Empire Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Into the Woods was great fun I thought. Glad it made your list. You are right about Blunt & Pine being the standouts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 19. Now we start getting to the really good movies. I remembering seeing Gone Girl and going “HOLY SHIT!” so many times throughout. I kinda feel I’m putting it so low actually. Yet, the thing with Gone Girl is outside the fun of watching it, it didn’t really stick well with me thematically or plotwise. That said, watching Gone Girl is ridiculously fun. Affleck and Pike give stellar performances and Fincher’s direction is as impeccable as ever. However, the true fun of the movie is two sequences, both which would constitute as spoilers so stop reading now if you want to go into the movie blind, and trust me, you want to go into this movie blind! The sequence when Amy reveals her true nature as Nick discovers the shed is impeccably cut, and I had a huge grin on my face during that entire scene. The other is when Amy kills Desi in a glorious sex scene with fade-to-blacks in time with music which is just WOW. It’s a shame the movie ended up being really discardable in my mind, because it is great. Gone Girl is a victim of a tough year (and probably my odd taste too.) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empire Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I liked Gone Girl, but didn't love it like some people on here did. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancyarcher Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) Gone Girl was great. It's in my top 20 of the year. I love the black humor and how the film basically parodies the idea of a perfect couple. Edited January 19, 2015 by Fancyarcher 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goffe Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Noah was good. There's not a lot to complain about really, unless you are a Christian who gets offended by a realistic depiction of Noah. I'm an atheist and I thought Noah was just average. Exodus is slightly better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Great pick with Gone Girl. Thought you'd have it higher though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 18. Fun fact: If you add up all the time I’ve spent watching X-Men: Days of Future Past and also add up all the time I’ve seen the other X-Men movies, Days of Future Past would probably be double the other films. I’ve seen this movie four times and it never stops being wildly entertaining. Not particularly funny, the movie is kind of a throwback to the early 2000s blockbusters, when it was more about building characters in self-contained awesome stories rather than setting up a universe. Now, I love cinematic universes, but this was a load of fun too. The action is awesome (Hail Blink and Quicksilver), and that’s mostly thanks to Bryan Singer’s brilliant direction. The acting is really good too for a movie like this, with special notice to James McAvoy who legitimately gives one of the best performances ever in a comic book movie. I’m a sucker for time travel stories and mixing with a superhero movie made one of the most fun blockbusters of 2014. X-Men: Days of Future Past is a legitimately fantastic movie for people who aren’t even fans of X-Men or the superhero genre. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 17. Up until two weeks ago, this was in my top five. Then, I abruptly realized that the only reason it is this high is because of the ending, which is the only ending this past year that made me outright bawl at the theater. The movie is pretty generic and not as edgy as it thinks it believes. I also really don’t know what Naomi Watts was thinking with her character. All these negatives said, St. Vincent has a lot of heart, and that’s entirely thanks to the relationship between the kid and Bill Murray. Put anyone else besides Bill Murray in St. Vincent and it simply doesn’t work. Only Murray can play the curmudgeonly pissed off Vincent without him either being too sweet or too harsh. Murray is really funny in this role, and honestly, he’s probably a bit above the screenplay. That said, I also got to give a lot of credit to Jaeden Lieberher too, who plays Oliver next to Vincent. He too is a major cause of the reason this movie becomes incredibly emotional through the end. About an hour and fifteen minutes into this movie, something happens that almost derails the whole film but ultimately manages to build up to the emotional climax that, although predictable, makes you sob like a baby. St. Vincent is the perfect Bill Murray vehicle in this day and age, and one that is definitely wonderful. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I liked St. Vincent way more than you but I agree with you about Murray and the ending. That got me choked up too. I liked Watts a lot as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Thing with St. Vincent isn't that I don't like it; more that this was a really, really strong year If I can recommend a movie like it to you, baumer, you should check out Instructions Not Included. Kinda like St. Vincent in the way that it's really funny but it's an emotional gutpunch at the end 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 16. This movie is super evocative of childhood, despite the fact I can’t relate to it at all. Three girls just want to hang out and have fun and they start a band. It’s a look on outsiders in middle school that’s done perfectly. Kids are mean, and this movie doesn’t flinch from that reality. The kids have dirty mouths, and our main characters are made fun of a lot. I’m not from Sweden but apparently, they’re close to us in culture, especially in the 1980s. In fact, I’m kind of surprised it’s set in the 1980s, since really nothing in the movie displays that in an obvious way. But whatever. It’s interesting too, as the movie really doesn’t have much of a plot. In fact, I guess it’s kind of like a Linklater film in that way, with clever dialogue and endless fascination. The only thing that keeps it from being great is that there are a few moments when it’s just incredibly dull (specifically, the boyfriend subplot that comes into the last half hour). All in all though, We Are The Best! is a fascinating 2014 film that’s definitely worth seeing, filled with both laughter and wincing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Never heard of that one and will probably never see it but it's good to see it on your list. I had a couple of low key Canadian films on mine that I'm sure no one will ever see as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 It was part of my Netflix binge at the end of the year after Jack Nevada suggested it. Spoiler alert: it's the highest foreign language film on this list 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezen Baklattan Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I still need to see We Are The Best. :/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 I still need to see We Are The Best. :/ NETFLIX TONIGHT DO IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Holy shit... just searched my master document... and I just realized I don't have Neighbors on my overall 2014 list. Won't do a write-up for it, but it might have ended up in my top 28... oops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 You could say that NEIGHBORS.... ....got Blanked. YEAHHHHHHHH 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) null Edited January 20, 2015 by Alpha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 You could say that NEIGHBORS.... ....got Blanked. YEAHHHHHHHH 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 15. The One I Love is one weird movie. Unfortunately, I was spoiled on the central concept on the film, and since I think it’d be great if I didn’t do that for you readers. Basically, this movie is a Twilight Zone episode for the big screen, incredibly stylish and with excellent plotting. It takes its unusual premise to the logical conclusions, and actually travels similar thematic ground as Gone Girl does. The difference is The One I Love takes its themes to a weird sci-fi comedy place and is ultimately more effective. The only movie I can really compare The One I Love to is Safety Not Guaranteed, and they actually share an actor, Mark Duplass. Duplass gives a great performance in this, but to explain why would be to spoil the movie. In fact though, this is probably only the second movie with only three actors in it I’ve really enjoyed (I obviously loved Gravity). It’s on Netflix; I just beg you all; please see this movie. You won’t regret it’s wild inventiveness and great acting. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...