Here are the movies that came in at #60 – #51 on my complete movie list for 2014. At the rate I’m going, this list could carry on into February but I digress. Let’s just continue.
60. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The turtles personalities seem to be spot on from what I remember (which might not be all that credible). Michelangelo was clearly the standout of the group. He brought most of the laughs even when they showed the turtles in flashback scenes. The elevator scene when the turtles just randomly start making a beat was clearly the funniest scene of the whole movie. I just would of liked to have seen more (visible) action and for the freakin’ camera to zoom out and stop shaking on some scenes. I know I’m not crazy when I say Jonathan Liebesman or whoever was in front of the camera accidentally had the camera zoomed in a little too much at times. Also, Megan Fox is lucky she is beautiful because her performance seemed at times very expressionless that even Kristen Stewart’s ‘Twilight‘ performances started to creep into my memory while watching the movie.
59. That Awkward Moment
A movie with my guys Zac Efron and Michael B. Jordan starring in it should be much higher on a personal list of mine. Unfortunately it isn’t though (obviously). The movie just wasn’t that funny. Miles Teller’s style of humor just couldn’t bring the abundance of laughs they were hoping for. I still enjoyed the movie though.
58. A Haunted House 2
I admit I really enjoyed ‘A Haunted House’ so I kind of had high hopes for the sequel. Unfortunately it just ended up
being a lot more stupid the second time around (and that’s saying a lot coming from me and my super childish humor). I’m not even going to lie, I still laughed at a lot of the dumb shenanigans that was going on but I also was annoyed at the same time because I felt the movie constantly taking a step back from my (too high) projections for it.
57. Get On Up
Chadwick Boseman’s turn as James Brown was great but I have to agree with other critics that the movie itself couldn’t keep up with his on point performance. While still a good film, it did come with many flaws. Some being the weird jump moments from different times in his life, and the film giving off the feeling of it rushing through his history and trying to get in as much as possible. Also, I feel that not enough of his popular songs were focused on. I mean yeah they showed him perform them but I would have liked to see how some of the songs came to be created and the instant impact they had on the music industry and world at the time.
56. The Skeleton Twins
I expected a much better movie from one that starred two funny individuals in Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. I’m not saying it wasn’t good because it most definitely was but it just didn’t reach its potential by a lot. And it was a dark comedy that I felt kind of kept taking the easy way out and ended up drifting into softer territory. I know I sound crazy because the movie had some moments that dealt with suicide but that’s just how I feel. I do often admit I’m a sick individual so this isn’t breaking news. Maybe I just have to give it a rewatch because maybe I wasn’t fully focused, who knows.
55. What If
The movie was a nice little romantic comedy that was very predictable. Daniel Radcliffe did a good job trying to flex his acting chops and create what seemed like an awkward relationship with Zoe Kazan’s character Chantry. The wrinkle in their evident future relationship, which was Chantry already had a boyfriend and her and Radcliffe’s character Wallace would be just friends, would have been a cool idea if the movie would of made that fact cause more of a problems in what they did together. Yeah it was always brought up but without the actual said boyfriend being around a lot of the movie, the idea didn’t seem to be used to its best potential. Also, Adam Driver brought some humor to the movie as he’s starting to be known to do. I can’t wait to see (what I’m going to guess is) a different side of him in the forthcoming ‘Star Wars VII‘…yeah I just had to throw that out there.
54. Kill The Messenger
The story of Gary Webb’s rise and then quick fall from journalism grace was interesting to see. The end felt like a letdown in a away. I believe that feeling comes from wanting to see more of Webb’s spiral into what seemed like a looming depression that ultimately led to his suicide. Jeremy Renner was excellent as Webb. Wasn’t his best performance, in my opinion (that would be his role in ‘The Town’), but he still carried the movie and made the movie more interesting than it would have probably been otherwise.
53. The Purge: Anarchy
A step up from the first one. I wanted them to do this premise in the first one because it had room for way more
violence, action and just plain utter chaos. While this entry was better, it still hasn’t lived up to its true potential. With such a ruthless, sick concept things that people are doing should just be extremely sick and twisted. I would like to see another sequel because I see it inching closer to its potential. Or since Blumhouse loves low budget movies, money might play apart in why this movie series might not ever reach the quality it should be at.
52. Hercules
The action was entertaining and if some more blood and gore was shown, it could have easily been rated R but that’s not the point. The point is it was an entertaining film throughout; Simple as that. I will say that the part where Hercules screams, “I AM HERCULES!!!!!!!” did make me cringe a little seeing how it leans on the corny side just a little bit.
51. Into The Storm
This ended up being a much better movie than I expected. The visual effects were done well and the characters were, for the most part, some individuals I wouldn’t mind making it through such a terrible weather event with. I couldn’t stand the fact that the tornado chasers in the movie kept trying to get right in the middle of the path of the tornadoes though. I have to say, that job is very stupid in my opinion.
My 2014 Complete Movie List: #70 – #61 | My 2014 Complete Movie List: #50 – #41
(Photo Credit: Furnace Films; Jethro Simes – http://themodernmage.com/review/a-haunted-house; Eric Kohn – http://www.indiewire.com/article/review-why-the-purge-anarchy-is-this-summers-essential-guilty-pleasure-20140716)
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