I’ll admit it, our household is all about stories. We read them, watch them, occasionally write them, dream up really funny ones, play games built around them…. and go see them on the big screen.
I don’t know how The Man lucked out to get a wife as awesome as me, who loves action movies, war films, sci-fi, drama, superhero movies, and honestly funny & ironic comedies, while eschewing rom-com nonsense and chick flicks. (Mindnumpingly dull!) But he did. 🙂 So we go see movies.
Late December apparently inserts a nostalgic gene into the water, so here were some of our favorite bit-screen experiences of 2014 (in no particular order):
- Mockingjay (hey, I like the books. Go read them)
- The Mazerunner (felt pretty adolescent, but it’s a good tale)
- Divergent (because somehow we need three teen dystopian movie series out for it to be a normal year)
- The Hobbit part 3 (finally done with Peter Jackson’s masturbatory return to Middle Earth in the guise of telling a Tolkien Story)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (because I’ll never pass up a chance to see Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen & that cute guy who plays the young Professor X)
- Captain America: Winter Soldier (would have been un-American to miss it, right?)
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 (still cute; great use of 3D)
- Into the Woods (funny to me how many people are pissed because this “happy ending” fairy tale actually makes them think)
- Godzilla (I thought it was a good monster story, and I’m not particularly a Godzilla fan)
- John Wick (what? Keanu Reeves still has a career??)
- Jack Reacher (see note re: Tom Cruise, above)
- The Legend of Hercules (more faithful to the mythology than any Rick Riordan Percy Jackson series, and probably more fun)
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Yawns of the Year:
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. 300: Birth of an Empire (*sighs*); Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (doesn’t have the magic of the original); Non-Stop (why is every Liam Neeson story the same now?); A Walk Among the Tombstones (ditto)
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Missed These and Hope to See on DVD:
Noah (I’m curious); Maleficent (ditto); Lucy (ScarJo); Under the skin (more ScarJo); Robocop (old time’s sake); Muppets Most Wanted (it’s the MUPPETS!); Foxcatcher; Monuments Men; The Drop; A Most Wanted Man (goodbye, PSH 
); Only Lovers Left Alive (it’s showing up on a lot of “best movies” lists).
On my list for right now in theaters: Big Eyes; The Imitation Game; Big Hero 6; Unbroken.
OH AND — not to be overlooked —
Best film by local filmmakers:
Cinema Purgatorio, by Chris & Emily White. A pair of indie filmmakers (who are husband & wife) set out to impress Bill Murray at a 48-hour film festival where he happens to be judging, in hopes of launching into the big leagues…. or they’re giving it up for good. It’s funny and warm and quirky and delightful and YOU SHOULD TOTALLY SEE IT. (Trailer below; the featured image for this post is a still from the film.)
Categories: Reviews
RameyLady
I write. I design. I cook. I read. I make music. I talk to people -- all kinds of people.
I used to teach and hopefully will do so again someday.
My dream job would be a cross between barrista and consultant, with a large helping of international travel and bohemian wandering through concerts, museums, galleries, and open spaces.
Somewhere back in time, my students started calling me "RameyLady" and the name stuck. I like it. There's a Ramey-man too. He's a much better writer but he seems to be too humble to share it with the world....at least, not yet.
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