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LOSERS

Movies that initially grabbed me because of the poster or reviews, but turned out to be disappointments:

DEEP IN THE DARKNESS- Loved the poster, but unfortunately from an initial good build up, just came to an underwhelming end.[NETFLIX]
AS ABOVE SO BELOW – Another film that started with an interesting premise, but simply squandered it, in a derivative and uninteresting film.
DARK FLOORS – It fails the stupid test, ie ‘Would a rational person do this, given this’. More often than not, most Horror movies, fail the Stupid test. And once you fail that Stupid test a few times, I lose any interest in caring about the protagonist or wanting to finish the movie. 40+ minutes in, leaving your kid, with someone who has already made a threat against your kid, in a survival situation. Who the eff would do that? No one! I’m out![AMAZON/HBO]
THE FOREST – This tale of a missing twin… YAWN. Bored to death in 15 minutes. [AMAZON/HBO]

WINNERS

These films rocked!

LIGHTS OUT aka DANS LE NOIR/IN THE DARK – Loved the short film, and the director managed to knock it out of the park for the feature length version. I’m waiting for a DVD/Blu-Ray with Director’s or cast commentary. That’s how much I liked this film. A solid GREAT.
NO ONE LIVES- This puts a nice little spin on the standard slasher flick, by having the victims be ruthless criminals. I’m not a slasher fan for the simple fact I have no interest in watching bad guys terrorizing young women. But bad guys taking out bad guys, seems a bit more fair to me. And this one has a quality director and is much better made than the typical genre fare.A solid VERY GOOD.
KEANU- This Key and Peele film is surprisingly good. Lots of fun. A solid VERY GOOD.
THE REVENANT – Dicaprio earned all accolades for this role, as does the director, Alejandro G. Inarritu who has proved himself with a handful of films to be one of the best Directors in the world (up there with directors such as Alfonso Cuaron of CHILDREN OF MEN fame). This film is the definition of harrowing, I had to fast forward the middle of the bear scene, I couldn’t watch that, it was that intense and grueling a scene. And the film is one long crawl, that unexpectedly opens up to moments of stark beauty amidst the horror. I do think the film veered a little into self important territory, especially with that ending, but overall it does what it sets out to do. It stuns. Fantastic camera work, makes this a must see. That said it still isn’t in the same league as JERIMIAH JOHNSON from the 1970s. But the REVENANT, minor issues mentioned, is a solid GREAT and MUST SEE.
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS PT 1 – A fantastic and very faithful adaption of the Frank Miller classic. A solid GREAT.
DEADPOOL- I had my doubts about the hype, but the hype was warranted. A solid GREAT.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN DAWN OF JUSTICE – I read quite a few less than stellar reviews of Zack Snyder’s Theatrical version of this film. But finally seen, some wonky bits aside, I thought it was fantastic. Ben Affleck’s BRUCE WAYNE/BATMAN I thought was great, as were all the other actors. I loved Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Luthor. He joins a host of talented actors to portray the character and all of them bring something unique to their take. A solid GREAT! I liked it so much I’m buying the ULTIMATE EDITION which has 30 more minutes and is generally written up as an improvement on the theatrical.
THE CELL- Speaking of great directors, TARSEM SINGH is one of the foremost visualist Directors working today. His films are sumptuous visual feasts. The problem is the stories tend to be lackluster at best. THE CELL marries a basic police procedural, very much Michael Mann’s MANHUNTER in places, to a wacky excuse… to bring in screen filling visuals by Singh. The marriage works, as sporting solid actors, I think it is Singh’s best film to date. If you like THE CELL another visually sumptuous film with surrealist and dream laden imagery to try is RITUAL III. All in all THE CELL is a solid VERY GOOD!
28 DAYS LATER- This pseudo Zombie/Crazies film is just plain good. Some definite parallels to WALKING DEAD in its beginning, complete with the protagonist waking up in a deserted hospital. I quite like it, especially the ending, that flies in the face of the general trend of these movies.
INSIDIOUS III – I was a huge fan of the first INSIDIOUS film, and quite disliked the 2nd film. It was just a misstep, most notably in the useless killing of the character of Elise Rainier played awesomely by Lin Shaye.
Well this film, a prequel corrects this, by putting Lin Shaye’s character very much on the front lines. When she steps up in the third act I loved it. Initially I had my doubts about this film, the stupid kid doing what she has been told not to do, wears thin on me, real quick. Thankfully the film quickly jumps over that and moves at a quick pace to the heart of the story.
And this movie unlike the majority of horror films has actors who can act, and is wonderfully directed/edited. For in a horror movie, like with comedy, timing is everything; and the timing and pacing in this film works wonderfully to deliver the scares. Wonderful end credits. Great music by Joseph Bishara. A solid Very Good.

