Insurgent - Movie

DISCLAIMER: I didn't read the Divergent books so this review is based purely off of the film itself. 

Insurgent.

Insurgent is the sequel to 2014's Divergent being adapted from the Divergent Series written by Veronica Roth. As with every series it seems these days the third book is being split into two movies but we're not at those yet. Insurgent takes place directly following the events of Divergent and continues Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four's (Theo James) quest for revolution. 

I actually liked Divergent a lot more than I had expected going into it and thought the series would have some potential. That being said, Insurgent let me down a bit. 

But first, the good things of the movie. Shailene Woodley kills it in this role as Tris and really is the shining star in this series. Miles Teller is great in it too but gets too little of screen time but I'll fault that on the source material instead of the movie especially since he was cast before he became pretty famous. Theo James stars opposite Woodley and while he was a good casting choice for his role, I kinda don't like him. 

There are these scenes in the third act of the film in which Tris has to undergo tests in which she has to in an almost alternate world get through some sort of obstacle whether mental, physical, emotional or all three. These tests are the highlight of the film and the point where I was fully invested in the story. 

Now the bad. Insurgent suffers from an overly convoluted plot that is actually kinda hard to follow. There are many  points where you're not sure what's real and what's fake or who's who. For me, the first hour of the film was kind of all over the place, hard to follow and frankly, a bit boring. I'm not heartless, I understand the second installment in any trilogy is used a lot for character development and setting up for the final installments which can make for boring films but, this is when you rely on the strength of your characters and that's where Insurgent falls short. Tris is by far the strongest character in terms of development while mostly everyone else is a cardboard cut out of a character. This brings the movie down quite a bit but it is still pretty enjoyable to watch. 

This Part is a Bit of a Rant: Being that this is a rant, most of it is my opinion and doesn't really deal with the movie in a fair way, that being said, ranting time. Tris's boyfriend and really second in command for the revolution is a guy named Four. I know they explained it barely in the first film and maybe the book explained it more but the film explanation isn't good enough. There's a point where his mom calls him by his birth name: Tobias and he slams a table and yells "My name is Four!" This takes me out of the movie because I can't take it seriously how everyone seriously calls this dude Four. There were points in the movie where I would be laughing to myself because of how ridiculous it sounds when Woodley is crying out for her boyfriend and she's saying "Four", she almost sounded like a distressed golfer. All of this kind of pointless bitching aside, I enjoyed the movie. 

Replay Value: 2/5, I'd watch it again in preparation for Allegiant Part 1 or if one of my friends really wanted to watch it. I don't really think I'd watch it again for my own personal enjoyment. 

Rating: 2.5/5, rather disappointing considering how much I enjoyed Divergent but, Insurgent just didn't really do it for me. Enjoyable overall and a must see if you're a fan of the series, obviously, but if you're looking for just a sci-fi ish movie to escape in, this may not be for you. 

Birdman - Review

A man becomes a critic when he cannot be an artist. - Gustav Flaubert - Spoken by Edward Norton's character Mike

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance. 

Since the title is so long I will refer to the film solely as Birdman for the review. Birdman is a 2014 film that is up for many Oscars and is my prediction to take home the statue for Best Picture. 

Birdman is the story of Riggan played by Michael Keaton (Robocop, Batman) who is an aging actor who's played a major superhero in the past and is now trying his hand in a Broadway play. The cast is rounded out by Edward Norton (American History X), Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) and Naomi Watts (King Kong). Birdman is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel). 

Let me start off by saying that this movie really is for film lovers, from the way it's shot to the plot, this was made to be watched by people who really love movies. The film is directed in a series of long takes or long shots which were helped made famous by Martin Scorcese. According to IMDB there are only 16 visible cuts in the entire film with the majority of the film being following shots. What the film really has going for it is the acting, these actors seemed to have all brought their A+ game and they all, for me, deserved their Oscar nominations. I'd go out and say that this is Emma Stone's best performance of her still young career and Edward Norton was unbelievably good as well. Birdman was actually unexpectedly funny, mostly due to Norton's character, Mike, who had some great one liners. The performances that Iñárritu was able to get out of this cast were fantastic; it was great to see Galifianakis in a role that's against his type and his character was more on the serious side and he was great in this role, albeit a much smaller role.

