It's Back: Exceelent Movies I've Seen Lately

[Teenwolf]

Top 10 Films of 2014

1 - The Guest - Similar to Borgman, but with the more standard Universal Soldier medical experimentation type of explanation as to why the invader does what he does.

2 - Willow Creek - Bobcat Goldthwait proves his incredible range with this found footage horror film about tracking bigfoot. Sounds lame, turns out to be awesome.

3 - Boyhood - Loved this movie, and didn't even notice nearly 3 hours fly by.

4 - Blue Ruin - I normally don't care for dramas, but this revenge story of a broken man is well done.

5 - The Purge 2: Anarchy - I avoid most big budget hollywood stuff, unless it's about crazy political satire or commentary, like last year's super crazy Captain America 2. The plot is one of the dumbest things put out there since the 80's shlock heyday, but if you allow yourself the luxury of going with it, very enjoyable.

6 - Borgman - Subtitled home invasion movie about an intruder who manipulates a family, but with ambiguous motivations, as he appears to be an alien/creature/other that is trying to invade. Dense and artsy at times, but super intriguing, and reveals enough by the end to leave you satisfied. Not like your typical weirdo Lynch/Cronenberg head-trip. More satisfying.

7 - Proxy - Crazy plot twists, extreme violence and disturbing characters, but mostly just more and more CRAZY PLOT TWISTS. It's been a long time since I've had my jaw on the floor because of such writing as opposed to the horror and violence of a movie. This managed all of the above.

8 - Delivery: The Beast Within - Another found footage horror, of which 90% are forgettable wastes of time, this one is in a tier above the rest. The ending is nuts, and it explains any lingering doubts or questions that you've been asking up to that point.

9 - The Sacrament - The stylish documentary style found footage in this one make sense, as our main characters are photo journalists working for VICE. Pretty obvious chain of events takes place, but insight into the cult is fun, and the main villain is interesting.

10 - Lyle - Yet another pregnancy horror. This one stars Gaby Hoffman, who is awesome, in a nearly direct remake of Rosemary's Baby. This similar story is used to subvert audience expectations, and Hoffman is good enough to pull us through. Also, it's only a little over 1 hour long, so the pacing is nice and tight.

Honorable mentions: Lucy, Honeymoon, Oculus, Escape From Tomorrow, Carrie/Robocop remakes

Notable films, not yet watched: Nightcrawler, Night Moves, The Babadook, Under The Skin, Snowpiercer, Birdman, Inherent Vice

[Controller Jacobs]

Took my daughter to Big Hero 6. It was terrific. Fantastic animation (especially the city itself), and outside of a couple deus ex machina clunks, the core story was very good.

[Friarfan]

Took my daughter to Big Hero 6. It was terrific. Fantastic animation (especially the city itself), and outside of a couple deus ex machina clunks, the core story was very good.

How old is your daughter? Will a 3.5 year old like it?

[Friarfan]

Top 10 Films of 2014

1 - The Guest - Similar to Borgman, but with the more standard Universal Soldier medical experimentation type of explanation as to why the invader does what he does.

2 - Willow Creek - Bobcat Goldthwait proves his incredible range with this found footage horror film about tracking bigfoot. Sounds lame, turns out to be awesome.

3 - Boyhood - Loved this movie, and didn't even notice nearly 3 hours fly by.

4 - Blue Ruin - I normally don't care for dramas, but this revenge story of a broken man is well done.

5 - The Purge 2: Anarchy - I avoid most big budget hollywood stuff, unless it's about crazy political satire or commentary, like last year's super crazy Captain America 2. The plot is one of the dumbest things put out there since the 80's shlock heyday, but if you allow yourself the luxury of going with it, very enjoyable.

6 - Borgman - Subtitled home invasion movie about an intruder who manipulates a family, but with ambiguous motivations, as he appears to be an alien/creature/other that is trying to invade. Dense and artsy at times, but super intriguing, and reveals enough by the end to leave you satisfied. Not like your typical weirdo Lynch/Cronenberg head-trip. More satisfying.

