My Top 10 Best films of 2014

   2014 was such a good year for films that it was very difficult narrowing down the best to just 10. Movies that didn't make the cut: Noah, The Raid 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Boyhood, a film that I very much enjoyed the first time I saw it, but failed to grip me the second time.

10. Her

   Spike Jonze's story about a man who falls in love with an operating system is beautifully shot and wonderfully acted.  The film challenges what love is and what love can be.

9. How To Train Your Dragon 2

   While The Lego Movie was a blast of pure entertainment and Big Hero 6 was a fun time, when animation in 2014 comes to mind, one film stands out. How To Train Your Dragon 2 is The Empire Strikes Back of animated movies. This movie raises the stakes from the previous film in every way, delivering a dark entry into this series.  Toy Story better watch it's back because if the third Dragons movie is better than this installment,  then Woody and Buzz will have serious competition. 

8. Edge of Tomorrow

Possibly the funnest movie on this list, Edge of Tomorrow is a great sci-fi action movie. Despite other films having a similar premise, Edge of Tomorrow makes it feel fresh. Tom Cruise was great and Emily Blunt steals the show. This criminally under-viewed movie is everything a summer popcorn movie should be.

7. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

   Marvel's take on the spy genre is their most socially conscious film to date. The Winter Soldier is filled with terrific action and manages to make a 74 year old character relevant to modern audiences. This is the best stand alone Marvel film since 2008's Iron Man.

6. Gone Girl

   David Fincher's mystery film is  about a wife gone missing and a husband blamed for her disappearance. Fincher gets Ben Affleck's strongest performance out of him and a career defining performance out of Rosamund Pike. This was a great film that really got the audience involved in story. This is a very well made film that you should check out if you missed it.

5. X-Men: Days of Future Past

   The most emotional superhero film of the year takes on the themes of abandonment, identity, and friendship. The heart really overtakes the action in the film despite the standout moments such as the spectacular Quicksilver scene. Days of Future Past also manages erase the blunders that were X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

4. Nightcrawler

   The creepiest character study since American Psycho, Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Louis Bloom, the most intense sociopath in 2014. Sporting nail-biting tension and unbelievable chase sequences, Nightcrawler is an instant classic.

   The last three films on this list could have been a tie for first.  I loved each of these so much that I have shifted around the number one spot more times than I can count. On this particular day, this is the order on which they land.

3. Dawn of The Planet of The Apes

   Caesar reigns as the leader of the apes after a virus has  wiped out most of humanity. Dawn of The Apes is a Shakespearean-like tale of a knight using a pawn in an attempt to topple a king. Koba is the best villain of the year, because like every character in the film, you can understand where he is coming from. Andy Serkis delivers one of the best performances of the year as Caesar. This is an epic that blows the previous entry out of the water. I cannot wait for the next time the apes are on screen.

2. Interstellar

   Christopher Nolan's space odyssey is a film about leaving a dying earth to find another planet to sustain the human race. In the heart of the film lies a father-daughter story.  Science vs. Love is the basis of the film. Interstellar is the most ambitious film of recent memory. It dares to take the audience to places we've never been and show us things nothing else has been able to. It is a visually immersive experience unlike any other.  This film wowed me with its visuals, intrigued me with its science and tugged on my heart. This is the only film of 2014 to make me cry. I have seen this film 5 times and have been moved every single time. I love this movie.

The best film of 2014 is...
1. Birdman

   Michael Keaton is back. Keaton stars as a movie star who got famous for playing a superhero in his early career, now struggling to stay prominent.  This film boasts an electric performance from Keaton and a brilliant Edward Norton. Emma Stone and Zack Galifianakis were terrific in this artful masterpiece that was shot in less than a month. Structured to look as though it is all one shot and sporting a score that is composed almost entirely of drums highlights the fact that Birdman is a film that takes risks. If even one of these risks didn't pay off then this film would have fallen on its face. Instead it soars to the top of my list.

My 10 Worst films of 2014

 

   2014 was an overall pretty good year for films. I didn't hate most of the movies on this list despite them being considerably weak compared to the rest of the year's releases.

10. Rio 2

   The weakest animated feature 2014 had to offer was Rio 2, a dull movie that fails to entertain.

9. 3 Days To Kill

   I suppose a joke about this movie not being a good way to kill time would be appropriate. McG's film about a dying spy feels like it is trying to capture the same magic as Taken. It succeeds if Taken was a really bland film that puts the viewer to sleep.

8. The Purge: Anarchy

   A great premise executd the wrong way. Makes for a decent Punisher story though.

7. Grudge Match

  What happens if you pit Raging Bull versus Rocky? A terrible comedy apparently. 

