Baumer's top 50 films of 2014/Panda's top 20 of 2014 pg 8/Numbers pg 14

[Kalo]

Tele is probably the fastest one  submitting his countdown. 

[4815162342]

18. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

 

 

Making a sequel stand apart from the origin film is always a tough challenge. The default method is just to make things bigger and flashier, as mocked in 22 Jump Street. Captain America: The Winter Soldier thankfully went a much different route. Whereas The First Avenger was a rah-rah World War 2 flick borrowing much from adventure classics, The Winter Soldier takes full advantage of its contemporary setting by setting things up first as a political thriller that slowly ratchets up the action and spectacle while continuing to pump in metaphors for the War on Terror and the old military-industrial standby. Chris Evans has never felt more at home with the character, portraying him very well as a man only just coming to grips with the times he has been thrust into, but never doubting the morals or convictions he grew up with in the Depression and WW2. His banter and repartee with both Scarlett Johansson and Anthony Mackie is one of the film's highlights.

 

The Winter Soldier himself is strong as a physical force, but the character is more Terminator with some odd angst than a human being with depth. I'd have liked to have seen more action on that front rather than just show him as a pawn recycled after every mission. I had been hoping Captain America 3 would really dig into his character, but that film is now essentially Avengers 2.5. Robert Redford projects class and calculated evil as Alexander Pierce. The film's final act gets a little too crazy with all the explosions and chaos above Washington DC, given how smaller-scale the prior setpieces were, but it never goes off the rails or fails to entertain. It's probably the best out of all the MCU films to date.

[4815162342]

done for tonight

Edited February 12, 2015 by 4815162342

[Sam]

I heard good things about Belle from quite many members here. So wanna check it out now. I womder if it's on Netflix yet.

[chasmmi]

I heard good things about Belle from quite many members here. So wanna check it out now. I womder if it's on Netflix yet.

 

Belle is pretty damn excellent if you ask me and lends credence to the theory that if you don't release your film between September and December you won't even be rememberedfor Oscar discussions let alone potentially get nominated most of the time.

[chasmmi]

Tele is probably the fastest one  submitting his countdown. 

 

Numbers is going at a fair old whack too.

I think regardless of who else starts what I'm just going to begin either Monday or when Ruk/Numbers finishes.

Whichever of those 3 things happens first

 

[4815162342]

I heard good things about Belle from quite many members here. So wanna check it out now. I womder if it's on Netflix yet.

 

It is. That's how I saw it. 

[4815162342]

17. Ida

 

 

This is the foreign language film that's gotten the most consistent praise here on the forums and it's easy to see why. Briskly paced, the film moves full steam and with purpose, even as it stops to contemplate the revelations dawned on its two main characters. The film also features incredible cinematography that leaves a huge impact without being flashy or unsubtle. The best cinematography can convey emotion, thought, and feeling with a simple shot in a wordless sequence and Ida has several of those moments, slowly and artfully framing several key sequences. The acting by the two leads is tremendous, especially Agata Kulesza as Wanda, Ida's alcoholic aunt who is the catalyst for her journey of discovery who undertakes her own tragic path to knowledge and revelation.

 

I've seen a few people here who have complained about the last fifteen minutes feeling out of place and I heartily disagree. There's a conversation early(ish) in the film between Ida and Wanda that hits exactly on why Ida does what she does in that final series of events, and it's quite well depicted. The film is very effective in slowly building narrative and character tension, then giving them reveals that affect and shake them, and then depicting how those events alter their mental state and planned life trajectory. I recommend this film to everyone. It's short, to the point, and memorable.

[4815162342]

16. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

 

 

The sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes improves on its predecessor in almost every way. Whereas the first was centered around a single relationship and its connection to accidental ape sentience, this movie expands its scope to show the rise of new civilizations from the ashes of an old one, but also how even these new civilizations can revert to the ways of distrust, fear, and violence of the former one. It goes without saying that the CGI work in this movie for the motion capture apes is downright brilliant, giving us fully realized anthropomorphic characters out of the central primates. It also goes without saying that Andy Serkis is yet again wonderful as Caesar, conveying tons of emotions and thoughts in few words, but the real revelation in the movie is Toby Kebbell's performance as Koba, whose anger and unshakable distrust spurs so much of the film forward.

