Now by no means were most of these award winning, or even critically excellent. These are just my own favorites and for my own reasons!
It seems to be the year I really liked movies that were based off of books since I have 3 on my list!
The first one of course, and probably one of my favorite movies this year is:
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
I loved the whole book series and remembered being really captivated by the story. I haven't re-read the books recently so I almost forgot what happens going into the movie. I love Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss and the other actors that played fellow tributes. I loved this movie as a story and action movie in itself as opposed to comparing it to the book. It started off a bit slow but I feel that was needed for those that did not read the books. However, when the action happened, it was all I could have wanted and definitely left me wanting the next book Mockingjay to be out already!
The next movies are in no real order and I am just going to talk about them as I list them off.
The Grandmaster
If you are into Chinese martial arts history, then you may like this movie. Ip Man (there are many movies made about him aka the Donny Yen one on Netfli--which by the way is sooo bad ass!) is basically known for popularizing Wing Chun style martial arts and most importantly, being the master of Bruce Lee.
This movie may be a little boring but I liked it mainly for the main actor, Tony Leung Chui Wai (one of my favorite Chinese actors of all time! ---old man crush. hah). Also, the actress Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, House of Flying Daggers) is also in it.
21 and Over
To be honest, this isn't really a good movie. Hah. It's your typical just turned 21 years old college kid with strict parents that went balls out wild on his 21st birthday. The main reason this made my list? It was filmed on my campus at the University of Washington in Seattle!! =P It's so cool when you can recognize different parts of campus from their filming. I can't say I highly recommend it, but if you want a laugh or watch something kind of dumb, than go for this, lolz.
Iron Man 3
Not much here to say besides the fact that a) I love all the Marvel movies, basically. b) I like how this connects right after The Avengers and is a continuous story line. and c) I love Robert Downy Jr. as Tony Stark!
Ender's Game
I know many people either didn't like or absolutely loved this movie. Especially if you are a fan of the book, it may not have been your cup of tea, but as a movie, I thought it was pretty good. Like many books turned movies, they aren't going to get everything right. I honestly just liked the kid who played Ender and how he portrayed his character. Plus, military boy genius is always an interesting theme in any story.
Olympus Has Fallen
This movie was just a pretty bad ass movie though highly unrealistic. North Koreans entering the US undetected and taking over the White House is pretty much never going to happen unless the US ever does become that incompetent. You have Gerard Butler, aka Mr. 300 save the President (aka Two Face) and in the mean time, Morgan Freeman aka the voice of God takes over as acting President. Plus there's a lot of action and gun fighting and the director who directed Training Day directed this movie. What's not to like???
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Here is another book series turned movie. I absolutely love the book series and the world author Cassandra Clare created in The Mortal Instruments series and its prequel series, The Infernal Devices. I didn't know how I would feel about the actors they choose for the series, but I really fell in love with Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower as the two leading characters, surprisingly. Some of the other characters (like Magnus Bane) I feel they could have done a little better with, but hey he's Asian so I can appreciate that in an American mainstream film. Lolz. Again, this doesn't follow the book exactly, but as a fan of the series, I quite enjoyed the film.
Despicable Me 2
Uhm, helllooo, Minions!?!!? Need I say more?? hhahah
Frozen
They said this was supposed to be the next best Disney movie after the Disney renaissance period (Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, etc.) and I can't say I 100% agree with that, but nevertheless, this was a really good movie that I was surprised I would like. I only saw it because The Hobbit was sold out and had no idea what the story line was going to be. Some of the musical numbers were a little much or more so random, but I loved the snowman character Olaf! I would highly recommend this movie for bringing your kids to or if you are just a Disney movie lover!
Pacific Rim
I don't care how cheesy or corny or unrealistic this movie is, it was effing badass to the bone with giant monsters, the kaijin, fighting giant man made robots, Jaegers. It was awesome and I loved the composer of the soundtrack as well! Ughh so epic and so good! If you like mediocre acting but a lot of slashing action, then yup, this is the one!
Fast and Furious 6
One of my favorite movie franchises of all time. RIP Paul Walker.
That concludes my list of favorites for this year. I know I am missing some, but those were the ones that popped into my head.
Some movies I still need to see are:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
From Up on Poppy Hill (Japanese Ghilbi)
New World (Korean)
The Host (loved the book)
A Place Beyond the Pines
The Great Gatsby (was that this year?)
The East
The Purge
Monster University
Grown Ups 2
Only God Forgives
The Butler
12 Years a Slave
Riddick
Gravity
Linsanity
Kill Your Darlings
Chinese Zodiac
About Time
Saving Mr. Banks
Anchorman: The Legend Continues
That's about it, I know there's more but I can't remember right now!
What were your favorite movies this year? Is there anything you still want to see?!
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