deal they cut with Paramaount. In the end, this countdown ends with Michael Caine’s sage advice “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”.

 

Our number one movie for the year 2014: Interstellar.

 

 

 

Boxoffice: 186M Domestic / 671M Worldwide

 

 

BOF User Reviews:

 

“What an unbelievable experience. Whatever opinion you have about the film, even if you hate it, you gotta admit that it was a movie experience like no other. Nolan is truly one of the last mohicans, making and old-school film with fresh, unique ideas. It's like making a late 80s style rap album this day and age with brilliant, thought-provoking lyrics or running and NFL team an old-school offense and reaching the SB and whether he wins it or not it won't take anything away from it's great achievement.

Script:

Easily Nolan's most ambitious piece. I truly don't get the nitpicking, there are some cheesy lines, but they are not standout cheesy, fit well to the scene, the poem is quoted a tad too many times. There are two very strong characters, Coop and Murphy and their relationship is the core of the movie. Brand is underwritten, could have had more character development. I don't see how people can attack the science parts, what plot holes are they're talking about? The film tackles two subjects that no scientist can put a legit theory attached to it, so it is fair play to let Nolan's imagination run. The two things are love and gravity and the script is really strong when it fires on all cylinders. Dialogues aren't bad at all. There's humour in the film, not laugh-out-loud, hilarious jokes, but gentle humour to easy the tension. I'd say the writing is better than TDK and Rises, but not above Memento and Inception - then again, I REALLY loved Inception. The flashback scenes are nicely done, tension built perfectly.

Action:

The start is very slow. This film requires patience. A lot. But if you make it to the end, the finish will worth it. I liked the build-up, but didn't really get into it too much, but the stuff that didn't impress me in the beginning made crystal clear sense in the end and it will make the second viewing much more pleasant, I'm 100% of that. The second act isn't impressive story wise, but the visuals are breathtaking as you'd expect. One critic singles out a moment that captured me as well, when you see the vast space and there's no music, but absolute silence and the only thing you can hear is the 70mm film rolling, such a nostalgic, wonderful feeling and makes you realize how much you love cinema. The third act is something else. 2001 stuff, probably Nolan's best cinematic work yet.

Acting:

The critics were spot on, MM is a true leader, proper maverick with soft heart. He truly rocks. Not an award winning performance, but gains more respect in the industry for sure. Chastain gives the most outstanding performance, should get nominated. Hathaway was perfect for the role, it's not her fault that the script doesn't give her much platform to shine. Supporting cast spot on, even young Murph delivers.

Visuals:

No need to say anything, go see it and you'll be mesmerised. Top notch camerawork, lighting and editing.

Music:

Brilliant work by Zimmer. Gentle when it needed, loud when epicness due and a few themes are simply belong among his best work. Need to listen to it separately to compare it to Inception and Batman-trilogy.

Act 1: B+

Act 2: A-

Act 3: A+

It's a slow start, but when a film gradually gets better as the story unfolds I expect mainly positive reaction. The worst that a person will say about this film is: the story was shit, but the visuals were amazing, so don't expect many people actually dislike it to the point to not recommend it.

Second viewing is needed. With a joint. Oh and do not plan much after the film, it won't go out of your system stepping out the theatre exit.

Overall rating: A

Cinematic experience: A+” – Alfredstellar

 

“I'm still overwhelmed by my viewing, so if anyone wishes to read my jibberish, here you go:

 - incredible cinematography, I think it was better than Pfister's in previous Nolan films

- jaw-dropping, SPECTACULAR overall visuals. *For me*, the visuals were above Inception. Above any Nolan film. The best space visuals since Star Wars 1977 and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

- so much fresh, sharp, and unexpected rich comedy in the film, masterfully placed in the right context and scenes. Gave the film needed lighthearted moments without going overboard.

- Emotionally astounding. By FAR Nolan's most emotional film. I haven't been this rocked emotionally by a theatrical experience since Cameron's Titanic, which I saw as a child in theaters.

- Incredible acting almost across the board. Just masterful performances on screen

- Absolutely brilliant sound mix.

- A joyous, wonderfully original score from Zimmer

- The sound mix, the score, the masterful acting, and the IMAX visuals combined to make you feel as if you were actually there in many scenes. I felt emotionally connected to many characters in the film.

- In my eyes, Nolan's best film.

- A MUST SEE in 70mm IMAX. If you have a chance, go out of your way and see this in 70mm IMAX. DO IT.

