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

[Jack Nevada]

Transformers is #48 on baumer's list, not #1. You could call that progress.

[baumer]

47) No Good Deed:  A home invasion film that could have been a typical Hollywood misfire but is saved by three strong performances from Idris Elba, Taraji Henson and Leslie Bibb.  The script leaves you guessing throughout the film and that made the twist seem believable.  But this film might not have been as interesting or well executed if it weren't for the three leads.  I find films like this interesting in that they are clearly aimed at a so called urban audience, meaning black people, but they are interesting enough that they should try to market it more towards a broader audience.  Elba has his own following, especially since he has a small role in the Marvel universe.  The film could have been a bit better if it was a bit tighter, but it was still very entertaining.  

 

Trivia:  Elba and Henson were both producers on the film.

 

 

46) A Million Ways to Die in the West:  A comedy that I didn't expect much from and one that surprised me.  Some of the jokes fall flat but some of them are truly brilliant.  I admire Seth McFarlane for making a film like this.  I think, similar to a film like the classic comedy Better off Dead, McFarlane didn't have a filter.  He just took every joke he knew and put it in the film.  And as I said, many of them worked and some didn't.  There's also a running joke in his films where Ryan Reynolds gets killed in a cameo.  That continues in here.  There's also a few famous cameos from characters in other movies.  One of them was ruined in the trailer, but it was still quite hilarious when you see it in the film.  

 

Trivia:  Gilbert Goddfried, Bill Maher and Ewan McGregor all make cameo appearances.

 

 

 

45) The Hobbit:  Battle of Five Armies:  The final chapter in the Hobbit series is so much better than the other two in my opinion.  It feels more like the original films that came out around a decade ago.  There's the obvious tie ins with Gandalf and Saruman, then you have the dwarves and elves and man all battling the Orcs for the ultimate prize.  The writing is sharper, the setting is more reminiscent of the earlier films and the over all feel is just different.  This isn't to say that this is a particularly great film but it is a good one.  The entire last third of the movie is one giant battle and although it is not quite on par with the Minas Tirith battle in TTT, it is still quite exhilarating.

 

Trivia:  Despite appearing in all 6 films, Cate Blanchett was only on set for 8 days for the entire series.  

 

[baumer]

I'll get some more done later tonight.

[baumer]

44) 3 Days to Kill:  There seemed to be a litany of aged hitman movies this year.  I guess everyone is trying to capitalize on the special set of skills displayed by the ultimate 50 year old assassin.  Like all films in this tier of my list, there are really good things about the film and some not so good things.  Really good is Costner and also Amber Heard.  Heard has one of my favorite lines of the year when she is trying to seduce Costner, obviously way too old for her.  He tells her she is not his type to which she replies, "I'm everyone's type."  The script was written by Luc Besson and he is in his comfort zone on projects like this.  If the film would have focused more on the spy stuff instead of the family dilemma, it would have been much better.

 

Trivia:  Directed by McG.  That's all I got

 

 

43) A Walk Among the Tombstones:  This is a film that could have been much higher, but they just forget how to end it.  Liam Neeson plays another burnout cop with a drinking problem (is there another kind?).  This time he really doesn't have any special set of skills, but he is a good detective.  The story is strong, very strong.  The villains are so heinous in this that they are the kind of characters that you wish bad things upon.  They are cruel and mean and sadomasochistic.  They like to inflict pain just to hear someone scream and it gives them great pleasure.  Neeson turns the tables on them near the end and up until the final 10 minutes of the film, this might have been one of the 30 best films of the year.

 

Trivia:  Originally, this was supposed to be Joe Carnahan's directorial follow up to his indie hit Narc (2002). At that time, Harrison Ford was attached to star.

 

 

42) Ouija:  There's been lots of talk on the boards recently about the legs on this film and how it was possibly able to reach 50 million dollars.  The answer, imo, is a simple one.  Ouija is a lot better than people who haven't seen it, think it is.  In 1986 there was a creepy and very well done film called Witchboard.  While the ouija board has been featured since then, maybe not as the main character, the way it is in this one.  Here's a film that oozes with spooky noises, shadows on the wall and things that go bump in the night.  And Lin Shaye makes her typical Platinum Dunes appearance as a truly creepy character.  Ouija isn't a great horror film but it is a creepy one and sometimes that's all we need.

 

Trivia:  The Ouija board has supposedly been around since the late 1800's.

 

Edited December 21, 2014 by baumer

[Ethan Hunt]

I love 3DTK

[miketheavenger]

I have actually only seen 12 movies in the theater this year, so I'm only gonna do a Top 5.

