My top movies from 2000-2015

1073. Predestination (2014)

This movie was simply amazing. It started out like many other movies where you get the chance to meet the characters a bit and who they are.

The movie has a way of revealing itself that is so breathtaking that once the movie comes to it's climax and eventually it's end you will be seating there thinking of what you've just seen.

1072. A pigeon sat on a branch reflecting on existence (2014)

The camera captures little nothings that upset the characters. The humour emerges from the contrast between the pettiness of their situation and the tragic effect it has on them.

1071. Phoenix (2014)

The look of the film is lovely, bit it is clear made on a budget. The music is appropriate for the mood and the era. The pace is deliberate and effective.

1070. Paddington (2014)

Well this was a wonderful surprise. Full of charm and wit, Paddington is an irresistibly heart-warming film that everyone in the family will enjoy.

Everything from the quirky humour, to the British scenery to the wonderfully-animated bear himself is a true delight to watch. The cast are also brilliant. The Brown family feel genuinely real and easy to relate to. I particularly enjoyed Huge Bonneville's amusing performance as Mr Brown, as he overcomes his initial distaste for Paddington and grows to love him as the rest of his family do. Other stand outs include Peter Capaldi, as crafty neighbour Mr Curry, and Nicole Kidman as the Cruella De-Ville-esque villain.

However, the true highlight of the film is of course Paddington himself. Whether he's flying down a staircase amidst a pool of water or clinging on to a bus for dear life to give a man his wallet back, he lights up the screen with his presence. Yet it is his honest and virtuous nature that makes him so lovable as a character. Innovative and fresh , yet a fine complement to the books, you would do well to find a more pleasant and charming family film than Paddington.

That's all for now. Comment and rep if you wish 😃

Ok I'm gna continue with this list now so if anyone wants to continue reading go ahead

Ok there's loads i've watched from 2014 so here goes

Days of Future Past continues the work of X2 as genre-defining. I have to classify it as a work of art/comic book pulp fiction. The characters, effects, and story are outstanding. Everything in this movie is exceedingly better in the sequel then even the first two films and First Class. Like X2, the acting is superb and the dialogue is rich. Every character feels believable. No cartoonish villains, every side of the issue is presented by people who believe they are the ones who are in the right and the underlying message of tolerance and bigotry only add to the depth of this film. What's better then its predecessor X3 in every way. It restores the sense of epic adventure and grand-scale storytelling that's been absent from far too many of most alleged blockbusters.

This film is far more sophisticated and has a better story than any X-Men movie to date. Here, the characters previously introduced but under used are utilized in a comprehensive and cohesive manner, and the newly introduced characters are blended in seamlessly with the story. The music is very good as is the special effects. The budget clearly hit the screen fully and there are truly some amazing sequences to behold. The cast-selection is still perfect.

Overall, this is one of the best genre films of all-time

The first of four installments in the groundbreaking Heartbeat of the World anthology film series. Comprised of several short films by some of the world's most exciting directors, Words with Gods follows the theme of religion - specifically as it relates to an individual's relationship with his/her god or gods..

Set in Anatolia, the story of Winter Sleep concerns Aydın; the wealthy owner of a mountaintop hotel who was once an actor but has since fallen into the hibernation mode over the years. The plot covers the chaos his self-involved persona brings to his small kingdom as the animosity of his loved ones & the poor people under his reign begins surfacing once the winter approaches.

Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, the film takes a very methodical, patient & firm approach with its narrative which does a stellar job in slowly unraveling the inner details of the various characters inhabiting this story. The entire story is an amalgamation of one conversation after another but it's how each discussion begins & ends plus seamlessly switches from one to another that makes it such an immersive experience.

The locations are wonderfully chosen, set pieces are finely detailed, the hotel itself creates a calm but secluded ambiance which becomes all the more suffocating on the advent of winter. Camera-work is mostly still yet effective plus the landscapes are beautifully photographed, its 196 minutes of runtime never really bothers for the most part, thanks to its breezy storytelling & the score makes its presence felt just when it's required.

