Films of the year 2014. (Part One in review is HERE)
I have to say, this year has been an absolute stunner. Compared to last years HERE, the quality, variety, and balls of some mainstream and indie movies has been outstanding (complete with some guilty pleasures). Every week something came along and sucker punched me in the chops.
Again no real order. If you ain't checked them out...what are you waiting for?
The Raid 2 - Gareth Evans
How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Dean DeBlois
Under The Skin - Jonathan Glazer
Nightcrawler - Dan Gilroy
The Babadook - Jennifer Kent
Gone Girl - David Fincher
Snowpiercer - Bong Joon-Ho
Interstellar - Christopher Nolan
Housebound - Gerard Johnstone
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Jonathan Liebesman
Dawn of the Planet of The Apes - Matt Reeves
Maps to The Stars - David Cronenberg
The Guest - Adam Wingard
Guardians of The Galaxy - James Gunn
Cold in July - Jim Mickle
Edge of Tomorrow - Doug Liman
Joe - David Gordon Green
Godzilla - Gareth Edwards
Honourable mentions -
The Machine - Caradog W. James (someone to watch out for)
Dom Hemingway - Richard Shepard (Jude Law turned into a real man's man actor)
Adding to this was Celluloid Screams Horror Festival 2014. Which I have to say had more variety, surprises, and quality than previous years. Here's what went off -
The Canadian Troma-esque troop Astron 6 ('Manborg', 'Fathers Day') were there with their new flick 'The Editor' - a Giallo (Italian slasher/horror films from the 70's and 80's) piss take. Fair play to them, they were at every screening over the entire weekend. I would've buggered off after the film, but no, they stayed and met with lots of fans. Good guys.
They also brought Lawrence Harvey who pops up in the 'The Editor'. Really nice bloke. However, seeing him just standing there after you've left the toilet did make me have a sleepless night. If you don't know who he is, go see The Human Centipede 2.
Yeah, he's that guy.
Anyway - the biggy was meeting the big man below - Brian Yuzna. Director of 'Society' and 'Return of The Living Dead III', as well as writer of 'Re-Animator', 'From Beyond', and...'Honey I Shrunk The Kids'.
The man is an absolute legend and also the nicest bloke you'll ever meet. All he wanted to do was talk movies. Had the pleasure of a brief chat with him after the QnA over ran - could easily have spent hours talking over his films.
Another fanboy moment was getting to meet Graham Humphrey. "Who the fuck?" You ask. Here the fuck...
Go re-educate yourself when you see the art the man has created HERE. When you've created iconic posters like the one above, you'll pay respect where its due.
As for the movies? Well apart from seeing an all time fave 'Society' in a 35mm print, only two really stood out that I saw.
The first was 'Housebound'. A New Zealand effort from director Gerard Johnstone. Apart from thinking that the only thing New Zealand churned out were films about sheep and Hobbits, this little gem pops up. Like a laid back version of 'The Burbs' meets 'People Under the Stairs' the film was funny, clever, witty, and had enough invention to set it above the usual horror fodder.
The 2nd impressive movie was actually a short film called 'Ink' which had its première. While I find 98% of short films nowadays either a drawn out scene or FX reel, the short by Glasgow filmmaker Andy Stewart gave everyone a slap across the arse and made people take notice.
The short is a final film in a body-horror trilogy he's made, each with a similar theme but with noticeably bigger budgets. However, its the overall craft of tension building coupled with the what-to-show-and-what-not-to-show-nature of each film stays constant and what makes it stand out. It's one of the best shorts I've seen.
Go check out his first flick HERE. His website HERE. And follow the chunt on twatter HERE. He's gained a fan from moi and you should like it too.
So that's that. A list of great flicks, fun flicks, and ones to make you say "you liked that shite?".
See ya on the flip side in 2015, Danny.
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