Chasmmi's top 50 (or so) films of the Year - Top 5 is finally on its way - will there be any shock entries?

[chasmmi]

34th - The Admiral: Roaring Currents  - 81/100

 

What I was expecting/hoping: Yeah I live in Korea, I speak Korean and yet somehow I only saw one Korean film last year. This film is the story of Yi Sunshin, arguably the greatest admiral in military history who managed to lead a fleet of 13 ships to victory against a Japanese Armada numbering in the hundreds. It is a stunning piece of Korean history that deserved to be portryed on the big screen and with Choi Min Sik in the lead role (who looks so much like the Yi Sunshin statue in Gwanghwamun Square it's not even funny), I was hoping for a good story.

 

What I got: Okay I won't go into too much detail on this film as only Rysu and Sam have probably ever even heard of this film but lets just say that the naval battle scenes are very well done and if you have seen and enjoyed films such as King and the Clown then you would probably enjoy this. It's a bit overly melodramatic in places and has a slight 'The Patriot' style approach to history about it, but overall it is a very good film and there were worse candidates out there to go and finally break Avatar's attendance records.

[chasmmi]

33rd - Cheap Thrills - 81/100

 

What I was hoping/Expecting: I saw a trailer for this somewhere (no idea where) and the concept looked like something that could be very interesting to see and didn't need any big budget to pull off. It also could have easily gone down a sort of Hostel meets American Pie route too though so i was hoping for the former and not the latter.

 

What I got: Overall I think the filmmakers pull off this premise very well. They show I clear believable descent into more and more depraved acts without resorting to torture porn or needless gratuity just for the sake of it. There are a couple of clumsy scenes like the robbery that really didn't need to be there but overall this is a really interesting film and I would reccomend it to anyone who thinks the premise sounds interesting.

 

I like the ending to this as well and felt they chose a good direction for the film to leave us when it could have easily been thrown away in the last 20 minutes which I was thankful for. I'll also say that David Koechner is surprisingly good in this considering he's an actor that I normally think of as 'the other guy in Anchorman', he really does a good job with this role and although this film will have quite a niche target audience, i think that audience will be quite happy with what the are given.

[chasmmi]

32nd - The Maze Runner - 81/100

 

What I was hoping/expecting: Don't be shit, don't be shit, don't be shit, oh please just don't be shit. I'm giving you a chance you don't really deserve here movie so don't go and be shit on me.

 

What I got: Huzzah! It wasn't shit. that made me happy. I even daresay I enjoyed it. I may even go as far as to say I am looking forward to the sequel (even though the buildup for the sequel was so awkwardley shoehorned in it made my eyes bleed).

 

For something that looked like Hunger Games in a Maze, it was quite nice to see that the film does have its own story to tell and actually makes a decent stab at developing characters. There is no forced love triangle to add drama. There are no motorbike riding wearwolf guys on their eternal period and the characters for the most part don't do ridiculously stupid stuff because...plot. I

 

t's actually enjoyable and if the concept sounded decent to you but you were put off by the YA tag then give it a go. It's no Hunger Games, but it's also no Twilight either so that's a semi-win in my book.

[Goffe]

I actually haven't seem the last five of those, Mr. Peabody and Sherman was just added to Netflix though, so I may check it out.

don't

it's horrible.

[Sam]

34th - The Admiral: Roaring Currents  - 81/100

 

What I was expecting/hoping: Yeah I live in Korea, I speak Korean and yet somehow I only saw one Korean film last year. This film is the story of Yi Sunshin, arguably the greatest admiral in military history who managed to lead a fleet of 13 ships to victory against a Japanese Armada numbering in the hundreds. It is a stunning piece of Korean history that deserved to be portryed on the big screen and with Choi Min Sik in the lead role (who looks so much like the Yi Sunshin statue in Gwanghwamun Square it's not even funny), I was hoping for a good story.

 

What I got: Okay I won't go into too much detail on this film as only Rysu and Sam have probably ever even heard of this film but lets just say that the naval battle scenes are very well done and if you have seen and enjoyed films such as King and the Clown then you would probably enjoy this. It's a bit overly melodramatic in places and has a slight 'The Patriot' style approach to history about it, but overall it is a very good film and there were worse candidates out there to go and finally break Avatar's attendance records.

I'm so behind on my Korean cinema. Gotta catch up.

The BO for this one stuns me, and yet I still haven't a chance to watch it. I definitely will do that soon. Choi Min Sik and your allusion to King and the Clown sold me on it.

[chasmmi]

I'm so behind on my Korean cinema. Gotta catch up.

The BO for this one stuns me, and yet I still haven't a chance to watch it. I definitely will do that soon. Choi Min Sik and your allusion to King and the Clown sold me on it.

 

The BO for this was crazy. I think it actually made enough to be the the BSG top 15 if it had been an American Gross.

