Best and Worst Movies of 2014 (1 Viewer)

So you don't think Eddie Redmayne is a shoe-in for best actor, especially after his golden globe win?

I agree about the Imitation Game, but Cumberbum seems to be the darling of the British press at the moment so I am already fed up of hearing about his nomination. I can't honestly say that I have liked him in anything - he was ok as the villain in Star Trek Into Darkness.

Interesting also that Bradley Cooper has his 3rd best actor nom in the last 3 years - last person to do that was Russell Crowe!
 
So you don't think Eddie Redmayne is a shoe-in for best actor, especially after his golden globe win?

I agree about the Imitation Game, but Cumberbum seems to be the darling of the British press at the moment so I am already fed up of hearing about his nomination. I can't honestly say that I have liked him in anything - he was ok as the villain in Star Trek Into Darkness.

Interesting also that Bradley Cooper has his 3rd best actor nom in the last 3 years - last person to do that was Russell Crowe!

i agree Redmayne has a good shot at it. my picks aren't those who i think will win, but those i think should win. i've so far avoided the Theory of Everything as i saw little to make me believe it veered at all away from the typical biopic garbage that kept me from caring at all about the Imitation Game (which i saw begrudgingly).

Cumberbatch is fine, but honestly he only plays one character. it has worked for several roles now, but he needs to show some range for me to understand whatever everyone is on about.

St. Anthony, Bill Murry... Covers both best and worst in one movie.

the movie was St. Vincent, but your mistake is easily forgiven as it was completely and utterly forgettable. it is beyond me how they got so many big names to sign on for a movie with such a lazy, middle-of-the-road, cliched script.
 
i agree Redmayne has a good shot at it. my picks aren't those who i think will win, but those i think should win. i've so far avoided the Theory of Everything as i saw little to make me believe it veered at all away from the typical biopic garbage that kept me from caring at all about the Imitation Game (which i saw begrudgingly).

Cumberbatch is fine, but honestly he only plays one character. it has worked for several roles now, but he needs to show some range for me to understand whatever everyone is on about.

Ah, sorry, I misread that you were indicating who you thought should (not would) win.

I agree on Cumberbatch. For me, he is like that other 'fine bastion' of British cinema - Hugh Grant.
 
caught American Sniper yesterday. had i seen it in time, it definitely would have gone in the "most disappointing" category. there have been plenty of iraq war movies and i have no idea why they felt compelled to make this one. it presents nothing new and every element of the movie was done better in another film. i was hoping it would be clint eastwood's return to quality filmmaking, but nope.
 
American Sniper simplifies war and soldiers far too much for me to "like" but it did a good job of showing what battle can be like and how hectic it can be. I felt it was a well made movie and Cooper did a great job of showing how complex the character was and how difficult it is for soldiers to return but the whole hero thing was turned up a bit too much. He was good but no one soldier could ever have as much of an impact on the 'war' as he did in that film. PS he was known to be a pretty hefty embellisher even in the memoir he wrote but the basics are all legit. My favorite part was actually that they used a bottle of water on a string to make an automatic door closer in their plywood B-Hut, exactly how it's done IRL.

Birdman was awesome, it was very different and I really bought into the storyline and thought it was well done with some brilliant acting by all involved.

Whiplash I had no clue about before I went in and a couple hours later I walked out totally amazed by how stressful a movie about jazz could be. I was white knuckled the whole last 15 minutes of the movie and it was a complete roller coaster.

Chef is pretty good and a fun story but totally just a feel-good film. Not a bad performance in the acting dept but your standard dad/son/roadtrip flick with cooking.

Grand Budapest Hotel was fun, its got the neat Wes Anderson look and has a fun and intriguing story that is told visually brilliantly so I really enjoyed it but I do love his movies.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Pretty darn good for a sci-fi flick, they really do some amazing things with CGI these days and this movie is not bad if you want to be entertained for a few hours.

