Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: 100 Films of 2014 (20-11)

Bottom Ten | 90-71 | 70-51 | 50-36 | 35-21

So this is even later getting up here than I intended, considering the Oscars were last night and I've yet to write the post for the Top 10. The truth is that I grossly underestimated how much effort it would be to write even just a couple paragraphs for 100 films. By the time I had finished the first 80 I was writing about, I'm pretty certain my mind was fried like an egg. For my own sanity, I had to back away from the keyboard for a while. In the meantime, the usual things (especially work) got in the way, and it made it difficult to write last week. If I were shooting for timeliness with these posts I would have missed the mark.

But I'm not doing this for the hits (although I'd appreciate it if you click through and read on). I'm doing this because I have some things to say about the films I saw. Well, about 45-50 of them or so. The rest I see as an exercise to figure out how to say "eh, it was OK, I guess" in the form of two paragraphs.

Unlike last year, there aren't any clear favorites in my top 20. I'm pretty confident that my top 10 is my top 10, but there's a pretty good chance any of these could be #11, or even higher, depending upo which one I've seen most recently. We start with a film that should have won more than one Oscar, a film that was literally more than a decade in the making.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: 100 Films of 2014 (35-21)

We're almost 2/3 of the way through the list, as we count down the next fifteen films. There's a lot of variety here, from two wonderful sci-fi films of completely opposite sizes, a lovely animated film, and a film where a person turns into a sparrow. First off is the first of two MCU entries on this list.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: 100 Films of 2014 (50-36)

Bottom Ten | 90-71 | 70-51

We've passed the half way point in the hundred movies of 2014, and from here the groups get a bit smaller. Instead of 20 at a time, we'll go through 15 on the next two lists. Now that we're done with that piece of housecleaning, on to the next batch!

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: 100 Films of 2014 (70-51)

To see the Bottom Ten, click here.

For 90-71, click here.

No need for any sort of introduction, here are the next twenty movies on the list.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: 100 Films of 2014 (90-71)

This next set of twenty films is kind of a transition zone between the ten movies at the bottom of this list, which I didn't really care for, and the top 70% of the list, which on the whole I liked a good deal.  Up first is a film that kind of is the divider line between the Bottom Ten, and this transitional group.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: 2014 Films, The Bottom Ten

Ayyy! Where's a jukebox I can pound?

Every list has to have an end to it. While the movies at the bottom of my list are not that good of movies, each one still had some elements which made them better than a complete waste of time. No, the movies that were complete wastes of time were not films that I happened to see. These were the ones that stunk from afar and needed no viewing to confirm their lack of quality. Instead, most of these movies sitting here at the bottom of my 2014 in film suffer from a lack of proper execution, little reason to exist beyond the potential for franchise dollars, or just a wild mismatch in tone. Without further adieu, here's the infamous ten.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: 2014 in Review

San Fransokyo, winner of the Best Fictional City Award for 2014.

One hundred films.

During my "2014 Film Year"* I saw 100 films from 2014**. Most were in the theater, but many were through Netflix, Amazon Streaming, and even a couple via iTunes. I never intended to watch this many films, it just kind of happened because of a few reasons.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: Wild

Because Wild focuses on a long distance hiker, we felt that this would be a good opportunity for a cross-posted review on our hiking blog Red Faces, White Blazes. We liked the film, and (SPOILER ALERT) it will certainly make another appearance when Andrew's favorites of the year. Where? You'll just have to wait and see.

Verdict: Strongly Recommend

The DVD Case Pantheon: The World's End

Spoiler Warning: If you don't want to be spoiled for the big twist, watch this film first, then read on.

I'm kind of a late comer to the Edgar Wright fan club. I was aware of Shaun of the Dead when it came out, and heard the reviews, but as I'm not much of a zombie fan I didn't make any effort to see it*. Being that I was a late comer to checking out british TV shows, I didn't jump on the Spaced bandwagon until relatively recently. My first real appreciation for his work was when I went to see Hot Fuzz, unaware of what I was getting into. The result was one of my favorite movies of 2007, which is saying something as that is one of my favorite years of movies. Three years later came Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which again made my top ten for that year.  By then Edgar Wright was on my "must see" list, along with The Coen Brothers and the Andersons Wes and P.T.**

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the few movies I've had the luxury of seeing on opening night - the theater was only half full, despite the hype built up around the movie, and the advanced screening worked well with my schedule. It's a shame more people didn't turn out (not that the movie needed any help making money elsewhere, mind you) because for every empty seat, someone missed one heck of a movie.

Image property of Marvel Studios

Guardians, written and directed by St. Louis' own James Gunn, is a somewhat obscure property of Marvel's that frankly a lot of fans are surprised even made it past development hell and into full production, let alone ranking a 92% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I mean, a talking raccoon? Come on guys, you can't be serious.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: Snowpiercer

Note: The bulk of this post will be fashioned after one of my favorite scenes from the film. It won't really be a spoiler per se, but it might be too close for comfort for some people. Also, it might make very little sense to you. Therefore, the first paragraph will be a very boring but concise review of the film.

