2014-Year in Review

Boyhood

2014 was a very important year for me because it was the year that I decided to start using a letter grading scale for judging movies instead of numbers, as seen below. Most of the rest of the year was disposable.

What follows is a complete list of all the 2014 movies I saw during the year with a brief overview of what I thought of them. Since I don't really write movie reviews anymore, I thought this might be a handy way for anyone to look up my opinion on a new movie without actually having to ask me. I will update this list as I continue to watch the laggers from the year during the next few months, so if it's not here I haven't seen it.

And I will still be putting up my official top ten post for the year very soon, so look out for that also.

Alive Inside—It’s a rather slapdash and self-congratulatory documentary, but the sections actually showing the results of music treating patients with Alzheimer’s have the potential of being life-changing. B

The Amazing Spider-Man 2—It's a summer fluff piece and everybody knows it, but it's more enjoyable than some of its more serious rivals. B-

Annabelle—A few moments are fun and scary, but the rest of the movie isn't even trying. It's an obviously cheap money-grab. C

Annie—Bold and cute with an underlying sarcasm, this reboot has the remarkable distinction of changing literally everything about a classic, yet still remaining the same in spirit, which is the point anyway. B

The Babadook—The depth and ferocity of this little independent horror movie are astounding, led with powerful performances from lead Essie Grant and child actor Noah Wiseman. And yeah, it's pretty scary too. A

Before I Go to Sleep—At best, its entertainment value is equal to an average episode of a good TV show. Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman have seen better days. C-

Begin Again—It’s a cool little movie even when it falls into the plot devices of the mainstream films it mocks. And who knew Keira Knightley could sing? B

Belle—The wonderfully real performance by newcomer Gugu Mbatha-Raw raises the otherwise average racial drama to a certain level of excellence. This is a star-making film. B+

Big Eyes—It’s clear that this is a personal project for director Tim Burton, what with it being his most “normal” movie yet, and his usual flair only occasionally gets in the way of the interesting true story at hand. B-

Big Hero 6—Although it is a clearly good-looking, fun, and funny family movie, there is a definite lack of real magic (See Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen). B

Birdman, or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance—A wacky screenplay, terrific performances, assured direction, and startling technical acheivements all added up to make my favorite movie-going experience of the year. Michael Keaton is at his absolute best. A+

Blue Ruin—Proof that talent prevails over all else, a miniscule budget was used to make a movie more provoking than most blockbusters. B+

The Boxtrolls—I love stop-motion animation, creativity, and whimsy. So, as you can well imagine, this movie easily had me wetting myself with delight. A-

Boyhood—Filmed a little at a time over 12 years, but far from a gimmick, this profound look at a young man coming of age is moving and vital, and one of the best movies in years. A+

Calvary—Besides the fact that Brendan Gleason is his usual awesome self, this is a truly delightful comedy-drama, equal parts inspiring and sardonic, as impossible as that should be. A

Chef—Although it's a bit too long and full to overflowing with clichés, it's the kind of silly movie that is so sincere it can easily win one over. B-
The Congress—Creatively bizarre and visually striking, this clever sci-fi story mixes live-action and animation and throws in some Hollywood satire to boot. B+

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes—Easily the best Apes movie since the original, it uses its effects to compel rather than dazzle. The powerful fusion of the performances from Andy Serkis and computers is a game changer. B+

Deliver Us from Evil—I liked openly Christian filmmaker Scott Derickson's horror fable Sinister, but this time he spends way too much time literally preaching while spending no time actually coming up with frightening things. And it's "true" too! D-

Divergent—It's a well-made flick with great pace, some good acting, and stirring music, but none of that makes up for how humdrum the actual story is. C

Dom Hemingway—If it weren't for Jude Law's off-the-rails performance, which is worth any admission price, the movie would be thoroughly useless. B-

The Drop—Now, this is a movie. Exciting, dramatic, and inclusive, with no stupidity to be found! It was a worthy farewell to James Gandolfini, a truly great actor. A

Edge of Tomorrow—It's a fine movie. It's got a good enough story and it’s executed with bravado. But I really didn't care very much. B-

