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2014 in review – Film edition

Jan
01

This year saw a mixed bag of movies, some good, others perhaps not meeting expectations.

Here are my http://boscrowan.co.uk/tag/coastal-walking/ top 10 picks for 2014:

http://sargeantstudios.net/?cat=6 10. The Lego Movie

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Essentially a 100 minute lego advertisement, but done so well and with so much heart, we’ll even forgive the tired ‘The Chosen One’ trope. Plus, with the sountrack, everything is indeed awesome!

9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I

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One of the few series that, in my mind, got progressively better ever since the dud that was the first Hunger Games. Mockingjay was my least favourite of the books, but I found the film version of war politicking intriguing.

I still don’t get how Peeta has any kind of chance over Gale though.

8. Godzilla

Godzilla_(2014)_poster

Yes, Bryan Cranston died less than a third of the way through the film, but let’s be honest. No one goes to a Godzilla movie to watch Bryan Cranston, badass as he may be.

No, people go to a Godzilla movie to watch THIS! Fuck Yeah Atomic Breath!

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7. Open Windows

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Open Windows is a delightful little indie written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo. If you haven’t heard of him, I suggest watching TimeCrimes, his 2007 time-travel feature debut.

Open Windows stars Elijah Wood as an obsessed fan who bites off more than he can chew when he finds that he has won a dinner date with his favourite actress Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey!?!!).

Plot sounds generic enough, but the conceit of the film is similar to the found footage genre, where most of the action takes place on Elijah Wood’s laptop, via several program windows, hence the title Open Windows.

6. Coherence

Coherence_2013_theatrical_poster

Technically a 2013 film, but it was released late in 2013, and I only saw it this year, so I’ll put this film under my list for this year. Another indie gem, a dinner party goes awfully wrong after a comet fly-by opens up parallel universes with parallel dinner parties.

What would you do, if your situation in your universe kinda sucked?

5. Gone Girl

Gone_Girl_Poster

A breakthrough performance by Rosamund Pike, in my opinion. Brilliantly directed by David Fincher, the man who made making a website look exciting.

I’m definitely setting time aside in 2015 to read the book.

4. X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men_Days_of_Future_Past_poster

One of the best sequences of the film was the rescue of Magneto, heavily dependent on QuickSilver, and it’ll be interesting to see how the same character is depicted in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

DOFP was also crucial in that it connected the 2 separate X-Men series, serving as a sequel to First Class as well as The Last Stand, featuring cast from both with equal-ish screentime.

If DOFP is a sign of things to come, I can’t wait for X-Men: Apocalypse.

3. Captain America: The Winter SoldierĀ 

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I always felt that Cap was one of the weaker characters for the standalone films, and wasn’t too impressed with The First Avenger. But The Winter Soldier totally blew me away with the action, plot, and the overall impact in the aftermath of the film. The pacing never let up, and the action never let me down.

2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn_of_the_Planet_of_the_Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes told of how a certain ALZ-113 virus gave modified intelligence to an ape named Caesar, and how that same virus would be calamitous to mankind.

10 years after the events of Rise, a generation of intelligent apes have made themselves a home and community in Muir Woods, while the human race dwindled and collapsed.

A chance meeting between the remaining humans in San Francisco and the apes and a misunderstanding between them would lead to an impending war. And if the prelude to the all out war could be so intense, sign me up for the actual war please!

Mark down this date. July 29, 2016!

1. Edge of Tomorrow

Edge_of_Tomorrow_Poster

Tom Cruise dies again and again until he wins. Aside from the ending, everything else about the film was just about perfect. It was a real toss up between this and Dawn for my number one spot, but i’m sorry, in my books, aliens always wins apes.

What were your favourite films of 2014?

I will share some of 2014’s most disappointing films in a future post! Time to feed the baby!

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