30 Movies for 2014

[Calamity Panfan]

Movies 3/30
Frozen - 1/3/14 - 9/10
Space Jam - 1/5/14 - 50/10
Despicable Me 2 - 1/6/14 - 7/10

[Heroine of the Dragon]

Movies 2/30
Robots - 6/1/14 - 7/10
Frozen - 7/1/14 - 9.5/10

[Deepfake]

1. Real Steel - This was good, although somewhat predictable. Creative use of effects, believable characters, well-paced. Could do without the boxing movie montage cliche, but they use it because it works. Apparently we don't need to see successes anymore, eh? Good photography.

2. Man of Steel - Not bad for a Superman film, didn't see all of the character flaws everyone's getting up in arms about. Handled the concept of Superman fighting equally superpowered nutjobs pretty well. Handled the whole Christ allegory well. Lacked the character building necessary to really draw out empathy. Special effects were sometimes good and sometimes looked like they were a decade out of date (mostly during flying/fighting). Good photography, again.

3. Pacific Rim - This had a rubbish premise, but you know that going in. It didn't have much plot but the characters and the action were great. A lot of unnecessary closeups for the 3D audience.

4. Olympus Has Fallen - Barely feasible premise for a very serious film, but overall good stuff with solid action. Not really "Die Hard in the White House" like people are saying, more like Rambo in the White House with a lot of nods to Die Hard. Decent characters and better actors who deserved better roles. Could've sworn the protag was a de-aged Stallone. Clearly could've used a higher fx budget in terms of CGI, although they made good use of what they had considering most of the stuff had to be CGI (you don't get to shoot up the whitehouse, and mansions cost a hell of a lot to build and wreck).

5. Elysium - Hardcore sci-fi with a westcoast gangland theme. Solid premise past the initial leap of faith, the technology seemed generally practical and the special effects were brilliant.

I'll just keep up with the ones I've watched, sorry but no dates or numbered ratings.

[Softguitar]

Movies 3/30
A Beautiful Mind - 1/1/14 - 9/10
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 - 1/4/14 - 7/10
Don Jon - 1/7/14 - 6/10

I actually liked Meatballs better than Don Jon.

[Calamity Panfan]

Movies 4/30
Frozen - 1/3/14 - 9/10
Space Jam - 1/5/14 - 50/10
Despicable Me 2 - 1/6/14 - 7/10
Face/Off - 1/7/14 - 8.5/10

[Deepfake]

6. RED - This was great. Enjoyable characters, awesome cast (John Malkovich! and he's still brilliant!), likable plot. Good action all around.
7. RED 2 - Also good, still brilliant characters albeit less exciting with less relevant introductions. Awesome cast, again. Lacks a little something from the first movie, probably due to lack of introduction to the established characters, the plot was a little dry, but still very entertaining.
8. The Hunger Games - Very impressed with the mood and the handling of controversial themes. Interesting fantasy world, very Aeon Flux (the show, not the film) derivative in its handling of the Capitol's bizarre excess, which is an unusual and welcome source of inspiration. Overall, the characters could've used more development, but the tone received the most emphasis and it definitely earns a nod.
9. The Lone Ranger - This lacks the range of character of the Pirates of the Carribean, but it is also more grounded. It is a strange attempt at bringing some dignity to the otherwise weak source, and it was overall likeable. I do not see why it was so disliked in the theater, save that perhaps too much atrocity is caused by the protagonist's unwillingness to pull a trigger when he could have (and when the law fully allowed for it). Only real criticism of the film's execution comes from a few beyond-believable action sequences (dropping 80+ feet into a train car full of stone would kill a man, easily) and the low-brow toilet humor.

[Scarecrow]

2/30

Frozen 7/1/14 - 9/10
Perfect Victims 9/1/14 - 5/10

[Spritedude]

I'm gonna go AI's route and post quick reviews of the movies.

1. Wolf of Wall Street - (8.5/10) Similar to A Clockwork Orange, it's about a very unlikable but incredibly interesting character and depicts criminal and excessive acts in shocking ways. For being 3 hours long, the movie stays energetic and entertaining throughout, and it's worth watching for DiCaprio's performance alone.

2. Pulp Fiction - (10/10) One of my favorite movies. The movie is very dialogue-heavy, but you never care since the writing and acting are so phenomenal. The story and non-linear plot is great, the characters are interesting, the cinematography and editing are absolutely perfect. It's undisputedly one of the best films of all time, what more can I say?