 

The one area the film could have done better with is its depiction of the humans. The central group of humans with Jason Clarke's team are done well, but Gary Oldman is rather wasted in his role and I really would have liked if more time was spent developing his character as well as the makeshift human city he presides over. That said, the focus is on the apes in this movie so it's not a major flaw. The film like the first takes its time to set things in motion, and once that happens it becomes a thrilling and intense ride as the sides come into conflict and a few characters scramble around to try and prevent the violence from going too far.

[ShouldIBeHere]

10) Nightcrawler:  Jake Gyllenhaal has become one of if not my favourite actor working right now.  He never seems to do the same role and many of his roles are challenging ones that deal with complex characters, this is a prime example.  Here he plays Louis Bloom, a down on his luck petty thief struggling to make ends meet.  That is until he discovers the seedy world of the evening news.  Nightcrawler expresses so much in under two hours; desperation, false economy's, gritty crime, the dark underworld that we are oblivious too and the psychopathic evilness and general lack of empathy people are capable of. Jake Gyllenhaal gives the performance of his career as a man trying to crawl to the top of his game in the dark gritty media underworld of news footage peddling,.

Nightcrawler is visually striking, the night streets of LA have probably not looked this good since Drive thanks to fantastic camera work and an excellent directorial debut from Dan Gilroy. I've never been a fan of the news and media for twisting the truth, this movie accurately describes the seedy underworld of the evening news and the lengths at which these people will go to ensure there own success. You can spend the first half of this movie trying to figure out who is the antagonist of the movie, similar to Breaking Bads Walter White you will find yourself rooting for a man with clear moral issues.

The dialog's so well written that it will grip you and capture your attention for the entirety of the movie. This movie has probably the most suspenseful end to a movie i have seen this year, the last 20 minutes is nail biting stuff. Although the competition this year is fierce, Gyllenhaal absolutely deserves an Oscar nomination. He's going to win one of those one day and it might be this year.

 

Trivia:  Gyllenhaal lost 20 pounds for the role as he pictured his character to be that of a hungry coyote.

 

 

 

100% agreed. Gyllenhaal really picked great stuff over the last years and did a very good job on most of them.

 

 

 

Not making a full countdown myself, but just adding that after having watched some of the 2014 movies at home now my TOP 10 would probably be

 

 

10) Wild

9) Nightcrawler

8) Whiplash

7) The Fault in Our Stars

6) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

5) Grand Budapest Hotel

4) Labyrinth of Lies (German: Labyrinth des Schweigens)

3) Gone Girl

2) Boyhood

1) Birdman

 

Honorable mentions go to The Hobbit (despite my disappointment), DotFP, Imitation Game and No.

Edited February 20, 2015 by ShouldIBeHere

[Ethan Hunt]

I love the hell out of Dawn but it's not quite as magical of an experience as Rise.

[4815162342]

15. Only Lovers Left Alive

 

 

If there was a definition of melancholy for films, this would be the 2014 entry. Slow, somber, wistful, the movie follows a pair of vampires living apart across continents but irrevocably bonded to one another by their love. The film doesn't waste time with exposition or explaining things, it assumes you know the general rules about vampires and feeds you little bits and pieces of its particular world scenario as things move along (the big thing being the contamination of human blood shrinking the food supply for vampires worldwide). But really, the fact the main characters are vampires is just a means to an end, the film is really a meditation on love, life, and the threats of ennui and nihilism to those who have seen and experienced so much they have gotten tired of it all. While the pacing is on the slower side, the movie never drags and its focus on music and creative spark helps give the film its own wrinkle of commentary.

 

Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston are both great as the titular Lovers, Swinton remarkably playing the saner and more rational of the two. You really get the chemistry and emotion between the two characters as the reunite and rekindle things, even as Hiddleston's character is in the midst of pondering ending his existence. The rest of the supporting cast is good, especially Mia Wasikowska as Swinton's flighty, energetic, and impulse-driven "sister" who arrives a little over halfway into the movie and proceeds to jolt things up. Given the foreshadowing earlier in the film, I expected more fireworks and dramatics with the inevitable trouble she would cause, though she certainly does leave an impact on the two. The film is graceful in how it winds things up with the leads coming to terms with their lives and how they have to keep moving forward.

