My Favorite and Least Favorite Films of 2014

[ericadawn16]

Here are the rules. In order for a film to be eligible, I must have seen it between 12:01 AM January 1, 2014 and 11:59 PM December 31, 2014 in a proper, professional theatre-like setting. Then, I watch all the trailers again and see how I feel about these films at this point in time. If you have any questions, just ask.

My Favorite Films of 2014

1. Snowpiercer
2. Rosewater
3. Grand Budapest Hotel
4. How to Train Your Dragon 2
5. The Railway Man
6. Captain America: Winter Soldier
7. A Most Wanted Man
8. Penguins of Madagascar
9. Veronica Mars
10. The Hundred-Foot Journey
11. Bears
12. Only Lovers Left Alive
13. Lucy
14. Guardians of the Galaxy
15. Magic in the Moonlight
16. Kill the Messenger
17. X-Men: Days of Future Past
18. Belle
19. The November Man
20. Tammy

My Least Favorite Films of 2014

10. A Million Ways to Die in the West
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
8. Amazing Spider-Man 2
7. Inside LLewyn Davis
6. Birdman
5. Neighbors
4. The Immigrant
3. Maleficent
2. Gone Girl
1. Robocop

Comments

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Great lists :)

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

WOW, I have only see two on the "good" list and one on the "bad" list. :o
You didn't like Maleficent? :o
I really wanted to see Budapest, and 100 Foot, but just never got to them. :o And at the rate I am going, it looks like I will miss Big Hero 6 too. :(
Hugs, Jon

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't like Maleficent and someday, I'll post exactly why.

They'll all show up online or on television eventually.

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

Or I will add them to my dvd collection. lol...

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

I just watched Snowpiercer and am wondering what was it about this movie that resonates with people? Why do you like it so much? I am just curious! I thought it was okay, but it seemed incomplete. LOL. Like.. there should be more. It should've continued but I guess we were to go with the promise of that last scene.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Okay...

First of all, the story was very original. It's an adaptation of a graphic novel but aside from the train, not much else is actually from it. I liked how different everything was about it.

There were also a number of twists and I love when I can't predict all the twists in a film...although before this film, I had already started not trusting any role that John Hurt plays just because it's John Hurt playing it.

This is another thing I really liked about it..the cast. I will admit that I already fangirled Chris Evans, Jamie Bell and Alison Pill but I wasn't familiar with Song Kang-ho and Go Ah-sung and they were both AWESOME!

The Cinematography was possibly the best I saw all year. I loved it because it was so beautiful. There was also the use of colors. I love whenever filmmakers bother to use colors and the meanings it represents...especially you put Mason, one of the worst characters, in a white outfit that would suggest innocence and she's anything but so the color choice enhances how wrong things are from what they should be. The sets were also perfect. I felt like we were actually there instead of a CGI wonderland or a set they just came up with.

The pacing was great without any slow parts or parts that seemed unnecessary. Everything was needed for what was to come. All the characters were allowed to show a range of emotion. I loved all the characters, even the awful ones and that's not a small feat. So many films have wonderful actors in subpar parts or characters that don't give you enough motivation to care what happens to them. The last Transformers film had a character that was written to be a good guy but he was so annoying that I cheered when he died.

I enjoyed the violence. At the same time, it was supposed to be a bit much in order to get the viewer uncomfortable and make them think.

It was a film designed for thinking in addition to the plot which is rare in films especially action films. The train is a metaphor for modern society and especially capitalism. Then, there's the question of: if those problems are present in our current society, how do we fix it? In the film, they come to the conclusion that only the young can truly change the world but there were also all those brainwashed children in class so...

I agree that despite its length, I wanted more. I was actually disappointed about the graphic novels lacking the movie characters because I wanted to know more about them. My mom was a little annoyed about the ending because she assumed the polar bear would eat them. Either way made sense to me, but I did love ending it with the polar bear when it was the polar bear's plight that pushed for the cure to global warming at the beginning of the film.

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Oohh I saw the polar bear as hope! That despite everything, life went on beyond the train, and now they were free to leave that awful endless circle of 'life' behind and begin anew. This time without making the mistakes of before. Interesting what your mom thought!

I think I missed something by not seeing it in theatre - too many ups and downs, messing with the dog, phone distractions, etc. Thank you for answering, you gave me things to think about. I didn't know its history at all, either.

Thanks!

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

I like how so much of the film is open to interpretations and that there can be enough evidence where everyone is correct. I saw the ending as going either way depending on what the viewer takes from it...I suppose it's like the old question of Is the glass half empty or half full?

Ugh, yes, distractions aren't good with this film but we had to travel a good hour to see it so a theatre setting wasn't available for everyone. You did see Chris Evans' baby speech, right?