CAST
LIAM NEESON, MICHELLE DOCKERY, SCOOT McNAIRY, JULIANNE MOORE, LUPITA NYONG’O, COREY STOLL

DIRECTED BY
JAUME COLLET-SERRA

Has the quality of Liam Neeson movies become so bad, that a film as average as Non-Stop can receive such acclaim from critics as it did?

Placing it's ridiculous premise to one side, the fact that anyone could view this drivel & claim it to a "non-stop thrill ride" calibre film really must represent just how bad "so-bad-it's-good" has gotten. Also, it's time to stop casting Julianne Moore in genre movies. A five dramatic actress she is, yet action thrillers are not her forte (also see Assassins & Hannibal). 

CAST
DYLAN O’BRIEN, THOMAS BRODIE-SANGSTER, PATRICIA CLARKSON, BLAKE COOPER, KI HONG LEE, WILL POULTER, KAYA SCODELARIO

DIRECTED BY
WES BALL

The movie equivalent of the same ol’ same ol’, The Maze Runner had a chance to stray from the pack and add some variety to the young adult canon. Yet even with a gifted young filmmaker in Wes Ball and that rare distinction of boasting an (almost) all male cast, the predictable limitations of the sub-genre stopped The Maze Runner from adding innovation to an increasingly bland class of entertainment.

Needed was a lead performance of the Jennifer Lawrence variety to elevate The Maze Runner from its predictable doldrums, but alas that is not found in Dylan Thomas whose lack of screen presence added to the ho-hum proceedings.

CAST
SCARLETT JOHANSSON, MIN-SIK CHOI, MORGAN FREEMAN, ANALEIGH TIPTON, AMR WAKED

DIRECTED BY
LUC BESSON

One thing you can say about Luc Beeson is that he doesn’t do things by half measures. So when he took on the “10% of the brain” myth as the basis for his story of an unwilling drug mule (Scarlet Johansson) turned into highly evolved super creature, it was inevitable that Beeson would go all out.

The problem with Lucy is that Beeson’s reach does not come near his grandiose vision, creating a sci-fi action movie that wants to join the ranks of The Matrix but does not have the engrossing smarts or the depth to pull it off, opting with an attempt to “wow!” with never ending, uncomprehensive blabbering about time, space, matter and every other metaphysical hogwash Beeson can muster.      

CAST
EMILY BLUNT, JAMES CORDEN, JOHNNY DEPP, DANILE HUTTLESTONE, ANNA KENDRICK, CHRIS PINE, MERYL STREEP

DIRECTED BY
ROB MARSHALL

The job of adapting Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine’s popular stage musical to the big screen was a hard one, yet filmmaker Rob Marhsall (Chicago, Nine) had the pedigree and talent to pull it off…somewhat.

While performances were spirited (especially by Emily Blunt, Chris Pine and Meryl Streep) and art direction suitably grandiose, Into the Woods was nowhere near deserving of its 3 Oscar nominations, no doubt given since it was the token musical of the awards season.

Overlong and featuring a weird, head scratching moral, Into the Woods is good yet nowhere near as good as its marketing machine and awards bodies say it is.

CAST
RUSSELL CROWE, RYAN CORR, JAI COURTNEY, YILMAZ ERDOGAN, OLGA KURYLENKO, CEM YILMAZ

DIRECTED BY
RUSSELL CROWE

While Russell Crowe’s take on the Gallipoli legend has won him near universal praise and awards especially from the Australian Film Institute (no doubt an exercise in ass kissing as opposed to rewarding quality), The Water Diviner is never the less a maddening example of political correctness gone mushy, with the thick fog of liberal guilt suffocating the life out of an at times touching story about a father’s love for his three sons caught in the horrors of war.

Where Crowe does prove to be a capable filmmaker who is able to stir raw emotions at the right moments, the manipulative representation of his characters (Turkish Muslim = good; English Christian = bad; Greek soldiers = EVIL!!!!) also proves that Crowe’s left wing ideology robbed his chances of making a great movie.

In a year where many have labelled American Sniper as propaganda, perhaps those charges should be pointed towards The Water Diviner instead.      

CAST
ANSEL ELGORT, SHAILENE WOODLEY, WILLEM DAFOE, LAURA DERN, SAM TRAMMELL, NAT WOLFF

DIRECTED BY
JOSH BOONE

The weepie cinematic event for a new generation, The Fault in Our Stars is the perfect example of how a strong lead performance can elevate a film. And while Shailene Woodley does deliver a rather brilliant, emotive performance as a terminally ill cancer sufferer, it is clear that she is working on a higher plane with The Fault in Our Stars more akin to a Hallmark Channel movie, complete with glossy sheen and cringe worthy performances especially from Ansel Elgort, whose portrayal of an overtly optimistic cancer survivor almost unbearable to sit through at times.