[4815162342]

14. Gone Girl

 

 

Gone Girl is a David Fincher movie in many ways. Cold, calculating, cerebral, multi-layered. Like many of Fincher's greats, the movie first gives you the presumed premise, but then slowly but surely peels things back to get under the skin of the story and characters, revealing little twists and turns here and there until you find you're in a wholly different movie than what you believed yourself to be in. What starts out as grim, methodical procedural of a missing spouse soon turns into a satire of the modern crime case spectacle, and from there into a darkly humorous commentary on spousal relationships and the push and pull on women to fit into certain roles in order to attain the societal definition of happiness. It's got the source material to pull from, and the author did write the screenplay, but Fincher knows how to Fincher things to fit his own take on the matter.

 

Ben Affleck is solid like a rock as beleaguered husband Nick, who is innocent but being a fuckup, spends about half of the movie doing everything wrong that could possibly be wrong in his situation. Rosamund Pike is terrific as the Amazingly Crazy Amy, who slowly breaks her facade of the model housewife to reveal herself as a psychotic control freak who will slash and burn anything and anyone who doesn't follow life according to her plan, even if she's not as smart or in control as she would like to be. We get strong supporting turns from Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, and Tyler Perry of all people. It's an engaging and entertaining film through and through, even when the pacing slows up a bit the actors keep you moving forward.

 

As Fincher films go, this one seemed on the sedate side. But then finally Fincher let Fincher out to play in the scene that'll be most memorable in the time to come.

 

[4815162342]

13. Selma

 

 

The topic of race relations in the United States remains a hot issue today and for a while to come, because as far as we have come, there is always a road to travel forward on. Selma focuses on a narrow scope, but one that is centered on one of the most important stretches of time for the advancement of racial equality. Set in 1965, with America only just beginning to get sucked into the Vietnam War, the film focuses on the strategy of Martin Luther King Jr. to shock the consciousness of the American people as a way to force them and the government to act on securing equal voting rights for all Americans regardless of race. The film slowly unfolds as we see the push and pull of King's advisers, his conflicts with the local movement heads, his relationship with his wife, and the tension as when the local police strike back with violent results, at the behest of vicious Alabama state leaders.

 

David Oyelowo is brilliant as MLK Jr. and his not being nominated for an Oscar was a downright shame, but one that speaks to how crowded the field in the leading Actor category was. Carmen Ejogo is very good as Coretta Scott King, bringing a fierce intelligence and personal concern and pride to the table as she threads the needle between supporting the cause and wanting to keep her family safe and alive. But Stephan James steals every scene he's in as John Lewis, a young local black rights leader who is torn between wanting to follow and idolize King and fighting for his neighbors' rights his own way. The film is paced gently for the most part, but it occasionally erupts into tense and harsh drama. While PG-13, it is a harsh and raw PG-13 in that every punch, kick, hit, and gunshot looks and feels very real and coarse. While it may not match say 12 Years a Slave in brutality, it may actually pack a bigger punch because it shows how terrible and savage people in this country could be only a half-century ago.

[4815162342]

12. Edge of Tomorrow

 

 

The most pleasantly surprising movie of 2014. The title changes and the mixed marketing had me skeptical about the quality of this movie, but then reviews and forum reactions started to trickle in and I decided to give the movie a shot. Very good decision. The movie is tensely edited and paced, really giving you the sense that humanity is overwhelmed and over its heads yet doesn't even know just how dire things really are. But what's really surprising is just how funny the movie is, with tons of gags and physical comedy in the first two acts as Cruise's main character first tries to avoid doing anything, and then screws up a lot while trying to make things work. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but he's not afraid to take the piss on himself or make his character a laughingstock, and that's a great thing in general and for this movie in particular, since you really get a good sense of Cruise's character maturing and caring and improving skills throughout the movie.

 

Cruise is great and so is Emily Blunt as Rita, the soldier who once had Cruise's same reset ability and who trains him day after day to be a better soldiers in a desperate gamble to win the war. Bill Paxton has fun in a small role as a sergeant who would fit into any military cliche. The alien antagonists are kinda faceless goons, which is probably the only weakness the film has, in that it's just a blob of enemies with a few slightly bigger and more dangerous enemies. But it's not a big issue, since the film frames things well as humans overhwhelmed by an enemy they don't understand. The action is well choreographed and the constant replays of the beach invasion never feel stale.