7 - Proxy - Crazy plot twists, extreme violence and disturbing characters, but mostly just more and more CRAZY PLOT TWISTS. It's been a long time since I've had my jaw on the floor because of such writing as opposed to the horror and violence of a movie. This managed all of the above.

8 - Delivery: The Beast Within - Another found footage horror, of which 90% are forgettable wastes of time, this one is in a tier above the rest. The ending is nuts, and it explains any lingering doubts or questions that you've been asking up to that point.

9 - The Sacrament - The stylish documentary style found footage in this one make sense, as our main characters are photo journalists working for VICE. Pretty obvious chain of events takes place, but insight into the cult is fun, and the main villain is interesting.

10 - Lyle - Yet another pregnancy horror. This one stars Gaby Hoffman, who is awesome, in a nearly direct remake of Rosemary's Baby. This similar story is used to subvert audience expectations, and Hoffman is good enough to pull us through. Also, it's only a little over 1 hour long, so the pacing is nice and tight.

Honorable mentions: Lucy, Honeymoon, Oculus, Escape From Tomorrow, Carrie/Robocop remakes

Notable films, not yet watched: Nightcrawler, Night Moves, The Babadook, Under The Skin, Snowpiercer, Birdman, Inherent Vice

Thanks for this, Jesse. I miss being able to see all of these types of films. Basically, if it's not animated or a musical, it's not on our tv.

Bobcat Goldthwait has done some tremendous stuff. Hopefully more people get past the notion of him from the 80's and his schtick from then.

[Friarfan]

Saw The Expendables 3 last night. The concept of bringing back old action stars was nifty for awhile, but this is the one where you wish they crawl back under the rock they came from. Yeah, the action scenes are nice but cartoonishly unbelievable (a 68-year old Stallone outraces a building collapse and dives onto a helicopter! A 55-year old Antonio Banderas performs parkour stunts that would make a teen jealous!). Throughout the entire movie, only one baddie out of perhaps 500, Mel Gibson, is able to aim his weapon carefully enough to actually hit their target. Even once. That's right -- 10,000+ bullets expended, and not one nicks an Expendable. Not a single one. The irony is that Gibson's a weapons dealer, and his cronies are the ones he sold his weapons to. Perhaps they should request a refund. Maybe I should request a refund too.

It's not like Sly Stallone's been known to beat anything in to the ground or anything.

[Fresno Bob]

How old is your daughter? Will a 3.5 year old like it?

you could wait for video, I think a bunch of it will go over his head. I thought it was great

[johnnya24]

Top 10 Films of 2014

1 - The Guest - Similar to Borgman, but with the more standard Universal Soldier medical experimentation type of explanation as to why the invader does what he does.

2 - Willow Creek - Bobcat Goldthwait proves his incredible range with this found footage horror film about tracking bigfoot. Sounds lame, turns out to be awesome.

3 - Boyhood - Loved this movie, and didn't even notice nearly 3 hours fly by.

4 - Blue Ruin - I normally don't care for dramas, but this revenge story of a broken man is well done.

5 - The Purge 2: Anarchy - I avoid most big budget hollywood stuff, unless it's about crazy political satire or commentary, like last year's super crazy Captain America 2. The plot is one of the dumbest things put out there since the 80's shlock heyday, but if you allow yourself the luxury of going with it, very enjoyable.

6 - Borgman - Subtitled home invasion movie about an intruder who manipulates a family, but with ambiguous motivations, as he appears to be an alien/creature/other that is trying to invade. Dense and artsy at times, but super intriguing, and reveals enough by the end to leave you satisfied. Not like your typical weirdo Lynch/Cronenberg head-trip. More satisfying.

7 - Proxy - Crazy plot twists, extreme violence and disturbing characters, but mostly just more and more CRAZY PLOT TWISTS. It's been a long time since I've had my jaw on the floor because of such writing as opposed to the horror and violence of a movie. This managed all of the above.

8 - Delivery: The Beast Within - Another found footage horror, of which 90% are forgettable wastes of time, this one is in a tier above the rest. The ending is nuts, and it explains any lingering doubts or questions that you've been asking up to that point.

