Ruk's Top 69 Movies of 2014 (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People)

[rukaio101]

51. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

"I miss my wigs."

 

 

So not only do I get to piss off Interstellar and Princess Kaguya fans, but now I've got Futurist gunning for my blood. Again.

 

But yeah, I’m with most of the forums in saying that this really shouldn’t have been split in two movies and that this film definitely suffers for it. That said there’s a fair amount of good stuff in this. The acting was (mostly) strong and a lot of the propaganda elements did interest me. But the lack of action and the fact that 90% of the movie takes place in a near completely safe environment sucks a lot of the tension out of the proceedings. Compared to the last two Hunger Games where, even when out of the arena, Katniss really had to watch her step, and it’s not exactly a positive change. It’s telling that most of my favourite scenes were the ones that took place outside of District 13, where characters were actually in danger and where the rebellion could actually be seen (the Hanging Tree scene being a favourite).

 

Honestly, it's a pretty big blow for this series and I think it says plenty that, in comparison, Twilight handled the 'splitting into two parts' thing better than this did.

 

Disclaimer: I'm not saying the Twilight movies were better (although I enjoyed Breaking Dawn Part 2 more than this (because it's hilarious)) just that structurally and story-wise, the split made far more sense than here.

[rukaio101]

50. The Monuments Men

"You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they'll still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, you destroy their achievements and it's as if they never existed. That's what Hitler wants and that's exactly what we are fighting for."

 

 

I’m giving this a bit of slack because the topic is one that really does fascinate me and it does pay pretty good service to that premise. But that said, the direction in this film was really poor. Especially at the beginning. Considering Good Night and Good Luck is one of my favourite films of all time, I really don’t know how Clooney fucked up so badly here. And it’s really a shame because, as I mentioned, the topic and premise really is a fascinating one and I’d really like to see someone else take another crack at it.

[rukaio101]

49. The Theory of Everything

"There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope."

 

 

This film is basically my American Hustle for this year, in that it seems to be nominated for everything and I really don't get why. (Aside from the obvious Oscar baityness). Sure it's not nearly as bad or overrated as American Hustle but I found it pretty damn boring and only worth watching for Redmayne's excellent performance (although if he wins over Keaton, I will scream.) The romance is tepid and lacking in chemistry and most of Hawking's scientific achievements are skimmed over in favour of a jumped-up soap opera plot with an Oscar-class physical performance in the middle of it.

 

So basically, I'm hoping when it comes to the actual Oscar Ceremony, this pulls an American Hustle and goes home empty handed.

[rukaio101]

48. The Boxtrolls

"Where are the rivers of blood, and the mountains of bones? I was promised rivers of blood!"

 

 

Sigh. First Ghibli, now Laika. Why are my favourite animation studios letting me down this year? Yeah, I found this pretty underwhelming and nowhere near on the same level as Coraline or Paranorman. And if I had to guess why, I’d say it’s because of the characters. Coraline and Paranorman both had really compelling main characters. Eggs isn’t bad but he’s basically a generic wild child/fish-out-of-water and isn’t as interesting. That said, I can’t really call this bad, just underwhelming. It had some great animation, a fun villain (whose henchmen I genuinely really liked) and a pretty cool world.

 

That said, the little girl’s dad was an intolerable ----. Seriously, there’s being comically neglectful and then there’s being so goddamn terrible I’m actively rooting for the main villain to squish you like a grape. What an asshole.

 

Also, <insert obligatory rage against LEGO snub here>

[rukaio101]

47. The Book of Life

"Kids these days, with their long hair and not killing stuff."

 

 

Another animated film I was hoping would be much more. This film had a fantastic animation style (which looked amazing in 3D, fyi), especially in the world of the dead. And it had one of the very few love triangles I actually felt kinda sorta worked. But it’s biggest problem (and one I suspect was foisted on it by executives trying to make ‘appeal to kids’) was how cheap comedy so often ended up being shoved into the most inappropriate moments, the finale being a big example. Not to say the comedy was awful, it had its moments, but the movie just wouldn’t shut up and give dramatic moments the quiet they deserved. The Sandman especially felt out of place and generally unfunny.

