Best of 2014
It’s that time of year when, as we have done for the last decade or so, we have dragged ourselves from the revelries here at SFFWorld to try and put some sort of order to our favourite (and not so favourite!) stuff from 2014.
And so, here’s the third part of our attempt to show what we liked (or didn’t) this year. (The first part, on Fantasy & Horror books, is HERE, and the second, on SF Books, is HERE.)
In this last part we’ve written about what we’ve liked/not liked/noticed in Film and TV.
Taking part are Rob Bedford (Rob), Mark Chitty (MarkC) and Mark Yon (MarkY).
Part 3: Genre Film and TV.
Been an interesting year for TV and film generally, not to mention busy! Let’s start with film.
3a. Film
To start with, here are the Top 20 grossing films in the UK for 2014 at the time of typing (doubt the list will change much for the US.)
- Transformers: Age of Extinction – $1,087,404,499
2. Guardians of the Galaxy – $772,257,316
3. Maleficent – $757,752,378
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past – $746,045,700
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – $714,083,572
6. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – $708,982,323
7. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – $708,279,489
8. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – $639,856,110
9. Interstellar – $635,535,531
10. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – $618,909,935
11. Godzilla – $524,976,069
12. Rio 2 – $498,781,117
13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – $477,204,754
14. The Lego Movie – $468,060,692
15. Lucy – $458,863,600
16. Edge of Tomorrow – $369,206,256
17. Noah – $362,637,473
18. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – $358,131,544
19. Gone Girl – $349,344,822
20. The Maze Runner – $339,543,969
We thought this might be a useful place to start.
MarkY’s thoughts: First thoughts from this are rather uplifting and simultaneously depressing.
By far the majority of those films (17?) are genre movies, which should be a cause for celebration.
However, when we look at what that seventeen actually includes, I get rather depressed. There’s still a lot of sequels, and franchises in there, without anything really new. Some of them were just not good: Transformers was one of the most tedious near-three hours (it seemed longer) I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to sit through in a cinema. To me it is rather depressing that it is the biggest grossing movie of the year.
Of the rest, Edge of Tomorrow was much better than that list would suggest. Marvel’s Guardians did much better than many thought it would, though my own personal Marvel favourite this year was Captain America: the Winter Soldier, which was far, far better than I thought it was going to be. X-Men: Days of Future Past was a stronger effort in the series, though for me criminally underplayed the older members of the cast. The Amazing Spiderman 2 was not as bad as *some* of the reviews suggested, but tried to fit too many of the overriding subplots into one film rather than focus on a main plot here. Interstellar looked awesome on a large screen, but was trying too hard to be 2001: A Space Odyssey and had some amazing lapses of logic and leaps of faith within. Godzilla was good, and did much to remove all thoughts of the 1998 version, but like the Hulk movies for me suffered by having a protagonist that actually does very little. The Lego Movie was surprisingly popular and (also surprisingly) funny.
Of the many re-branded re-boots this year, I enjoyed RoboCop more than I thought I would. How to Train Your Dragon 2 was as surprisingly good as the first in 3D, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was just better than I thought it would be. The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies will no doubt be higher on that list by the end of year, as it has only been out a couple of weeks at the time of typing, but personally I had lost the will to live somewhere in the last movie and so couldn’t comment further about its relative merit.
MarkC’s Thoughts
I’ve watched a fair few movies this year, and looking at the top grossing films I’ve watched over half of them, with some of the others on my to-watch list.
The good: Guardians of the Galaxy was definitely one of the highlights for me. It mixed humour and story enough to keep me entertained throughout, and the 70’s and 80’s music really worked, despite the fact that it probably shouldn’t have in a space opera. Captain America, the other Marvel film of the year, was also great and has really built up my expectations for what is to come in the universe. X-Men gave the series new life and managed to mix both old and new in a good way, Lucy was an interesting take, and was better than Transcendence, which I also quite enjoyed. Edge of Tomorrow was a great film, and one that exceeded expectations on pretty much every front. Godzilla also rocked, and could lead to some interesting sequels of they decide to go ahead. And, of course, how I could I mention good films without including The Lego Movie, that was, quite frankly, awesome.
The bad: Transformers. Oh dear, what a mess. I keep on watching these in the hopes that they’ll give me the film I’m hoping for, but each one destroys my soul a little more. Interstellar was a disappointment for me despite being a beautiful film. I just didn’t enjoy the story and thought it tried way too hard. The final Hobbit film also makes this short list: it was overlong and I sat through most of the film just wishing the credits would roll so I could leave. I didn’t even care for the characters. A shame. And Amazing Spider-Man 2 was just a mess from start to finish.
The missed: I still need to watch Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (which I’m looking forward to), Mockingjay Part 1 (also one I hope will please), How to Train your Dragon 2 (I’ve only just watched, and loved, the first film), and finally Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles (which will probably kill another part of my childhood).
Rob B’s Thoughts
By far the most fun (as in I felt like a kid again) film I saw in theaters this year was the new Godzilla movie. I wrote a couple of posts about it on my blog. It was everything that the GINO film (Godzilla in Name Only) wasn’t – in other words good and fun. From a genre standpoint (encompassing Science Fiction and Comic books), Guardians of the Galaxy cannot be ignored. It was a blast, the cast was great, it looked great and it was the type of fun Science Fiction film that hasn’t been around in a while. Keeping with the Marvel Cinematic Universe ®, Captain America: Winter Soldier was probably the best comic book film of the year and easily one of the top 2 or 3 of all time. Just a great story with great direction and actors.
Lest we not forget Big Hero 6, the first Marvel/Disney joint film (wherein Disney takes a Marvel property and handles the production). This is also a nearly great Science Fiction film, it is refreshingly optimistic and science is at the absolute core of the film – the kid protagonists are –excited- about science. In addition, the group of kids is well balanced in terms of race and gender. Baymax the robot will make you cry.
