The Top 5 Worst Films of 2014

Wow, to be able to write a list like this makes me feel like an actual blogger. I used to look at people with confusion when they would argue over a film and discuss just how awful it was, because I'd never really watched a film that I disliked. I guess I used to watch so little films that I only watched what I knew I would like, which is what I love so much about this blog. It's opened my eyes to a huge array of films that I never would have watched before. Some of them I've loved, and others, not so much.

So here is me, jumping on the Top 5 bandwagon with the Top 5 worst films I've seen that came out this year.

What If (2014)

You know, I never even got round to reviewing this. I couldn't even try now, I can't remember what this film was even about. When we saw it at the cinema and ordered our tickets, the guy actually said 'what?'. He forgot the film existed, and that the cinema was showing it. It wasn't a bad film by any means, but it was just entirely forgettable, just a few months after I originally saw it.

The Inbetweeners 2 (2014)

Another film I never got round to reviewing! I absolutely loved the Inbetweeners TV Show, and was so excited when the first film came out. My brother and I even introduced our parents to it, who also loved it, even if they didn't understand some of the phrases. I think too much time passed between the first film and its sequel, and although The Inbetweeners 2 started off fairly strong, after half an hour I was bored and witnessed one of the worst endings to a film I've ever seen.

The Monuments Men (2014)

I quite often get my own way when my fiance and I go to the cinema. He doesn't mind really and will sit through nearly anything, like me. However, I thought earlier in the year we should really go to see something of his choice, and he chose The Monuments Men. I didn't protest too much, war films aren't really my thing but with that cast, I thought it would be okay. This, sadly, was a complete snore fest, and even my fiance turned to my halfway through and said 'sorry, we'll see whatever you want to next time'!.

Tammy (2014)

It wasn't very long ago that I included Tammy in a mini reviews post on here. I love Melissa McCarthy and think Bridesmaids and The Heat are comedy gold, but Tammy really fell short of the mark. She played the kind of character that she plays best, but without another lead or a decent supporting cast, she just came across as irritating. A shame, but it definitely hasn't put me off her.

Sex Tape (2014)

Oh Jenna, I blame you for this one! Not the film itself of course, that would be a little harsh, you can't be completely at fault, but it was your choice for us to see this! You can read just about anyone's review of Sex Tape and my opinions are the same, I don't think I ever found a positive one. Stupid characters doing stupid things, none of which are funny. But to be fair to the film, the credits were really funny.

After seeing Allie had started this post I decided to work out what my Top 5 worst movies of 2014 were.  After finding a list of all movies released in 2014 I was gutted to spot how many movies I have missed this year (although in my defence it has been a busy year!).  I have now doubled my 'watch list' just from films in 2014.  So this list is my Top 5 worst films of the one I have actually seen....

Need for Speed (2014)

Sorry Allie, this film just wasn't for me (and in payback, I blame you for this one because you told me it was really good and that I should watch it! It was really good! I can't believe you had to be forced to see this but you willingly went and saw Transformers...).  The story was terrible, the plot holes were huge and ridiculous and there was no chemistry between any of the cast.  So disappointed as I am a big fan of Aaron Paul (in Breaking Bad he is amazing and steals the show for me most of the time) but in this there was nothing about him.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

If you have seen my review of this you will already know I didn't like it.  The story was terrible, the cast worse and the dialogue cringeworthy.  It was too long and the action scenes moved so fast you had no idea what was going on, who was the good guy/bad guy/robot/dinosaur/human and ultimately by the end I didn't care anyway.

Lucy (2014)

A lot of people have been raving about this film (I haven't yet managed to review it myself) and I'm not sure if I'm missing something.  The acting was great, Scarlett Johannsen has the ability to act without saying a word which worked well for this but I kept expected the story to start, it felt like an introduction to the real story, which never came.  Not sure I thought it was that bad, just that from previous reviews I expected more so ended up disappointed.

