2014 in Review: the Good, the Bad, and Everything in Between

[Miku Fan]

Soguru, Lassieface, that's the best Christmas present you could give ol' Miku Fan!
God bless both of you, and fuck that bastard Peter Jackson.

Not meant to infer anything bad about all the wondrous Kiwi brethren and sistren around the world, and specifically here at rifftrax.com. Peter Jackson is a unique bastard, and his Kiwiness is mere coincidence, and actually has nothing to do with how badly that bastard sucks

[Soguru]

Soguru, Lassieface, that's the best Christmas present you could give ol' Miku Fan!
God bless both of you, and fuck that bastard Peter Jackson.

Not meant to infer anything bad about all the wondrous Kiwi brethren and sistren around the world, and specifically here at rifftrax.com. Peter Jackson is a unique bastard, and his Kiwiness is mere coincidence, and actually has nothing to do with how badly that bastard sucks

Hah! You're welcome . What I really wanted was just more story about middle Earth. I find it so hard to get into books like the Silmarillion and no matter how hard I read them, it seems like every other passage just completely escapes my imagination.

[Miku Fan]

Soguru, Lassieface, that's the best Christmas present you could give ol' Miku Fan!
God bless both of you, and fuck that bastard Peter Jackson.

Not meant to infer anything bad about all the wondrous Kiwi brethren and sistren around the world, and specifically here at rifftrax.com. Peter Jackson is a unique bastard, and his Kiwiness is mere coincidence, and actually has nothing to do with how badly that bastard sucks

Hah! You're welcome . What I really wanted was just more story about middle Earth. I find it so hard to get into books like the Silmarillion and no matter how hard I read them, it seems like every other passage just completely escapes my imagination.

Ah, no problem.  Read the books, or buy the Mind's Eye BBC radio production of The Hobbit and LOTR.  They di three CDs per book, so it's about as long as Jackson's movies. 

But, the BIG difference and the source of all my PJ complaints are: Mind's edited the material down to a manageable style: 3 hours per movie.  But, when they cut material out of the book, everything that made the movies WERE actually in the book.

With Jackson, some similarities: PJ also edited the movies down to about three  perhours.  But instead of everything left after cutting being stuff from the ctTual movie, he just dumped the movies and made up all the rest.of the movie.

[ScottotD]

In no order, still working on it:

The Lego Movie
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Raid 2
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Big Hero 6
Snowpiercer
Maleficent
Jodorowsky's Dune
Citizenfour

Special mention: Grand Piano, Lucy, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Guest, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Edge of Tomorrow and Godzilla

[lassieface]

I just saw Whiplash today. So that's going to be right up at the top of my list.

[Kete]

^like^

[ScottotD]

Scott's revised but still in no real order best movies of 2014

Harmontown
The Lego Movie
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Raid 2
I Know That Voice
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Plastic Galaxy
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Big Hero 6
What If?
Muppets Most Wanted
Snowpiercer
Maleficent
Jodorowsky's Dune
Citizenfour
Sharknado 2

Special mention: Grand Piano, Lucy, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Guest, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Odd Thomas, Edge of Tomorrow and Godzilla

[Edward J Grug III]

I watched 176 movies in 2014. These were the only 2014 movies I watched, in order of how much I liked them (Best to worst):

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Grand Budapest Hotel
They Came Together
Muppets Most Wanted
Godzilla
The Babadook
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Lego Movie
The Two Faces of January
Edge of Tomorrow
X-Men: Days of Future Past
The Amazing Spider-Man 2

[Relaxing Dragon]

At long last, my list. Here copied over from a different sight, where I did a whole post on things (and in two parts here, because I rambled a bit):



So. 2014. Took a few months to heat up, but once it did, it became a genuine avalanche of riches. Some trends were continued in the year, others started fresh. While we had the usual bundle of pulp and nonsense coming from all sectors, but there were more than enough diamonds in the rough. Shoot, even mainstream Hollywood got a lot right this year, and that's hard for them to do (it was so confusing to see happen, in fact, that we moviegoers went out of our way to avoid some of their better offerings. Go figure). Like every year, I saw entirely too many movies, and like every year, I came away with a lot of impressions. Most of which I'm far too lazy to write down, because for real, it seems like the only way to get a long opinion from me is to ask in person, and then you'll be met with some great incoherent ramble that's not worth listening to for more than a minute. But, I digress...

