Top 10 Films of 2014

As the fight for good films to screen here in gloomy Southend raged on, there was a variety of big and small budget films that made it all worthwhile. The abundance of subversive and well-directed material also leaves little but the less obvious for the Oscars to go for this year, lets hope they warm up to the wild side…

10. The Lego Movie

Unexpectedly fresh, The Lego Movie offers all the laughs and action for the kids and witty commentary and heartwarming nostalgia for adults, it’s visually impressive and has a great ‘take it or leave it’ feel, which is exactly what we need in this sequel-infested climate.

9. Whiplash

A secret film showing offered this jewel of a movie which isn’t technically out in the UK until later on this month, but I saw it last year, so on the list it goes. Whiplash follows a young Jazz drummer under guidance of a ruthless teacher, and is the best kind of subversive film, one that utilises its genre material, which in this case is competition/underdog films and uses it to jump off to create new and exciting concepts that elevate it beyond its means. Some great performances in this film, with JK Simmons leaving out the syrupy conventions in favour of a gripping and sharp presence that has you both loving and hating his character.

8. Under the Skin

Scarlet Johansen plays an alien stalking men in Glasgow, Under the Skin is among those few films, such as 2001 and Irreversible whose astonishing sound design and patient scenes end up suffocating viewers with the tension. Wonderful cinematography and a haunting performance by Scarlet Johansen make this a wonder to watch; there’s certainly no question about how great this film looks and feels, but the sorry fact is, that ‘under the skin’ of it, there’s not a whole lot there, putting it at the lower end of the list.

7. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

It’s always a bit embarrassing to put superhero movies, and a sequel no less, on a list above Oscar-tipped films like Whiplash, but when it’s one that manages to step out from underneath an umbrella the size of The Avengers and the other superhero movies that have made awesome returns, while also putting something thought-provoking material on the table, then I am proud to put Cap 2 on this list.

6. Interstellar

I really wanted this to be my number one, but when I am in the middle of a cinema, laughing my arse off at a film for even considering that ‘love is a empirical science’, it’s a wonder it’s here at all. Interstellar is a film that wanted the heart to pull off something as bold as the above but neither has the wits nor the time to do so, not when there’s a space opera, hero flick and introspective on American ideals going on around it. For the same reason that I love Prometheus, Interstellar is here, not because of what it does or doesn’t do, but because it tried.

5. The Babadook

From Australia, The Babadook is a horror film about essentially the boogie-man, but far from the cookie-cutter thrillers we’ve seen before, it offers a great insight into motherhood, grief and solitude, that is unlike any other of its genre. There’s comical aspect to this film too, not quite Evil Dead, but an essence of satire and somewhat childish humour, that sometimes can pervade into the chilling segments. Strangely, it neither adds or subtracts from the film, but remains an oddity which is a part of the experience.

4. Gone Girl

David Fincher’s adaptation of the 2012 novel manages to capture all of the essence without dragging the negative weighty social issues that Flynn infected the novel with, allusive and weighty, Gone Girl was the film that had people leaving the cinema talking and it weighed heavily on minds long afterwards.

Without appearing tawdry, the film rounds out all of the important moments, especially the final sequence and allows the actors to breathe a little more nuance into the characters than the book could afford, fortunately, we are viewers in the affair and not lingering in their head space like in the novel.

3. Nightcrawler

A surprise winner for me was Nightcrawler, a film I was initially drawn to by the cool 80′s aesthetic reminiscent of Drive, but stayed for the American Psycho-esque character piece. Set in Los Angeles, a go-getting thief who seizes an opportunity to become a ‘nightcrawler’, someone who finds accidents and crimes and shoots footage to sell to the big television channels.

Featuring lurid visuals as well as sharp direction, the most captivating part of the film was Jake Gyllenhaal’s standout performance, having lost weight for the role, he creates a character that is at both empathetic and despicable, the film rolls on to a perfect climax.

Rene Russo also played her role as a TV exec to perfection, a refined yet emotionally unstable woman outside of Hollywood’s heyday, it will be great if the Oscars gives some recognition particularly to this film.

2. The Grand Budapest Hotel

I had never seen a Wes Anderson film before I saw this, but this film made me rush out and watch most of his films afterward. The Grand Budapest Hotel is what I would call his best film, visually arresting and full of vibrant characters and humour, the classic Anderson formula is applied and mixes well in this tale of a hotel owner framed for murder and on the run with his bellboy.

The set design and cinematography is stunning, set in a fictional European country, there’s nothing that looks quite like it, a hodgepodge of German, Russian and aristocratic French architecture and interior design, with warm colours to complement it.

Grand Budapest evokes British humour, casting Ralph Fiennes in the title role, amongst other famous actors in cameo or side roles, but unlike most grabbing films of this ilk, it uses its cast wisely and not too sparingly. There’s some brilliant performances from some unlikely actors, especially in funny roles, such as Adrian Brody as the antagonist, while the child actors were probably some of the most talented and charming that I’ve ever seen.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy

Of course this was my favourite film of 2014. It has 80′s inspired sci-fi and comedy superheroes and features a talking raccoon!

Guardians managed to surpasses the fairly high expectations I had for it, being a Marvel Disney film we could all expect something worthy of our time, but the non-stop action of Guardians of the Galaxy I didn’t quite expect. Somehow the film manages to identify, subvert and exemplify common tropes found in superhero movies, amongst other things, and never gets old.

