Best and Worst Films of 2014

Ah, it's the middle of June 2015 so obviously it's time for my lists of the Best and Worst Films of 2014. Ahem. Getting on with it then and to quote Filth: “same rules apply”, i.e. a film is classified as “2014” if it had its mainstream UK release in that year and that the ten best films are an heterogeneous collective that should have something in there for most peeps to enjoy (plus honourable mentions to Dallas Buyers Club, The Babadook and Paddington that didn’t quite make the cut). Though the eagle-eyed amongst you may spot that Whiplash didn’t get a full UK release until January 2015, but as it was the first film I’ve ever given full marks to out of over five hundred different reviews it deserves it’s place as 2014’s brightest shining light. Looking over the top ten list its good to see the majority of films are (relatively speaking, of course) low budget productions meaning that perhaps the battle against Marvel, Michael Bay etc. isn't lost yet. Finally, The Golden Bug was the worst film I saw all year, but in sticking to the rules, as I actually walked out well before the end I can’t honestly say I can give it a full review.........

Best Films of 2014
1) Whiplash
2) Edge Of Tomorrow
3) Blue Ruin
4) Begin Again
5) Starred Up
6) Nightcrawler
7) Guardians Of The Galaxy
8) Birdman
9) The Imitation Game
10) 12 Years A Slave

Worst Films of 2014
1) A Million Ways To Die In The West
2) Transformers: Age Of Extinction
3) Lucy
4) Noah
5) The Inbetweeners 2
6) The Expendables 3
7) Robocop
8) The Book Thief
9) The Monuments Men
10) Fury

Round Up of 2014, Part Three: The Judge / The Drop / The Maze Runner / St Vincent / Gone Girl

Right let’s shoot through this final round up and if David Dobkin's new film (The Judge) is anything like his last film (the atrocious The Change-Up), then this first review shouldn’t take much time at all. Dobkin’s drama has Hank (Robert Downey Jr), a successfully smarmy attorney, return from the big city to his small home town on hearing that his mother has passed away. Whilst there he knocks heads with his father Joseph (Robert Duvall), a respected local Judge, and eventually ends up defending him in court when Joseph is accused for killing someone in a hit and run. There’s some good moments here (at one point Downey Jr and Duvall have a great verbal set to), but they’re few and far between and you’ll spend the whole film wondering how Dobkin and the casting agent thought it was credible to have people believe that Downey Jr, Vincent D'Onofrio and Jeremy Strong are all brothers (no, seriously). You just know this isn’t going to grip you when the courtroom scenes are ruined by a soppy soundtrack and Dobkin not even giving Billy Bob Thornton (as “Dwight Dickham” – seriously, who comes up with these names?) free reign to ham it up as a rival solicitor. The father / son part aside, this is basically Gross Pointe Blank, but with lawyers, less guns and a lot less fun. Talking of not much fun (for the characters in this case), Michaël R. Roskam’s The Drop is based in New York, concerns family and secrets, and is written by Dennis Lehane. I think you can conjure up the rest for yourself. For added info though, Tom Hardy plays Bob (though clearly not at the age yet where anyone would call a Robert, “Bob”), a bartender in a Brooklyn bar through which dirty money passes. A robbery gone wrong later and Bob finds himself involved in an investigation he’d rather not be, whilst at the same time trying to woo local girl Nadia (Noomi Rapace) and not falling foul of her intimidating ex Eric (Matthias Schoenaerts). In reality there isn’t anything here you haven’t seen before, but there’s a few nice twists and good turns from all the main leads. Though I still can’t tell, following Schoenaerts’ performances of few words in Rust and Bone and Bullhead, whether he’s actually a good actor or not (see “Mark Whalberg” for further details). Talking of things you’ve seen before here comes Theodore Melfi’s directorial debut St Vincent. Bill Murray stars as the eponymous character, a rude hedonistic Vietnam vet who by some plot machinations finds himself baby sitting the timid son of his new next door neighbour (Melissa McCarthy). Now can you guess what happens next? If you think its “Does Vincent teach the son how to be a man and the son teach Vincent not to be such a horrible git”? you don’t even win a prize – it’s just too obvious. That isn’t to say this is a bad film mind. It’s good to see McCarthy expanding her range into more dramatic territory and Naomi Watts is great fun as Vincent’s bonkers Russian “friend”. Melfi’s script and direction is economic enough that you don’t really notice any low or high points, but people who don’t worship the cult of Murray will probably best be advised to steer clear. Plus, any fans of singer-songwriter Annie Clark will be bitterly disappointed (a gag for the yoof there). Moving on we have another directorial debut with Wes Ball’s The Maze Runner (and if that isn’t a title for I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’s sound charades round I don’t know what is), which is, wait for it, a science fiction dystopian action thriller drama – for kids! Well, young adults. Yep, we’re into the latest release for teenagers along the lines of The Hunger Games, Divergent et al. This time we have a group of teenage boys living in “The Glade”, an enclosed exterior environment, in which they have been deposited for reasons unknown and from which they can only escape by trying their luck in a huge and deadly every changing maze that surrounds them. You want a mash-up? Lets say the TV Series Lost v Vincenzo Natali’s Cube. Though the premise is old hat now (subjugated teenagers v shadowy governments / unseen forces) the target audience will lap this up. It doesn’t really crossover into full attention grabbing entertainment for adults, but if you do see the film (young or not so young) Ball does pull off the nifty tricky of having a payoff that leaves you wanting to see the next instalment. Finally we have David Fincher’s latest, Gone Girl, based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn (who provides scripting duties here). GG is one of those films where the entertainment value correlates with how much you know beforehand as the film pivots on a twist half-way through. The high-end overview is that one day Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) comes home from work and discovers his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is AWOL. The police and media get involved and before long the finger of suspicion is pointing in Nick’s direction. I’ll leave it there story wise. Overall this has plenty going for it. On the acting front Affleck is solid, but it’s the usually (relatively) bland Pike who pulls out all the stops here. Clearly relishing her chance to show off her chops as one of the leads in a major production she gives a cracking turn showing hitherto versatility. In fact the whole film is nicely cast with, get this, even Tyler Perry providing great fun as Nick’s laid back wise-cracking solicitor. As this is Fincher the direction is visually spot on and the whole film has a stylish sheen to it. Where it starts to fall apart is the actual story which doesn’t grip as it should (not helped by a poor ending) and there are plot holes galore. In addition the tone is all over the place. Fincher is hardly known for his sense of humour (though his films do have a number of genuinely funny (usually black) moments), but here it's hard to tell if we should be taking the whole shebang seriously or not (the films only real scene of shocking violence is as bonkers as it is bloody). Usually a director of such stock as Fincher would mean his film would have it’s own separate review, but, including this, three of his last four films suggest he isn’t operating at full throttle at the moment. Let’s hope his rediscovers some of his old mojo next time round. The Judge Rating: 5/10. The Drop Rating: 7/10. Runner Rating: 6/10. Vincent Rating: 7/10. Girl Rating: 7/10.