 

I MUST see this again, as many times as possible in 70mm IMAX before this leaves theaters.” – ACCA

 

 

“Still taking it all in... My 2 word review though.

 NOLAN. IMAX.” – Jay Hollywood

 

“Wow, what an experience! I struggle to put into words what I’ve just seen but I’ll try anyway while the memory is still fresh.

 I’ll start with the bad.

My only real complaint with Interstellar is the first part of the movie, up to the moment Cooper leaves the earth. It just felt overly-long and slow. I felt that some scenes such as landing the surveillance drone and parent-teacher meeting wasn't really needed in the overall context of the film. I enjoyed the father daughter dynamic, which is really the key theme throughout, but I was often left wondering why there wasn't a similar dynamic between father and son. You always got the impression that Murph was at the forefront of his thoughts, rather than Tom. I feel that the film would have made more sense if Murph was an only daughter. As it is, I failed to see what Tom brought to the movie besides showing us that he was an asshole for refusing to move his family to safety.

After Cooper reluctantly leaves his children to be blasted off to a different galaxy, you begin to see the amazing visuals everyone raved about. The fly-by of Saturn, the journey through the wormhole, the mountainous waves, and the crazy docking sequence were all out of this world. The clincher though was the black hole. I’ve never seen anything like that on the big screen or on television, and apparently a great deal of real scientific research was done to produce it so kudos to them for pulling it off. You could literally hear the audience let out the breath that they’d been holding as soon as that scene ended.

The relative time flow I felt was also an important tool that impacts the crew’s decisions and increases the tension between what’s happening in space and what’s happening down on earth. I think it’s fitting that love is what connects the two in the end overcoming the relative time flow and space in between.

Overall, while some parts of the movie were a little rough, you come away from this knowing exactly the message it was trying to convey. That is; love, in this case a father’s love for his daughter, transcends through space and time. When science failed, love with a little help of a 5-dimensional box located inside a black hole, provided the answer. In that aspect, Interstellar was a really easy film to understand even though it had generous amounts of space jargon here and there.

You also got the sensation of how frail humanity is as a species, yet also how resilient, to forge answer despite all the odds. Like Cooper says during the movie, we will find an answer we always have, and despite all the impossible situations that are thrown in their path, they do find a way. It’s a self-congratulatory pat on the back of sorts for humanity but that’s the point. We are masters of our destiny and we must continuously be looking at what’s ahead or indeed, above us.

A+ rating” – Rsyu

 

 

 

[James]

Wow...I loved Interstellar but it's not better than Boyhood at all.

A magnificent space opera not better than a simple drama?

[Fancyarcher]

Interstellar's top placement is definitely a comfort as it was the best film IMO of the year of the films I saw; still grieving though.

 

You and Augustus Waters. 

Edited February 1, 2015 by Fancyarcher

[Chewy]

Alfred and ACCA the first two reviews there, of course

[Fancyarcher]

Alfred and ACCA the first two reviews there, of course

 

Nolan fans for life!

Edited February 1, 2015 by Fancyarcher

[Empire]

A magnificent space opera not better than a simple drama?

He is right though. Interstellar was really good, but Boyhood was better.

[SchumacherFTW]

Ugh. This forum has such a Nolan hard on. Weakest Nolan movie since he rebooted Batman.

[Ethan Hunt]

You and Augustus Walters.

... Waters! Augustus Waters!

[Kalo]

Number 1

 

 

Interstellar – 337 points, appears on 23 lists, #1 on 9 lists

 

 

 

 

So it comes down to this. For the second year running, a space epic which is a director’s vision and must be viewed in IMAX for the best possible experience wins the “Best movie of 2014” spot based on user lists. It was close run, but the very last list made Interstellar’s one point deficit into a 2 point win.

Interstellar. What can be said about the movie that hasn’t already been told by everyone in shouting matches on this forum? For one, it definitely was an amazing cinematic experience in IMAX. The acting was brilliant, the conception of the tesseract and the execution was very well done and Nolan is on form. I loved the movie personally, and I know opinion is divided among forum members, but the fact that the general audience found the movie rewatchable enough to give it the leggiest run of the fall cannot be overlooked either. Interstellar also had an amazing run overseas earning almost 500M from OS territories. WB is probably really happy with the deal they cut with Paramaount. In the end, this countdown ends with Michael Caine’s sage advice “Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”.

 

Our number one movie for the year 2014: Interstellar.