 

But the film does has a lot of positives going for it (including a kicking remix of Ecstasy for Gold) and I'd still call it worth checking out.

[rukaio101]

46. American Sniper

"No, I'm not a redneck. I'm from Texas."

 

 

American Sniper certainly has been making a lot of waves lately, both due to its insane box office, Oscar success and controversial subject matter. And I've been sitting here the whole time going 'What even the fuck is all the fuss about?'

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't think American Sniper is a bad film. I just don't think it's good or memorable enough for all the attention that has been heaped on it. The war scenes are enjoyably tense and Cooper puts in a good performance, but I've seen far far better in recent similar films. Heck, I thought Lone Survivor was miles above this. Also I don't see quite why people are so up in arms against it since I really didn't see it as a pro-war film. Sure I wouldn't call it an anti-war film either, but it's not really supposed to be a commentary on the war. The war is just a backdrop for our main character. As for Chris Kyle himself, I've not read his autobiography, don't intend to and believe people when they say he was probably a psychopath. But it's not like this is even close to being the first time a real-life figure has been inaccurately idolised (or demonised) in a biopic and it's very difficult for me to work up any kind of outrage about it.

[chasmmi]

Starting to wonder what kind of films are making the top 10 here.

[Rorschach]

49. The Theory of Everything

"There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope."

 

 

This film is basically my American Hustle for this year, in that it seems to be nominated for everything and I really don't get why. (Aside from the obvious Oscar baityness). Sure it's not nearly as bad or overrated as American Hustle but I found it pretty damn boring and only worth watching for Redmayne's excellent performance (although if he wins over Keaton, I will scream.) The romance is tepid and lacking in chemistry and most of Hawking's scientific achievements are skimmed over in favour of a jumped-up soap opera plot with an Oscar-class physical performance in the middle of it.

 

So basically, I'm hoping when it comes to the actual Oscar Ceremony, this pulls an American Hustle and goes home empty handed.

It probably is deserving of the Best Score nomination though. I haven't seen the film but I've listened to its soundtrack and it's really good (Johannsson for the win).

[rukaio101]

45. Blue Ruin

"I'd forgive you if you were crazy, but you're not. You're weak."

 

 

This film has been getting a lot of love in the indie circuits and I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's dull. So very dull. And I was not at all fond of the main character. Not because he was a bumbling fuck-up but the film seemed convinced that his character was much much deeper than it actually was. And he oh so wasn't. He was so uninteresting and mumbly that I really couldn't bring myself to care about whether he lived or died. 

 

The film itself seemed to be priding itself on deconstructing every popular revenge movie trope. Instead of a stone cold badass, the main is a bumbling fuckwit. Instead of some big action sequences, everything's over in a few blows. And while that deconstructionist attitude worked for a few scenes, such as the botched arrow self surgery, it went far too overboard and forgot that there's a perfectly good reason many of those tropes are there in the first place. Because they're entertaining and they work in telling a good story. And if you subvert too many of them without rhyme and reason, you damage your own film. To quote Jeff Goldblum, "They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."

 

So yeah, not a fan. Heck, in hindsight, I kinda wish I'd put it lower. It did have a few saving graces with some interesting side characters and scenes, but it's nowhere neat as good as I thought it was going to be. There is another indie revenge flick coming up though which I enjoyed far far more.

[rukaio101]

^{44. Expelled from Paradise}

 

 

Obligatory obscure anime movie FTW!

 

Okay, for the many of you who've probably never even heard of this, allow me to give you a brief rundown of the plot. In the future, after a disaster left the Earth in ruins, most of humanity has abandoned the planet they once called home along with their physical bodies and rebuilt their digitalized minds into a society within the cyber universe of "DEVA." However, a mysterious hacker with unknown motives known as 'Frontier Setter' has been hacking into the mainframe of DEVA. All that is known is that the hacker is operating from Earth. So agents are sent down to earth to investigate and we get the usual anime tropes of mech battles, scantily clad girls and tentacles such.