Coming to the performances, every single actor here chips in strongly in their given roles & leave nothing to complain about. Haluk Bilginer delivers a magnificent performance as Aydın, and is brilliantly supported by Demet Akbağ & Melisa Sözen who play his sister & wife, respectively. The rest of the cast also shines since each character is deftly scripted & gradually developed which differentiates them from caricatures.

On an overall scale, Winter Sleep is an intensely gripping, masterfully told & exquisitely layered study of a self-righteous character that also takes an interesting look at failing relationships, old age regrets, class divides, and the morals of right & wrong. And despite its challenging runtime, dialogue-driven plot & slow-burn narration, it manages to be a truly immersive & absorbing cinema that's worthy of your time & money. Highly recommended.

This film tells a great tale about a man who has an insatiable sexual appetite that can never be quenched, even in the throes of big trouble with the law. Ultimately, power, money and standing all go a long ways into how people are handled within our court system.

If you have riches, you can escape the most inescapable criminal acts. If you're poor, forget it. Our system is badly broken and filled with corruption.

Lady Justice is blind on both sides...innocent and guilty alike. The courts have a hard time getting it right...money just adds to the problem.

Gerard Depardieu had a lot of guts taking on this roll and did a fantastic job of expressing his emotion through his eyes. He occasionally stares into the camera, giving the viewer a deeper view into his manic behavior.

A special nod to Jacqueline Bisset for her terrific role as the enabling wife. She seemed more like a mother than a wife to Depardieu, protecting him to protect herself.

A very highly recommended film

Nightcrawler from the very beginning is not a traditional Hollywood film. It certainly does not follow the narrative of one and even though it has the three-act structure we are all familiar with, it spins them around. This is particularly evident in the third act, incredibly suspenseful with a brilliant, almost anti-climax. Suspense is the main key to this film's success, it build and builds to the point where the last twenty minutes of the film are completely unpredictable. Dan Gilroy in his directorial debut here has shown a real understanding of how to keep an audience engaged and following a character who isn't an easy man to spend a great deal of time with. Gilroy's screenplay is fast paced and one of the finest this year. The script focuses the audience on the characters, Louis Bloom particularly yet the supporting characters are just as impressive by Bill Paxton and Rene Russo alike. It doesn't follow the rules of a typical script, we are introduced instantly to a criminal and this man is supposed to be our protagonist. Yet what becomes clear is that there is not a protagonist in Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal's Louis Bloom is the antagonist. He can be described as nothing less than a psychopath and his portrayal by Gyllenhaal is one of his greatest performances. He is very gaunt here, losing a lot of weight for the role, however that is not the main reason for his impressive performance. Gyllenhaal is an actor who continues to impress me; his work in Enemy from earlier this year was just as brilliant. He has chosen excellent roles in films such as Zodiac, Prisoners and End of Watch. The cinematography is also fantastic, night-time LA has not looked this good since 2011's Drive. All these elements come together to make a captivating piece of filmmaking, a film I expect will be discussed more as time goes on