6. A Million Ways To Die In The West 

   Ingredients for making a bad western comedy: 

-include a stale lead performance

-make every joke a sex joke

-insert pointless love triangle. 

5. Ride Along

   Is anyone else tired of Kevin Hart yet? How long until we, as a society, stop laughing at his short jokes or angry Ice Cube?

4. Transcendence

   Sure, 5 was a bad comedy but at least it didn't bore me to tears as this movie did. This movie truly disappointed me.

3. Jersey Boys

   It's almost an achievement considering just how boring this movie is. On top of that it refused to end at an acceptable time. This movie just kept going and going at a slow pace and fails to make you care about any of the boys.

2. A Haunted House 2

   This is a movie that treats the audience as though they have the IQ of a candy necklace. Stupid jokes after stupid jokes somehow lead to a doll having a grudge against Marlon Wayans after he dumps it.

The absolute worst movie of 2014 is...

1 Transformers 4: Age of Extinction

   I hated this. I hated this so much. How can a film with giant robots fail to be entertaining?  I'll tell you.  This near 3 hour mess is filled with the same crap as the other 3 only with less plot and more over the top product placement.  Mark Wahlberg stopped in the middle of the movie and pulled out a Bud Light and drank it while practically winking at the camera. It gets better. Then the movie stops and showcases a "Romeo & Juliet" law that essentially says being a pedophile is okay. Then we get bombarded with incoherent cgi action, explosions, meaningless location changes, and gratuitous shots of women. It's the Michael Bay template of filmmaking, except I can't call this a film. I can't even call this a movie. This is an abomination.

LA Movie Review- Nightcrawler

Louis Bloom is a well-spoken, determined, smart individual who also happens to be a ferocious sociopath in need of a job. He finds one in recording accidents and selling the footage to a news station. After developing a taste for it, he travels the streets of L.A. with the intention of recording the most violent crimes the city has to offer. Dan Gilroy makes his directorial debut with this immensely electrifying thriller. Jake Gyllenhaal stars alongside Rene Russo and Bill Paxton.

Dan Gilroy makes a very impressive raw debut with this powerful story. He placed a heavy focus on realism which made for a gritty film. The tale he tells is a very dark, exciting one with just the right amount of satire to even things out. There is a sense of tension that grows as the movie goes on. You feel the sense of dread inside of you watching certain scenes because Dan Gilroy makes the movie feel so real. The story flows in a very engaging way by taking the audience on a ride The car chases in particular feel especially so because you have a beat on the danger of the situation. 

Jake Gyllenhaal is the reason to watch this film. His performance as the sociopath Louis Bloom is breathtaking. He captured the essence of a soulless human being in a way that I have not seen since Christian Bale in the cult classic, American Psycho. Both characters, Louis Bloom and Patrick Bateman, were driven by intense desire and greed. Gyllenhaal and Bale both portrayed absolutely insane men with nothing behind their eyes. 

Jake Gyllenhaal added many dimensions to the character, especially his eyes. Gyllenhaal’s eyes told a fascinating story. He allowed them to do most of the talking sometimes, including letting the audience know that he is just an empty vessel.  He goes to some very dark places in and always pulls it off. He showcases just how talented and powerful of an actor he truly is. Rene Russo has a supporting role as a television news director working with Bloom. She was a strong character in her own right and was a solid addition to the cast. Ruiz Ahmed played Louis Bloom’s intern, Rick. His purpose was to add to Jake Gyllenhaal’s character, so as a supporting actor he did his job.  Bill Paxton is an underrated actor. Bill Paxton is not in the film much, but he is great in everything he’s in.

Nightcrawler is a great character study in that of Louis Bloom. It is a fulfilling thriller and effective satire. Nightcrawler is a commentary on the current job market and the moral integrity of broadcast journalism. This film does so much right it’s hard to find anything wrong with it. It does however have some issues. The film felt like it was missing a scene between Jake Gyllenhaal’s character and Rene Russo’s character. Also, it felt like a few legal liberties were taken for the sake of the story. Despite this it has outstanding strengths. The direction was great, the score was engaging, and Jake Gyllenhaal was spark of insanity. Nightcrawler is a gripping thriller that kept me at the edge of my seat and I’m willing to bet it’ll do the same to you.

4.8/5

LA Movie Review- Chef

   A great chef decides to take his craft to the road to rekindle his creative spark. Joining him is his son who is in need of a father. Iron Man director Jon Favreau is a triple threat as he not only directs this movie, he also wrote it and stars in it. Starring alongside Favreau is Emjay Anthony as his son, Sofia Vergara as his ex-wife, Scarlett Johansson as his girlfriend, and  John Leguizamo, Robert Downey JR., and Dustin Hoffman in supporting roles.

