Best of 2014: Film

Best of 2014: Film

Unfortunately some films did not make it to theaters in this area by the deadline for this article. To name a couple, Inherent Vice and Fox Catcher both look wonderful, but these films will not be included. One of the downfalls of living in Fayetteville, but some great movies did make their way to the area this year.

SnowpiercerBest Action: Snowpiercer

A lot of great action films were released in 2014, but Snowpiercer was by far the most original action film delivering a great story on top of very well-thought-out action sequences. One reason this film is great is that it doesn’t care about creating a franchise. This creates real stakes for the characters, because you really have no idea who will survive. This is certainly a breath of fresh air considering the seemingly endless supply of super hero movies where you go in knowing Captain America, Wolverine, or whoever else will save the day.

GrandBudapestHotelBest Comedy: Grand Budapest Hotel

By now, you know what you are getting with a Wes Anderson movie. A star-studded cast, a color palette you might find in your grandmothers kitchen, and slow motion shots that would make Martin Scorsese foam at the mouth are all quintessential components of a Wes Anderson film. If you like Anderson’s body of work then you will love this film. If not, 22 Jump Street was also hilarious, so watch that instead.

Boyhood-posterBest Drama: Boyhood

I feel bad for Michael Keaton, because if it wasn’t for a gimmicky asshole named Richard Linklater then Birdman would be the best drama of the year. Gimmicks aside, Linklater’s choice to film a coming-of-age story about a boy growing up in Texas during the span of 12 years was brilliant. Not only was this film the best drama of the year, but, for me, this was the best film of the year.

LegoMovieBest Animation: Lego Movie

I thought this movie was going to annoy the living hell out of me, but I ended up seeing this damn thing twice. Yeah, I know, this movie is essentially a giant advertisement for a toy company, but who cares, because this movie was heartfelt, hilarious, and managed to use Shaquille O’neil in an effective way for the first time in his acting career.

TuskMovieHorror: Tusk

So, 2014 was a very mundane year for horror fans. Thank God Kevin Smith made the weirdest movie of the year to provide some energy to the genre. I won’t really say anything about this movie, other than it’s this year’s Spring Breakers, because the movie is so damn weird you just need to see it to believe it. You might think I’m bluffing, but trust me, this movie will make your skin crawl, and if it doesn’t then there might be something wrong with you.

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