Imitation Game - Like was said earlier. Standard biopic with one person solving all the problems and saving the day. Really interesting story though and I hadn't known about the guy the film is based on before I found researching that fascinating.

Boyhood - Super neat movie and really different. It doesn't have a deep "Plot" or any twists to speak of but you really buy in to seeing where the kids life winds up and the acting is quite good.

Personally I think Boyhood is a lock for best picture, the Academy loves that 'pushing the envelope' crap.
 
My vote for best picture is whiplash but of course it probably has little chance of winning. Also I would love to see JK win the best actor.

then again, I think just like most awards shows, the most deserving does not always win. Its more about 'politics' than talent.
 
American Sniper simplifies war and soldiers far too much for me to "like" but it did a good job of showing what battle can be like and how hectic it can be. I felt it was a well made movie and Cooper did a great job of showing how complex the character was and how difficult it is for soldiers to return but the whole hero thing was turned up a bit too much. He was good but no one soldier could ever have as much of an impact on the 'war' as he did in that film. PS he was known to be a pretty hefty embellisher even in the memoir he wrote but the basics are all legit. My favorite part was actually that they used a bottle of water on a string to make an automatic door closer in their plywood B-Hut, exactly how it's done IRL.

i would disagree that the acting was anything special. even if i were to spot bradley cooper a fair number of points for his performance (which i don't because it was mediocre at best), sienna miller single-handedly tanks the movie in the acting department. it's not her fault that her part is written paper thin and with all the tact of a circa-1995 network drama, but she is still dreadful. the direction is also pretty poor imo. eastwood is notorious for often refusing to do more than one take and that tendency is evident in a lot of scenes in the movie. also, the baby was literally the worst prop i've seen in a film in years.

apart from criticizing the performances and direction, i think the movie raises interesting questions about stories which are ostensibly based on true events and the obligations of filmmakers who try to tackle such a story.

Personally I think Boyhood is a lock for best picture, the Academy loves that 'pushing the envelope' crap.

i agree that boyhood is the favorite, but if the academy wanted to just give it to the movie that pushed the envelope, birdman would win for sure. the only way boyhood pushed the envelope is that it was filmed over 12 years, a fact which, if not for the marketing, would likely not even occur to the casual moviegoer. in its lack of basic plot points, it's the same as most movies linklater was writer/director on: slacker, dazed and confused, waking life, before sunrise/sunset/midnight.

if anything, the academy is averse to awarding best picture to a film that pushes the envelope. look back at the last several years' best picture winners and notice which higher concept or edgier movies were passed over in parentheses:

2013: 12 years a slave (her)
2012: argo (beasts of the southern wild, django)
2011: the artist (the one possible exception, but with the tree of life nominated, it was not even close to being the film that most "pushed the envelope")
2010: the king's speech (black swan, inception)
2009: the hurt locker (district 9, inglourious basterds)
2008: slumdog millionaire (curious case of benjamin button)

the academy's treatment of the best picture category is for the most part like the republican presidential nomination process: include in the process a few options that will make you feel better about yourself, but ultimately give it to the most benign, safest candidate.
 
i actually thought wild was a good movie, but this is a funny bit nonetheless:


and here's a rundown of the fiction vs. non-fiction elements of american sniper fwiw.
 
been listening to this since i heard a clip during JK Simmons' interview on Fresh Air. he sounds pretty phenomenal here - doing the "valentine" part - in the guys and dolls revival from 92:

 
i actually thought wild was a good movie

Saw Wild on Saturday and definitely enjoyed the film... a couple years back I put a full solo hike of the AT on my bucket list, hopefully once I get both kids firmly situated in college in a number of years. I'm planning a hike up Springer before the SatP festivities start on Thursday to introduce myself to the trail and will be hiding something on the mountain if only to see if it's still there in 5-7 years when I return ;)

It's all I've seen in awhile. Normally a pretty big movie buff but haven't had much desire to go see anything new in some time.
 

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