[chasmmi]

31st - Robocop - 82/100

 

What I was hoping/Expecting: Remakes, remakes are everywhere. Why make a new risky film when you can just to a lazy reboot of a classic and reap 20M opening week off nostalgia. I had very low expectations of this film and so if it turned out to be bad it was really no harm no foul in my eyes.

 

What I got: A film that was much better than it had any right to be. It absolutely isn't 1980's Robocop and that would likely piss off fans of that I understand. But if you look at this film in the standalone sense, it is a good origin story. The lead actor does a good job portraying the horror of his situation (the scene where he sees what is left of him especially), there are a lot of great actors in this and I think the fact there is Gary Oldman, Samuel Jackson and Michael Keaton playing these roles helps things a lot.

 

The mid-film action scene killing the gang guys was a little shitty, but the final scenes were good and I actually honestly would be more than happy to see a sequel to this. It's worth checking out if you are somebody who can see past the shadows of original films when watching a remake.  

[chasmmi]

30th - The Purge: Anarchy - 83/100

 

What I was hoping/expecting: Oh The Purge, what a poor execution of a good concept that was. It was a dull dull horrible film with a family of stupid characters doing stupid things that only horror film characters ever do. This was probably one of the films from 2014 I was least excited to see, but people here were saying the sequel was much better so who knows...

 

What I got: 5000% improvement on the original. Every problem I had with the Purge, this rectified. Dull horror film - nope, this had a lot of energy and suspense. Stupid Characters - nope, for a horror film there is suprisingly little instance of random stupidity by characters just because plot decrees. Maybe the scene at the coworkers house was a little ridiculous, but overall these were good characters.

 

If this had been the first film, the purge could have been a horror franchise of the next decade. Now we'll have to see whether this film was able to bounce back from the shittiness of the original. There is a 3rd coming apparently, so I hope it's good, on the same scale as this one and if so then please let it be a success.  

[chasmmi]

Ok so the next couple of films' positions may not prove to be the most popular choices. To the people who are happy with this, all I have to say is: 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-NX6nObLcM

[chasmmi]

30th - Whiplash - 84/100

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVt_1lGTUcg

 

What I was hoping/expecting: So going in to see this film I had heard a few comments: that JK Simmons is amazing, that is's a sports movie but with music, even that it is essentially Rocky playing the drums. I'll admit it got me very interested. Before hearing all this it just looked like one of those films that gets made to make Mr. OScar happy, but I got more interested in seeing it as time went by.

 

 

What I got: A film with some great acting and some great scenes that ultimately didn't hit perfection in my eyes like it seems to have with others. Now I can look at this film and know that I saw a great film, I know the acting was great, the story is put together very well to and there are memorable characters here. However it just didn't have that unexplainable quality about it that makes me go from appreciating a film to loving it.

 

Oddly part of this is down to the characters. I felt this film wants you to root for Nieman, but then portray him as a total cock. I can understand reasoning for this but still his attitutude towards his girlfriend, other people and a lesser extent his family kind of made me enjoy seeing him get hurt by his teacher.

 

Then there is the teacher himself a total arsehole who mentally torments his students but at the same time, if you tone that character down by about 15% and you basically get a House-like antihero. The scene in the jazz bar can almost make you sympathetic to his methods (at least in magical movie land, in real life they'd still be abhorrant just like Dr. House would be a monster), and the lack of a truly good and heroic lead just made it harder for me to really get involved in his story.

 

Then there is the ending, the final drum solo is epic and awesome to begin with, but then for me is a bit like Slash from Guns and Roses, the solo was great for the first 2 minutes but then I just kind of want to finish and get back to the actual song. Personally for me it dragged and that brought the ending down for me.

 

Overall this is a great film, but one that doesn't resonate with the film style I love as opposed to enjoy and when entering the top 30 of this year, that can be the difference between 30th and 13th place.

[baumer]

Fun list so far Chas.  Whiplash should be higher imo but it's your list.  

[Sam]

The BO for this was crazy. I think it actually made enough to be the the BSG top 15 if it had been an American Gross.

Is there any other reasons beside Choi Min Sik and it being about the most famous Korean Admiral for it to be that successful? It genuinely got great receptions from GA and not cause of some voodoo brainwashing stuff like what happened with D-Wars, right?

[chasmmi]

Is there any other reasons beside Choi Min Sik and it being about the most famous Korean Admiral for it to be that successful? It genuinely got great receptions from GA and not cause of some voodoo brainwashing stuff like what happened with D-Wars, right?

 

It is quite an epic scale film by Korean standards and the naval battles are very impressive. I would say there are better films that could have broken the record and it was a very patriotic choice, but overall it's still a good film just not JSA, Brotherhood, host or other such films that held the previous attendance records good.

[chasmmi]

29th - Maleficent - 85/100

 

What I was hoping/expecting: I was not expecting much of this. Was pretty sure it would be average at best ala Snow White and the huntsman but there was nothing better to watch that week in the cinema so decided to give it a go anyhow.