This is a film where there really isn't much bad to say about it because there's really nothing wrong with it. I can see the casual movie fan not really enjoying the style of the film because of the frequent long takes and the unique way the film looks; not only this but the movie itself is a commentary of the film industry and those within it so it may not resonate too well with casual viewers. The directing in the film is amazing, the acting is second to none, the story is alright, it's really the performances in front of and behind the camera that makes this movie special. If it weren't for Boyhood I think Iñárritu would've taken home the Oscar for Best Director, technically he still can since the ceremony hasn't happened, that being said I still stick by my predictions of Birdman winning Best Picture and Michael Keaton winning Best Actor.

I really enjoyed this movie, it's not my favorite of 2014, it possibly wouldn't have cracked my top 10 since 2014 was a great year for movies. I did appreciate the look into the behind the scenes of actors and how they are, more and less, outside of Hollywood. This is a movie that I think all big movie fans really should see, especially for someone who wants to get into filmmaking in any way. It's almost Tarantino-like where the movie has things in it that only big movie fans will pick up and it's really for the better.

Replay Value: 3/5, it's a movie I'd definitely watch again, I wanna see it at least one more time and I wouldn't be opposed if a friend wanted to watch because I think it would be a pretty good movie to watch with some friends. All of that being said, I don't know that I'd buy this on blu-ray, it's not a movie you just throw on just because, it's a movie to sit down and watch.

Rating: 4/5

2015 Oscar Predictions

The Oscars also known as the one night a year that pisses film fans off more than The Phantom Menace. This year's award ceremony will be the 87th ceremony and will celebrate the film year of 2014. There were plenty of snubs and surprises but that's not what this post is about; this post is my predictions for who will win each category, not who I WANT to win because that would be a completely different list. The layout is going to be the category, then the nominations and I will put in bold my prediction to take home the statue.

Let's Get Started.

Best Picture:

American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Actor:

Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper in American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

Best Supporting Actor:

Robert Duvall in The Judge
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
Edward Norton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

Best Actress:

Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon in Wild

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Laura Dern in Wild
Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game
Emma Stone in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep in Into the Woods

Animated Feature:

Big Hero 6 (I really want this to win but I don't think it will.)
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Adapted Screenplay:

American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Original Screenplay:

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

Cinematography:

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Mr. Turner
Unbroken

Costume Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr. Turner

Best Director:

Alejandro G. Iñárritu for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game

Documentary Feature:

CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Documentary Short:

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth

Film Editing:

American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

Foreign Language Film:

Ida from Poland
Leviathan from Russia
Tangerines from Estonia
Timbuktu from Mauritania
Wild Tales from Argentina

Makeup and Hairstyling:

Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

Original Score:

The Grand Budapest Hotel by Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game by Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar by Hans Zimmer
Mr. Turner by Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything by Jóhann Jóhannsson

Original Song:

“Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie - Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma - Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights - Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me - Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again - Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Production Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner

Animated Short Film:

The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Live Action Short Film:

Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

Sound Editing:

American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

Sound Mixing:

American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

Visual Effects:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

The Top 10 Movie Sequels of All Time

Let's face it, movie sequels are a huge risk in terms of keeping the integrity of the original film alive. Sequels need to capture the magic of the first film while making improvements on it at the same time, a tall order. A lot of sequels suck, just look at most comedy and horror sequels, yet some are able to go above and beyond their predecessor. I'm limiting my list to be the exact second movie in the series which means you won't see Toy Story 3 or Return of the Jedi on this list. This was on of the hardest lists I've had to make, not so much as narrowing it down to 10 films but the actual ordering of the list was incredibly difficult.

HONORABLE MENTIONS As always there a few films that miss the cut even though they are great movies but looking at this list, it'd be hard to take one off to put one of these on so here's a few honorable mentions: Aliens, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 22 Jump Street and American Pie 2

10. X2: X-Men United - X-Men 2 was probably the first superhero movie that had some dark themes to it throughout the film. It expanded on the 2000 original and was able to make a good superhero drama with characters you really care about. We're in an era now where every superhero movie is intense, dark and overall pretty serious in tone (with a few exceptions); this film is their grandfather.

9. Rocky II - Rocky is the epitome of American, from his seemingly always underdog status to his will to never give up. This series is honestly one of the best out there and to my shame I never watched until last year and Rocky II is quite possibly the best one. It builds off of the original and were able to not only advance the story in a logical way but were able to advance these characters in a way that most movies can't do. The ending of Rocky II also has a fantastic pay off built up over the course of the movie and the movie before it and is wholly satisfying.

