Wow, I have really been slacking on this blog. Here is a list of my ten seven favorite movies that were released in 2014. (Top 10 lists are so two years ago. Also, don't expect to see The Grand Budapest Hotel anywhere on this list.) I'm listing the Rotten Tomatoes audience rating so you can see how far off the mark my taste in movies is from everyone else.
7. The Skeleton Twins
Released: September 11
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
I was out by myself one night, determined to find something to do other than wander around Cap Hill and eat Chipotle by myself. As is usually my luck, I ultimately did end up wandering around Cap Hill and eating at Chipotle by myself. On my way home I stumbled upon The Harvard Exit theater showing this film. The director, Craig Johnson, describes the theme of this movie as, "Dealing with dark shit with a sense of humor." There were a lot of dark themes, but there was also this awesome lip sync scene of Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now. Seriously though, a really good performances from Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader here.
6. Interstellar
Released: November 6
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
One of my favorite books in college was Kip Thorne's Black Holes and Time Warps. Kip is an expert in gravitation physics and this book features a forward by Stephen Hawking. (You know you're smart when Hawking is writing the forward to your book.) Kip was also a scientific consultant and executive producer for Interstellar, which means this is probably the closest I'm ever going to get to seeing a movie version of Black Holes and Time Warps. Regarding the movie, if you don't feel for Mathew McConaughey when he's driving away from his daughter, and during a later scene which I won't ruin for you, then you probably don't have a soul.
5. Whiplash
Released: October 15
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
For a movie without superheros, race cars, dinosaurs, robots, or robot dinosaurs, Whiplash is really good. It is everything the movie poster describes it as. I also pride myself on seeing an Academy Award nominated film before Allen.
4. 22 Jump Street
Released: June 13
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
The greatest thing about this sequel is that it was mostly one big inside joke about being a sequel. This was also a movie that I fondly remember for the audience reaction. The laughter was so loud and so prolonged for some scenes that I missed the dialogue. Ice Cube steals several scenes and Channing Tatum is handsome as always. The only thing missing was a strong female character.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
Released: August 1
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
My favorite movie from 2012 is The Avengers, so it should be no surprise that Space Avengers is one of my favorite movies this year. You may think I'm a hypocrite for liking a movie with not only a talking animal, but also a talking tree, but I'm giving them a pass because they were so darn entertaining. What is most surprising is that I was not a fan, at all, of the Guardians comic growing up, and I somehow like these characters now. I was only familiar with Nebula and Gamora from the Silver Surfer stories. Marvel is going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel with movie characters in about five years (I'm looking at you, Nova) but this movie makes me optimistic for the future films.
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past
Released: May 23
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
In my opinion, this is the best X-Men movie in the series. As always, I would prefer less Wolverine and Mystique, but I guess that's the consequence of having Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawerence in your movie. It also features James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen, and Patrick Stewart. I don't know how this was made for less than a billion dollars. The icing on the cake is that this movie retcons X-Men: The Last Stand, which was terrible, and sets up X-Men: Apocalypse, which I'm really excited for. I just want to give Bryan Singer a big hug for making this movie happen.
1. Edge of Tomorrow
Released: June 6
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
This movie deserves so much more box office credit than it received last summer. It's like the producers started by remaking Groundhog Day and replaced everything good with something even better along the way. Tom Cruise can still bring it in action movies, and Emily Blunt is fantastic.
Here is a list of the rest of the 2014 movies I saw.Released: September 11
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
I was out by myself one night, determined to find something to do other than wander around Cap Hill and eat Chipotle by myself. As is usually my luck, I ultimately did end up wandering around Cap Hill and eating at Chipotle by myself. On my way home I stumbled upon The Harvard Exit theater showing this film. The director, Craig Johnson, describes the theme of this movie as, "Dealing with dark shit with a sense of humor." There were a lot of dark themes, but there was also this awesome lip sync scene of Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now. Seriously though, a really good performances from Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader here.
Released: November 6
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
One of my favorite books in college was Kip Thorne's Black Holes and Time Warps. Kip is an expert in gravitation physics and this book features a forward by Stephen Hawking. (You know you're smart when Hawking is writing the forward to your book.) Kip was also a scientific consultant and executive producer for Interstellar, which means this is probably the closest I'm ever going to get to seeing a movie version of Black Holes and Time Warps. Regarding the movie, if you don't feel for Mathew McConaughey when he's driving away from his daughter, and during a later scene which I won't ruin for you, then you probably don't have a soul.
5. WhiplashReleased: October 15
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
For a movie without superheros, race cars, dinosaurs, robots, or robot dinosaurs, Whiplash is really good. It is everything the movie poster describes it as. I also pride myself on seeing an Academy Award nominated film before Allen.
4. 22 Jump StreetReleased: June 13
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
The greatest thing about this sequel is that it was mostly one big inside joke about being a sequel. This was also a movie that I fondly remember for the audience reaction. The laughter was so loud and so prolonged for some scenes that I missed the dialogue. Ice Cube steals several scenes and Channing Tatum is handsome as always. The only thing missing was a strong female character.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
Released: August 1
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
My favorite movie from 2012 is The Avengers, so it should be no surprise that Space Avengers is one of my favorite movies this year. You may think I'm a hypocrite for liking a movie with not only a talking animal, but also a talking tree, but I'm giving them a pass because they were so darn entertaining. What is most surprising is that I was not a fan, at all, of the Guardians comic growing up, and I somehow like these characters now. I was only familiar with Nebula and Gamora from the Silver Surfer stories. Marvel is going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel with movie characters in about five years (I'm looking at you, Nova) but this movie makes me optimistic for the future films.
2. X-Men: Days of Future PastReleased: May 23
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
In my opinion, this is the best X-Men movie in the series. As always, I would prefer less Wolverine and Mystique, but I guess that's the consequence of having Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawerence in your movie. It also features James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen, and Patrick Stewart. I don't know how this was made for less than a billion dollars. The icing on the cake is that this movie retcons X-Men: The Last Stand, which was terrible, and sets up X-Men: Apocalypse, which I'm really excited for. I just want to give Bryan Singer a big hug for making this movie happen.
1. Edge of TomorrowReleased: June 6
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
This movie deserves so much more box office credit than it received last summer. It's like the producers started by remaking Groundhog Day and replaced everything good with something even better along the way. Tom Cruise can still bring it in action movies, and Emily Blunt is fantastic.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Birdman
Captain America: The Winter Soldier*
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Fury
The Equalizer
Ghostbusters
Gone Girl
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
The Interview*
Lucy*
Maleficent
Maze Runner
Neighbors
Robocop
Sabotage
The Theory of Everything
Transformers 4
Under the Skin*
When the Game Stands Tall
*Movies released in 2014 that I watched upon digital release
2 comments:
I vow to never let you see an Academy Award nominated movie before me ever again. Also as always your lists are pretty spot on since there were no new Fast & Furious movies released in 2014.
I vow to never let you see an Academy Award nominated movie before me ever again. Also as always your lists are pretty spot on since there were no new Fast & Furious movies released in 2014.
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