   Jon Favreau is a hit or miss director for me. I really like what he did with the first Iron Man film, but I wasn't a fan of his work on Iron Man 2 or Cowboys vs Aliens. I think coming back with a smaller film was the right move for the director. Despite this being a smaller film, I imagine it must have been one of the tougher films Favereau has worked on. Wearing multiple hats while working on a movie is no easy task, but I imagine it must have fueled him creatively as it does to his character in the film. He has a good grasp on the direction of the film ad gets his message across. He also made a really good looking movie. Jon Favreau promised he would shoot the food in this movie like how Michael Bay shoots women in his movies. The food plays a big role in the movie and everything looks delicious. As good as everything looks, Faverau also cooks up a nice story about fathers and sons and what it means to express yourself. The characters are all handled well, and they serve the story nicely. 

Emjay Anthony and Jon Faverau

   Not only did Mr. Faverau do a fine job directing, but he is also a good actor in his own right. I really bought into his character in the movie. I bought into the character's struggles in his relationships, whether it be with his son, his ex-wife, or his co-workers and friends. If the child playing the chef's son was a bad actor then this movie would not have worked. Emjay Anthony works in this movie. His relationship with his father was the best part of the movie. This is also my favorite performance of John Leguizamo, who at times can be annoying, but not here. I personally would have liked to have seen more of Dustin Hoffman because he is good in the few scenes he has. Robert Downey Jr. is a lot of fun in the movie, and wasn't used any longer than he needed to be. 

   I like the style that this movie had. Everything from its look to the soundtrack added to the movie's own unique flavor. I thought the movie's portrayal of social media was effective. My one gripe with the movie is that it ends abruptly. A couple of character beats were going and then the movie ties them up as quickly as it could. It struck me as odd considering how up until that point the movie was really taking it's time. I would say Chef is a movie worth seeing at least once, but I don't feel a great need to ever revisit the film afterwards.

3.9/5

LA Movie Review- Maleficent

   A new spin on The Sleeping Beauty story isn't enough to describe Maleficent. No, this is more than that. This movie is a fairy tale where our protagonist is both hero and villain. She's someone who stood for good, was scorned and lost her way. But, just as Professor X taught us in X-Men: Days Of Future Past, just because someone stumbles, loses their way, it doesn't mean they are lost forever. Now it may seem like I wrote that in simply because I wanted to quote X-Men, and in a way you're right, it also applies to this movie in a surprising way.

   Making his directorial debut is Robert Stromberg. Robert came from a background in visual effects and he plays to his strengths with Maleficent. He creates this magical  fairy tale land for the characters to live in. He does go a bit overboard with the visual effects. For example, the fairies in this movie looked absolutely ridiculous. They looked like cartoon characters, and I know that seems paradoxical to say, but  they really didn't work well. Even worse was when the fairies transformed into humans, if every human was a member of the Three Stooges. I will hold off on the bad elements of the movie, so I can acknowledge the best part of the movie; Angelina Jolie. 

Jolie as Maleficent

   Angelina Jolie is really good in this movie. Her performance here was the definition of having fun with a character. You could tell Angelina Jolie was having a good time playing the character. She brought a lot of different emotions to the character and kept her from ever being a full on hero or a full on villain. She was a sympathetic character and one you could root for. Sharlto Copely played the true villain of the film. He has also played villains in his last few films such as Old boy and Elysium. Way to diversify Sharlto. He was fine in the movie. Nothing really stood out as good or bad in his performance.

Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora

   Elle Fanning didn't really have much to do in the movie. Her take on Princess Aurora was the one note, happy-all-the-time sort of girl. Sam Riley played Maleficent's right hand man in the movie. He was serviceable in the movie.

   This movie does it's job as a typical kid's movie. It entertains for an hour and a half and ends. I like that about this movie. It doesn't overstay its welcome by being longer than it needed to be. It isn't too painful to watch because of the run time. This isn't the best movie of the summer, but it isn't the worst either. Maleficent works as a family film. I enjoyed this movie for what it was, but I won't be running back to go see it.

3/5

LA Movie Review- A Million Ways To Die In The West

   A cowardly sheep farmer must find his courage when he is challenged by his ex's boyfriend and the deadliest gun-slinger in the west. Helping him in his quest, is a woman who is new in town, who happens to be full of surprises. A Million Ways To Die In The West is the sophomoric effort from director Seth MacFarlane. Seth MacFarlane also stars alongside Charlize Theron, Sarah Silverman, Giovanni Ribisi, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, and Liam Neeson. 