8. Saw II - The only horror film on this list but it truly deserves it. Some say that had the Saw series ended after the third film that it would be one of the best horror trilogies ever but, Hollywood is greedy. Regardless, Saw II takes all of the greatness of the first and exploded it, going from two people playing his game to eight. It takes the psychological aspect of the game and makes it so these people almost destroy themselves before the game is even over. This is one of my favorite horror movies ever and clearly one of the best sequels.

7. Spider-Man 2 - Annnndddd back to superheroes. Spider-Man 2 for a long time was my go to film when someone asked for an example of a sequel that's better than the original. This movie has a fantastic villain in Dr. Octopus, a great inner struggle within Peter Parker and some awesome fight scenes. You'd be hard pressed to find a movie that makes such good improvements over its predecessor. This is one of the best superhero films ever made, period.

6. Terminator 2: Judgement Day - When I first saw The Terminator a few years back, I was expecting a little bit more or at least a little different than what I got. When I first saw T2 a couple days afterward I had realized this was the movie I had been expecting. This is as damn near perfect of a sci-fi movie as you can get not to mention it may be the most badass movie of all time, it's the definition of cool. The CGI is incredibly stepped up from the original which is expected as there was 7 years between the films and it holds up decently well here in 2015. The villain is absolutely ruthless and is only outmatched in badassness by Arnold himself.

5. Toy Story 2 - Toy Story is in the running for my favorite trilogy of all time and in my opinion, the 2nd installment is reasonably overlooked compared to Toy Story and Toy Story 3. Toy Story 2 brings in new characters who are a welcome addition to the crew while still keeping the original characters much involved and still loved. This is Pixar at its best which is surprising because for me, their sequels is where they falter a little bit. This movie captures the magic of the original all over again and makes for a fantastic film.

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - One of the best trilogies of all time gets an installment that does everything right, from the drama, the action sequences and don't even get me started on the Battle of Helm's Deep which is one of my favorite battle scenes from the entire trilogy. The film is not just a bridge from Fellowship of the Ring to Return of the King, it's an essential piece to the story and Peter Jackson was able to make a film that perfectly advanced the story and the characters and is even a good standalone film.

3. The Godfather, Part II - Some may say it's blasphemy for this not to be everyone's favorite sequel of all time but, for me, there are two better. That being said, there's no denying the greatness of a three hour plus masterpiece. The loss of Marlon Brando did nothing to hurt the film instead opting for the prequel route and the casting of Robert De Niro in the role of Vito Corleone. While this was near the beginning of a young De Niro's career it's easy to tell that he was a big reason why this movie is as good as it is. This is not to take anything away from Al Pacino or Robert DuVall's performances but instead help praise them because their performances were so good. It's hard to describe this movie as it's almost so good it's hard to say why, it's a film that everyone should see and I don't say that lightly.

2. The Dark Knight - Man, superhero movies are killing this list right now but seriously this is movie is outrageously good. It's less of a superhero film and more of a great drama/action film that happens to have Batman in it. This is the movie that we will look back on in years to come as the film that changed superhero movies forever and made audiences and critics alike take them seriously. Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and company really transformed this film into something bigger than just a movie. What I love about this trilogy is that each film is a great standalone film, all 3 have a beginning, middle and end, none of which take 5 minutes out to set up the next film. Nolan was able to crate a unique universe and a unique experience where Batman isn't a superhero in the traditional sense, he's a realistic figure in a realistic world. This is one of my favorite movies ever and it will forever be the truest Batman movie to me.

1. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Yes, it's the fifth in the series BUT, it was the second film made and everything I've been able to find from when the film was first released has no sign of calling it episode 5 back in 1980, so for me and 98% of the world, this is the true sequel in the Star Wars franchise. I know I've said it a few times in this list already but this is seriously one of the best movies ever, between the great reveal toward the end and everything before it are the definition of excellence. I don't see how you can like film and not like this movie, alright I guess I can see it if you hate sci-fi but you see my point. This movie stepped up the game so much that it deserves its own class in film schools. I can't explain the greatness of this film because it's inexplicable, you just have to watch it for yourself.

Boyhood - Review

Boyhood. 

Boyhood is a 2014 film directed by Richard Linklater (Before Midnight, School of Rock) simply about a boy, Mason, growing up. It's a coming of age tale that was filmed over the course of 12 years with sections of each year of Mason's life being shown in the film. 