After all is said and done, time again for the List. Because as Cracked constantly shows, everyone loves Lists. The films here are, for one reason or another, the ones that I consider to be my absolute favorites of the year (not the Best, because like I say every year, there's no way to know the Best of a year until many, many years down the line). I'll likely disagree with the rankings tomorrow, and with what made the list/what didn't next week, like I do all my lists (and like everyone should, because it's a fool's game in the end to really try to apply a ranking structure to something so subjective as What Movies I Like Most). But for the here and now, this is what I've got. Feel free to poke through it, compare it to whatever you liked and didn't like this year, and feel validated or scorned accordingly. Ultimately, though, like all things movie-related that I write about, I do this just to spread a little more cinematic love around. For folks to just go and watch movies (any movies) and get that sweet-spot level of enjoyment out of them, that's all that I really want.

First my stats (2013 in parenthesis):
2014 titles watched (based on US release/availability dates): 119 (146)
Theater trips: 162 (188)
Movies viewed in theaters (factoring in double/triple/etc. features): 183 (210)

A drop this year from last year. But then, at this point in my life that is to be expected, and I forsee a further decline in years to come. The simple matter is I have more work, more school, and in general more obligations that keep me from the theater. Which is fine, really, considering about half the movies I see any given year are ones I could've done without (which is also something I could've guessed before ever going into the theater). This mental compulsion of mine to see anything and everything is all well and good for a while, but it can't last forever. Not when my time and money are needed elsewhere. Not that I'll ever stop going to a metric ton of movies a year, of course, it simply means I will, at long last, need to start being more discriminatory about what I see and what I don't. In theaters, at least.

Then my excuse: I didn't get a chance to see The Guest this year. Yes, the shame eats away at me every day.

Finally, my list:

15. Godzilla
It's odd that I have such strong affection for a movie that so fails the character part of the equation. Hollywood has lately gotten into its head that the Bland White Guy Looking For His Family is a good leading-man type, which is a terrible mistake since it puts a bunch of charisma vacuums center stage so often. But here, the surrounding movie makes it okay. It's okay because it so truly understands the very nature of the beast that is Godzilla, and what sort of effect he has on us puny mortals. This movie revels in natural disaster imagery, knowing exactly when to linger on the destruction and when to only hint at what's to come. It's also one of the prettiest blockbusters in recent memory, putting out scenes and ideas that are awesome in the original sense of the word (Godzilla swimming lazily along while flanked by a naval fleet is one of those Shots of the Year deals). The grand scale of things is what this movie is after, and it nails it perfectly. Here's hoping that the sequel just gives us little people to care about in the end, because it's got the Big Guys covered.

14. The Raid 2
Is bigger better? As stated in the previous entry it can be, but here, maybe not as much. The first Raid was a perfectly understated movie, one that utilized it's stripped-down narrative and frame to perfection with a heavy dose of frantic energy to keep everything going. Here the scope is greatly expanded into some grand crime saga, one that's done well enough, but isn't all that new or special all its own. Luckily, it's got a few things going for it that make up for that big plot (which isn't even a fault, really, just more of a heavy base to overcome). First, it's an extraordinarily pretty movie, with plenty of wide, artsy frames that are a real treat just to stare at. Second, those fight scenes. Oh, those fight scenes. The choreography, the cinematography, the insane brutality... they're everything you want and so much more. It's always hyperbole to say any movie has "The best ___ ever" within the year of its release, since history still needs time to take shape and for that movie to find its place in it. That said, I can guarantee that some of the best fight scenes ever made are in this movie, and that's a statement that will stand the test of time. If we could get the rest of the action movie world on the same level as even one of this movie's many fights (and it has over a dozen), then the action world would be in a much, much better place. For now, we have this movie, and all the broken bones, torn skin, bashed brains, and general bodily anarchy that comes with it.

13. Jodorowsky's Dune
Alejandro Jodorowsky is a mad man. I just want to get that out of the way up front. The ideas he has, the motivations, the methods, all of that lead only to madness. It's a good thing he's as charismatic and energetic as he is, then, because that makes it so much better to watch him in action. The movie version of Dune that he tried to make, had it actually come together, would have been one of the most unique and bizarre movies ever made. It also, quite likely, would've been a total mess. But in the realm of What Could've Been, it's a true thing just to learn about. This documentary, in discussing the pieces that led to the movie's inception and eventual failure, comes together to talk about both what it means to adapt a work into something new, and to the pros and cons of sticking to an artist's unique vision (and I mean really sticking, with no thought to compromise). It makes a few bold statements about what came out of this movie's failure (some true, others likely just wishful thinking and coincidence), but there's still no denying that is a really fascinating story in the world of behind-the-scenes.

