2014 Best Awards

Welcome, to the first ever Dustin's Disastrous Decisions' end of the year movie awards. I picked an award format rather than a top ten, so I could mention some movies and performances that impressed me even if they didn't make the cut. You will undoubtedly see less movies on this list than others, that's because I don't have the access some other critics have to movies, and I am stuck with seeing whatever comes to theaters or video on demand. I am going to stick to movies I have reviewed (or did mini reviews of on the Facebook page), so you all aren't left out of anything. So, without further adieu let me get the proceedings started with...

Best Animated

Nominees: The Lego Movie, Big Hero 6, The Boxtrolls, How to Train Your Dragon 2

Winner - The Lego Movie

This is a category that is near and dear to my heart. I made a point to try and see every animated feature that came out this year, so I would have an even list. Luckily, this year was not in short supply of amazing animated pictures. While I loved the other movies, there is no doubting that The Lego Movie was in a separate class entirely. With stellar voice acting, solid jokes for all ages, and an ending that should still not be spoiled it would have been hard for any movie to come close to this.  

Best Horror

Nominees: Annabelle, Oculus, The Quiet Ones

Winner - Annabelle

Meanwhile, in horror, the showing for this year was absolutely abysmal. Basically I had to choose between the movies I hated the least, and I was going to scrap this category (like I did with Romance and Musical... thanks Annie and Into the Woods); but I honestly love horror too much to just not give it a category. Even though this movie broke one of my biggest rules for horror (showing the creature that should remain unseen... seriously read the review), it had just enough tension, and points that caused me to jump, for me to give this the pass. Oculus was nice and original, but this movie just had more appeal. Plus, the baby... at the end... nightmares. 

Best Comedy

Nominees:  Horrible Bosses 2, 22 Jump Street, Neighbors

Winner - 22 Jump Street

Two sequels and a movie with Zac effrom as a lead, what is this world coming to. In all seriousness, the movies mentioned here are hilarious, and 22 Jump Street had me gasping for air and holding my gut throughout most of the run time. The chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum has grown stronger since the first movie, and their characters are still the next best comedic duo (for movies). The jokes involve some of the elements seen in the first film, and a fair amount of poking fun at their "sequel status." Doesn't quite hit the mark as well as the first movie, but it this is the best out of the entire year.

Best Action

Nominees: John Wick, The Equalizer; Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Winner - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

So, some people think that the market is going to be over-saturated with comic book movies (due to the bold list DC and Marvel have put out); but as long as the movies can do as well as this (and the other movie you will see on this list) I don't think we have anything to worry about. This movie only had real competition from one other action movie this year (John Wick) and choosing between them was like pulling teeth. In the end, I had to go with the movie that proved how different comic book movies can be from the everyday affair. The choreography was flawless, The Falcon costume was one of the most memorable comic book costumes I have seen, and the story was brilliant. I say give me all the comic book movies you can. One a day would be nice. 

Best Comic Book Adaption

Nominees: Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: Winter Soldiers, X-Men: Days of Future Past

Winner - Guardians of the Galaxy

This category had slightly less competition, although I did want to at least mention the other's I liked. Honestly, what else could take this spot. It was like my two favorite franchises (Star Wars and  Firefly) met and had a baby. That baby went through some moments of obscurity as a comic book, then burst onto the big screen and sent the world into a frenzy. Out of all of the comic books I have read, I never kept current with this one, and now I wish I had, because this movie was just all types of brilliant. The most intense battle scenes I have been privileged to, some of the most creative characters,  and a soundtrack that lay claim to being one of three movie soundtracks I have downloaded (other two are Frozen and Tron: Legacy... Don't shoot). The movie was fun, this movie was exciting, this movie was one of the closest things to perfect I have seen from the comic book world.... and with all of those boasts LET THE HATE COMMENTS COMMENCE!

Best Novel Adaptation

Nominees: Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Gone Girl, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Winner - Gone Girl

Has David Fincher ever done a bad film? If he has, this isn't one of them. As if to tell the world that Ben Affleck might not be the worst choice for Batman, or to tell the world that Neil Patrick Harris is actually a damn good actor, this movie struck critics and audiences alike in a big way. Let me put this out there, Tyler Perry has taken some hits as an actor, and even more as a creator (rightly so) and this movie makes him seem less shitty. The third act is inspiring, the performances are amazing, this movie is like if M. Night Shyamalan actually started to care again.

Best Religious

Nominees: Noah

Winner - Noah (obviously)

So, this is more of a statement category. Not only have their been a lot of comic movies that came out this year (lucky for us), there were a truck load of religious films that found there way to theater screens. Most were god awful, but this movie should be a testament (rimshot) that a movie based on religious materials can be be great. They may have tweaked the story a bit, but as you should know, every religion has a flood story.... I don't know, this could have been one. Great performances, great visuals, yada yada yada, make more religious crap like this. 