We watch Mason, played by Ellar Coltrane, grow from the age of 5 to 18 in the span of 2 hours and 45 minutes. The plot is simple, almost so simple that it sounds boring but this film isn't about the plot, it's about the characters. Ethan Hawke (The Purge, Sinister) and Patricia Arquette (Boardwalk Empire) play Mason's parents with Linklater's own daughter Lorelei playing his sister. 

Boyhood is truly a cinematic experience as we get to watch the entire cast grow older and once the film is ending you start to feel like these characters are a part of your family too. It sounds cheesy but being able to watch him and his sister interact when they're and when they're 16 gives you the feeling that you watched these kids grow up. Even Arquette and Hawke grow 12 years older and what makes this special is the true ageing of the characters. 

I truly hope Richard Linklater wins the Best Director Oscar for this film because of the immense dedication this took to make. He even had a plan for how to finish the movie if he were to die over this 12 year production (Ethan Hawke would've taken over directorial duties). 

The best part of this movie is its relatability, watching Mason grow up is like watching home videos of yourself growing as he goes through the same trials and tribulations that most of us have. What's surprising about this movie is how much I wanted to watch it again, I thought this would be more like Unbroken where I loved the movie but couldn't see myself watching it much more. This isn't the case with Boyhood, I watched the movie last night and threw it on again today, with how heavy and emotionally investing this movie gets, the fact that I wanted to watch it again so quickly is something special.

Replay Value: 4/5, like I said I'm watching the film a second time in a little under 24 hours, this may because I'm on somewhat of a high from how much I enjoyed the film the first time but I can see myself watching it again, quite a few times. 

Rating: 4.5/5, a fantastic film that had I seen it before I made my Top 10 Movies of 2014 list, definitely would've made the list and possibly pretty high. 

My Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2015

This list was actually a bit harder to compile than my top 10 movies of 2014 was. I tried to use some sort of criteria for this such as I only picked movies that have a current release date for sometime in 2015. Some of the films on this list have little information about them out yet but do have release dates for this year but I'll expand on these movies in the list itself. I also didn't use movies that are coming out within the next couple of weeks such as, Project Almanac, which I'm pretty excited for (even though it's coming out in January). So without further adieu, here are my top 10 most anticipated films of 2015.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Kingsman: The Secret Service, Child 44, Minions, Ant-Man, Straight Outta Compton and Black Mass. These six films are films that I am excited for but not just enough to make it onto this list, Kingsman because it's coming out in the next month, Child 44 because we have no trailer and the April release date worries me as it looks more like an Oscar season movie. Minions looks good but I think it may suffer with the lack of Gru and his daughters, Ant-Man's trailer was mildly underwhelming yet I'll still see it. Straight Outta Compton and Black Mass are movies with interesting plots and good actors but without a trailer for either or even an official movie poster for either, I couldn't put them on my list.

10. In the Heart of the Sea - This film is based on the book of the same name by author Nathaniel Philbrick about the true story that inspired the infamous tale Moby Dick. I'm currently in the middle of the book and so far it's fantastic, if director Ron Howard who I have massive faith in can translate this book into film then I have no doubts that it will be a great movie. Outside of Chris Hemsworth (Thor), there isn't much star power in terms of acting but with Ron Howard at the helm, I don't think that will matter much.
Release Date: December 11

9. Chappie - My excitement for this film is my faith in director Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium). Chappie is a film about artificial intelligence in robots and stars Hugh Jackman and Dev Patel (The Newsroom) and looks to continue Blomkamp's films dealing with high levels of social commentary. If he was not the one directing this, I can't say my level of excitement would be this high but he and the trailer restored my faith.
Release Date: March 6

8. Mad Max: Fury Road - This movie is the prime example of an extremely effective trailer; I had zero interest in this movie when it was announced, despite Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Warrior) being cast in the main role. Fury Road is the fourth film in the Mad Max series all directed by George Miller just as this installment is. This film has the potential to be the Guardians of the Galaxy of 2015 for me, a fun, don't take it so seriously film. Go watch the trailer, it'll pump you up.
Release Date: May 15

7. The Hateful Eight - The biggest reason this film isn't higher on this list is because not much is known about it outside of it's basic plot, director and a few cast members. The eighth film by Quentin Tarantino stars Channing Tatum (22 Jump Street), Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained) and quite a few frequent collaborators of Tarantino. The plot seems similar to that of his last film, Django Unchained with it revolving around post-Civil War bounty hunters in Wyoming. If we had a trailer or anything else to go on, this would be higher up on the list, but we don't.
Release Date: November 13

6. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part II - Even though third books in trilogies being split into two movies are the bane of my existence, I can't deny that I'm incredibly excited for the conclusion of this series. While The Hunger Games series doesn't mean as much to me as the Harry Potter series, I am anxiously awaiting its end. Each film in the series has been better than the one before it and I'm sure once we get a trailer for the film I'll want to re-watch Mockingjay, Part I, if not the entire series.
Release Date: November 20

5. Spectre - Spectre is the 24th James Bond movie and fourth to with star Daniel Craig. What truly excites me about this installment is the villain being played by none other than Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds, Horrible Bosses 2). Waltz has quickly become one of my favorite actors in Hollywood and is at the point where I'm up to see anything that he's in. Spectre is being directed by Sam Mendes, director of Skyfall; so like The Hateful Eight, we don't have a trailer for the film yet but all of the pieces are here for another great Bond film.
Release Date: November 6

4. Jurassic World - While many are skeptical about this movie, and maybe rightfully so, I am very excited for this movie. I loved dinosaurs as a kid and the Jurassic Park series is a definite favorite of mine and with the addition of Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) in a starring role, this movie has the potential to be one of the best of 2015. Director Colin Trevorrow has only one feature length film to his credit (this being the 2012 romantic comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed) Jurassic World is near the top of my anticipated list but it also has a reasonably high possibility of being a disappointment; with only one trailer out, it's hard to tell how this movie truly will turn out.
Release Date: June 12

3. Inside Out - Our first Pixar film since 2013's Monster's University has the potential to be Toy Story or Finding Nemo good; don't believe me? Watch the trailer, preferably the teaser first and then the full trailer to get the best idea of the story. The film deals with the five emotions in our heads and how the interact with each other, similar to 2001's Osmosis Jones, a film who's title I never thought I'd say again. The film has a pretty impressive voice cast and is being done by a team who's previous credits include Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo and Up. The amount of faith I have in this film is outrageous and could possible steal my spot for favorite movie of 2015 by the end of next year.
Release Date: June 19

2. Avengers: Age of Ultron - The sequel to the record shattering The Avengers sets the stakes even higher with one of the more destructive trailers I've seen in a while; imagine almost a cross between the 2014 Godzilla and Iron Man 3 trailers. Ultron, voiced by James Spader (The Blacklist) has the possibility of being the next Loki in terms of a villain being adored by fans. Watch the trailer and tell me you don't get goosebumps, this will be a fantastic movie and a worthy sequel to one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.
Release Date: May 1

1. Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens - Raise your hand if you were surprised at this being at the top spot, no one? Didn't think so. If anyone tells you that this is the most anticipated movie of 2015, they're lying, everyone wants a new Star Wars movie, with or without George Lucas. J.J. Abrams taking over at director may be the best thing for the franchise after the mostly bad prequel trilogy. All that's known about the plot is that it takes place 30 years after Return of the Jedi and even with a short trailer, still no more than that is known. I'm hopeful for a full length trailer after Age of Ultron has been released as Disney wouldn't want to step on their own shoes because even if you get a Star Wars trailer in the previews during Age of Ultron, the world and internet will explode about the trailer and not the film. I could know literally nothing about this movie and it would still take my top spot and I will most likely be doing a full Star Wars marathon right before the movie comes out, partially to pump me up more for Episode VII and partially because I'll take any reason to watch six movies consecutively.
Release Date: December 18

FINAL THOUGHTS: These 10 films are the 10 films that all have the potential to be on my top 10 films of 2015 and I for my sake I hope they do. I also hope that there's a movie that I overlooked that I end up seeing that is a real surprise and knocks one of these 10 off. Since it's only January, not all of the films of 2015 have been announced yet, most Christmas Day and Oscar season movies don't get announced until later in the year and those are always films to consider once the year picks up steam.

So here's to 2015, hopefully we'll get great films, good ones and hopefully not too many stinkers, the latter is inevitable though.

The Top 10 Movies of 2014

2014 overall was a pretty solid year for film. When looked back on I think 2014 will be a year that people look at to see when the indie film industry struck back against the mainstream. Just look at the Best Picture nominations and you can see that the indie/art-house really hit hard this year. This is my top 10 list and admittedly there are some movies that I missed. Boyhood, Birdman, Selma and Whiplash were movies that earned high praise and that I wanted to see but unfortunately I was unable to see these films.