The Equalizer—I wouldn't call this a cookie-cutter movie because some cookie-cutters come in interesting shapes and can help in the development of tasty treats. But this movie has brought no good thing into the world. It just plain sucked. D

Exodus: Gods and Kings—The screenplay is a bit unfocused and the effects are occasionally overwhelming, but there’s still things to like if you can stick through the trudging first act to get to them. C+

Fading Gigolo—I like John Turturro, but his movies are weirdly inaccessible. This is a film that really wants to be sweet, but is just plain strange. C

The Fault in Our Stars—The whole darn weepy thing won me over even as I hated that it was doing so. Shailene Woodley brings out the works with this one. B+

Frank—It drags a little in the last third, but it's a fun experience overall, especially Michael Fassbender's energetic performance. B+

Fury—It's a war drama that's against the brutality of war while also advocating its necessity! That makes it the most original movie ever filmed! But seriously, it's fine, but too drawn out and self-important to really be worth anything. B-

The Gambler—As a Mark Wahlberg vehicle it may surprise many by how thoughtful it is, and by thoughtful I mean that it’s a movie that keeps its cards pretty close. B

Get On Up—Chadwick Boseman is amazing. Yes, the movie is emotionally and narratively all over the place, but never mind that. Chadwick Boseman is amazing. B-

God Help the Girl—You can feel everyone involved desperately trying to create the hippest thing in the world. The result is so fake you wanna slap these stupid kids and send them back to school. C-

God Loves Uganda—This is real-life stuff that is way more disturbing than any horror film. If the Christians in the movie think that the sin of homosexuality should be punished with death, then why not other sins? They should all be shooting themselves! A-

Godzilla—For whatever reason, it is widely accepted that watching fake monsters fight other fake monsters is fun and thrilling. What's worse is pretending that the fights are a secondary concern. C

Gone Girl—Rarely can a movie contain this much suspense and intrigue without sacrificing its emotional depth. Rosamund Pike is literally crazy good. A+

The Good Lie—I liked Reese Witherspoon and appreciated what was trying to be accomplished, but a movie that is this desperate to make people cry will get no tears from me. C

The Grand Budapest Hotel—No, it may not be anything but whimsical style, but what whimsical style it is! Probably one of the most fascinating movies of the year visually and endlessly amusing, it holds up remarkably well on repeat viewings. A

The Grand Seduction—Ok, so I’m an old man, but this super-sweet, fairly predictable comedy had me chuckling throughout. Movies need a good, harmless laugh now and again. B

Guardians of the Galaxy—It works so much better than other superhero movies these days, because it has replaced gloom with charm. Who knew we actually wanted to like our protagonists? B
Haunt—Beside the fact that not a blessed moment of it makes any earthly sense, this indie horror flick just plain isn't scary. D-

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies—The fact that it is essentially a two-hour fight scene, and one that plot-wise could have been a fraction of that length, makes this adventure occasionally tedious, but at least it’s good-looking tedium. C+

How to Train Your Dragon 2—Though perhaps not quite as exciting and fun as the original, this is still a fun and exciting follow-up. B

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part I—Why is it that this movie that tells just half a story is such a big improvement over the other movies that tell whole stories? Somebody's getting better at this. B-

Ida—Flaunting a distinct and unique visual style, strong performances from the Polish leads, and a corner-of-your-eye mystery as a plot, this is the kind of movie that can get into your head and stay there. A

The Imitation Game—With Benedict Cumberbatch providing one of the year’s best performances, this is a winning, cheer-worthy story even when it plays things by the dramatic book. A

The Immigrant—It may not be as hard-hitting as it thinks it is, but this is still a grand little drama made powerful by Marion Cotillard’s pitiable performance. A-

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz—Angry, sad, and at the same time hopeful, this is a thorough and compelling examination of the tragically brief life of a prolific modern figure. B+

Interstellar—“OOH, look at the pretty pictures! OMG, Matthew McConaughey is crying. The feels! Is that MATT DAMON?! Everybody's laughing at the funny robot, but I can't hear anything it's saying. This ending is blowing my mind even though it's taking five hours explaining itself over and over! Best Movie Ever!!!!1!!!!!!" B-

