2014 Summer Movie Season Awards by Matt Harrison

So this is my 100th post on this blog and I thought I'd do something a little different for it. The 2014 summer movie season has been really fantastic in my opinion and I'd thought I'd give my favourite movies of the summer some recognition with awards I literally made up this morning...


Movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Raid 2 will not be awarded anything as I saw them both in late March/April time. I didn't see every movie of the summer but I saw all of the big ones so without further delay let's begin:



Best Hero - Caesar (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)

Out of all of the characters in the movies which came out this summer, none were more heroic than Caesar. Andy Serkis put in the best performance of his career and gave incredible raw humanity to a CGI ape. The character of Caesar is one of the best ever created and through him channels an incredible amount of human emotion. Plus he's a badass leader, and winner of Best Hero.



Best Villain - Koba (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)

Toby Kebbell's amazing performance as Koba proved that Andy Serkis has made motion capture a thing which any actor can do. Out of all of the villains this summer Koba had the most menacing presence and did the most evil things. And on top of that you could actually understand what his motivations were, unlike villains like Ronan the Accuser or Bolivar Trask.



Best action scene - The Tank scene (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)


We were blessed with some awesome action this summer. I considered putting in the Quicksilver scene from X-Men: Days of Future Past, the Normandy beach fight in Edge of Tomorrow and the cheer inducing final battle from Godzilla, but this one blew my mind the most. When I first saw it I was in awe of how it was created and stunned when I thought about the detail that must have gone into directing and shooting a scene like that. Please watch it if you haven't already, but you must have seen the film by now, right?



Best comic book movie - X-Men: Days of Future Past

I really liked Guardians of the Galaxy, I thought that the characters were all brilliant, the action was good and I loved just how funny it was and how it didn't take itself to seriously. However, X-Men: Days of Future Past was a much more solid movie with amazing performances from actors who transformed into their characters. It had smart writing, amazing action and real drama and tension similar to what Dawn of the Planet of the Apes had. I loved this movie and thought it was the best comic book movie of the summer.



Best music - Guardians of the Galaxy

Star Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Drax and Groot are awesome and yes the movie was funny as hell so I couldn't leave the Guardians out. So I thought about it for a while before I realised that it had the best music of any summer film by far. The actual score itself was sufficient but the addition of "Awesome Mix Vol. 1" added so much into the film's character and personality. The opening scene with Star Lord still impresses me when I think about it today...



Best animated movie - How to Train Your Dragon 2

It had absolutely no competition. It was easily the best animated film of the summer.



Best comedy - 22 Jump Street

There were a lot of really funny movies this summer like Bad Neighbours and Guardians of the Galaxy. But I laughed the hardest in 22 Jump Street. The chemistry and timing between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum is spot on and the "kitchen scene" with Ice Cube is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.



Best limited release - Boyhood

Richard Linklater's Boyhood proved that good things are worth waiting for. It took him 12 years to make this 2 hour and 45 minute long film and it paid off because it naturally and authentically captured the essence of childhood and growing up better than any film before it. It was an easy watch and deserves some recognition.



Best trailer - Interstellar trailer 1 

A lot of cool trailers landed this summer but none excited me more than the first full length Interstellar trailer which came out in mid May. The thing gives me goose bumps even now when I watch it. I love the way it intrigues you without spoiling anything, plus Hans Zimmer's score which progressively builds up in the background is perfect.



Most anticipated fall movie - Interstellar

It stars some very good actors, has the best musician in Hollywood producing it's score and has the best director working today directing it. Christopher Nolan has made some of my all time favourite movies like Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy. He's yet to let me down and I can't wait to see his next movie despite not knowing a thing about it.



Worst movie - Transformers: Age of Extinction

A Million Ways to Die in the West let me down horribly, Tammy was terrible and The Purge: Anarchy didn't work for me. But I've gone with Transformers as my least favourite summer movie because it was everything that I hated about a Michael Bay film; shit CGI, an incomprehensibly stupid plot, dumb military dialogue, awful humour, weak and 1 dimensional boring characters and that same irritating and epileptic directing style. It's awful and I hate that it has made over $1 billion worldwide.