 

I'll admit though, there was one reason I was interested in this movie and one reason only. Gen Urobuchi was writing. For those not in the know, Gen Urobuchi has been responsible for several of my favourite anime… hell, favourite TV shows of all time. Fate/Zero, Psycho-Pass, Aldnoah.Zero and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. All largely his work. All fantastic. So I was pretty hyped for this movie. And when I saw the final product…. I was pretty disappointed.

 

I think the biggest problem is that with only a 90 minute runtime, Urobuchi is unable to fully explore the world/characters in the same depth that he would get in a full TV series. And, as a result, in order to make way for Urobuchi’s fascinating worldbuilding and philosophising the characters really end up suffering as a result. The two mains in this film are generic, dull and generally uninteresting to follow. It especially suffered since I was watching Psycho-Pass (a show I'd describe as being like Blade Runner mixed with a more grounded Judge Dredd) at around the same time and that movie has so many of the same themes and ideas but expresses them so much better and with far superior characters. Also, while Urobuchi was writing, he wsan't directing and the guy was directing really doesn't bring that much to the table.

 

That said, this film still has a fair number of positives to it. The world and premise behind the film is an interesting one and Urobuchi does find the time to ask some genuinely compelling questions about it, questions far more compelling than I see in 99% of most movies I've watched. Also the animation style is gorgeous, being an interesting mix of anime-style and CG and it just looks fantastic. But honestly, if you're interesting in getting to know Urobuchi's work, I'd go watch Psycho-Pass instead of this. In fact, even if you're not interested in getting to know Urobuchi's work, I'd suggest you go watch Psycho-Pass anyway. That show is really good.

[rukaio101]

Okay, now we cross the border from 'Movies I consider meh' to 'Movies I consider enjoyable'. And I'm going to start off with a pretty big leap up in quality and the only tie on the list.

 

42(tie). Non-Stop/A Walk Among the Tombstones

 

 

 

It’s been an interesting year for Liam Neeson action movies. And I mean that in a kinda sorta positive way. From an outside view, both of these films look like the traditional Taken-esque Neeson action movie. But neither are, instead being a tense, claustrophobic myster/thriller and a noir detective movie respectively, both of which have remarkable dark anti-hero characters with genuinely effective backstories. That said, they have their fair share of positives and problems.

 

First, let’s talk about Non-Stop. I’m always a sucker for the sort of film where you take a number of characters, put them in an enclosed area, place a wolf among them and watch the chaos unfurl. And Non-Stop does that very well. We genuinely feel for Neeson as he feels the situation increasingly slip out of his fingers and things get more and more intense as everyone starts turning against him until eventually everything begins to fall apart. Admittedly, there’s another film released this year that I felt did the claustrophobia element better (my current No 17) but this was still impressive. My biggest problem though, was with the ending. In that it made little sense. The motivation of the villains was pretty stupid and the reveal of whodunit made a previous action of his make absolutely no sense whatsoever and actively ruined his plans. So that put a damper on things. But this was still a fun thriller. Also Ethan hates it (for a reason I really don't think he's explained yet) so that can only be a plus.

 

A Walk among the Tombstones, however, was a different beast entirely. Slow, disturbing and very noirish, it was an enjoyable detective flick of which I don't think we see enough of nowadays. Special mention has to go to the supporting cast, near all of whom did a fantastic job. Especially the two serial killers and Dan Stevens (who’ll be appearing in another film on this list) as Kenny. That said, some scenes ended up dragging a bit longer than necessary and I really didn’t see the point of many of the scenes with Neeson bonding with the homeless kid. But maybe that’s just my heartless self.

 

It would've been very easy for Neeson this year to stick with the traditional low-rent action movies (like Taken 3) and ride that popularity. But instead he didn't something pleasantly different and I'm genuinely happy he did.

