movies 2014

For posterity and personal reference, here is my movie list from 2014. My favorites are in bold; avoid-at-all-costs are in italics.

• Goon (The boys picked it. Gut-wrenchingly dumb.
• My Idiot Brother (Paul Rudd plays a goofy idealist brother. Not off to a good start with movies this year.)
• The Way Way Back (Funny and poignant coming of age)
• Closed Circuit (British thriller with no recognizable actors; surprisingly good)
• Bridesmaids (Second viewing; still pee-your-pants funny)
• This Is 40 (More Paul Rudd; funny and sad movie about reaching middle age, parenting, and marriage)
• Ender’s Game (The book was really powerful, the movie less so)
• Sherman and Peabody (Charming animated adaption of a favorite childhood cartoon)
• The LEGO Movie (Creative with a good message and delightful twist. Plus, Will Ferrell.)
• Pitch Perfect (Funny, whip-smart; exceeded my expectations. Cannot wait for a second installment)
• Divergent (Oh, I don’t know. I think I wasn’t supposed to like this but I did for the compelling action.)
• Frozen (Impossible to get the theme music out of my head)
• Spider Man 2 (Still grooving on Andrew Garfield)
• Godzilla (Summer blockbuster kick-off did not disappoint)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (Accompanied Simon on his first date to see this)
• Monuments Men (Quirky cinematography and storytelling made for a delightful movie)
• Spirit of the Marathon (Inspiring enough that I almost think I could train for and run a marathon)
• September Issue (In-flight movie; comfort watch while we were grounded)
• Grand Budapest Hotel (In-flight movie; my least favorite Wes Anderson movie)
• American Hustle (In-flight movie; wish I had seen this on the big screen)
• World’s End (In-flight movie; for the boys; clever)
• Miss Potter (Extending the vacation; Lake District)
• Napoleon Dynamite (Finally; so funny. The boys loved it and now quote lines. Good thing I purchased a copy)
• Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Stratham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li. Yup. First of a series)
• Vampire Academy (Watched with a representative of the target audience; enjoyed)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (Twice. Favorite movie of the year. Inspired to make a better “awesome mix” for the boys)
• In a World (A favorite. Indie. Lake Bell wowed.)
• A Most Wanted Man (Date night. Genius interpretation of a Le Carre novel. Shame about Philip Seymour Hoffman)
• Braveheart (Extending the vacation; Scotland)
• The Lunchbox (Sad and uplifting foreign movie; a case of mistaken tiffin identity)
• Top of the Lake (Loved this often disturbing SundanceTV series with Elisabeth Moss, Holly Hunter, and [apparently] Lucy Lawless.)
• Muscle Shoals (Fantastic music documentary about the legendary recording studio; will watch again)
• This Is Where I Leave You (Date night. I wish my family’s dysfunction was this funny; Tina Fey’s and Jason Bateman’s characters were played annoyingly and predictably, but Jane Fonda rocked)
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Whole family saw at Riverview and we were not disappointed)
• Veronica Mars (Like a drawn-out TV episode but not disagreeable)
• Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's (Stumbled upon this documentary while browsing the library. Deserves a second viewing)
• The Judge (Date night. Predictable, painful because it touched a little close to home, but not horrible.)
• Bad Word (Funny. Jason Bateman)
• Homeland, season 3 (Never disappoints. Thinking about subscribing to Showtime so I can catch season 4)
• Horrible Bosses (Very funny)
• Tammy (Even though it wasn’t my favorite Melissa McCarthy, it was still funny. She’s genius)
• 22 Jump Street (Watched in solidarity with the target audience)
• Tropic Thunder (Fell asleep)
• November Man (Meh, occasionally confusing thriller with Pierce Brosnan)
• Big Hero 6 (Characters, animation, solid story = this movie has it all)
• Austenland (Disappointing. Then again, I’ve never been much of an Austen fan)
• Chef (Charming movie about a chef who reconnects with his son on a cross-country journey in a food truck)
• Running the Sahara (loved this documentary about three guys who run 4300 miles across the Sahara, from Senegal, through Mali, Niger, Libya, and Egypt. 111 days. Crazy awesome.
• Shut Up and Play the Hits (Documentary about the end of LCD Soundsystem and gootage of their last concert)
• Tiny Furniture (This is Lena Dunham’s true genius, and I wish I has seen it before Girls or Not That Kind of Girl. I am now officially tired of her story)
• Wild (Caroline and I saw at the Garden [Princeton] as a kick off to the holiday movie marathon)
• Into the Woods (not a fan of Sondheim nor of musicals; even though impeccably edited, this movie was nearly unbearable, especially with the dark extra ending)
• The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (Battle scene was only 45 minutes, not the dreaded 1-1/2 hours)
• Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part One (Draggy set up; why, why, why split this movie?)
• The Equalizer (Fantastic movie interpretation of the 80s TV series; Denzel Washington was fantastic as ex-CIA/current vigilante)