12. Wild
This one was a recent watch for me (one of the very last I watched in 2014 even), so my thoughts aren't fully formed. I do know, however, that it really struck a chord with me. Here we have someone who, after a life of struggle and general screw-ups (some as bad as screw-ups get), decides that the best thing to do is just take a big time-out from whatever life they were trying to lead, and go walk for a thousand miles or so out in the wilderness. In doing so, they really do discover themselves and who they are. Which sounds like an outlandishly cliche statement, but it's true, and in a way, that spoke to me. While I could never do that hike from the movie (I'd give up on the car ride to the store to buy the gear), there's a lot to take out of the idea of just wandering forward to figure yourself out. To take a long breather, as it were. Lots of other goodness is found in this movie, like the fantastic editing which so well blended past and present, or the small moments showing how hard it is to be a single woman out in the world (something that's become more of a "thing" in the past few years to portray, and it's about time says I), but ultimately it's that feeling of self-discovery that really stuck to me. It also served as yet another reminder that I desperately need to go and visit the Sierra Nevadas again, because it's been far too long since I've last been out there.

11. Edge of Tomorrow
Hey, a fun, exciting, and unique blockbuster! Remember those? Well, this year we got two! Of them, this one got a bit of a cool reception, and for the life of me I can't see why. Are people still hung up on Tom Cruise for some reason? Whatever the case, this is just such a cool movie that knows exactly how to play itself. Which, when dealing with things like high-concept time travel, can be a very tricky thing. It does everything smart and right, and doesn't back down from just dropping you in a setting and assuming you know enough to keep up. Sure, there's plenty of plot logic issues to bring out, particularly once it reaches the end, but I don't really fault the movie on that. While I hate the phrase "turn off your brain" (it is a condescending one, and also one that severely diminishes what movies are), there is something to be said for locking in with whatever world the movie is throwing at you, and going along with it until the end. Particularly when it involves someone dying over and over and over again in a variety of amusing ways. Cruise gives it his all (as he always does. Say what you will about him, but the dude commits every time), and he actually displays a great arc going from the slimy coward to the heroic soldier, and makes it all feel believable and true at the same time. And lets not forget Emily Blunt, who is shaping up to be the premier sci-fi lady of our time. This movie may not even be able to decide on what name to give itself, but that shouldn't stop anyone from making up for the mistake of missing it in theaters and checking it out now.

10. Locke
Everyone likes watching the consummate professional do what he does best, whatever it is (that's the idea that all Michael Mann films are based on). There's just something so fascinating about seeing someone handle every problem that gets thrown their way with a cool head. But what if the problems simply can't be overcome, no matter how cool you remain or how logically you act? Such is the case here, where we watch a man's life rapidly fall apart over the course of a single car ride. Now, from the outset, this movie shouldn't work. It all takes place in the car ride, no outside cutaways, and is essentially just this guy talking on the phone to various people for an hour and a half, all dealing with issues that are, from a movie standpoint at least, totally banal and "average". And yet, thanks to Tom Hardy's exceptional performance and the slow burn reveals, this movie keeps the tension and intrigue up through the end. Here is a man who is in total control of everything at all times, because he knows he has to be, and he is very good at it. Even as everything falls apart, he remains in control of the disaster, or at least he tries. The concept of trying to get order out of chaos and (especially) trying to find a recovery in the unrecoverable struck home with me a few ways more than I'd prefer, which just made it stick with me all the more.

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The first of two Marvel entries, and boy was it hard for me to choose. This being the somewhat more mature selection, with it's conspiracy filled plot and consequences that will have a genuine ripple effect across the Marvel cinematic universe. At its core, what matters most to me, though, is how well it all continues to get the character of Captain America. He's someone I honestly thought would come across as too hokey in the first movie, and now he is by far my favorite character of the whole MCU. His sincerity, his genuine selflessness, his true heroics, it all works. He is someone who can make me cheer with both a well-shot action sequence (some of the best in modern American blockbuster cinema here, incidentally), and with a rousing speech about people simply needing to stand up to do what's right in the name of real Freedom. He is all that we should aspire to be, or at least what our movie heroes should be. All the better here that every character he's surrounded by, both good and bad, is so well done and so compelling to watch that I just can't get enough of it. I may not be much of a comics fan in general, but if the movies keep being this good, I'm in for the long haul.