One smaller scale film that should be of interest to genre fans is Birdman, which stars Michael Keaton and will likely get him (at least) an Oscar nomination. Keaton, in many ways, plays an alternate version of himself. He is an actor best known for portraying comic book superhero Birdman in a series of films. He hasn’t been in the limelight since stepping away from the role and is now attempting to be a legitimate actor (rather than movie star) by starring in and directing a Broadway play.
(Note: Birdman is out in the UK in January 2015, with Big Hero 6 later in the year. Those of us in the UK are looking forward to both.)
3b. Genre TV
MarkY’s thoughts: Walking Dead and A Game of Thrones were pretty much snubbed at the Golden Globe Awards, as too (to a much lesser extent) at the UK Radio Times Awards and British TV BAFTAS. Despite this, they were the highlights of the year for many TV viewers, genre-lovers and non-genre-lovers alike. So too was The Big Bang Theory, which is now evidently one of the most-watched currently-made TV programmes in the world.
The BBC’s Doctor Who, with a new Doctor, transcended national borders in its popularity, with a new Doctor in the form of Peter Capaldi. This one was much more to my taste, personally, but I felt he was let down by some god-awful scripts. I’m hoping next season will be more consistent.
This was another year I still failed to make headway with Rob’s non-genre favourite of last year, Breaking Bad (despite the rest of my family having watched the whole series, in some cases more than once.) And similarly Orphan Black is still there in the unwatched pile of forgotten discs too, despite me sitting down at least twice to watch it.
Of the new series, The Flash was a mighty meh for me (though I was similarly uninterested in its stablemate, Arrow, last year.) Gotham seems to have improved as it went along, though I am yet to be convinced it’ll be worth watching a new series. The Strain followed the books (which I liked) fairly well, but got mixed reviews over its predictability. The re-invention of the Dracula legend in er – Dracula – was one of the worst I saw this year, whereas Eva Green and Timothy Dalton sparkled in the decidedly odd ‘throw-everything-in-the-pot’ Penny Dreadful. Extant started well but ran out of steam (and interest) as even the implausibilities became too implausible.
Agents of SHIELD started very badly for me last year, but I did manage to see some second series episodes. These were better than the first. I gave up with the going-nowhere series Under the Dome, Sleepy Hollow became more Fringe-like as it went along (not necessarily a bad thing, although I’m yet to be convinced) and Bates Motel was good but seemed to stall, as did Hannibal, which was still the most unnerving series of the year for me. True Blood came to an end, which was a good thing for many of those feeling that it had overstayed its welcome. The Legend of Korra also finished, but unlike True Blood finished to a generally positive, if rather sad, response.
MarkC’s Thoughts
I’ve watched very little TV this year with only a handful of shows really interesting me. I keep on going with The Big Bang Theory despite it not being quite as good as it used to, but it’s still a must-watch every week. The same goes for Castle, and this season it’s put a smile on my face with its various themed episodes. Game of Thrones was also consumed in quick succession earlier this year, and I’ll look forward to it returning in 2015.
As for ones that just didn’t do it for me, Doctor Who is at the top of the list. I watched the first few episodes, but gave up half way through the series. I didn’t even bother with Under the Dome after giving up in season 1, or Walking Dead after the poor first half of season 2. I’ve not even tried the rest of what MarkY mentions, and I don’t have much inclination to do so either. I’d rather read a book!
Rob B’s Thoughts
The Walking Dead had perhaps its strongest set of episodes to end last season and begin this season. It seems the makers of the show have learned from past missteps and have actively addressed issues many critics and fans have raised. (Although, admittedly, the last couple of episodes of the first half of this season were a slight step back).
Game of Thrones was as solid as ever, though some of the choices the TV writers/producers made in changing elements from page to screen left me (and many fans of the show) quite confused – THE Jaime and Cersei scene and some mishandling of Tyrion. On the other hand, there were some incredibly strong episodes, including the battle at Castle Black.
Orphan Black returned with another solid season and proved why it just might be the best SF show on television. Not surprisingly, there was a twist in the final episode of the season which raised many, many questions about the show’s direction and what we assumed all along.
Grimm returned in the fall and continued a solid string of fun television where it left off in the Spring of 2014. My wife and I are big fans of this show. I’ve remarked before that this show is what The Dresden Files adaptation –should– have been. Considering people involved in Grimm were also involved in making Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the parallels between those two shows should not be surprising. This parallel manages to be good enough that it isn’t just a blatant copying.
Of new shows, I’m of the opposite side of the coin as Mark Y regarding The Flash. I love the show, look forward to it every week and for me, it is a very good distilling of the various mythos of the Flash over the past 50 or so years. Its “older brother” program of Arrow finished an incredible second season last spring and started off quite strongly in the fall of this year. I will also say that the most pleasant surprise on the show is Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer (the alter ego of the size-shrinking hero The Atom). Whereas he was a bit stiff and wooden as Kal-El in 2006’s Superman Returns, here his full of charm, charisma, and likeability.
I waver with Doctor Who so much, I lost interest a bit at the end of Matt Smith’s tenure, although the Day of the Doctor which featured him, Tennant, was terrific. Despite some episodes being stronger than others, I really enjoy Peter Capaldi’s take on the Doctor.
I’ve just begun watching Attack on Titan one of the many Anime which has been appearing on Cartoon Network. This one tells the story of a secluded kingdom, walled in to protect itself from giant humanoid creatures. Solid storytelling in this one.
And that’s it for this year.
Once again, thank you for all your support this year. We look forward to 2015 and your contributions.