The characters are all fairly brilliant and even the obligatory female love interest had her moments, one of my favourite things I like to ask people who have watched the film, is who their favourite character is, because (apart from Gamora) everyone has a different favourite character, with Groot being the majority’s favourite.

People of all ages and backgrounds can find something to love in Guardians, I can only hope they manage to keep the momentum going after this.

Top 10 Films of 2014

Top Ten Videogames of 2014

As a whole, 2014 wasn’t a spectacular year for gamers; the majority of releases weren’t too amazing and the many controversies both regarding games and its culture has left us with little positivity towards gaming in the future. Despite this, there were a few key games that reminded us that not everything about 2014 was complete bollocks and so I present this year’s top 10 games with the usual caveat that, if it’s not on here, it’s either because I didn’t play it, or it is shit.

10. Toukiden

Released on the Vita as Koei-Tecmo’s response to the platform’s lack of Monster Hunter, the game offered a more action-oriented experience and a more engaging story. Toukiden is a great entry-level hunter game, the difficulty is low and the gameplay is fun, but it’s not anything groundbreaking.

9. Hyrule Warriors

Dynasty Warriors meets Legend of Zelda, this was an obvious addition to the list, when else do you get to play as Ganondorf beating up dozens of Hyrulians? The story mode is good to play about in and there are lots of characters to suit different play-styles, Hyrule Warriors is probably a lot of people’s first experience of a Warriors-style game, so it was nice to see it looking a little more polished than previous entries.

8. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

The murderous visual novel sets itself apart from others, it has a compelling plot, fun and comical characters and even good replay value, but the drawn out length and droopy third act prevent it from travelling higher in the list. Nevertheless, Danganronpa is a must for lovers of point & clicks, puzzle games and visual novels.

7. Super Smash Bros. for Wii-U

Returning with more characters, but more importantly, better movelists and tweaks, forget Brawl, Super Smash for Wii-U throws out Brawl in favour of Melée inspired gameplay and with better stages. The game now has lots of features for entry-level gamers as well as veterans making this the most definitive version of Super Smash Bros.

6. Bayonetta 2

Bayonetta is not just about new hair in this instalment, with smoother gameplay and a more useful Witch-Time, Bayonetta is better than ever, the story is more comprehensible if not so good and the pacing is much better, making Bayonetta 2 the best action hack & slash game by a mile.

5. Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

By all rights not a shining point in Ace Attorney’s history, it’s still better than most Prof. Layton games and other visual novels by a wide margin. The mixed vision from both of the games dilutes the narrative, especially towards the end, but the new gameplay mechanics and the pleasure of seeing these two together is all it needs.

4. Steins; Gate

The visual novel reaches western shores at long last and is the delight we all expected, if it’s more of what the animé gave you then you’re in for a treat, first timers to Steins; Gate can easily start on this as it’s as hard to get into as the animé with similar rewards. A narrative-driven sci-fi with some good comedy, Steins; Gate is a riot all the way through.

3. Alien: Isolation

After the mess that was Colonial Marines, I think we were all a bit skeptical of Alien: Isolation despite the promising footage we were being shown, but our fears were allayed when it came out and was the Alien game we have been wanting since the closing credits of Scott’s original Alien film. The aesthetic and sound design are perfect at creating the suffocating atmosphere of Alien, the gameplay is stealth-based and the terror of the Alien is maintained throughout the experience. The only down side to Alien: Isolation is the failure to focus on central characters as well as the station Ripley is on board, but in all other areas it excels like no other Alien or even horror title, this year.

2. Wolfenstein: The New Order

It’s not often that a title such as Wolfenstein can get a look in on a top 10 list, let alone appear so high, but this year’s The New Order offered all the fun of a typical Wolfy game, with more bang for your buck on the story department. Set in 1960 after we all lost the war to the Nazis, Cap. Blazkowicz is fighting the unwinnable fight against alternate history technology which includes cyborg dogs and titanium super soldiers.

The gameplay is tight enough to compete with modern-shooters and guns dynamic enough to have a bit of gun-toting fun with. The main character was not the muscular idiot he looked like, but a sensitive and realistic war vet whose many motivations weren’t necessary but greatly appreciated when the enemies are Nazis.

Wolfenstein: The New Order leaves little room for improvement, I wonder if Id Software might have set themselves a precedent they’ll be unable to follow with Doom 4.

1. Transistor

There was never any doubt what this year’s top game was for me, I never played Bastion, but Transistor’s blurry cyberpunk aesthetic caught my eye and I gave it a go, I was initially pretty disappointed that the main character was a woman, because I thought it was a dude from what I saw in the trailers, but the soulful vocal performances by Ashley Lynn Barrett as Red soon won me over.

The art style is colourful with good use of dull tones and wonderful architectural design to make Cloudbank come vividly to life and the sorrowful music echoes the sense of loss that is seen at the beginning of the game, Red’s loss of her voice and the young man’s lost body.

If Transistor was only a beautiful game with astounding music it probably would have place fairly high on the list, but it’s the complex and engaging game mechanics that can be changed and played with on the fly that makes it the standout game it is. Use of limiters is a creative gamble, making the game more difficult in various ways with different payoffs, the freezing feature that allows you to pause and plan a move set lend the game a strategic edge to the action fuelled mechanics.

Transistor is a game that rewards creativity greatly and for a gamer like myself, who refuses to change tactics until I have been royally bruised, it’s important to feel like my micromanagement and playstyle changes are worth it and with Transistor, every battle is a new experience and every piece of plot which is tantalisingly teased out is savoured, in the end, you’ll finish the game wanting to start over again.

Top Ten Videogames of 2014