8. Boyhood
Gimmick movies can be a hard sell. Folks get so locked in on the very concept of what the movie is about/how it was made (see: previous entry Locke), that it can be easy to miss the actual movie underneath it all. Provided there's anything there to see, of course. Here is a shining example of the movie pushing past the dancing bear. Sure, it's a long and generally rambling, plotless look at some kid growing up in the middle of Texas, but as has been said many times by many others, the more specific a story, the more it resonates with people of all walks of life. I may have shared very few life experiences with the boy here, but that doesn't stop me to relating to everything. Here is a movie that takes all the time to explore the actual rich tapestry that is growing up, both with how that affects you and how it affects everyone around you. Friends come and go, family morphs, personal goals and ideals flip-flop, fade, and are reborn, and it all eventually leads into you becoming... well, you, but you as you are. Many of the experiences are banal and dull on the surface, but that's life, isn't it? Some stuff you don't think you'll care about, some you think you will but ends up just drifting away, some stuff you wish you could've done without, some you want back to try again, and so on. All of it plays out here, with the added hook of really seeing the changes in someone's face and lifestyle as it plods steadily forward. I look at this movie like Tree of Life, but unlike that film, this one is much more accessible. Which, frankly, can be the most important part of getting a real understanding of life, and one that I applaud the film for all the more. It's an idea that shouldn't have worked half as well as it did, and it just blew me away sitting through it. And also made me develop something of a pathological fear of alcohol.

[Relaxing Dragon]

And part 2:


7. Guardians of the Galaxy
Yup, gotta have this one. Fun fun fun in every way, and I mean that in the good way, not in that weirdly condescending/dismissive way (do people not realize just how hard it is to get fun right?). The jokes, the music, the tone, it all works aces, but it's those characters we really come to love. Sure, I knew I'd love Rocket Raccoon from the moment I learned that he was a thing, but how much could I have predicted falling for a talking tree? Or a literal brute played by a wrestler? Or some green-skinned chick or some Han Solo knock-off? This collection of misfits evolved before me into a real family, and I ended up leaving the movie desperately wanting more. They made me laugh, cheer, and in a few places cry (Rocket got especially good at that, which I really didn't see coming). Really, this movie may not be my favorite of the year, but I imagine it'll be the one I revisit the most. This right here is populist moviemaking done right. This is what I want from my blockbusters. Shoot, this is what I want out of the next Star Wars, which suddenly has even bigger shoes to fill than ever before (and it's not going to have the benefit of digging up countless music classics from decades past to win us over straight away, either).

6. Nightcrawler
The American Dream. What is it? How can we achieve it? Do we really want to? This movie, once you sweep aside all the media satire (which is well put, but very nearly incidental), is primarily about that. And boy does it get cynical about it. Because really, who can actually do what you "need" to do to achieve personal goals today? How about a complete sociopath who abandons all notion of a moral compass in favor of latching onto corporate slogans and Self Improvement Seminars. Our main man Lou doesn't seem to speak, look, or act like a real person, but frankly, he's more real than the rest of us, or at least more real than anyone wants to admit. What's more, Lou is likely completely self-aware of what he is and how he acts. He just chooses to continue, because ultimately, success is all that matters. That's America for you. And that's all without me mentioning how otherwise great this movie is, with it's biting script, grungy looks at modern LA (my least favorite city), or white-knuckle tense scenes of action and investigation. Folks have been calling this a movie ripped out of the 70s, and in many ways they're right. But this is also a movie that could only take place in the here and now, and striking indictment of what it is to be a winner in this modern world of ours.