 

And the movie introduced one of BOF's favorite gifs of 2014.

Edited February 13, 2015 by 4815162342

[4815162342]

11. Enemy

 

 

The director of Prisoners now brings to the table a trippy movie of a man who upon locating his real-life double, slowly becomes obsessed with the man and his life, only to discover he's bitten off far more than he can chew. Jake Gyllenhaal is great as the two leads, two men sharing a face and body, but as different in personality and outlook as you can imagine. Adam is quiet, mild-mannered, and generally shies from confrontation on any level, while Anthony is intense, brooding, and volatile. Adam is our gateway character to the proceedings and like him we are slowly and curiously drawn into events.

 

The film also slowly works in some trippy and bizarre visuals involving spiders, which I won't dig into since it would spoil some aspects of the movie, but the visuals upon reflection hit at themes of characters being caught in webs of their own or others' designs and the institutionalization of violence to distract people from their surroundings until they are caught and unable to escape. There's a decent amount of stuff written on what the spider imagery means and some has more weight than others. Even just junking all that to the side, there's still a very, very effective brooding thriller that slowly picks up steam and force as Adam gets in over his head as Anthony begins considering exploiting their connection.

 

 

 

Top 10 will start tonight.

[baumer]

 

13. Selma

 

 

The topic of race relations in the United States remains a hot issue today and for a while to come, because as far as we have come, there is always a road to travel forward on. Selma focuses on a narrow scope, but one that is centered on one of the most important stretches of time for the advancement of racial equality. Set in 1965, with America only just beginning to get sucked into the Vietnam War, the film focuses on the strategy of Martin Luther King Jr. to shock the consciousness of the American people as a way to force them and the government to act on securing equal voting rights for all Americans regardless of race. The film slowly unfolds as we see the push and pull of King's advisers, his conflicts with the local movement heads, his relationship with his wife, and the tension as when the local police strike back with violent results, at the behest of vicious Alabama state leaders.

 

David Oyelowo is brilliant as MLK Jr. and his not being nominated for an Oscar was a downright shame, but one that speaks to how crowded the field in the leading Actor category was. Carmen Ejogo is very good as Coretta Scott King, bringing a fierce intelligence and personal concern and pride to the table as she threads the needle between supporting the cause and wanting to keep her family safe and alive. But Stephan James steals every scene he's in as John Lewis, a young local black rights leader who is torn between wanting to follow and idolize King and fighting for his neighbors' rights his own way. The film is paced gently for the most part, but it occasionally erupts into tense and harsh drama. While PG-13, it is a harsh and raw PG-13 in that every punch, kick, hit, and gunshot looks and feels very real and coarse. While it may not match say 12 Years a Slave in brutality, it may actually pack a bigger punch because it shows how terrible and savage people in this country could be only a half-century ago.

 

 

[Alpha]

niceme.me

Edited February 13, 2015 by MR ALPHA WILL SEE YOU NOW

[baumer]

 

23. Guardians of the Galaxy

 

 

Man, this was a fun movie. It's got a couple issues, namely a pedestrian villain (by MCU standards Ronan's actually a good villain) and a little bit of haphazard pacing (the film really has no third act buildup, it kinda just leaps from the second act defeat into the prep for the final battle), but the fun and entertainment is pretty damn great. The humor is very strategic, with a lot of witty banter throughout and a few brilliant gags bringing levity to stressful proceedings.

 

The Guardians themselves are very well handled. Chris Pratt is great as Star Lord, bringing a goofy ineptitude to balance out his Han Solo wannabe swagger. Zoe Saldana is good as Gamora, bringing believable deadliness yet remaining humanized. Dave Bautista has surprisingly great comic timing with Drax's one-liners, though when he's not being unintentionally funny the character is kinda flat. Groot is Groot. And Bradley Cooper brings a lot of kinetic and chaotic energy to tiny Rocket, stealing a bunch of scenes with his wisecracks and barely-controlled anger.

 

As Marvel films go, it's easily one of the best MCU outings. The soundtrack is nice and the score, while not spectacular, has some quality moments that stand out from Marvel's recent trend of throwing Zimmer-lite into a blender.

 

 

[Fancyarcher]

Really good list. I really liked Gone Girl, Only Lovers Left Alive, Edge of Tomorrow and Enemy, and I'm glad to see them in the top 20.