3. Cat in the Hat - (3/10) I'll admit, this is one of my guilty pleasures. It's an unbelievably bad movie, but a lot of quotes from the movie have become in-jokes between me and my friends, so I can't help but laugh when I watch it. "You're not just wrong, you're stupid. And you're ugly, just like your mum."

4. Elysium - (8/10) I was a big fan of District 9, so I expected something similar when I watched Elysium. I can't say it lived up to my expectations, but for an action sci-fi movie, it sure delivered. The CGI, like District 9, is among the most realistic I've even, the action was great, and Sharlto Copley's character was pretty dang awesome, easily the best part of the movie. The only gripe I really have is that the heavy accents of some of the characters were a little hard to understand at times.

[CaptHayfever]

My scores are just gonna be on-the-fly estimates.

Movies: 1/30
Cloud Atlas (10 Jan) - 8/10

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Calamity Panfan]

Movies 5/30
Frozen - 1/3/14 - 9/10
Space Jam - 1/5/14 - 50/10
Despicable Me 2 - 1/6/14 - 7/10
Face/Off - 1/7/14 - 8.5/10
Man of Steel - 1/9/14 - I still don't know how I feel about this movie. 7? 7.5? 6.5? 6? Somewhere around there

[Apollo the Just]

3/30

Tokyo Godfathers - 9/10

only reason it's not 10/10 is it's not httyd2

----

wait do re-watches count b/c if so i also saw the room again which is like a billion out of ten [positive or negative depending on perspective]

[Bomby]

Movies 2/30

Tokyo Story - 6 January 2014 - 11.5/10
Elysium - 11 January 2014 - 7/10

[ZeldaGirl]

I'm in, though I hardly watch movies, so we'll see how this goes...

3/30 movies thus far...

Jiro Dreams of Sushi - 1/3/14 - 7.5/10
The Hunger Games - 1/5/14 - 8/10
Frozen - 1/10/13 - 9/10

[Heroine of the Dragon]

Movies 3/30
Robots - 6/1/14 - 7/10
Frozen - 7/1/14 - 9.5/10
The Cat Returns - 13/1/14 - 8/10

[Spritedude]

5. Lone Survivor - (8.5/10) I honestly went in expecting a jingoistic propaganda film, but I was surprised, this was a pretty decent war movie. The combat and violence was well done and felt disturbingly real, and thankfully it doesn't try to preach to you about which side is right or what country is the best. Like Saving Private Ryan, it just shows you the things that happen in war as they are. My only complaint is that the main characters maybe could've been developed a bit more.

6. The Mask - (7/10) Great concept for a character, good cartoonish and occasionally dark humor, and Jim Carrey. What more could you ask for?

[b l a n k]

Up to 2/30:

Wordplay (Creadon, 2006), 1-2-14 – 10/10
Annie Hall (Allen, 1977), 1-13-14 – 586/10

[Softguitar]

Movies 4/30
A Beautiful Mind - 1/1/14 - 9/10
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 - 1/4/14 - 7/10
Don Jon - 1/7/14 - 6/10
Kiki's Delivery Service - 1/16/14 - 9/10 (That Miyazaki...)

[Calamity Panfan]

Movies 6/30
Frozen - 1/3/14 - 9/10
Space Jam - 1/5/14 - 50/10
Despicable Me 2 - 1/6/14 - 7/10
Face/Off - 1/7/14 - 8.5/10
Galaxy Quest - 1/14/14 - 8/10
How to Train Your Dragon - 1/16/14 - 9/10

[Softguitar]

Movies 5/30
A Beautiful Mind - 1/1/14 - 9/10
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 - 1/4/14 - 7/10
Don Jon - 1/7/14 - 6/10
Kiki's Delivery Service - 1/16/14 - 9/10
Frozen - 1/18/14 - 9/10

[Spritedude]

7. Pacific Rim - (7.5/10) As long as you accept the fact that this movie is nothing but an excuse to watch giant robots fight giant monsters, then this is a very entertaining and fun movie. The action is awesome and easy to follow, a lot more than the Transformers movies, the effects are good, and the designs of the robots and monsters are pretty cool. I can't say everything in the movie makes total sense (why didn't they use the sword earlier, etc.), but the movie knows what it wants to be, and does it well.

8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - (6/10) Eh. It's your typical PG-13 action flick with international espionage and Russian bad guys and whatnot. It did just enough to keep me interested, and the few action scenes were fun, but it doesn't do anything new or extraordinary.