Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Lolo's Lists: Top 10 BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS of 2014!

While there were a ton of great and surprising movies in 2014, there were an equal number of disappointing ones, too. These are films that we kept an open mind about and even some that we were really excited to see, or were critically acclaimed, or were sequels to movies we originally loved, but ultimately left us feeling underwhelmed, crestfallen and disenchanted with the movie-going experience. Dramatic much? You be the judge. Do you agree or disagree with out list? Let us know!
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10) "Foxcatcher" - Though the acting in this movie is all around outstanding, "Foxcatcher" itself is slow moving and boring, and without these performances, it wouldn't have been as successful as it was. The time span of this film gets compressed down into a two year time period when, in reality, the events taking place unfolded over at least a decade. This change makes John du Pont simply look like a vengeful ex-friend as opposed to what really happened where he ultimately had a slow descent into madness and psychosis, which is all but eliminated.
9) "Rosewater" - While we love Jon Stewart and he truly did try his best with this directorial debut, "Rosewater" is definitely up there on the disappointment scale for us. It is obvious that Stewart felt somewhat responsible for what happened to Maziar Bahari in real life and this was most certainly a passion project for him. Though it is informative, it's at a huge disadvantage because of its slow moving pace, its lack of emotional connection and its mediocre acting.
8) "Men, Women & Children" - Heralded in its trailers as a film that will expose how little you know about the people you know, "Men, Women & Children" completely drops the ball. Jason Reitman, the film's director and self-ego inflater extraordinaire, attempts to tackle the big issue of the prevalence of technology in our modern society, which is noble, but ultimately, he fails on almost every level. All of the film's problems existed before the internet was around, so he's really not shattering anyone's world. This movie is basic as hell and should really be called "White Men, Women & Children with First World Problems."
7) "The Giver" - Even an all-star cast featuring King Jeff Bridges and Queen Meryl Streep couldn't save "The Giver" from focusing too much on the romantic aspect of the story and doing this "trivializes the true power of the emotions we are supposed to feel by reducing it to no more than a teenage crush." While the book was written decades ago, it seems too little, too late for the movie adaptation. There's not enough focus on the meat and potatoes of their Utopian society as the beginning of the story is glossed over in a short introduction of text and nothing more than that. To get a sense of why this society gave up its emotions and individuality, we feel like we needed more than just words on a screen. No one reacts right and no one acts right. Everything about this movie felt off.
6) "Boyhood" - We're going to take a lot of heat for this, but "Boyhood" is basically just a story about a boy growing up as we simultaneously watch its lead actor grow up on screen in real life. Though I identified with the story more than BigJ since it was made during the years when I was growing up, he felt like Mason's (played by Ellar Coltrane) "life was rather average and mundane apart from a few poor choices on behalf of his mother." Aided by the fact that it doesn't drag through its run-time, "Boyhood," to us, is nothing more than gimmicky film making that will probably take home Oscar gold because of it.
5) "Annabelle" - After absolutely loving "The Conjuring," we were so excited for "Annabelle," but we should have trusted our gut when we thought of how rushed this prequel seemed to be made in order for it to get released quickly after the original. Full of typical horror movie jump scares, awful acting and stupid dialogue, it's simply a mixed bag "and a lot of wasted potential for that fugly, demonic doll."
4) "Dumb and Dumber To" - In the grand scheme of waiting for sequels, one would logically assume that waiting 20+ years for one is greater than waiting almost 10 years for one, and you'd be right, but this is our list, so deal with it! "Dumb and Dumber To" is just that: dumb and dumber. Seriously, we feel like our IQ dropped just a little bit after watching this "film," if you can call it that. It's plot and jokes are recycled and Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels are awful and disappointing to say the least. It has definitely earned a place in the "train-wreck hall of fame," and it doesn't help that we didn't even laugh once while watching it. This is also our #1 worst movie of 2014.
3) "Interstellar" - One of the most promising movies of 2014 was also one of our biggest letdowns. When you promote a movie for over a year, you better make damn sure it's a winner. It's unfair to say we didn't like "Interstellar" because the first two-thirds of the movie are excellent, filled with wonderful visuals, a stellar soundtrack and amazing practical effects, but the last third of the movie is a complete and utter waste. We have no problem suspending our disbelief while watching movies, but when a film spends 2 hours throwing science jargon in our faces and beefing up its plot with sci-fi mumbo-jumbo, "only to turn around and flip science on its head in pursuit of fantasy, it loses a little bit of its momentum for us." It's okay to admit when he's wrong, Nolanites.
2) "Lucy" - 2014 was a horrible wasteland of weak and awful roles for women, which is unfortunate to say the least. I was so looking forward to watching Scarlett Johansson kick ass and take names in the action sci-fi "Lucy," but this was a flop, too. "This is going to be one of those movies where people annoyingly say "if you didn't like it, you just didn't understand it." Well, tough shit, you're wrong. We may not have liked what was being asked of us, to further a scientific fallacy all in the name of entertainment, but it's just not a very good movie on top of that." This quote from our original review and it says it all. What a waste of talent.
1) "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" - Waiting almost 10 years for the highly anticipated sequel to a fantastic movie, only to have it be complete and utter crap, is a movie lover's worst nightmare, and we found that in the form of "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For." Everything about this sequel is different, and even the "cool" look of it seemed altered from the original. There's no heart and no soul in this movie. There is so much unused potential that it's sad. It's uninspired. There's no "spark" like there was in the original. It's an utter disappointment and completely underwhelming. At least this film taught us to think twice before we get excited about a sequel to one of our favorite movies.

4 comments:

  1. You didn't like Boyhood?!? Eeeeeeeaaaaa

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    1. It's not a BAD movie, but it is very gimmicky. If it wasn't filmed over 12 years, it probably wouldn't be getting the attention it is.

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  2. I liked it. I felt everything he went through, not many films can do that to me. Perhaps because I could relate so much.

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    1. I think growing up in the time period helps us relate to it more. I did like the movie, but I think "Nightcrawler" was better and overlooked.

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