The Drop (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1600196/

Pretty good but a bit mixed up - a man and his dog, a man and his girl, a man and the mob. Shame about the overwrought accents. The cast is good, but ultimately the story is predictable. 

Foxcatcher (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1100089/

I fear this movie will be the Mystic River of 2014. The critics are loving this one, but I just don't get it. The movie was long and slow and not interesting. The performances were excellent, it's just unfortunate they weren't of more interesting people. And now that I've learned that several key elements diverge from the truth (it is based on a true story. If not actually being entirely true), it makes the whole thing seem like a waste of 2+ hours, not to mention of Vanessa Redgrave in a terrible role. 

Disastrous dinner parties

Coherence (2013) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2866360/

It's a Disaster (2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1995341/

We've seen this pair of movies over the past year, and since they share a similar theme - disasters making for awkward dinner parties - I'm lumping them together. 

Coherence is definitely the better of the two - creepier and more sinister, with a more complicated story involving the nature of time and reality, and better dialogue and performances. Not perfect but definitely worth watching. 

It's a Disaster takes more comedic approach to a similarly serious incident, and makes a bit of a mess of it. Like a campy horror film, the characters make bad / stupid decisions and make a bad situation worse, at least one person gets ridiculously drunk, and the resolution of the story is lame, just like the dialogue and characters. 

The Guest (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980592/

If Jason Bourne were not so nice, he'd be The Guest. Overall, pretty good but a bit predictable. 

'71 (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2614684/

Good if somewhat predictable / stereotypical portrayal of the Troubles. The performances are good, and the dialogue and pace of the story are well done. 

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1972571/

The good, intense story, along with the fabulous performances by Hoffmann and the German and Chechen (or other) actors, almost redeem this predictable tale and the terrible peformances (and dreadful accents) of the other American actors (Willem Dafoe and Rachel McAdams, I'm talking about you). I can see Hoffmann getting a posthumous Oscar nod for this one. 

Annabelle (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322940/

This fairly overwrought prequel to The Conjuring is plagued by bad dialogue and a horrible doll (it makes no sense why anyone would want such an ugly toy). 

As Above, So Below (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2870612/

Not bad. A decent found-footage horror movie, set in the catacombs of Paris (so to for the claustrophobic), where a group searches for the philosophers stone and finds the gates of hell as a bonus. If any of them had seen an Indiana Jones movie, they could have avoided most of their troubles. 

The Love Punch (2013)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234261/

A cute and funny love story and jewel heist caper, with great performances by Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson (both looking great too). The title makes no sense, but the story is light and fun and well done. 

I Origins (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2884206/

Fascinating story about love, science, and spirits. Perhaps science can prove that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Or perhaps just that the more we learn and know, the more mystery there is. An excellent tale well told. 

Tusk (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3099498/

Weird. Hard to watch and hard not to. 

Reclaim (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3202890/

Interesting premise - well-off couple seeks to adopt orphan from Haiti after the earthquake, and gets caught up in a scam. A cautionary tale about the perils of going outside official channels. Ryan Philliipe does a great job at the near-dad seeking redemption, and John Cusack is at last in a role that's not cringe-inducingly bad. It all comes together well in the end, and the cute-beyond-words girl finally gets a room of her own. 

The Device (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3593120/

This was a surprise - an interesting take on alien invasion/abduction in a low budget thriller. Good performances and story, and little reliance on special effects, create good tension and suspense. 

The Broken Shore (2013)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2391073/

Well done mystery in smallish town Australia. Someone's seeking vengeance for years of residential school abuse, and the local cop (recently relocated from homicide squad, conveniently) tracks down the culprits. Unfortunately, it is part one of a series of stories (at least one more) and the ending - as well as much of the film, feels like a well done made for tv miniseries(which, actually, it was). Looking forward to part two. 

The Mule (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2130270/

This was better than I was expecting. Despite the gross bathroom stunts, this is a decent police and mob story, with a hapless underdog getting the best of everyone. Most of the bad guys get their come uppance, and there's a happy ending all round. Just be sure to be able to control your gag reflex Ina few scenes. 

The Equalizer (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455944/

A well done version of this tale and character. Denzel Washington is perfectly cast as the title character and the supporting roles are well done. The Russian mafia story is a bit over the top, and the climax scenes in the hardware store are closer to Die Hard than The Equalizer, but no matter. A well done action flick. 

Gone Girl (2014)

So much potential. The first half of the film is a tense well-constructed mystery, but it devolves rapidly in the second half to a tv-show-type quasi-comedic farce, with the feel of Desperate Housewives.

Paddington (2014)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1109624/

I'm not at all familiar with the Paddington children's story, other than that he was a beat who came to London and had some adventures. I'm reasonably certain that none of those original adventures involved being stalked and then kidnapped by a poison dart toting dominatrix-cum-taxidermist bent on killing and stuffing him for display in a museum, who then opts for attempting to incinerate him. Much of the film is sweet, funny and harmless - and even entertaining for kids of all ages - but the scary bits are too much for the target audience of 6-10 year olds, and add nothing to plot. The bear, the family and all of their bits are excellent, but mostly spoiled by the really mean lady.