 

 

 

Boxoffice: 186M Domestic / 671M Worldwide

 

 

BOF User Reviews:

 

“What an unbelievable experience. Whatever opinion you have about the film, even if you hate it, you gotta admit that it was a movie experience like no other. Nolan is truly one of the last mohicans, making and old-school film with fresh, unique ideas. It's like making a late 80s style rap album this day and age with brilliant, thought-provoking lyrics or running and NFL team an old-school offense and reaching the SB and whether he wins it or not it won't take anything away from it's great achievement.

Script:

Easily Nolan's most ambitious piece. I truly don't get the nitpicking, there are some cheesy lines, but they are not standout cheesy, fit well to the scene, the poem is quoted a tad too many times. There are two very strong characters, Coop and Murphy and their relationship is the core of the movie. Brand is underwritten, could have had more character development. I don't see how people can attack the science parts, what plot holes are they're talking about? The film tackles two subjects that no scientist can put a legit theory attached to it, so it is fair play to let Nolan's imagination run. The two things are love and gravity and the script is really strong when it fires on all cylinders. Dialogues aren't bad at all. There's humour in the film, not laugh-out-loud, hilarious jokes, but gentle humour to easy the tension. I'd say the writing is better than TDK and Rises, but not above Memento and Inception - then again, I REALLY loved Inception. The flashback scenes are nicely done, tension built perfectly.

Action:

The start is very slow. This film requires patience. A lot. But if you make it to the end, the finish will worth it. I liked the build-up, but didn't really get into it too much, but the stuff that didn't impress me in the beginning made crystal clear sense in the end and it will make the second viewing much more pleasant, I'm 100% of that. The second act isn't impressive story wise, but the visuals are breathtaking as you'd expect. One critic singles out a moment that captured me as well, when you see the vast space and there's no music, but absolute silence and the only thing you can hear is the 70mm film rolling, such a nostalgic, wonderful feeling and makes you realize how much you love cinema. The third act is something else. 2001 stuff, probably Nolan's best cinematic work yet.

Acting:

The critics were spot on, MM is a true leader, proper maverick with soft heart. He truly rocks. Not an award winning performance, but gains more respect in the industry for sure. Chastain gives the most outstanding performance, should get nominated. Hathaway was perfect for the role, it's not her fault that the script doesn't give her much platform to shine. Supporting cast spot on, even young Murph delivers.

Visuals:

No need to say anything, go see it and you'll be mesmerised. Top notch camerawork, lighting and editing.

Music:

Brilliant work by Zimmer. Gentle when it needed, loud when epicness due and a few themes are simply belong among his best work. Need to listen to it separately to compare it to Inception and Batman-trilogy.

Act 1: B+

Act 2: A-

Act 3: A+

It's a slow start, but when a film gradually gets better as the story unfolds I expect mainly positive reaction. The worst that a person will say about this film is: the story was shit, but the visuals were amazing, so don't expect many people actually dislike it to the point to not recommend it.

Second viewing is needed. With a joint. Oh and do not plan much after the film, it won't go out of your system stepping out the theatre exit.

Overall rating: A

Cinematic experience: A+” – Alfredstellar

 

“I'm still overwhelmed by my viewing, so if anyone wishes to read my jibberish, here you go:

 - incredible cinematography, I think it was better than Pfister's in previous Nolan films

- jaw-dropping, SPECTACULAR overall visuals. *For me*, the visuals were above Inception. Above any Nolan film. The best space visuals since Star Wars 1977 and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

- so much fresh, sharp, and unexpected rich comedy in the film, masterfully placed in the right context and scenes. Gave the film needed lighthearted moments without going overboard.

- Emotionally astounding. By FAR Nolan's most emotional film. I haven't been this rocked emotionally by a theatrical experience since Cameron's Titanic, which I saw as a child in theaters.

- Incredible acting almost across the board. Just masterful performances on screen

- Absolutely brilliant sound mix.

- A joyous, wonderfully original score from Zimmer

- The sound mix, the score, the masterful acting, and the IMAX visuals combined to make you feel as if you were actually there in many scenes. I felt emotionally connected to many characters in the film.

- In my eyes, Nolan's best film.

- A MUST SEE in 70mm IMAX. If you have a chance, go out of your way and see this in 70mm IMAX. DO IT.

 

I MUST see this again, as many times as possible in 70mm IMAX before this leaves theaters.” – ACCA

 

 

“Still taking it all in... My 2 word review though.