 

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

3. X-Men: Days of Future Past

4. How To Train Your Dragon 2

5. Interstellar

[luna]

hmm, so put me on the list to do a top 50 of the half-decade.

[baumer]

I'd like to do mine right after Lisa's  

[The Panda]

I'd like to do mine right after Lisa's  

 

Those would be interesting lists to compare.

 

I'm not sure when I'll do mine, I may start it around the 1st or 2nd after I am done with my best/worst of the year lists.

[baumer]

41) Brick Mansions:  One of Paul Walker's last films and it doesn't disappoint.  The action is what fuels the film and in this case, there is some interesting fight choreography.  The story isn't all that original and the setting changes from France in the original to Detroit.  The Detroit setting makes it kind of interesting because of what that city has become in the last decade.  This is the kind of film you enjoy when watching it but ultimately forget much of it a few days later.

 

Trivia:  Paul Walker's last completed film.  

 

 

40) Sex Tape:  Rude, crude, funny and Jack Black's cameo are what make this one of my top 50 films of the year.

 

Cameron Diaz's first official nude scenes since We're No Angels...22 years ago.

 

Edited December 22, 2014 by baumer

[baumer]

I'll get to work on my top 40 tonight.

[tawasal]

I am doing my top 50 of the half decade too. 

[tawasal]

TAWASAL'S HALF DECADE TOP 50 FILMS

• 7/10

1. ​The Expendables
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. Chronicle
4. War Horse
5. Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol
6. X-Men: First Class

• 8/10

1. The King's Speech 
2. 127 Hours
3. Black Swan
4. The Town
5. Skyfall
6. The Wolf Of Wall Street 
7. The Spectacular Now
8. Snowpiercer
9. Mud
10. X-Men: Days of Future Past
11. Fury
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
13. Chef
14. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
15. Looper
16. The Raid: Redemption
17. Silver Linings Playbook
18. Argo
19. Hugo
20. 50/50
21. Midnight in Paris
22. The Lincoln Lawyer
23. The Help
24. Flipped
25. Tangled

• 9/10

1. ​How To Train Your Dragon
2. Winter's Bone
3. Life Of Pi
4. Nightcrawler
5. Her
6. All Is Lost
7. Prisoners
8. Blue Is The Warmest Color
9. The Way Way Back
10. Gone Girl
11. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
12. The Grand Budapest Hotel 
13. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
14. Wreck-It Ralph
15. Rango

• 10/10

1. ​Inception
2. The Best Offer
3. The Raid 2: Berandal
4. Warrior 

 

2014 list on page 2

 

Tawasal's 2013 Top Films (71 films)

• 1/10

1. Jack, The Giant Slayer
2. RIPD
3. Grown Ups 2
4. A Good Day to Die Hard 
5. Snitch

• 2/10

1. Pain & Gain
2. Thor: The Dark World
3. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
4. The Wolverine
5. G.I. Joe: Retaliation

• 3/10

1. Epic
2. Homefront
3. Kick-Ass 2
4. The Internship
5. Parker

• 4/10

1. Saving Mr. Banks
2. The Book Thief
3. Don Jon
4. Elysium 
5. 2 Guns
6. The Lone Ranger
7. Iron Man 3
8. White House Down
9. Oz, The Great And Powerful

• 5/10

1. Inside Llewyn Davis
2. August: Osage County
3. Philomena
4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
5. The Family
6. Red 2
7. Man of Steel
8. World War Z
9. Olympus Has Fallen
10. Identity Thief

• 6/10

1. Nebraska
2. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
3. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
4. About Time
5. Enough Said
6. Rush
7. Riddick
8. Fruitvale Station
9. Pacific Rim
10. Despicable Me 2
11. This Is The End
12. Oblivion
13. The Croods

• 7/10

1. Fast & Furious 6
2. Frozen
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
4. Dallas Buyers Club
5. 12 Years a Slave
6. Captain Phillips
7. Gravity
8. In a World...
9. You're Next
10. Blue Jasmine
11. Now You See Me
12. The Purge
13. Monsters University

• 8/10

1. The Wolf Of Wall Street
2. The Spectacular Now
3. Snowpiercer
4. Mud
5. Frances Ha

• 9/10

1. Her
2. All Is Lost
3. Blue Is The Warmest Color 
4. Prisoners
5. The Way Way Back

• 10/10

1. The Best Offer 

 

Tawasal's 2012 Top Films (46 films)

• 1/10

1. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
2. The Amazing Spider-Man
3. Snow White And The Huntsman 
4. Battleship
5. The Dictator