[rukaio101]

41. Mr Peabody and Sherman

"Sherman, I came back in time to make sure that you don't touch yourself!"

 

 

I really didn’t have high hopes for this going in, but it actually managed to surprise me. It was a fun, energetic animation with a brilliant performance from Ty Burrell as the lead. Admittedly, it was also pretty forgettable and some characters really kinda rubbed me the wrong way, but hey, it was a fun way to waste 90 minutes.

 

Also, I can’t truly hate anything with Patrick Warburton in it.

[Ethan Hunt]

You enjoyed Non-Stop... *throws up*

[Ethan Hunt]

I hate Non-Stop because it's fucking boring. The entire thing ( with the exclusion of the first 20 minutes, which weren't bad) drags horrendously.

[Kalo]

49. The Theory of Everything

"There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope."

 

 

This film is basically my American Hustle for this year, in that it seems to be nominated for everything and I really don't get why. (Aside from the obvious Oscar baityness). Sure it's not nearly as bad or overrated as American Hustle but I found it pretty damn boring and only worth watching for Redmayne's excellent performance (although if he wins over Keaton, I will scream.) The romance is tepid and lacking in chemistry and most of Hawking's scientific achievements are skimmed over in favour of a jumped-up soap opera plot with an Oscar-class physical performance in the middle of it.

 

So basically, I'm hoping when it comes to the actual Oscar Ceremony, this pulls an American Hustle and goes home empty handed.

Yesterday, I was driving to see Imitation Game, and I was trying to remember all the Best Picture Nominees, I could only think of seven, later I finally realized it was this one I couldn't think of.

[Kalo]

I hate Non-Stop because it's fucking boring. The entire thing ( with the exclusion of the first 20 minutes, which weren't bad) drags horrendously.

I hate almost all of those kind of generic action movies, so I didn't see it.

[chasmmi]

The most definitive thing I can say about peabody and Sherman right now is that it is a film that exists.

[rukaio101]

40. Noah

"Fire consumes all. Water cleanses. It separates the foul from the pure. The wicked from the innocent. And that which sinks from that which rises. He destroys all, but only to start again."

 

 

Yeah, this movie has really run the full gamut of audience reactions this year. There are those who love it and consider it one of the year's best. There are those who hate it and think it's one of the year's worst. And there are those who consider it an enjoyable if forgettable flick and wonder what the first two groups are making such a fuss about.

 

I'm in the third group. Not much else to say.

[rukaio101]

39. Fury

"Ideals are peaceful. History is violent."

 

 

Remarkably Shia LeBeouf wasn’t the biggest asshole in this movie.

 

Okay, with the obligatory Shia LeBeouf jab out of the way, my feelings on this are kind of all over the place. On the one hand, most of the tank crew are assholes. And not charming and funny assholes like Blackadder or the Guardians of the Galaxy. I mean serious, fuck you guys, assholes. Yet oddly, when it came to the final action scene I was surprised to find myself actually emotionally invested in them. So I’m not entirely sure how they managed that but kudos.

 

But by far the best thing about this movie is the action. I freaking adored the tank fights and many of the action scenes. Especially with that score. Can you say ‘Epic German (presumably) chanting?’

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMd7jkBbGZU

[rukaio101]

38. Into the Woods

"I was raised to be charming, not sincere."

 

 

So this was fun. We don't get, in my opinion, enough musicals, these days (the occasional Disney Animation aside). Especially not ones with a cast as good as this. Nearly everyone was bringing their A-game (except pedowolf Johnny Depp) and Meryl Streep was obviously having a blast hamming it up and that's always enjoyable to watch. My biggest problems are mainly that the pacing feels pretty off (largely thanks to the compression of the last act) and the music. Don't get me wrong, the music was mostly great and, after just extolling the virtues of the cinematic musical, it may feel a bit hypocritical me saying this, but the fact that pretty much every line is sung means the main tune gets pretty damn repetitive after a while. It was a similar problem I had with Les Mis so maybe I'm just not used to that kind of musical.

 

But this was still quite a lot of fun.