2014 Recap - Movies and Performances

Another year of movies has come to a close and so it's time to take a look back and see which ones stood above (or below) the rest. My annual recap includes a list of my favorite acting performances, my ten favorite movies of the year, and a few other categories just for fun. Please be prepared for lots of films to show up that you may not expect as these are not your typical "Best of" lists.

Whiplash - Movie Review

Whiplash is an intense drama written and directed by Damien Chazelle who originally couldn't get the movie made so he turned it into a short film, entered it at Sundance, and received the funding necessary to bring his original dream to life. The resulting feature film includes the acting talents of J.K. Simmons, Miles Teller, Paul Reiser, Melissa Benoist, and Austin Stowell

American Sniper - Movie Review

American Sniper is a movie directed by Clint Eastwood that was adapted from a book written by Scott McEwen, Jim DeFelice, and Navy S.E.A.L. Chris Kyle who is also the subject of the story. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Kyle Gallner, Leonard Roberts, Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, and Sammy Sheik.

The Raid 2: Berandal - Movie Review

The Raid 2: Berandal is an Indonesian martial arts, action movie written and directed by Gareth Evans and is a sequel to his 2011 smash hit, The Raid: Redemption. The movie stars Iko Uwais, Arafin Putra, Tio Pakusodewo, Oka Antara, Alex Abbad, and Julie Estelle.

Big Hero 6 - Movie Review

Big Hero 6 is the latest animated feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios and was co directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams. The movie features the voice talents of Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans, Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Alan Tudyk, and Maya Rudolph.

Birdman - Movie Review

Birdman aka The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a film written and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu whose previous work includes 21 Grams, Biutiful, and Babel. This unique look into the sometimes deranged minds of the acting community stars Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, and Andrea Riseborough.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Movie Review

My Favorite Movie of 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy, created by Marvel Studios, is a science fiction, super hero epic from the Marvel Cinematic Universe which includes movies like The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The movie features the acting talents of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Glenn Close, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, and John C. reilly and was directed by James Gunn who also wrote the screenplay along with Nicole Perlman.

Chef - Movie Review

Jon Favreau is credited as writer, director, and star of his latest film called Chef. This heartwarming story about a chef who decides to open a food truck also features John Leguizamo, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson, Sofía Vergara, Oliver Platt, Robert Downey Jr., and Emjay Anthony.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (SIFF 2014) - Movie Review

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to the original smash hit from Dreamworks Animation. This installment, based on the books written by Cressida Cowell, is again directed by Dean DeBlois and includes returning voice actors like Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, and Jonah Hill along with newcomers Cate Blanchett, Kit Harrington, and Djimon Hounsou.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Movie Review

Hey everyone, before we get started, I just wanted to give a shout out to Nerdlush and Lifted Geek for featuring this review on their websites. This is the first time I've had one review posted on three different websites (including my own) so please give them each some love and click the links!

   

Now for the review:

Marvel Studios continues the expansion of its super hero universe with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, an espionage thriller that is set up to change everything we know about the inner workings of the government agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Chris Evans returns in the title role and we also see newcomers Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford in addition to familiar faces like Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan and Cobie Smulders.

Bad Words - Movie Review

Bad Words is Jason Bateman's directorial debut. He also stars in the movie alongside Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney, and Rohan Chand. Screenwriter Andrew Dodge spells out a story that is sure to offend, enlighten, and/or entertain just about anyone who chooses to get in its way.