Best movie - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

It has real human emotion, drama and tension. It has incredible acting and memorable characters. It has an unpredictable story. It has jaw dropping action and CGI. It's a beautifully directed movie and is a marvel to look at on the big screen. It has everything a great summer movie should have. We don't need brain-numbing Transformers action to get a good summer blockbuster, we need everything Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has. This is how you make a blockbuster. It's not only my favourite movie of the summer, but my favourite of the entire year.



That was actually really fun to do! If you agree/disagree with any of my choices please comment below and put your winners for each of the categories. I will be doing a Fall movie preview very soon and I hope I enjoy my next 100 posts as much as I have my first 100. I'll keep up the movie reviews, spoilers and movie news stuff plus I hope to introduce 2 new regular segments for this blog as well in the coming weeks so look at forward to that. What a summer its been and here's to an awesome Fall and Winter!

Thanks for reading,
Matt

Edge of Tomorrow & 22 Jump Street Double Feature - Movie Reviews

Having seen both Edge of Tomorrow and 22 Jump Street very recently I thought it would probably be best if I clumped both reviews into 1 post. Sounds logical I guess...



Edge of Tomorrow


Edge of Tomorrow is directed by Doug Liman, the man behind the Bourne Identity, and stars Tom Cruise, arguably the biggest movie star in the world, alongside Emily Blunt. In a dystopian future, practically unbeatable alien creatures called mimics invade the earth and Tom Cruise's character is sent to the front line in order to help with the invasion. However after failing miserably the first time he obtains the ability to wake up after death and re start the day. I liked Edge of Tomorrow but it was not perfect. Firstly, Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are great in their roles and do have really good on screen chemistry. The direction from Doug Liman combines a hand held style which works when it needs to along with epic wide shots which look awesome. The battle sequences work because you can actually see what is happening on screen; there is no quick cuts and shaky cam, which is a relief! The action is pretty incredible and the first 2 acts of the film are solid science fiction movie making, its exhilarating and refreshing at the same time. For example, in this film Tom Cruise has a different story arc to what you'd expect because he's a coward. Only through endlessly repeating the day does he become and efficient badass in combat, which Emily Blunt is from the first time you see her on screen. She is an incredibly strong female lead and was probably the second best thing about the film, behind the action of course! The film, despite showing the same day over and over, never felt repetitive, which gets a thumbs up from me! However there were issues for me with pacing in the final act of the film. Personally, I thought it was trying to rush things and it came to an ending which, for me, didn't work. It isn't a popular opinion but I honestly thought that the film's ending just wasn't satisfying enough. It pains me to say it but it is true. However, the first 2 acts were dynamite at times, and I recommend you see it!


Rating - B




22 Jump Street


22 Jump Street is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. 21 Jump Street was a really good comedy as it was so refreshing. I was afraid that the sequel wouldn't capture the same tone the first did, but it turns out that 22 is actually funnier than 21. 22 Jump Street is a kick-ass comedy film with nearly perfect consistency. The comedic timing of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum is exceptional and I honestly think the person who said "let's put them 2 in a buddy cop comedy movie" is a genius! There isn't really much else I can say about 22 Jump Street other than it is very funny and at 3 times I was gut busting. Ice Cube is so much funnier in this film compared to 21 and has one scene in where I literally had tears. There's 2 other scenes like that. It is so rare that a comedy sequel can be better than the first but these guys honestly made it work. The film is also so self aware and does a great job at spoofing the fact that it is practically the same film as the first as well as spoofing the idea of sequels, having a larger budget, action movie clichés and so on! The film does have a few completely predictable moments, it does border into sappy at times and the supporting cast is made up of a few characters which were pretty annoying. But the film was so funny! It is a great time at the theatre, I recommend going with a few friends as you will all enjoy dying of laughter sitting next to each other!


Rating - B+




If you're reading this, what did you think of Edge of Tomorrow and/or 22 Jump Street? Did you like Edge of Tomorrow's ending? Whatever your thoughts I'd like to know!

Thanks for reading,
Matt