5. The Babadook
I had trouble sleeping after this one. The scares it brought out through it's wonderful production design, editing, acting, atmosphere, everything... it stuck with me. Hard. Great horror movies are rare enough as it is these days. Great horror movies that are also truly terrifying are rare, period. What this movie manages to accomplish on such a micro budget is truly astonishing, making some of the best scares that I've ever seen, and doing it all in effective and smart ways (nary a cheap jump scare to be found). Which is all well and good on its own, but what really pushes this movie to new heights is that the scares aren't even the best part of the movie. This is ultimately a movie that tackles the likes of grief, mental illness, and single motherhood head on, and does so in some very raw and uncomfortable ways that make it all hit home that much harder. None of it would've worked, either, if the single mother and child at the center of it all weren't played to perfection. Thankfully they were, so now we have a family that's as real as any, with all the baggage, annoying habits, good sides, bad sides, and grey sides that such a thing has in reality. It says all the more that I'm still drawn to the Mom in the end, considering how hard it must've been to find a child that absolutely perfect for the role. But she does amazing work at confronting the horror around her and within her, and the results must truly be seen. Preferably with the lights on, because I don't know if I could handle it in the dark again. Also, be prepared to burn all pop-up books on sight from here on out.

4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
The auteur theory is one with a lot of problems, but it's hard not to apply it when it comes to Wes Anderson. Here's someone who makes things so singular, so uniquely him, that it's completely impossible to imagine his movies existing in any form whatsoever when he's out of the picture. Here we have one that is the most condensed form of his twee/dollhouse style yet, and it's also one of his best yet. While it's somewhat missing the heart and warmth found in his other movies (particularly Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom), it has a remarkable sense of seeing the true decency and grace of the world, coupled with a truly dark streak that understands how rare those qualities truly are. Also, it's wickedly funny, thanks mainly to the stellar performance of Ralph Fiennes. In a perfect world the Best Actor Oscar already has his name engraved on it. But as this very movie shows us, that's likely not to be the case, and that's just the way it is. So enjoy it while it lasts. Watching this movie over and over again will probably help (as will the fact that awards are, ultimately, pointless in the end).

3.  Whiplash
I'm reasonably certain I got a little tachycardic watching this movie. Not bad for a movie about drumming. This is a film that essentially takes the usual "student with potential and teacher with drive" trope and takes it to its logical extreme. While you may not agree with the teaching methods on display (what with how they'd be pretty awful in real life), there's still a few solid points that this movie makes. Chief above them, really, is one that I've seen raised in a few places: sometimes, to be genuinely, supremely, once-in-a-generation great, you've got to be an asshole. It's all in the drive like that, no time for nice guys. Or maybe that really is a complete load and it's possible to be a fantastic talent without alienating everyone around you. Whatever the case, it all doesn't detract from what a phenomenal and tense movie this is, anchored in part by that career-best performance from J.K Simmons. And also the music, which is some of the finest of the year and will make a Jazz aficionado out of anyone.

2. The Lego Movie
Given the creative duo that is Miller and Lord are behind this one, there really should be no surprise it came out good. The surprise, really, is that it came out to be this good. All this energy and fun, packed into what might be one of the most loving portrayals of a toy ever made. It's a blast just to watch the faux stop-motion at work, and the humor keeps you smiling throughout. That it's chock full of heart and actually has a lot of good points on both the nature of personal creation and the balance one has to make between order and chaos is the more unexpected angle. I mean, how can a bunch of building blocks teach us the best way to enjoy the magic of good company and creation? These ones found a way. Because remember, Everything is, in fact, Awesome (and Everything Is Cool When You're PART OF A TEAMahshootit'sstuckinmyheadagain).

1. Snowpiercer
All comes down to this one, and really, how could it not? The finer points of the plot/world may not hold up under scrutiny, but that hardly matters. This is a movie so confident in its storytelling abilities, in its ability to juggle vastly different tones (sometimes within the same scene), and in its raw anger towards parts of modern society that you can't help but be locked in from the very first scene. It's funny, it's action-packed, it's horrifying, it's weird, it's smart, and it's a whole lot of other poster-friendly buzzwords (ooh, Bold! That's a good one) that for once actually apply just as much as marketing wants it to. Sci-fi is at a pretty good place in the movie world right now, and this is one of the best examples of what doubling-down on a concept can bring. Just some damn fine movie making that makes a damn fine movie, one that's also my favorite of 2014.


But wait! How about a few Runner Ups, because no arbitrary numbered list is complete without a few more titles thrown your way to further emphasize the point of how solid a year it was and how many more good things there are to find.

Listed alphabetically (so as to further undermine the basic idea of the ranking structure):

22 Jump Street
Begin Again
Big Hero 6
Birdman
Blue Ruin
Calvary
The Boxtrolls
The Dance of Reality
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Inherent Vice
Interstellar
John Wick
A Most Wanted man
Penguins of Madagascar