Sex Tape (2014)

No need to say much as Allie said pretty much everything above but I will say This. Is. A. Sh*t. Movie.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Probably my biggest disappointment of 2014, mostly because I had really high hopes for it but I was let down.  As my childhood favourite, I was willing this to be great but it was far from it.  No chemistry, scary evil looking Turtles, random useless characters and terrible dialogue.  Music was great, but that is all that was great about this lifeless reboot.

What about you though? What films disappointed you this year?

Review: Need For Speed (2014)

UPDATED: Now that Jenna's seen the film!

Although I'm not a huge Breaking Bad fan, (please bear with me) I think Aaron Paul is brilliant, and I love the Need For Speed games, so I was really looking forward to seeing this. I can happily say that I wasn't disappointed! I love Aaron Paul and I was disappointed!

I didn't want to spoil anything for myself, but I couldn't help reading a few reviews before I went to see this. I'm glad I did because someone heartily recommended seeing this in 3D, which we did. I don't usually do 3D unless we go to the Giant Screen in Birmingham, and generally I don't like 'real actor' 3D films, but this was something else. The racing scenes in particular were fantastic in 3D!  I wouldn't have minded giving this a go in 3D, even though I have a strict rule of no live action films in 3D, animation only!

Now, as much as I don't want to, I'm going to mention Fast and Furious. I'm sorry! But you just can't help comparing the two. However, I've only actually seen the first and sixth films in the series, so I have a slightly fresher view on it. In my personal opinion, I prefer Need For Speed. I liked the characters more, I liked the racing scenes more, and in some places this film was absolutely hilarious.  I have to disagree, I prefer the characters in the F&F films, although the comedy was a little better in this, I find the storylines in the F&F franchise much better and actually somewhat more logical (see my 5 point rant below that include spoilers - sorry!

 

 

My only criticism would be that it lacked emotional depth. Perhaps a silly thing to say taking into account the genre of film? But that's what I thought, nonetheless. The romance was nice, but I didn't really see how prison really effected Aaron's character. That's all I can say without spoilers, but see what you think. 

I really enjoyed the racing scenes and the comedy element to the film and I actually quite liked the characters but the awful storyline and lack of logic really ruined it for me, I just couldn't understand why half the characters were doing the things they were doing. 

Just some words of advice? If you see this on the big screen, hold back the temptation to drive home like this:

 

*SPOILER ALERT* Please don't be mad at me for including spoilers, if you have seen this film you will understand why I had to do it!! I got so grieved about these points while watching this film, I had to write them down immediately so I wouldn't forget.  Plus I don't think I can do a full review without discussing these points.  I have put them in grey so if you haven't seen the film you can just skim past and head to the ratings at the bottom!!

 

1. Why would a man pay $2.7m for a car and then 2 years later allow a convict (who isn't allowed to leave the state due to parole) to drive it across country to compete in a race to win him $4m and if I heard the rules right all the cars are given to the winner so he has absolutely no collateral if Toby loses!! Ridiculous!

2. Why is this girl happy to vouch for Toby who we are led to believe she has met all of once and why is she happy to help him break parole to go to the race and get herself a criminal record for a guy she doesn't know.

3.  Why does Toby have to compete in the race to get revenge, surely killing the dude would be revenge, what does beating him in a race do, put more lives in danger.  Surely after what he saw happen to Pete he would rather skip the races all together no??

4.  Pete's sister got engaged to the guy who Toby said killed her brother, from what we can tell she has know Toby a long time, even if she didn't know for certain do we really think she would marry him? Are we supposed to believe that??

5.  When some random girl (to her, to us it's Julia) announces on the radio that Toby is only driving across country to prove he didn't do it (how?) suddenly all the doubts (that she should have had all along) come to light and she decides to search her fiancé's  computer, impressive considering she didn't know what she was looking for found compelling evidence of his betrayal within 30 seconds... Genius!!!