In short, Snowpiercer is one of my favorite experiences at a movie theater ever. The action is taut and exciting, the sharp contrast in colors between the rebelling people from the end of the train and the vibrant colors displayed by those farther up the train is impressive. The story is fairly crisp and fun to follow. Best of all are the performances. Chris Evans, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, Song Kang-ho, Go Ah-sung, Jamie Bell, and others do a wonderful job in their roles. Tilda Swinton is great as the "Great Engineer" Wilford's chief stooge, and Allison Pill damn near steals the show. See this film, preferably in a theater if you can.

OK NOW ON TO THE "REAL POST". DON'T CONTINUE UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN THE MOVIE, OR AREN'T BOTHERED BY KNOWING DETAILS ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IN A MOVIE.

Summer Movie Reviews, Part One

Look, I intended to write about many many movies this spring and (now) summer, but things just didn't go that way. I will be writing about Under the Skin and Noah as promised, but not right now. Why? Well first off, they aren't summer films. Secondly, the former is so good (and strange) and the latter is so off the charts weird (and at times good) that they deserve their own posts. So keep watching for them. Also not included in this batch is Muppets Most Wanted, because there's little to write about it save for it being a very light, mostly forgettable, but still enjoyable adventure with the old familiar Muppets.

Into Troubled Waters: Season Four of Game of Thrones Ends

SPOILER WARNING: I'm gonna be talking a lot about things that have happened on the show, and vaguely hinting at things to come based upon the remaining two books yet to be adapted. If you haven't caught up, and don't want to read between the lines about potential future events, please save this for another day.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

It's hard to pin down why The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is so inessential. After all, Andrew Garfield is a damn good Spider-man, and Emma Stone is great as Gwen Stacy. Sally Field is a good Aunt May, and Paul Giamatti is fun (if underused) as Rhino. It looks gorgeous, with none of the effects problems that plagued even the best of the Raimi bunch. It even has one of the best scenes in the five Spider-Man movies*. It's a movie that is the lesser sum of its parts, and I'm not sure why.

A few words on "The Lion and the Rose"

****SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES ARE FOUND BELOW****

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: Captain America: the Winter Soldier

Somehow, a miracle has happened and I have seen a movie and written a review for it a semi-timely manner. I actually had the pleasure of viewing Captain America: the Winter Soldier in theaters on Friday. I knew I'd probably procrastinate in writing this review so I actually wrote down my major talking points on a piece of paper. Score one for organization!

Marvel Studios/Screenrant.com

The second installment of the Captain America movie franchise certainly delivered on the hype generated from the trailers. As opposed to being a true superhero movie where the action is focused on Captain America kicking ass in the name of Freedom in all his costumed glory, the film felt more like a spy thriller. Steve Rogers, the man out of time himself, finds himself working for S.H.I.E.L.D. (the security force behind the Avenger's Initiative, headed by Director Nick Fury) and questioning his place in this new generation of military involvement. The movie has a darker tone overall to what we're used to with the Marvel Movie-verse experience, in large part due to the fact that a good portion of the film lends itself to uncovering plots and motives.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: The Grand Budapest Hotel

The general understanding about Wes Anderson films tend to focus on the precise nature of his scenes. There is rarely any prop, any background, or any actor in the wrong place. The dialogue is written precisely, the music is perfectly chosen, and even the text on the screen is rendered in just the right font. The "Wes Anderson style" is distinct and instantly recognizable, as can be seen in this fake movie trailer from Saturday Night Live.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: Bad Words

First there was Bad Santa, and it was a pretty great film. Then came Bad Teacher, which had its moments, but wasn't anywhere as good as Bad Santa. Finally, there is Bad Words, a movie starring, directed, produced, and catered* by Bateman. It's his directing debut, but is far from the debut of the typical Jason Bateman "smarm" character, even if he's more of a potty mouth than Michel Bluth ever was. While I only enjoyed parts of the film, I would like to see how Director Jason Bateman does going forward, as I think he has some promise.

Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: The Wind Rises

I must admit that I am a late-comer to the Miyazaki appreciation club. You have to look at the other writer on this blog for a more in depth and well thought out overview of his work, as she has seen many more of his movies than I have. I suppose it is fitting that The Wind Rises is supposedly his last work, as it is the first one I've had an opportunity to see in a theater. And let me tell you, it was well worth it.

The Oscars Recap: Better Late Than Never

You know, I almost didn't do a recap this year. Work has been busy this week, and Monday night I just didn't feel like writing anything. However, I have more energy tonight, I have thoughts to share on the event capping one of my favorite years of movies, and I didn't do that 24 hour Best Picture marathon for nothing, damnit*.