Best Science Fiction

Nominees: Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Edge of Tomorrow

Winner - Guardians of the Galaxy

This may be the flaw in my awards list. You can see above for this entry, in all honesty I just wanted to at least mention Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Edge of Tomorrow. Both great films, but again no contest here.

Best Acting - Male

Nominees: Michael Parks: Tusk, Jake Gyllenhaal: Nightcrawler, Matthew McConaughey: Interstellar, J.K. Simmons: Whiplash

Winner - Michael Parks

The movie Tusk took some justified beatings by a fair amount of critics, but I still enjoyed my time with this film. Yes, Jake Gyllenhaal was great, Yes, McConaughey was one of the few good things about Interstellar, and yes, J.K. Simmons gave Michael a run for his money, but the performance Parks put forth here was just too great for me to ignore. There is a lot of hate for Smith as a director, and believe me, I am no uber-fanboy (regardless of me following him on Twitter), Parks' performance had nothing to do with ill will or love. Just a cold hard fact that he cranked his acting muscle into overdrive for this movie. If you didn't like this pick, then you won't like some of the picks for...

Best Acting - Female

Nominees: Eva Green: Sin City a Dame to Kill For/300: Rise of an Empire, Emma Watson: Noah, Jennifer Lawrence: Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1, Kristen Stewart: Camp X-Ray

Winner - Eva Green

So, I originally just wanted to combine the two genders into one category, but there were so many great performances here I couldn't help but split it. Shouldn't have mentioned Kristen Stewart? Hey, she is perfectly typecast for most roles she is in, and that suits me just fine, can't hold Twilight against her forever. Eva Green had not only one fantastic performance, but two jaw-dropping, amazing performances this year. Seems like she wanted to burst onto the scene as a highly sexualized presence, being as how I don't really enjoy that aspect of women I had to look at her as an actor. She nailed the Dame, and damn near brought Athens to its knees. What's more to ask from her?

Best Movie

Nominees: Whiplash, Guardians of the Galaxy, Chef, The Lego Movie, Gone Girl

Winner - Whiplash

I saw Chef catching some shit too, and wanted to put it as my movie of the year out of spite; but, this movie was just too good to not be my top movie. Ladies and gentleman, let me just take you on  the emotional journey you will go through with this movie. Anger at the teacher, regret for agreeing with his tactics or disagreeing with them, sorrow for the student, joy for the student, hate, love, this movie is a god damn roller coaster of emotions. J. K. Simmons puts forth one of the greatest performances form the year, Miles Teller sheds some preconceived notions about him, and the story is insanely good. This movie will either make you love jazz music or at least appreciate it. If you see nothing else from this year, see this.

That's it from the best, tune in tomorrow for the worst. 

Most anticipated movies coming out in 2015

Hello all, due to this week having no movies that were released in a theater near me, I decided to be productive in another way. You are going to be seeing a lot of lists come out this year, from a lot of different critics. I will not be releasing my "Best and Worst of 2014" list, until January; but, there are a shit ton of movies coming out in 2015 that I am looking forward to. Whether the premise has me intrigued, or the trailer has me frothing out the mouth for more, these movies are what I am looking forward to in the coming year. This list is based off of movies on IMDB, and might change their release date, or plot. With that in mind, let's get hyped up.

12) Jurassic World

Okay, so there is a lot of controversy surrounding this movie. Some people think the dinosaurs should have feathers (don't care if that is more realistic, it is stupid, stop trying to turn velociraptors into big chickens), some people think the hybrid is a stupid idea, and some people think that having trained raptors is impossible. For me, this movie looks fascinating. The plot is that they actually made Jurassic World, and the new generation is so preoccupied with technology that they think dinosaurs are boring (kids today, am I right?), so the scientists at Jurassic World try to make a new dinosaur in hopes it will bring customers back. The side of me that loves dinosaurs is looking forward to seeing Chris Pratt with a gang of raptors, and I am just really (weirdly) excited for this movie.

11) Terminator: Genisys

Old Arnold vs. CGI 1980's Arnold? Do Cyborgs age? How bad ass is Sarah Conner now? Is this T1000 enough to revive the franchise? There are a lot of questions surrounding this movie since the trailer was released. If I was to venture a guess about this movie I would say. Arnold is redoing every movie he ever starred in (it seems), and they are getting desperate for a box office so they brought back the T1000. Even if this movie is just a search for box office dollars, and we are treated to some BS reason as to why we have an old, flabby Terminator, I am still excited.