Ahhhhh...deep breaths Allie, deep breaths...it's based on a game though, a game which has very little storyline and focuses nearly solely on the racing. Anyone who has ever played a Need for Speed game knew what to expect so I don't think it can bashed for that. 

 

I can confidently recommend watching this film, and I for one can't wait to see it again.

As you can probably tell from my 5 point rant above (if you read it) I would recommend this film for the action and even the comedy but not for the storyline.  If you like films where you don't have to think and just watch fast cars fly by, this is the film for you.  I hate to give it such a low rating because I actually really enjoyed it but the story dropped the rating right down.

Against the Crowd Blogathon

Okay, this might be my favourite Blogathon yet. I know, I keep saying that, but Wendell at Dell on Movies is hosting a Blogathon called Against the Crowd, and the idea behind it is awesome.

The rules are super simple:

1. Pick one movie that "everyone" loves (the more iconic, the better). That movie must have a score of at least 80% on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you hate it.

2. Pick one movie that "everyone" hates (the more notorious, the better). That movie must have a score of less than 30% on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you love it.

3. Include the tomato meter scores of both movies.

 

As usual here at Flick Chicks, there's two of us so double the fun!

 

I'm actually a little scared about this one now that it's come to it. I spend my whole life defending films that I love which everyone else seems to hate, so I'm used to that, but the thought of hating on a film which everyone loves makes me a little nervous. I joked to Jenna that I might disable the comments to stop any hate! Let's do this though...

 

A movie that everyone loves, which we hate:

 

 

I'm going to try and back peddle here before I've even started! Honestly, there aren't any films that I hate, but there are a fair few which I found just plain boring. The Dark Knight Rises just happens to be one of them. Don't get me wrong, I loved Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but the third in the trilogy just didn't excite me at all.

 

Batman was never my favourite DC character anyway, but The Dark Knight Rises was at least 30 minutes too long, and in my eyes it was nowhere near the standard of The Dark Knight. Bane was a great addition, don't get me wrong, in fact his character was a highlight for me. But please, stop telling me that's Tom Hardy in the mask, we all know that its Varys from Game of Thrones.

 

 

OK so here it is, I have been moaned at for years for not seeing this film so last Christmas I sat down with my Dad and we watch It's a wonderful life - and it's not so wonderful.  It was boring and predictable and if i'm honest I didn't like James Stewart's character even after he realised how lucky he was.  The children were thoroughly annoying and there is a good chance I caught a good 15 minute nap in the middle somewhere.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of this film and just the DVD cover makes me feel Christmassy, but part of me wishes I had left it at that rather than watch it and ruin the idea of it.  I won't be watching it again no matter how much my Dad moans at me, I will watch Elf instead - more laughs and less predictable!

 

A movie that everyone hates, which we love:

 

 

I've said enough about The Green Lantern so I didn't include that, but I knew I could easily find a guilty pleasure movie on the Rottentomatoes website. However, what I didn't expect to find was a movie that I just genuinely love and wouldn't even class as a guilty pleasure!

 

Need for Speed is one of my favourite racing games. It's over the top and entirely unrealistic, and that's why it's so much fun to play. When I first saw the trailer for the movie version, I knew I could expect the same.

 

Need for Speed delivered on everything I expected it to, and the 3D version was literally breathtaking during some of the racing scenes. As soon as the DVD is out, I will be driving my Fiat 500 to the nearest shopping centre as if it were a Koenigsegg and leave the haters eating my dust.

 

 

I saw Seven Pounds at the cinema and I loved it, I brought it as soon as it came out on DVD and re-watched it a dozen times.  I don't know why this has such a low score, I found it interesting and so different to anything else I had watched.  I also cried quite a lot at the end.

 

I thought the twist was clever and Will Smith was very good (although I'm a fan anyway)  Its been a while since I've actually watched it (this has made me want to watch it again) so I don't want to try to review it too in depth (I will do a full review at some point)

 

Thanks for hosting this amazing Blogathon Dell, it's been great fun but now I'm terrified to hit 'Publish'!