The Interview—It’s appropriate that this is the poster child of free speech because it’s the crassest, silliest, least likely to care what you think comedy of the year. B-

Into the Woods—Having found a perfect balance between dark and too-dark, this is an excellent film version of one of the greatest modern musicals, and featuring a thoroughly stellar cast that can actually sing! A-

Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?—An hour of Noam Chomsky's ramblings set to animation! Just what I've always wanted! Despite the strangeness of it even existing, the movie is often interesting, while also often well over anybody's head. B-

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart—It's certainly one of the oddest movies of late, and not all of it quite works, but it was an interesting experiment anyhow. But just who was the target audience of an animated rock opera about terminally ill children and the dawn of film? B-

Jersey Boys—The music is, of course, good and the lead performances are, of course, extraordinary, but the direction is dreary and sluggish. This movie was in desperate need of pizzazz and Clint Eastwood was clearly not the one to bring it. C+

Jodorowsky's Dune—As a fan of both Alejandro Jodorowsky and movie history, this documentary is a miraculous gift. Any serious sci-fi fan owes it to themselves to see it. A

Joe—While it may not exactly be Nicolas Cage's welcome home party, he gives a solid performance in a solid drama that had me solidly entertained for two hours. B+

John Wick—I saw it like a modern western, with Keanu Reeves as Clint Eastwood, and you had just better stay out of his way. It's well-made and a lot of fun! Neat! B+

The Judge—This bittersweet drama feels like one of those Miramax Oscar bait movies of the 90s that everyone loved so much then, but which are so clearly empty and manipulative now. Some of it works, especially Robert Duvall, but it’s mostly very meh. C

Labor Day—Kate Winslet gives a good performance, the photography is stunning, and I thought a lot of the score was beautiful, but GOOD LORD is the "drama" of the "story" in this "movie" excruciating! C

The Lego Movie—A movie for literally everyone (including adults, kids, nerds, people who don't watch movies...), it is also one of the most unadulteratedly goofy things you could watch. A-

Let's Be Cops—Even the least funny person who ever joked can usually be accidentally funny after eighty minutes, but not this movie! It was so painful I literally died. F

Locke—Mostly due to the great performance from Tom Hardy, but also because of a rapid-fire pace, this is possibly the best of the “guy stuck in a small place for 80 minutes” dramas. A-

Lucy—Theological complaints aside, Luc Besson has crafted a truly original, smart, and actually thrilling thriller. Scarlett Johansson continues to prove she is more than just a pretty face. B+

Magic in the Moonlight—The joke goes that only every other Woody Allen movie is worth watching and I'm afraid this is one of the other ones. Not bad exactly, just bland, flimsy, and cynical. C+
Maleficent—Tonally it's very strange, and it strays from any other version of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale from the get-go, but there's some good entertainment here, led by a surprisingly strong performance from Angelina Jolie. B-

The Missing Picture—It's a quiet, autobiographical documentary with a unique narrative twist. Its unsettling moments are all the more so for how matter of fact the horrors presented are. A-

The Monuments Men—Yuck, yuck, yuck. Each new second of this dull, overcooked nonsense was more tiresome than the last. It's one of the smuggest things I've ever seen. D-

Mood Indigo—It’s one of the zaniest movies of all time during the first half and then goes into super-tragedy mode for the second. I don't know how it all worked, but somehow it did anyway. B+

A Most Wanted Man—I've seen sluggish movies and this is not one of them. The pace of this spy drama builds, whether you realize it or not, to an incredible dread that you can't get with flashy action. When the lights came up, I very nearly cheered. A

Muppets Most Wanted—Without seeming to try that hard, it manages to be significantly more entertaining and amusing than its inferior predecessor. B

Nightcrawler—Jake Gyllenhaal gives one of the best performances of his career in one of the most original movies of the year. Dan Gilroy makes for a wild first-time director. A

Noah—If you can stop being hysterical for one minute and get past how utterly absurd the whole thing is (Rock Monsters!?!), it's a reasonably entertaining picture. Not without faults, but entertaining nonetheless. B-

Norte, the End of History—Watching the movie may be difficult, even tedious, but the impact is a powerful reward. We may spend "too much" time with these characters, but that just makes our investment in them all the more real. B+