10) Ant Man

Only reason this is on here right now is because Marvel has yet to thoroughly disappoint me with their new run of movies. I (like most of the world) could care less about Ant Man, and as integral to the comics as Hank Pym was, I am still glad they are going with Scott Lang instead. Pym was the original creator of Ultron, I get it; but, he was also a very dark character, and I would have a hard time believing Paul Rudd could be too dark. This movie has been the victim of bad press since Edgar Wright left the production, so I want to see what movie pushed Edgar away.

9) Peanuts

The trailer sold me on this movie. The art style looked awesome, the peanuts sounded great, and it just had a general feeling of "yeah, this is Peanuts." It seems like they are going to do the old strip some justice, and I can't wait to see a new generation of Peanuts lovers. Another thing that has me intrigued is that I don't see any big acting names attached to this, which leads me to believe that they are going for authenticity.

8) In the Heart of the Sea

Another example of the trailer (and movie poster) selling me on the concept of a movie. Usually, I would see Chris Hemsworth attached to a movie based on Moby Dick and roll my eyes (which I did, when I first heard about this). Now I am filled with questions. Are they going to make Moby Dick the bad guy, or the captain, or both? Is Cillian Murphy going to get the attention he deserves? Are they going for just visual appeal, or are they going to stick to some appealing story? This movie has an opportunity to scare me as well. I don't know why, but I used to have dreams about being trapped in the middle of the ocean, and something very large swallowing me whole.

7) Jupiter Ascending

From Hemsworth to Tatum, from Olde English to Sci-Fi. This movie just looks fascinating. Very rarely do the Wachowshi's disappoint, so when they announce a new movie they have a good amount of my attention. All I know about this movie is what the trailers have revealed to me. Battle for the throne of a different world, someone on this world is the reincarnation of royalty, aliens might have been here before humans came along, Scientology is a fiction book, I get it. Let's see what you can do to impress me when this comes out Wachowski's.

6) Inside Out

I honestly didn't need a running reel of credited films Pixar was responsible for to be excited for this movie, the premise does just fine by me. This has the opportunity of being an unbelievably depressing movie, and if there is one thing Pixar does right it is making kids depressed. The cast of this looks amazing, and Pixar could use a win.

5) Tomorrowland

Disney seems to be on this kick where they love promoting science. This movie might be the culmination of everything they have been working towards. It might be another movie based on a ride from their theme park, and they might be trying to make lighting strike twice like they did with "The Pirates of the Caribbean" series, but, color me interested. Going to see more ideas from Disney on what the future will look like.

4) Chappie

I have loved Neil Blomkamp's film career thus far, so when he starts a movie where it is basically "Short Circuit meets District 9," I'm going to be excited. He hasn't done wrong by me yet, and I haven't seen him do a movie about a robot yet. He is visionary director, so I'm sure this movie will be gold.

3) SPECTRE

New James Bond movie with Christoph Waltz playing a villain. Need I say more?

2) Avengers: Age of Ultron

Joss Whedon is back in the directing chair for this sequel to Avengers. They found a way to introduce Ultron without having to introduce Hank Pym. Hulk Buster Armor. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. No scenes of The Vision yet, but that might be a spoiler thing. Andy Serkis. How can someone not be excited for this movie?

1) Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

I am a big Star Wars geek. I may not be a J. J. Abrams fan, but even with him at the helm of this project I am excited for more Star Wars. Everything I have heard about this movie, makes it seem like they got it right. I love the new lightsaber, I love that John Boyega looks to be the main character here. I love the Millennium Falcon. I love the Ball Droid. It looks like they mixed old and new seamlessly, and didn't overdue the CGI. This movie might turn out to be what every Star Wars Fan has been waiting for.

May the force be with you,

Honorable Mentions   

Hot Tub Time Machine 2
The first one was fun

Focus
A movie where I can enjoy Will Smith without suffering his kids

Furious 7
The Fast and The Furious movies are always a bit out there, so I can't wait to see them try to top themselves again

Pitch Perfect 2
Again the first one was fun.

Mad Max: Fury Road
Tom Hardy taking the place of Gibson? I'm down.

Ted 2
Again the first one was fun. Even if McFarlane hasn't been on his game lately.

Pan
Dark Peter Pan origin story? Cool! Say what you want about Black Goatee the pirate, Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara will do well

Regression
Been interested to see where Emma Watson's career is headed. Hopefully this is a good step.

Goosebumps
Jack Black as R. L. Stein makes me very nervous, but I am a child of the 90's. If you are telling me the niece of R. L. Stein is going to team up with some kid to defeat characters from The Goosebumps, you can take all of my money.

Pixels
O.K. Gamers are recruited to take on 1980's video game characters. Movie companies haven't gotten gamer culture right yet, I'm hopeful they do this time because that premise seems awesome.