9 - The Sacrament - The stylish documentary style found footage in this one make sense, as our main characters are photo journalists working for VICE. Pretty obvious chain of events takes place, but insight into the cult is fun, and the main villain is interesting.

10 - Lyle - Yet another pregnancy horror. This one stars Gaby Hoffman, who is awesome, in a nearly direct remake of Rosemary's Baby. This similar story is used to subvert audience expectations, and Hoffman is good enough to pull us through. Also, it's only a little over 1 hour long, so the pacing is nice and tight.

Honorable mentions: Lucy, Honeymoon, Oculus, Escape From Tomorrow, Carrie/Robocop remakes

Notable films, not yet watched: Nightcrawler, Night Moves, The Babadook, Under The Skin, Snowpiercer, Birdman, Inherent Vice

I have not seen any of your Top 10 movies ... been wanting to see Boyhood. Have to check a few out over the holidays.

[revo]

I have not heard any of your Top 10 movies ... been wanting to see Boyhood. Have to check a few out over the holidays.

Fixed. OK, I heard of Boyhood, but only just last week when I was updating my Netflix list. I guess that's why I end up with crap like The Expendables 3.

[bryanbutler]

Fixed. OK, I heard of Boyhood, but only just last week when I was updating my Netflix list. I guess that's why I end up with crap like The Expendables 3.

i was thinking the same thing. then i looked closer. i knew about Purge 2, but vowed to never see it because i hated the first so much. i also knew about the Carrie/Robocop remakes. i saw about 30 minutes of the Robocop remake - it wasn't enough to form an opinion (well, it wasn't so horrible i switched channels). i saw the ads for Nightcrawler and it looked good. and i've seen Snowpiercer (and commented on it earlier in this thread).

but i'll have to have a look at these - thanks for the list TW.

[Teenwolf]

i was thinking the same thing. then i looked closer. i knew about Purge 2, but vowed to never see it because i hated the first so much. i also knew about the Carrie/Robocop remakes. i saw about 30 minutes of the Robocop remake - it wasn't enough to form an opinion (well, it wasn't so horrible i switched channels). i saw the ads for Nightcrawler and it looked good. and i've seen Snowpiercer (and commented on it earlier in this thread).

but i'll have to have a look at these - thanks for the list TW.

I agree, The Purge 1 is a terrible movie. Small scale home invasion film with a ludicrous plot and unlikable characters. I heard enough good things about the 2nd one to check it out, and find it far superior. It's an allegory for capitalism feeding on the misery and violent impulses of the poor. They're going to keep pumping these Purge movies out until they stop selling, just like the Fast/Furious franchise, but I'm glad some thought went into the dystopian future aspect more as opposed to random violence. Though Purge 2 takes place in like 2024, so it's an admittedly stupid timeline. Enough interesting nuggets to satisfy.

The Babadook - Just watched, and loved this one. Plays out like a cross between The Shining and Nightmare on Elm Street, with great characters and a few surprises. Just an awful final 2-3 min afterword segment keeping it out of my top 10. Such a letdown ending as opposed to something like Delivery: The Beast Within, which left me howling with laughter at what I'd just witnessed... but again, a great film, warts and all.

[Fresno Bob]

watch this after you've seen Snowpiercer

[Fresno Bob]

My wife binge-watched all of Broadchurch yesterday and thought it was awesome. I'm watching Blackmirror, and it is awesomely twisted, not for when the kiddies are watching with you. Both available on Netflix streaming

[johnnya24]

Would I have to watch the first Purge to watch the second. The first looked horrible.

[Teenwolf]

Would I have to watch the first Purge to watch the second. The first looked horrible.

You don't have to watch the first one, nor would I recommend it. I was shocked to enjoy Purge 2 so much. Maybe low expectations played a part in that, but I stand by my initial review; a logically flawed, super fun popcorn flick with some interesting but dumbed down messages about capitalism, gun control, media influence, etc.

[Pauly]

Boyhood just won the Golden Globe, but if you want my opinion (you probably dont) it was maybe the most boring 3 hours Ive spent in years. Three hours of basically nothing happening except 2 kids rapidly aging. I know Im in the minority here, but my wife, who loves these types of movies, also hated it. You wont be able to get that 2:45 back