View from the Cheap Seats is kind of an extension of the newsroom. Whenever our three regular reporters, Calvin Daniels, Thom Barker and Randy Brenzen are in the building together, it is frequently a site of heated debate. This week: What was the best movie released this year?
A tad of a waffle
I guess I have been around long enough that memory becomes somewhat fluid. So, when the topic of the week became best movie of 2014, I had to go to the Internet to verify whether the movies I was thinking of were indeed this year’s.
A couple of things I quickly noted were that the top level Google results were heavily skewed toward blockbuster fantasy flicks such as The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which I would not even bother going to see much less entertain as a real contender for best film. I couldn’t even make it through the first installment.
I suppose it is natural that the Internet would skew in this fashion since I suspect most of the people who are inclined to debate such topics on the web are of a somewhat geeky persuasion. Furthermore, on the web, all too frequently, popularity trumps reason (I’m talking about you “Food Babe”).
There are a couple of other things to note before I delve into this week’s topic. For example, the releases of most of the best movies of a given year are concentrated at the end of the year. Thus, my best film of 2014 I have likely not seen yet since it is still in theatres (Selma) or I have not yet caught up with on my list of videos to watch (Birdman). This was borne out by the fact that the list I had started to compile for 2014 turned out to be full of 2013 releases that I didn’t see before the end of that year.
I suppose I could disregard the paradigm of it having to be a 2014 film and go with films that I viewed for the first time in 2014. Or I could waffle, as I have thus far, until I run out of space.
Of the 2014 movies I have seen so far, I am going to go with This is Where I Leave You. Perhaps this is because it is most fresh in my mind, but it has an excellent, poignant script, a wonderful ensemble cast and stellar performances by Jane Fonda, Jason Bateman and Tina Fey. It is a smart dramatic comedy that allows you to really believe this quirky group of mourners is a real family.
As an aside, did you know there are 332 movies eligible for the Best Picture Oscar this year?
—Thom Barker
Scifi high
What was the best 2014-released movie I saw?
It seemed like a pretty straight forward question as this week’s topic, but initially the movies for the year seemed a rather shallow pool. Good movies, let alone great movies, really did not flood from my memory banks.
I’ll start with two movies which have something of special connection, having both been shot in Saskatchewan, and my having interviewed people associated with both as well (see in Page B1 this issue for one of those stories).
The movies are the campy, but loads of fun Wolf Cop, which I actually made a trip to Regina to see on the big screen, and the more recent Corner Gas: The Movie, which I watched on TV, although it did have a limited big screen release. Neither movie will ever be a threat to capture an Oscar, but both were fun romps to wile away some relaxation time.
The most recent offering in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise fits the same mood. It was a rollicking movie with the obligatory chase scene down a mountain, and lots of fights scenes. Was it great? No, but I watched it again Christmas Eve at friends, and it was still loads of fun.
Captain America: Winter Soldier was enjoyable. I have never been a huge Cap fan in terms of comics, a bit to “America the Wonderful”, but both movies have been enjoyable.
Sin City 2, was a fitting follow-up to the first movie, but not quite as engrossing.
The same can be said for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, although this second in a series came close to making it a three-way tie for my top movie, falling just inches short.
And that brings us to the two movies I find deadlocked atop my list.
The first is The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. It was a great ending to the trilogy of Hobbit fans, which collectively make a great lead into the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The only flaw with the latest movie is that it is the last effort by Director Peter Jackson in J.R.R. Tolkien’s richly imagined world.
For the tie is Guardians of the Galaxy. I walked into the theatre expecting either complete tripe, or a comic-themed masterpiece. The hard advertising sell leading up to the movie’s release meant middle ground was impossible.
Well it exceeded my expectations buy a couple of proverbial country miles. I loved it.
And now to wonder what 2015 will offer on the big screen.
— CalvinDaniels
Guardians top it
I’ll admit that I did not watch very many new movies in 2014.
If this week’s topic was about best movies from the past decade then I’d be able to make a list of 50 movies, however 2014 saw a severe decline in my movie viewing.
But with that being said, I did watch one movie that, had I watched every movie in 2014, would still most likely take top spot.
And that movie is the 2014 blockbuster ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’.
Now, I went in to this movie expecting absolutely nothing. In fact, the only reason I watched it was because of actor Chris Pratt, who, before starring as Peter Quill, had previously played childlike dimwit Andy Dwyer on the television series ‘Parks and Recreation’ (as well as Dwyer’s FBI alter-ego Burt Macklin).
However, upon watching the entire movie I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised.
All the main actors, from Pratt through to Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax) and Lee Pace (Ronan the Accuser) did wonderful jobs all throughout the movie.
Bradley Cooper, voicing the rodent named Rocket, was his usual entertaining self while Vin Diesel finally had a role that suited him as Groot (yes that’s a shot at the man formerly known as Mark Sinclair).
The comedy, action and pure ludicrousness of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ was so entertaining that it had me glued to the screen for the entire movie.
Without a shadow of a doubt ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is the best film of 2014.
—Randy Brenzen