  The movie is written by MacFarlane, Wellesley Wild, Alec Sulkin, the same trio of writers who brought the world Ted. Now, those three brought us a very funny film in Ted, but completely misfired here. The screenplay is bad, plain and simple. I don't have a problem with vulgarity in movies, as long as it serves some sort of purpose. For example, in The Wolf of Wall Street it added to the dimensions of the characters. It brought colorful life to their ways of speaking. Here it is just vulgar to be vulgar. It adds nothing to humor of the film. The dialog all feels the same as well. Perhaps bringing in another writer would have been a good choice, so they could add another voice to these characters. Seth MacFarlane's writing here doesn't really differentiate the voice between the characters. It almost feels as though he wrote for one character and then decided to split that character up into multiple versions of the same personality. His direction didn't help the film either. This movie was constantly uneven in tone. Something dark would happen followed by a fart joke. 

Seth MacFarlane misfires with A Million Ways To Die In The West

   Charlize Theron did what she could with the material she was given. She is the best aspect of the movie by far. Neil Patrick Harris has a funny moment in the movie and plays his part well. Amanda Seyfried. What a waste of her acting potential. Her character was the definition of bland in the movie. She had nothing to do and she is a very capable actress. I don't even see the point of casting her if MacFarlane planned to use her the way he did. Sarah Silverman plays a prostitute who is dating Edward, a virgin played by Giovanni Ribisi. I felt that a lot of their scenes didn't work together because their jokes weren't landing. Liam Neeson is not in the film very much. I wish his character was more fun so we, the audience, could have fun along with him. Instead his character was just kind of meh. Don't get me wrong, Liam Neeson isn't bad in the movie, but his character is a bad guy just for the sake of being bad. His character was very one-dimensional. Now onto the biggest problem in the cast, Seth MacFarlane. I thought he was really bad in the movie. All of his weaknesses as an actor are exposed here. His portrayal of the character was too sarcastic for my taste.  He had no redeemable quality that felt like he was worthy of being the titular character, or being a "good guy" even.There was too much winking at the camera going on from him.

Liam Neeson, Charlize Theron, and Seth MacFarlane

   This is a well made movie. All of the sets looked good and the visual effects were all neatly done. Together with cinematographer Michael Barrett, MacFarlane made a good looking movie. The problem didn't lie there however, it lied in its director.  Too many repetitive jokes from too similar characters, and a lead who just doesn't work can describe this movie. There are a few funny jokes in the movie, but surprise surprise, the best jokes are in the trailer. A Million Ways To Die In The West is a comedy whose director found a million ways to make this movie disappointing.

2.6/5

LA Movie Review- Neighbors

   A couple with a baby is put to the test when a fraternity moves in next door. Wanting to feel young again, the couple is at first welcoming of the fraternity and their leader. That all changes when the fraternity's nonstop partying disrupts the baby's sleep, leading to a war between the family and the frat. Seth Rogen, Rose Bryne, and Zac Efron star in this Nicholas Stoller comedy. 

   From the director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him To The Greek, and The Five Year Engagement comes this new, fun comedy. Neighbors is a comedy that hits a lot of high notes. This movie has a great cast that work well together. Seth Rogen is coming off of his, in my opinion, best film last year in This Is The End. In that movie he plays the character he plays in most movies, which is Seth Rogen. If it isn't broken then there is no need to fix it, and in Neighbors it works as efficiently as it ever does. Rogen is very funny in the movie as a father who misses the ability to party. Starring opposite Seth is Rose Bryne who brings a lot of energy to her character. Rose Bryne and Seth Rogen's chemistry together is a big reason as to why this movie works as well as it does. Another big reason as to why this movie works is Zac Efron. This is my favorite Zac Efron performance. He isn't known for his comedic abilities and yet he hangs in there with Seth Rogen. 

Zac Efron and Dave Franco participate in a "Robert De Niro" party

   Zac Efron was really good in this movie and shows a lot of promise for his acting future. Dave Franco is funny and so is the underrated Ike Barinholtz as Seth Rogen's office buddy. Lisa Kudrow even makes a funny cameo in the movie. 

   There are so many memorable lines of dialog in this movie and funny moments. It is nice to see that some movies still believe in not giving away everything in a trailer. There are a few things in this movie that I did not enjoy. There is one scene that I really didn't enjoy, which I won't give away. It seems as though the purpose of that scene was simply to see if they could have gotten away with it and gross out the audience at the same time. The scene didn't really serve any purpose other than that. 

   Nicholas Stoller's film is a very funny one which had a hard job following Seth Rogen's last film, This Is The End. While I believe that he made a funnier movie than This Is The End, I don't believe he made a better movie. Still, there are plenty of laughs to be had in Neighbors, and I even caught myself repeating some of the movie's lines afterwards.

4/5