• 2/10

1. Underworld: Awakening
2. Here Comes The Boom
3. The Watch
4. Madea's Witness Protection

• 3/10

1. Taken 2
2. Hotel Transylvania
3. Ted 
4. Men in Black 3
5. The Three Stooges
6. Lockout 
7. This Means War

• 4/10

1. The Expendables 2
2. The Bourne Legacy
3. Dark Shadows

• 5/10

1. Django: Unchained
2. Jack Reacher
3. Rise Of The Guardians
4. Flight
5. Premium Rush

• 6/10

1. Man On A Ledge
2. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
3. People Like Us
4. Prometheus
5. The Lorax

• 7/10

1. Chronicle
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. Brave
4. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
5. The Avengers
6. The Hunger Games
7. Safe House
8. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
9. John Carter

• 8/10

1. Silver Linings Playbook
2. Skyfall
3. Argo
4. Looper
5. The Raid: Redemption

• 9/10

1. Life Of Pi
2. Wreck-It Ralph
3. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower 

 

Tawasal's 2011 Top Films (48 films)

• 1/10

1. Immortals
2. What's Your Number?
3. Bad Teacher

• 2/10

1. Haywire
2. Tower Heist
3. Green Lantern
4. The Mechanic

• 3/10

1. We Bought A Zoo
2. Cowboys & Aliens
3. The Smurfs
4. Just Go With It

• 4/10

1. ​Transformers: Dark of the Moon
2. Cars 2
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 
4. The Green Hornet

• 5/10

1. ​The Adventures of Tintin
2. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
3. Puss In Boots
4. Real Steel
5. Colombiana
6. The Change-Up
7. Horrible Bosses
8. Thor
9. Rio

• 6/10

1. ​The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2. Paranormal Activity 3
3. Moneyball
4. Drive
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
6. Captain America: The First Avenger
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
8. Super 8
9. Kung Fu Panda 2
10. Fast Five
11. Source Code

• 7/10

1. ​War Horse
2. Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol
3. X-Men: First Class
4. Bridesmaids
5. Hanna
6. Limitless

• 8/10

1. ​Hugo
2. 50/50
3. The Help
4. Midnight in Paris
5. The Lincoln Lawyer

• 9/10

1. ​Rango

• ​10/10

1. ​Warrior 

 

Tawasal's 2010 Top Films (44 films)

• 1/10

1. ​Gulliver's Travels
2. Piranha 3D
3. Due Date
4. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning...
5. Knight And Day
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. Iron Man 2
8. Date Night

• ​2/10

1. ​Hot Tub Time Machine
2. The Wolfman

• 3/10

1. ​TRON: Legacy
2. The Spy Next Door 
3. Dinner for Schmucks
4. The A-Team
5. Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street

• ​4/10

1. ​Grown Ups
2. Clash of the Titans
3. She's Out of My League

• 5/10

1. ​The Tourist 
2. Megamind
3. Shrek Forever After
4. The Crazies

• 6/10

1. ​Unstoppable 
2. The Next Three Days
3. Salt 
4. The Other Guys

• 7/10

1. ​The Expendables
2. RED
3. The Social Network
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
5. Easy A
6. True Grit
7. Despicable Me
8. Kick-Ass

• 8/10

1. ​The Town
2. The King's Speech
3. Flipped 
4. 127 Hours
5. Black Swan
6. Tangled

• 9/10

1. ​Winter's Bone
2. How To Train Your Dragon

• 10/10

1. ​Inception 

[miketheavenger]

I don't know about a Top 50 of the half-decade since I would need to catch up on and rewatch tons of movies, but I might do my Top 25 of the-half decade. It probably won't be up until January though.

[DAJK]

One movie that will make my top 25 is Pompeii. Loved that film.

I just read this now, and I am quite happy that someone else liked it I think it's hovering right around my 20-21 mark this year (but I've only seen 48 films so...)

I'm not sure if I'll do a top 50 for 2014, as by years end I will have still probably seen only 52, so it would be pretty pointless as I've already been (constantly) posting in the "top films of 2014" thread.

[baumer]

39) If I Stay:  Films about young love are sometimes difficult to do exceptionally well.  This is one of them.  It's a good film but it drags in some parts and it ends far too soon.  But those complaints aside, it does a very good job of making you understand and empathise with the dilemma that the main character is going through.  Chole Moretz is one of the bright young stars in the business and this is the first film where she is allowed to show her feminine teenage side.  She had a brief taste of high school fabric in Kick Ass 2 but that film has much more going on that high school romance.  But in here, she conveys what it's like to be in love at a young age, very well.  She's required to display some heavy emotions in many key scenes in the film and she does it well.  I just feel that if the script was maybe a bit more polished it would have a much better movie that it is.  

 

Trivia:  Moretz had a double play cello for her in some of the more difficult scenes and then her head was superimposed onto the body.

