My Favorite Films of 2014
At the end of every year I usually post up a list of my favorite films in ranking order, on my Wordpress blog. This past year I didn’t do so because I didn’t get to see as many films as I’d hope, especially with my moving to Orlando for a semester and working most of the time. So, with the Oscars coming up, I decided to just list my ten favorite films of 2014, in alphabetical order, and with a tiny bit of commentary for each.
Big Hero 6
Disney’s on a hot streak, and it defintiely didn’t stop with its latest animated feature. ‘Big Hero 6’ may not have been the phenomenon ‘Frozen’ was, but it still packed in a sweet storyline, fun characters, and a beautiful new world in San Fransokyo. And let’s not forget about Baymax - he’s gonna be around for a long, long time.
Boyhood
This film reminded me a lot of that documentary from a few years back called ‘Life in a Day’. That documentary requested footage from people all over the world to submit a video of their day, and the footage were all recorded within the same day. Basically, both films made me feel happy. It made you think about how beautiful and precious life is. ‘Boyhood’ specifically made me think about how we experience life as a series of moments; that’s how we remember aspects of our lives. It’s a neat experimental film that follows the same cast, mainly a six-year-old boy, for twelve years as we see them grow and live over the years. It’s fascinating.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The best Marvel film of the year, and also my personal favorite Marvel film of all in the MCU, is the second Captain America film. I was pretty surprised at how much I liked this film, considering how “okay” the first Captain America film was. Out of all the sequels in Phase 2 of the MCU - Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World - ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ does it best. The film connects to the larger mythology the most, while still staying grounded. The action include many of the best action sequences I’ve ever seen on film. The many different characters all have something to do, which is something I can applaud because so many films like this have many underdeveloped characters. And I can’t forget about the film’s villain - the Winter Soldier, who’s a pretty formidable opponent to our hero, and who’s sometimes even scary. What the Marvel films usually lack in are interesting villains. Loki was probably the only exception before the Winter Soldier.
Chef
Director and star Jon Favreau (‘Elf’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘Iron Man 2’, ‘Cowboys & Aliens’) goes back to his indie roots with the small budgeted ‘Chef’. The film feels like a metaphor for Favreau’s own life - mainly in the aspect regarding critics and doing what you love despite what they say. This is a passion project from a director who may have lost his way with his last few films, and you know what? It feels great watching him return to form. Also, the food depicted in the film look delicious. Make sure you’ve eaten before watching.
The Fault in Our Stars
This is a freaking tear-jerker and I loved everything about this film: the long list of quotable lines, directing, and especially the acting. Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are amazing, and they’ve quickly become some of my favorite young actors.
Gone Girl
I knew what to expect going into ‘Gone Girl’ - did he, or didn’t he? - but man, oh man, I still came out totally surprised. The film is expertly paced and suspenseful throughout. The acting is top-notch. The cinematography is haunting - same with the music. And the plot twists are insane.
Guardians of the Galaxy
This is probably the biggest risk for Marvel Studios since the original ‘Iron Man’ back in 2008, and it totally paid off. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ ended up being one of the best Marvel films in the MCU, right there behind ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, I would say. It blends the zany characters, throwback music, and literally out-of-this-world setting beautifully. And I’m so happy Chris Pratt is finally getting the attention he deserves. This man’s a movie star.
Interstellar
Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated follow-up to the Dark Knight Trilogy, and his first original feature since ‘Inception’, totally lived up to expectations. It’s a beautiful film packed with an another amazing score by Hans Zimmer, an all-star cast that includes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain, and a mind-bending plot. I wasn’t surprised when I left the theatre scratching my head, but I loved every minute of it. And it’s not every day Hollywood gives us an original blockbuster like this.
The Lego Movie
And the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film goes to… What a shame 'The Lego Movie’ didn’t even get a nod for the award. It’s THE best animated film of 2014. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, whom previously directed 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ and '21 Jump Street’, are amazingly talented. They have a knack for developing projects that shouldn’t work into something great. Let’s face it, 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’, a film reboot of the 1980’s tv series '21 Jump Street’, and an animated film about Lego toys all sound terrible on paper. Somehow, some way, this duo turned all these properties into fun-filled, heartfelt projects. 'The Lego Movie’ is just so much fun, has an excellent voice cast led by Chris Pratt, features an addicting hit song (“Everything is Awesome”), and the animation is breathtaking. The film’s third act packs in so much heart and an unexpected message, I was blown away.
22 Jump Street
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returned for this sequel, and they managed to pull off the impossible: a comedy sequel that’s actually worthy of its original. What made this film work is the fact that everyone involved understood how ridiculous the premise was, thus they were able to make fun of themselves along with the audience. '22 Jump Street’ didn’t go with the 'Hangover Part II’ route, in which the entire sequel was a beat-for-beat copy of the original. They took what made the first film great and turned it on its head.
Honorable Mentions: Godzilla, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, X-Men: Days of Future Past
