10 Incredible Films Turning 10 in 2024: Part II
By Segun Ade-Martins
In part I, we counted down from #10 to #5. Now, find out the rest of the films that make up the ranking below.
4: Big Hero 6
A beautiful Disney 3D animation directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams based on comic book superhero characters from Marvel, created by the collective Man of Action.
However, writers Jordan Roberts, Daniel Gibson, and Robert L. Baird loosely adapted from the source to create a new story with a more wholesome tone. (Disneyfication). At the time of watching, I wondered why there was a cameo by Stan Lee, but it makes sense now.
The story takes place in an awesome futuristic city, San Fransokyo, not just a portmanteau but a mix of locations and cultures (I wonder how that would happen).
We see wonderful character introductions set in high-stakes action. The brothers, Hiro and Tadashi, have to escape being beat up by thugs in an illegal, underground robot fighting ring.
From that introduction through a brilliantly written twist of fate events, Baymax, a health robot, emerges to aid Hiro in the mystery quest.
The movie blends scientific genius with a sense of mystery and lots of cheesy comic book superhero action to show us what friendship and family can be about, with humour, of course.
Big Hero 6 creates a faux nostalgia of a romantic place that I would like to visit and be a child again. I rated this an 8 out of 10 and it was definitely my favourite animation from 2014.
3: Boyhood
In this incredible film that was made over 12 years, we see a boy mature into a young adult.
Boyhood is a brief study of the evolution of a family in modern America as well as the evolution of actors and characters.
Written and directed by Richard Linklater, the film stars Ellar Coltrane as Mason, the boy we see grow up, Ethan Hawke as his dad, Patricia Arquette as his mom, Olivia, and Lorelei Linkater (the director’s daughter) as his older sister, Samantha.
This is the warmest and most wholesome film I have seen that I can remember. It’s also the most naturalistic movie that I’ve seen, as Mason experiences the world of his parents, mostly with his mom, Olivia, and sister, Samantha.
The movie takes us from mundane moments to seminal moments, jumping forward to key moments in a child’s life.
It’s fun every time the kids’ dad shows up. The tension ratchets up slowly as Olivia marries her professor. We see his alcohol-fueled, hard-line parenting get under everyone’s skin.
Being a Linklater film, existential philosophy creeps its way into the dialogue in many scenes, especially in the second half of the film.
Spoiler alert for the characters: Dad and Mason. Lucasfilm did make a new Star Wars film after Return of the Jedi—actually three films and many series in the world of the Star Wars universe.
Anyway, in 2014, I rated this movie 9 out of 10. It truly is an amazing and captivating film. It doesn’t have the classic protagonist-antagonist conflict. I’m unsure why it works without that and remains so interesting. Boyhood is a really special film.
2: The Imitation Game
This movie comes in at number 2 for me because of its understated brilliance. The characters are well-written, and the plot weaves together so elegantly.
Writers Graham Moore and Andrew Hodges and director Morten Tyldum give us this ‘almost’ biopic of Alan Turing.
But the film is about the effort to crack Enigma, the Nazi code machine. It focuses on Alan Turing’s contribution to that effort, with support and antagonization from the well-drawn-out characters.
The Imitation Game is a masterclass in writing and directing. cleverly disguised voice-over dialogue, which is part of the dialogue that frames the story after World War II.
To the great character moments dotted all over: when Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) walks into Bletchley Park to twist Commander (Charles Dance) into hiring him to attempt to break Enigma.
The movie cleverly circles around his queerness in each part of the plot: the schoolboy scenes, the post-war police investigation scenes, and the Bletchley Park team scenes. Until he reveals his sexuality to Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley),
The film should be studied for its great subtlety. You don’t notice how it weaves back and forth, a sign of great editing. I think it deserves more than the 9 out of 10 rating I gave it.
Bonus Films
There were films that I really enjoyed from 2014 in no particular order, just films worthy of being in this top ten. They are Edge of Tomorrow, Top Five, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and 5 to 7.
Edge of Tomorrow is a highly underrated time-loop sci-fi. I’m not entirely enamoured by time-loop stories, but this one comes in at number 3 after Groundhog Day.
Top Five is a fun movie, and I want to unpack the idea of what this movie means in a later article. It’s a critical take on the journey that a black entertainer goes through; the circumstances could apply to a star like Kanye West, Eddie Murphy, or Martin Lawrence.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 suffered from competing with great animations that were released at the same time. I love this film, but I loved Big Hero 6 more.
5 to 7 is the last of the 14 films from 2014 that I feel are worthy of discussing in today’s world. 5 to 7 is a lovely little romantic film about a couple of lovers locked in an affair. This film means a lot to me by showing the struggles of being a writer/author exploring love.
1: Interstellar
In today’s world, Interstellar is better known for its deeply emotive score. It’s interesting because Christopher Nolan says he finished the script based on listening to the theme that he asked Hans Zimmer to make.
It is an unusual way to make a film, but when you watch it, you can feel how integral it is to the emotional core of the film.
That emotional core is a story of loss, longing, and sacrifice between a man (Cooper) and his daughter (Murphy) across 70 years for the daughter but less than 2 years for the father.
The chemistry between Matthew McConaughey and Mackenzie Foy (young Murphy) is delightful. Also, the variance in time is where the magic in filmmaking happens, from writing to directing and editing.
This ‘magic’ is why this is my favourite movie of 2014. Christopher Nolan, along with the cast, showed me what a film could be from the inside, outside, and all the way through. And I’m grateful for that.
Additionally, the lack of recognition during award season for the above-the-line work confirms my lack of trust in awards.
I’m not saying this film was the best film ever and should have won in the writing, directing, and picture categories, but it deserved to be nominated for its achievements, which it was not.
Fresh off the emotional high of watching this movie, I rated it a perfect 10. Now, there is no perfect movie, but for me, it comes close. I still feel highly emotional when I think about this movie.
Conclusion
This list was not easy to do; there were really good films in 2014. I got the top 3 movies quite easily, but the rest were moved back and forth a bit, and I had to rewatch these movies to evaluate them. They are truly good movies.
There were more movies that I saw that I felt were good, like Lucy, John Wick, and Ex Machina, brilliant films.
There were also a lot of movies that I still haven’t seen that are critically acclaimed.
The likes of Unbroken, Whiplash, Nightcrawler, Inherent Vice, Leviathan, Girlhood, etc. They are still on my watchlist, and I will do my best to see them before the year runs out.
Leave some claps if you like and make comments about your favourite films from 2014.
Originally published at http://thestrangejournal.wordpress.com on February 13, 2024.