 

What I got: Oh gee this was a bad film. The concept was bad, the acting from most characters was bad and everything was just really not very good at all. Pretty much the complete opposite of Whiplash that came one place before it.

 

So why is it 29th? Because Angelina Jolie is so entertaining in this that it just negates the awfulness of everything else. When people criticise this film I understand it completely, the same as I get the praise for whiplash. Still though I just had so much fun watching this that it just didn't matter that it was pretty shit on all levels. It's nice sometimes to sit back and watch an actor or actress just have fun with a silly role and that was what this felt like to me. jolie was having fun here and that allowed me to have fun here too.

[Empire]

Maleficent higher than Whiplash.......

[chasmmi]

28th - Top 5 - 86/100

 

What I was hoping/expecting: Chris Rock is possibly my favourite American Stand up of all time. When he is on fire, he is arguably the funniest man on the planet. Sadly, though his films sometimes leave a lot to be desired. This film and concept intrigued me, it seemed like it was going to be a little more real than previous films and with Christ Rock there is always a chance that he'll pull off a decent film.

 

What I got: A very good film. Considering the majority of it is just two characters, they gel together very well and you feel for the issues both of them are facing and dealing with. You feel some real issues comedians may have as to whether they should try to just continue being a comedian in the film world or try to do something serious and potentially safe.

 

You just have to look at someone like Adam Sandler to see a comedian who actually has all the acting tools at his disposal to pull of some potentially even oscar-level dramatic performances, yet he shuns that direction to focus on annual Happy Madison releases that can be good and can be at times the most offensively awful films of a given year. The character may not be exactly Chris Rock, but he feels like a real person all the same and that is great.

 

My one downside with this film is that it's often not all that funny for long periods of the film. It's interesting and involving but there are not enough jokes to carry the comedy moniker at times (this is an issue I have with a lot of dramas that decide to add 3 jokes to their film and voila they are a Rom Com/Dramedy/Black Comedy). Let's be clear though when jokes hit they hit well and are great (the strip club scene is hilarious as one example).

 

Bizarrely for me, maybe the biggest issue I have with this film was the stand up club scene. In this scene Rock nails the humour fantastically and they are the funniest jokes in the film. Why is this a problem? Because as much as I enjoyed this film and want Chris Rock to be the guy doing the funny black guy roles in successful comedies that people like Kevin Hart are being given, this just reminds me how good a stand up he is and how much I miss not seeing him do new Stand up routines.

 

Overall though, it's a pretty great film   

[chasmmi]

WE HAVE NOW MOVED ON TO THE GREAT FILMS OF 2014.

 

87/100 IS WHERE WE APPROACH A- TERRITORY IN MY WORLD

[baumer]

Top 5 is excellent.  Really funny stuff.

[chasmmi]

27th - Night at the Museum 3 - 87/100

 

What I was hoping/expecting: I like this series, sue me. I like Ben Stiller in most things, I like Robin Williams and I like the fun that is had with the museum exhibits. So even though this easily could turn out to be a pointless cash in on a franchise, I wanted to be optimistic and also I had to see it on release day because... well you know

 

What I got: A lot of fun. It's not Spielberg, We don't have Daniel Day Lewis playing the part of a T-Rex after spending 11 months buried in a desert in Mexico as preparation for the role. No we just got fun and silliness and I liked it a lot.

 

With the exception of the woman security guard that I hated with all the power of my Seoul every character in this was fun at worst. Stiller was good, Williams was great. Lancelot was pretty hilarious and the Cameos near the end was one of the funniest scenes of 2014 and one of the best cameos in film. I also still can't tell whether that is Tom Cruise or not after hearing the rumours

 

This story is nothing special, the film is nothing special but it was a film to enjoy and on a list where subjectivity is king, enjoying something will always beat appreciation of the message or a performance any day.

[chasmmi]

26th - Foxcatcher - 87/100

 

What I was expecting: This is a story I knew nothing about. The cast got me interested, as did the oscar buzz, but I had no idea if this was going to be a dark evil film, if it was going to be essentially Whiplash with wrestling, I had no idea. However I decided to give it a go and hoped that total lack of knowledge of the true story would not affect my viewing.

 

What I got: Great performances all round. In my head Whiplash is the most comparable 2014 film to discuss this alongside and while I'll say that Whiplash has the best single performance in either film, Foxcatcher's ensemble is far stronger. Tatum and Carell are stunningly good (with the latter being a prime example of what I said before about what Comedians can potentially achieve in serious drama). I honestly think Tatum stands a chance of being the Tom Hanks of the 2020's (regarding critcal acclaim, not acting style), every role he takes is different and he seems to be able to nail all of them (he was even the least worst thing in Jupiter Ascending).

 

The story here is dark and at times uncomfortable. Not knowing the real story helps also as the film draws to a close as events I expect to happen fail to occur and events i did not see coming do leave one with a sense of shock when they happen. It did not quite hit the emotional highs required for me to score this genre of film in the 90's but it was close and I can't believe I do not have space to put a film this good in my top 25.