As it stands The Fault in Our Stars is a good film that’s earned too much praise. Had Woodley not been cast, it would not even come close to that result.

CAST
JONAH HILL, CHANNING TATUM, ICE CUBE, WYATT RUSSELL, AMBER STEVENS, PETER STORMARE

DIRECTED BY
PHIL LORD, CHRISTOPHER MILLER

Three things are needed to make a buddy cop movie great: Comedy, chemistry, and action. 22 Jump Street almost hits the trifecta, with the comedy gut busting yet over the top, the chemistry between Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill popping if not playing the meta-gay card a little too heavily at times, and the action…well, that is where we have a problem.

Granted no one really expected Jonah Hill to become an action hero, yet so immersed is 22 Jump Street in playing up to the fact that it’s a sequel, to a remake, that has the same plot as its predecessor, that the silly (as good as it can be) far too often outweighs its other elements, namely its action scenes which under the director of Lego Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller unsurprisingly resemble a cartoon.

With too much emphasis on sketch and too little on stakes, 22 Jump Street is more a fun sidenote rather than the ground breaking addition to the buddy cop genre that many claim it to be.    

CAST
STEVE CARELL, CHANNING TATUM, SIENNA MILLER, VANESSA REDGRAVE, MARK RUFFALO

DIRECTED BY
BENNETT MILLER

Sometimes, a film can be overthought to its own detriment. Foxcatcher is a classic example of this.

Based on the odd and tragic relationship between eccentric multimillionaire Jean du Pont (Steve Carrell) and Olympic gold medal wrestling brothers Mark and Dave Schultz (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo), the first cut of Foxcatcher was 4 hours long, the result of direct Bennett Miller locking himself in the editing room for over a year.

While the theatrical cut came in at little over two hours, Foxcatcher still suffered from a sluggish pace that stopped it short from becoming the masterpiece it could have been and that many mistakenly declared it to be. And while Ruffao and especially Tatum deliver brilliant performances, the stunt casting of Steve Carrell as DuPont proved to more odd experiment than masterful performance.

There is no doubt that Foxcatcher is a great film. But one of the best films of the year? No way, no how, no chance.

CAST
JAY BARUCHEL, CATE BLANCHETT, GERARD BUTLER, CRAIG FERGUSON, KATE HARINGTON, DJIMON HOUNSOU

DIRECTED BY
DEAN DEBLOIS

The popular formula is to make the sequel darker, broodier, and more “mature”. Yet does that really have to apply to an animated film marketed towards kids? Then again, feature film animation has increasingly become much more adult oriented since, well, “fanboys” have more toys in their collection than children have in theirs.

Thus we come to How to Train Your Dragon 2, a visually vibrant and exciting sequel to the 2010 Dreamworks Animation hit, that’s also enveloped by a thick fog of darkness that comes damn close to choking the fun out of (what should be for many) a fun time at the cinema.

CAST
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, CHARLES DANCE, MATTHEW GOODE, RORY KINNEAR, KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, ALLEN LEECH, MARK STRONG

DIRECTED BY
MORTEN TYLDUM

The Imitation Game is a prime example of how a film can receive multiple Oscar nominations, not due the quality of its filmmaking, but from the careful manipulation of its narrative.

In this case it all has to do with righting the wrongs befallen upon famed mathematician Alan Turning, who despite being a vital component in the allies defeat of the Nazi's in WWII, was subjected to the cruel laws that targeted homosexuals during the 1950s.

With every interview and red carpet appearance, star Benedict Cumberbatch was quick to make the point that The Imitation Game was a film that celebrated Turning's contribution & angrily mourned his tragic conclusion. Yet what he and the powerful The Weinstein Company marketing machine (the very same that smeared A Beautiful Mind subject John Nash with accusations of a gay love affair) failed to mention was that the film was also hopelessly conventional, and at worst plodding awards bait thanks to director Mortem Tydum's poor handle of pace & structure.

Riding high on the curious mega-popularity of Cumberbatch (who pretty much reiterated his Sherlock shtick) and its progressive activist soap box theatrics, The Imitation Game scored multiple Oscar nominations and befuddling praise. Yet time has already revealed that it's the most overrated movie of 2014.