 NOLAN. IMAX.” – Jay Hollywood

 

“Wow, what an experience! I struggle to put into words what I’ve just seen but I’ll try anyway while the memory is still fresh.

 I’ll start with the bad.

My only real complaint with Interstellar is the first part of the movie, up to the moment Cooper leaves the earth. It just felt overly-long and slow. I felt that some scenes such as landing the surveillance drone and parent-teacher meeting wasn't really needed in the overall context of the film. I enjoyed the father daughter dynamic, which is really the key theme throughout, but I was often left wondering why there wasn't a similar dynamic between father and son. You always got the impression that Murph was at the forefront of his thoughts, rather than Tom. I feel that the film would have made more sense if Murph was an only daughter. As it is, I failed to see what Tom brought to the movie besides showing us that he was an asshole for refusing to move his family to safety.

After Cooper reluctantly leaves his children to be blasted off to a different galaxy, you begin to see the amazing visuals everyone raved about. The fly-by of Saturn, the journey through the wormhole, the mountainous waves, and the crazy docking sequence were all out of this world. The clincher though was the black hole. I’ve never seen anything like that on the big screen or on television, and apparently a great deal of real scientific research was done to produce it so kudos to them for pulling it off. You could literally hear the audience let out the breath that they’d been holding as soon as that scene ended.

The relative time flow I felt was also an important tool that impacts the crew’s decisions and increases the tension between what’s happening in space and what’s happening down on earth. I think it’s fitting that love is what connects the two in the end overcoming the relative time flow and space in between.

Overall, while some parts of the movie were a little rough, you come away from this knowing exactly the message it was trying to convey. That is; love, in this case a father’s love for his daughter, transcends through space and time. When science failed, love with a little help of a 5-dimensional box located inside a black hole, provided the answer. In that aspect, Interstellar was a really easy film to understand even though it had generous amounts of space jargon here and there.

You also got the sensation of how frail humanity is as a species, yet also how resilient, to forge answer despite all the odds. Like Cooper says during the movie, we will find an answer we always have, and despite all the impossible situations that are thrown in their path, they do find a way. It’s a self-congratulatory pat on the back of sorts for humanity but that’s the point. We are masters of our destiny and we must continuously be looking at what’s ahead or indeed, above us.

A+ rating” – Rsyu

 

 

 

Yes!!! Interstellar is one of the best films gifted to mankind. 

[Ethan Hunt]

Ugh. This forum has such a Nolan hard on. Weakest Nolan movie since he rebooted Batman.

Wrong.

[Fancyarcher]

A magnificent space opera not better than a simple drama?

 

Interstellar is superb but Boyhood is excellent. 

[grim22]

Thanks everyone for voting, following the thread and providing your comments. Looking forward to doing this next year again.

 

 

 

Points total

 

Interstellar

337

Boyhood

335

The Grand Budapest Hotel

216

Whiplash

194

X-Men: Days of Future Past

192

The Lego Movie

189

Gone Girl

188

Birdman

187

Guardians of the Galaxy

174

Edge of Tomorrow

138

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

134

Locke

132

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

125

How to Train Your Dragon 2

93

Selma

91

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

91

Nightcrawler

85

American Sniper

68

The Imitation Game

65

INHERENT VICE

62

Under the Skin

55

Chef

54

22 Jump Street

51

Maze Runner

50

Godzilla

49

Mockingjay

48

Pride

48

Snowpiercer

48

The Fault in Our Stars

47

The Tale Of Princess Kaguya

47

Edited February 1, 2015 by grim22

[The Futurist]

Interstellar is actually 20 on the IMDB's Top 250.

Cray cray.

[darkelf]

I mean, I had Interstellar at #8 but goddammit forum users!

[Fancyarcher]

... Waters! Augustus Waters!

 

If he was the greatest literary character of recent times like you claim, I'd probably remember how to spell his last name correctly. Nah! 

Edited February 1, 2015 by Fancyarcher

[Kalo]

Ugh. This forum has such a Nolan hard on. Weakest Nolan movie since he rebooted Batman.

Not really I think The Dark Knight is one of the most overrated films of all time.

[Empire]

Great job doing this Grim even though I disagree a lot with this list.

[SchumacherFTW]

Ah fuck! So close for Boyhood!

[CJohn]

My list wouldn't change anything because I had Interstellar on 3rd place and Boyhood on 6th place (or 4th, I can't remember, either way it didn't changed anything).

Edited February 1, 2015 by CJohn