Obvious Child—Even while being the "abortion comedy," this is one of the year's movies least likely to ruffle feathers. It treats its controversy with neither kid gloves nor megaphones, resulting in perhaps the only movie I've ever disagreed with and wanted to hug simultaneously. B+

Oculus—I love the Twilight Zone style story and it’s chilling enough to warrant a watch for horror fans, but it did end up being a bit more convoluted than it needed to be. C+

Only Lovers Left Alive—Easily one of the most interesting of the modern takes on vampirism, Jim Jarmusch takes horrifying subject matter and makes it classy, cool, and even a little funny. A-

The Purge: Anarchy—It’s better than the first one, but that's a comparison similar to saying rape is better than murder. It doesn't make the rape any less traumatizing. D+

The Quiet Ones—Though it’s perfectly harmless and not at all boring, it offers absolutely nothing new to the haunted house genre and is a mostly forgettable outing. C

The Railway Man—It's telling a good story and it looks very nice and the acting is even pretty good. So why neglect all those things to spend the whole movie on flashbacks that aren't nearly as engaging as the story we actually came for? Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman have seen better days. C

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For—If you're going to make a movie that's nothing but visual style, remember that the style must be unique and/or enthralling enough to warrant having nothing else going for it. (See The Grand Budapest Hotel) C-

The Skeleton Twins—Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig have great chemistry and this is a heartfelt, though sometimes predictable, comedy that has just as many tears as laughs. B+

Snowpiercer—Full of creative ideas, level-headed situations, and incredible urgency, it is easily the best action movie of the year. "Babies taste better," is not something you should be hearing in a good movie, but there it is. A

St. Vincent—It may not be profound or often laugh-out-loud funny, but this is a sweet and enjoyable comedy that keeps an aging Bill Murray’s still energetic talents in the spotlight. B+

Stalingrad—And now Russia finally has their own Pearl Harbor-style mess of a movie! Seriously, it's every bit as unknowingly awful. D+

The Theory of Everything—It unfortunately suffers from a slight case of "Lifetime Original Movie"itis, due to a syrupy style that still does nothing to undermine the interesting subject matter and incredible performances from Felicity Jones and especially Eddie Redmayne. B+

22 Jump Street—How could the same people who made me laugh so hard two years ago come up so ill-prepared a second time? The Lego Movie was twice as satisfying a comedy as this misguided sequel. C

Unbroken—This faux inspirational war drama may not be totally bad, but the bluntness of the screenplay and the forcefulness of the direction makes it seem like the filmmakers thought we were idiots, and it wasn’t a fun experience for it. C

Wild—Delivered through a stream-of-consciousness style and a superb performance from Reese Witherspoon, we witness the whole tragic and hopeful story of a real-life everywoman. A+

Winter's Tale—It’s not just that it's a bad movie. It's also an aggressively, unbelievably, unentertainingly stupid movie. F

Under the Skin—The experience of watching this movie is overpowering and unprecedented. If you have the patience to accept its weirdness, it will haunt you forever. A+

Venus in Fur—Emmanuelle Seignor took a flamboyant stage character and turned it into something equal parts funny, seductive, and sinister, a truly hypnotic feat. A-

Virunga—A superb example of film journalism, the movie puts the viewer in the middle of intense situations, magnifying the beauty of the surroundings and urgency of the obstacles. A-

White Bird in a Blizzard—I don't understand this movie! The "mystery" is pretty evident throughout, the characters are alternately boring, unlikable, or flown in from Mars, and the mood changes between dreary and silly without warning. Are we supposed to laugh? D+

The Wind Rises—Hayao Mayazaki's swan song may not have the greatest story he ever told, but it is just as gorgeous a bit of animation as any of his other works. B+

X-Men: Days of Future Past—If nothing else, the performances are above par, and, if we must watch a dozen of these things, we deserve at least that. B-

The Zero Theorem—I seriously doubt anyone could actually enjoy this movie, and not because it's bad, but because it's so intentionally despondent. It's easy to admire on a technical level, but doesn't offer enough real substance to make it worth digesting. C