Before we get to the best of list, I wanted to a quick shout out, or in this case a dishonorable mention. What I mean by this is that I want to tell you my least favorite movie of 2014.

Annabelle. Seriously this movie is awful. It took everything about the original film (The Conjuring) that was good and threw it all out the window and made a by the numbers horror movie that wasn't scary in the least nor was it in interesting. For these reasons, Annabelle is my worst film of 2014.

...and now, the real list, my top 10 films of 2014, enjoy!

10. Unbroken – I reviewed this a few weeks back and I loved it. It’s a well-executed movie that is powerful and moving, all that being said, it’s not a movie you watch many times; it’s near 3 hours and incredibly draining just from the magnitude of the story. It’s well acted and looks gorgeous and I really think Angelina Jolie should’ve been nominated for Best Director.

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – 2014 was a hell of a year for Marvel movies and the Captain America sequel kicked it off. The movie straight up kicks ass and is my favorite phase 2 movies of the characters from The Avengers. This movie stepped up the intensity and the magnitude of the stand-alone Marvel movies and is all the better for it.

8. Fury – I didn’t get a chance to review this after I saw it but it was a great movie that was one of the most intense movies out there. Certain scenes in the tank were not only fun to watch but seriously raised my blood pressure. I would consider this to be the Saving Private Ryan of this decade, it’s gritty, gruesome and takes all of the romanticization out of war; plus Brad Pitt kicks ass.

7. As Above, So Below – The only horror movie to crack my top ten in one of the worst year for horror movies in recent memory. There really were only a few good horror movies this year and this was the best of the best. The movie is not only scary but it challenges your mind and goes in directions you wouldn’t think it ever would. It’s definitely a movie that makes you say/think “WTF” quite a few times and somehow, the ending does the whole movie justice.

6. Big Hero 6 – This was the last movie to make the list as it was the last movie I saw. While not a Marvel movie, it’s a Disney-made movie based off of a Marvel comic. This was not only the best family movie of the year it’s the best animated movie of the year (sorry The Lego Movie). This film has great animation and voice work but more importantly, it’s hysterical and has a lot of heart. This is a movie that I actually hope they make a sequel or two because as long as they keep the original cast and hopefully director, this could become a very good series; but as it sits now, it’s a fantastic stand-alone film.

5. 22 Jump Street – Speaking of sequels. Rarely does a sequel do its predecessor justice and even more rare does that happen with sequels. 22 Jump Street somehow manages to capture what was so great about the first movie and capitalizes on it and even surpasses the original. It’s the funniest movie of the year by far partially because it’s a very self-aware movie that knows what it is and doesn’t try to hide it at all.

4. X-Men: Days of Future Past - As said earlier, 2014 was a huge year for Marvel, X-Men, while not under the Marvel license a fantastic movie that attempted to combine the two timelines of X-Men movies we have through time travel while being able to erase the wretched third installment in the original trilogy, X-Men: The Last Stand. This movie was incredibly good and for a little while was able to hold down my pick for best movie of the year.

3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Good god is this movie good. I wasn't sure they'd be able to top Rise of the Planet of the Apes especially with the departure of star James Franco but I was proven wrong. This film focuses much more on the apes, especially the political relationship and struggle between Caesar and and Koba. The movie was a fantastic sequel that surpassed the original film and really excites you for the third and possibly final installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot.

2. Interstellar - This movie. This movie is near 3 hours and the entire time in the theater I was not only on the edge of my seat but I was so beyond interested in the film and where it was going, it was crazy. As a kid I always loved outer space and the universe so to see a movie take what we know about outer space and push through the limits of it was the perfect film for me, especially since it was directed by Christopher Nolan who, if his next movie is just as good as the rest of his resume, may start to creep into my favorite director conversation along with Scorsese and Tarantino. What's truly great about this movie is that in channels your inner child and wonder yet still seems to be grounded in reality which is an incredibly thin line to walk.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy - Like you thought it'd be anything else. This film marks Marvel's fourth appearance on this list which may seem like a lot but this truly was one of their best years in a long time. Guardians was their most ambitious film yet as they chose a comic that not many people read that lacked name recognition with most people. This is also incredibly different from any other Marvel film out there, it's hysterical and most importantly it doesn't take itself too seriously and that's part of what makes this movie great. Another part is that the film really distinguishes itself from every other Marvel movie and brings a freshness to the cinematic universe which is very welcome. If you know me personally, this being my favorite movie of the year should come as no surprise as I couldn't stop talking about it.