Insidious: Chapter 3 Movie Poster

Yes I know it is nearly the middle of 2015, but hey I’ve been busy.

And I wanted to do a comprehensive study of other peoples best and worst lists of 2014 to make sure this one wouldn’t repeat the obvious, and offer instead a unique summation.

Think you’ve seen everything of note 2014 had? Well think again. When doing research for this article I determined there was a ton of films in 2014 deserving of a watch; far more than 2015 is offering.

And thanks to streaming you can try before you buy a lot of these titles.

So without further ado:

THE MOST OVERRATED MOVIES of 2014

BABADOOK
SNOWPIERCER
GODZILLA
FORCE MAJEURE
A FIELD IN ENGLAND

THE WORST FILMS of 2014

ENEMY
NYMPHOMANIAC
THE HUNGER GAMES MOCKINGJAY PART !
ABCs OF DEATH 2 – Has a couple of good segments, but largely forgettable
VHS VIRAL
GODZILLA
A FIELD IN ENGLAND
ANNABELLE

OK TO VERY GOOD FILMS of 2014

ROVER
VENUS IN FURS
LOCKE
RAID 2
SABOTAGE
13 SINS
BORGMAN
HOUSE BOUND
I, FRANKENSTEIN
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN (2014) – This one due to phenomenal direction really borders on great, it’s just a weak conclusion that bogs it down
WITCHING & BITCHING

THE BEST FILMS of 2014 –These are the films worth owning in DVD or Blu-Ray

UNDER THE SKIN
CAPTAIN AMERICA : THE WINTER SOLDIER
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
EDGE OF TOMORROW
3 DAYS TO KILL
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT
METRO MANILA
BLUE RUIN

ENJOYABLE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCES of 2014

X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURES PAST
CAPTAIN AMERICA : THE WINTER SOLDIER
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
EDGE OF TOMORROW

AND WRAPPING THIS INSTALLMENT UP, MOVIES STILL ON MY LIST TO SEE

MOOD INDIGO – started watching this, what craziness I saw… so far I like
GONE GIRL – Ben Affleck is a filmmaker I have yet to try. Nor am I in a particular rush to, but I’ll eventually get to this film as well as his THE TOWN.
INHERENT VICE
GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
NIGHTCRAWLER
BIRDMAN
THE LEGO MOVIE
THE IMITATION GAME
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
LOVE IS STRANGE OUT
A WALK AMONG TOMBSTONES
NOAH
TOP FIVE
THE HOMESMAN
INTERSTELLAR
DEVIL’S DUE
AMERICAN HUSTLE
CAPITAL
OMAR
MISS VIOLENCE
STILL LIFE
GRIGRIS
NORTE THE END OF HISTORY
CHILD’S POSE
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE 3D
WHIPLASH
NIGHT MOVES
BOYHOOD
FOXCATCHER
IDA
LUCY
THE MONUMENTS MEN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT
STRANGER ON THE LAKE
JORDOROWSKY’S DUNE
JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING (Que ta joie demure)
THE IMMIGRANT
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
SELMA
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE
NO GOOD DEED
MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN
WINTER SLEEP
STRANGE LITTLE CAT
COLD IN JULY
THE GUEST
IT FOLLOWS
JOHN WICK
THE IMMIGRANT
DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART
LUCY
NON-STOP
NEED FOR SPEED
COHERENCE
BIRD PEOPLE
PROXY
JOE
HERCULES
THE SIGNAL
THE BETTER ANGELS
OPEN WINDOWS
EXPENDABLES 3
CALVARY
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

Thanks To the following sites for bringing some of the above films to my attention. Hope you have found this list helpful, and feel free to shoot me an email or comment with any you think I may have missed. Enjoy! :

http://mountainx.com/movies/2014-at-the-movies-the-best-and-the-worst/
https://2020film.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/the-top-five-most-overrated-movies-of-2014/
http://filmint.nu/?p=14188

http://www.metacritic.com/feature/best-and-worst-films-of-2014?page=2