Welcome to the 5th section of my Movie list! We have previously covered films from 1987-2009 in parts I , II, III, IV! This segment will cover 2010-2014, A period dominated by genre films. This is also the point at which I began to blog about my movie viewings! Look for the (Review) links to see what I thought! As always, I will provide “skinnys” of all the films I saw in cinemas in each individual year.
An okay year for film, but its the end of the half decade mark which means we get an update on best/worst for the teens!
383: 12 years a Slave – A powerful film showing the horrors of slavery with a great stable of actors. (Review)
384: The Wolf of Wall Street – Leo continues his search for an Oscar. He came close here. It was a great film which showed that Scorsese still has it and Jonah Hill has the chops to go far. (Review)
385: The Lego Movie – Amazingly good for a Lego movie. The voice actors were fine and the moral ending was pretty nice. (Review)
386: Robocop – Better than it should have been. I enjoyed the difference of Murphy’s family knowing he is Robocop. (Review)
387: Achorman 2: Again! – This is the “director’s cut- sort of” for Anchorman 2. They took the alternate takes and replaced the jokes in the story. (Review)
388: 300: Rise of an Empire – A disappointment. This movie should have been about Eva Green, a revenge flick. A wasted opportunity. (Review)
389: Sabotage – Not very good. Arnold has some problems. Excellent ending though. (Review)
390: Captain America: The Winter Soldier – almost the best comic movie of the year. This IS Captain America. Rarely has a comic movie completely captured the source material it is based on. Tough to top. (review)
392: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – A damn shame. They destroyed the death of Gwen Stacy and made a joke of Spidey’s villains. The reboot is warranted. (Review)
393: Godzilla – The best American Godzilla film. Now, that’s not high praise normally, but this was very well done. (Review)
394: X-Men Days of Future Past – Brian Singer returns and delivers a great comic film. It is not the best of the series, nor is it a particularly good adaptation of the comic story, but its a damn good movie. (Review)
395: Transformers Age of Extinction – A step down from #3, but okay. I fear we are headed back into crap territory though. (Review)
396: Edge of Tomorrow – Based on the comic “All you need is Kill”, Tom Cruise follows up his great work in Oblivion with even better work. A Scifi Groundhog day, this is one of the best scifi films of the decade. (review)
397: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – We see the epic war between Apes and Humans begin in this follow up to “Rise”. Andy Serkis deserves a goddamn oscar. (review)
399: The Expendables 3 – Stallone comes back with the gang for a third outing against Mel Gibson. Harrison Ford steps in to assist. Not as good as #2, but okay. Banderas was golden. (Review)
400: Dumber and Dumber to – A film that should not have happened. Where Anchorman 2 was unnecessary and generally okay, this was not funny. Forced. Sad. (Review)
401: Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part 1: Katniss returns in this POWERFUL installment in the juggernaut saga of Panem. (review)
403: Interstellar – Christopher Nolan gives us one of the better “hard scifi” films in decades. It is definitely one of the strongest since 2001 in terms of hard science. (review)
403: The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies – The end of an uneven trilogy. I am so glad that they made it, but I accept it’s flaws. (Review)
404: The Interview – A movie I was planning on seeing at the theater…if any theaters would have played it. A funny Rogen/Franco film, even funnier to be #404. (Review)
391: Noah – I cannot believe the stupidity and audacity of this movie. On paper, I should love a movie about rock monster fallen angels helping Noah build an ark. The bad guy sneaks on the ark and EATS BABY DINOSAURS- explaining why they are extinct. Sad. (review)
398: Guardians of the Galaxy – I could watch this all day, every day. It is pitch perfect, the best movie of 2014, and audiences agreed. It is a rollicking old school sci fi adventure film that takes the Marvel Universe and blows it up to Cosmic levels. No grounding needed in this one. Chris Pratt’s affable Star-Lord brings us humans into a world of talking trees and smart ass Racoons, all while showing us some of Marvel’s best cosmic baddies. It also had kick-ass tunes and Michael Rooker playing Yondu as a space hillbilly. Also, Howard the F’n Duck.
So, that is 2010-14, and we are now complete from 1987 to 2014 in cinema! 27 years of movies and a half decade is complete! Lets see where we stand for the decade. Worst? Best? In the 2000’s Battlefield Earth was pegged as the worst early on and it managed to hold the title. Can an early winner hold onto the title for the next 5 years?
Movie 43
Quite possibly the worst major release ever. I am including Battlefield Earth in that statement. I can barely consider this a movie. 19 writers, 13 directors, and A-list talent. Worst movie of 2013, winner of many Razzies, and on track for worst of decade. Incredible. (review)
Midnight in Paris should be the best so far…but I saw it on DVD, not in a theater. This trifling distinction boots the film from the list. So, what gets the spot?
Guardians of the Galaxy
Yes, I give the title to Guardians of the Galaxy. This was the most enjoyable movie of the 2010’s for me (so far). I have a sneaking suspicion that this could change over the next few years…
The Skinny from the Fatty 