 

 

38) Vampire Academy:  This is the last of the films I rated 7/10 this year.  And it's a good one.  I've only seen this once and I have a feeling that if I see it again, my grade will go up.  The story is a little weak for my taste but where the film excels is with it's star, Zoey Deutch, who is the daughter of director Howard and wife Lea Thompson, and with the script which was written by the team that wrote Heathers.  Deutch is on screen most of the time and she brings a lot of energy to her character.  The script is loaded with pop culture references and it works for a film like this.  The plot is kind of prosaic by now in that it involves peaceful vampires having to stop the mean vampires from taking over the world, or something like that, but it's the execution of it that makes it a fun film.  

 

Trivia: One of the actors auditioned for and won her role over SKYPE

 

Edited December 24, 2014 by baumer

[baumer]

37) The Judge:  The film is worth seeing simply for the two leads.  Downey Jr. and Duvall give terrific performances.  The rest of the movie is solid but it never quite reaches the heights of some of the better legal dramas of years past.  Duval plays a judge close to retirement and he has remained in his small town and been a judge there all his life.  To him, there is nothing more important than honour and integrity and he has built his life around these two principals.  His son, RDJ, is of course the complete opposite.  He moved on to the big city and became a slimy defense lawyer and has made a ton of money doing so.  So when it is clear that the Judge needs a good lawyer, these two clash.  At times their conflict plays out really well.  But there are also times when it seems to miss it's mark.  Thankfully these are few and far between.  The other fantastic performance given here is from Billy Bob Thornton, who plays the district attorney determined to bury the judge.  

 

Trivia:  At one point both Tommy Lee Jones and Jack Nicholson were both being considered for Downey's role.

 

 

36) The Equalizer:  Denzel has made a career playing guys like this and he does it so well.  The Equalizer might be a film inspired by the 80's TVs show but it might as well be either a remake or a sequel to Man on Fire.  Here, he basically plays John Creesy all over again.  And it works.  There's just something satisfying about watching assholes get their comeuppance.  Especially when those assholes are using young girls as prostitutes.  Washington and Chloe Moretz develop some nice chemistry and they have some very poignant quiet scenes together.  One that should be mentioned is a scene in the diner when they discuss the Hemingway novel The Old Man and the Sea.  It could even be said that from this point on, Washington's character has made the choice to free her from her vices.  As for the rest of the film, the action is terrific and the fights are well done.  It's not one of Washington's best but it is a good one.

 

Trivia:  Moretz fought hard for the role.  Even though it was written for someone much older, she impressed Fuqua so much that he rewrote the role for her.

 

[baumer]

35) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:  Michael Bay produced this and you can tell.  The action is frenetic and it is perpetual.  There were times in the film where the action was overwhelming.  This could be the best action film of the year, not the best film, but in terms of action and how it is filmed, it's terrific.  Meagan Fox plays the main heroine and William Fichtner is the bad guy.  This isn't really a spoiler if you have seen a few films over the years.  You just know how these things go.  I enjoyed it for what it was and going into it, I had no preconceived notions.  By now, you should know what you are getting into when you have a film with talking ninja master turtles and rats.

 

Trivia:  Platinum Dunes is mostly known for horror remakes.  But this became there highest grossing film by a very large margin.  If all goes well in Japan in February, it should clear 500 million.

 

 

 

 

34) Lucy:  There's only way to desribe Lucy.  It's bat shit crazy.  I enjoyed the hell out of this film but I couldn't tell you what the hell the writers, director's and producers were shooting for her.  Scarlett Johansson plays the titular character.  She starts out as a damsel in distress and then she turns into someone who doesn't need fists to beat you up.  She is Neo/Darth Vader/Jean Grey all rolled into one.  The film gets so crazy that at the end, she turns into HER.  You'll have to see the film to understand what I mean.  The question is how is this a good film if it's that fucking crazy?  The answer is I have no fucking clue.  But I think I'm afraid not to like it.  She's watching me right now and if I say anything disparaging about the film she might come by and .......

 

Trivia:  Luc Besson once called this film as "one part Leon, one part Inception and one part 2001: A Space Odyssey". A lot of shots in the film were mirrored after these three films.  In other words, it's bat shit crazy.

 

[baumer]

The next few films have all been rated as an 8.  I'll get to some of them later today.

 

Two films that not make my list are Tammy and Godzilla.  Tammy is the only "film" I gave a 0 to this year and Godzilla gets a 3/10.  1 point for LET THEM FIGHT and 2 points for these looks:

 

 

 

[Claire of Themyscira]

Godzilla gets a 3/10.

 

Wish you had liked it. Hopefully, the Japan one is satisfying.