Funny, I thought the second one was much better (though the first was hilarious as well). The second delves more into their characters and relationships in a way the first paints only a few broad brushstrokes, so I found it a more emotional film, too.
I liked both of them but I have a soft spot for the first one because they drove through the moors and sang “Wuthering Heights” :). I know Steve Coogan’s a Kate Bush fan, and I have a picture of Kate and Brydon at the recent Evening Standard awards so I assume likes her too.
I’m on my way to see Wild. It doesn’t look interesting to me but if Witherspoon and/or Dern are nominated for Oscars, at least I’ll have seen it.
Edit to add, that “cuckoo-bananas” makes me even MORE excited to see Inherent Vice. PTA does cuckoo-bananas very very well!
Btw, I thought Wild was REALLY good! It surprised the hell out of me, how good it was and how much I liked it. Every single thing that annoyed, confused and irritated me about the trailer was completely explained and felt natural in the context of the actual movie. Much better than the movie itself is the acting! Every single drop of awards attention Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern are getting this awards season is fully deserved. In fact I don’t think their performances are getting enough attention. Not for wins, but for nominations anyway.
Of course, I would have been more excited to see it if a) I hadn’t seen the trailer, b) I hadn’t already seen Tracks, which I hated and this looked like more of the same, and c) I’d actually gone to IMDB to see that it was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, who directed last year’s Dallas Buyer’s Club. Even if the movie isn’t brilliant, he gets brilliant performances out of his actors. One day he will direct a movie that is on par with his actors, and blow everybody away.
Damn, I never want to watch a movie with you.
Surprised how many people like Snowpiercer so much. I thought it was mediocre.
I’m not one for important or serious films much, I almost never see the Oscar contenders, so my favourite films are fairly pedestrian.
In no particular order:
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Edge of Tomorrow
The Lego Movie
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Had no idea this was a 2013 movie until I looked it up on IMDB, but my favorite film of the year (which I saw in theaters and the media push was occurring at the same time, so therefore my confusion) was The Congress.
There’s nothing pedestrian about that list. IMO they range from great to very good, and several are future classics that will stand the test of time (my inner jury is out on Dawn and X-Men, as much as I liked them). And at least one of those will almost certainly be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (Budapest), and Lego for Best Animated, not to mention Guardians for Visual Effects and (oh please oh please oh please) Edge for Editing. Don’t be so quick to jump on the anti-Oscar bandwagon.
In no particular order:
Grand Budapest Hotel
Discovering Vivian Maier
Chef
Birdman
The Drop
Still have to see Boyhood, Inherent Vice, among others. Guardians of the Galaxy and The Lego Movie were enjoyable, but neither would make my top 10.
Of the ones I’ve seen so far, these are my favorites:
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Interstellar
- Gone Girl
- Chef
- Boyhood. (Fascinating to watch people age on screen, but there is not much of a plot - of necessity, I guess. Otherwise, I’d rate it higher.)
- St. Vincent
- Nightcrawler
I would recommend all of those highly.
I did not care for Birdman. I realize it’s a dark comedy, but there was waaaaay too much darkness for my taste. However, since “Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood,” I have no doubt it will get a slew of awards nominations.
I was mildly disappointed in The Babadook. It’s a decent horror movie, worth seeing, but doesn’t quite live up to its hype in my opinion.
The Fault in Our Stars was the best I saw by a longshot.
Also enjoyed Capt America 2, Xmen Days of Future Past, and Interstellar. Guardians of the Galaxy was fun too.
Still need to see: Nightcrawler, the Judge, Hobbit 3, Dawn of Planet of the Apes, Boyhood, and Gone Girl
Forgot about Captain America, which was excellent. Revised list:
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Interstellar
- Gone Girl
- Chef
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Boyhood.
- St. Vincent
- Nightcrawler
The Judge was very good, but not quite top 10 material. Ditto for X-Men: Days of Future Past.
I also saw **Jodorowsky’s Dune **and it was fantastic.
Annabelle is the only one I’ve seen this year. I liked it, but a lot of critics hated it. I would watch it again and still cringe a little. The comedy is there too which is great because it helps chase the nightmares away. I mean come on… how naive can some characters be.