As in 'Topsy-Turvy' Mike Leigh marvellously captures the historical context of the creative artist. He gives us the struggles flesh-and-blood people go through in creating art, and the often tragic spectacle of their artistic struggles makes us admire and wonder at their achievements all the more. In both biographical films Mike Leigh shows us that without our common human frailty there can be no sublimity. He shows us achievement hard-won. This is to appreciate the real genius of 99% perspiration. Except that the film of 'Mr Turner' is executed on a far greater canvas (if I may so express it). 'Topsy-Turvy' like its subjects - Gilbert and Sullivan, and the world of the early musical - is brilliant; but 'Mr Turner' is a work of genius - completely worthy of its great subject. The saddest thing is to see reviewer after reviewer grudgingly acknowledging the sheer technical finesse of the whole enterprise, only to end by condemning the 'episodic' nature of the film. If they realized the lengths Mike Leigh and his team went to in their endeavour to be faithful to the social and artistic milieux, and - more especially - to the living memory of J.M.W. Turner, they could not say such a thing. Scene follows scene so effortlessly, so apparently artlessly, that it recalls the great fluency of the Nouvelle Vague, whose ideal was that events should appear in the camera, and on the screen, as if they had just occurred, in exactly the way that life experiences accumulate - before they have been reduced to any mechanical and contrived order. And yet every scene achieves a perfect realisation. This is the achievement of a director - and a crew - who can make a living, breathing truth out of film. This is cinematic poetry. But in making it's great subject real, like the rest of us, instead of elevating him into something superhuman, Leigh diverges radically from the current inhuman hyperbole of the Hollywood machine. Like the artist Leigh has portrayed here, the epic scale of his inspiration is at one with his subject: But unlike a Hollywood film where they like to show their muscles even when they are thinking, there is no straining for effect. The film is as monumental yet intimate, as real yet as sublime as those grand canvases. Leigh has painted the passionate yet private soul of Turner in light. His film is a miracle of rare device. It is a masterpiece

This film is all about how bureaucracy works. How the spy agencies tackle and deal with problems that arise. Different agencies have different and sometimes contrasting ways to deal with the same problem and this leads to a dilemma which I think is the main theme of the film. The movie addresses the question of whether it is better to come up with the quick solution by nabbing the ordinary low-lives who become terrorists by getting influenced by others or is it worth the patience to let them do what they are supposed to in order to get to the real bosses and masterminds and get to a solution that is more significant and I think it addresses it brilliantly. The director develops a very tensed atmosphere throughout the entire film and never succumbs to the pressure of coming up with flashy over the top action sequences and the screenplay is very realistic. Now let's come to the acting. There are many supporting actors like Rachel Mcadams, Willem Dafoe,etc who are good. But this film is Philip Seymour Hoffman's vehicle. He is stupendously brilliant as he always was throughout his career. This film allows him to go out with a bang and show the world why he was one of the greatest. He plays a character who is a chain smoker and who uses this addiction to hide from the failures and struggles of his past career. Hoffman never puts a foot wrong. While the film was more or less brilliant, there were one or two minor scenes which seemed slightly unrealistic and Rachel Mcadams' German accent was sort of on again off again. But apart from these I can't find any flaws

Oscar Isaac plays Abel Morales, owner of a New York fuel oil company, in the midst of purchasing property along the East River which would position his company as a major player in the regional fuel oil market. Simultaneously, a rival firm is attacking Morales' truck drivers and stealing their fuel. Morales' wife, Anna, is descended from a mafia family, and she offers their assistance. But Abel Morales is a good and decent businessman, and he resists. At first. As the driver attacks amplify, Morales' salesmen and even his family are soon targeted by the rival businessmen. Meanwhile, an assistant district attorney, played by David Oyelowo of "Selma," is investigating corruption in the local fuel oil industry, including Morales' firm. And the deal to purchase the East River property becomes dubious when his bank backs out of financing it. All this is set against the backdrop of the 1981 New York murders. The murders themselves are not the story, but we hear about them anytime one of the characters turns on a radio.

Now this set-up may sound like a glorified TV movie, but A Most Violent Year is so much more. As the tension in Morales' life builds, director Chandor draws us into the story the way Martin Scorsese does. We find ourselves pulling for an honest businessman in an increasingly dishonest world. We wonder how long it will take until he involves his wife's mafia family – or worse, takes matters into his own hands. This could be a story about one man's downward spiral, but with a resolution that will surprise and delight you. And you'll love the thrill ride along the way – culminating in a chase scene through the bowels of New York's subway and rail systems. It's as riveting as Gene Hackman's chase scene in The French Connection.

The performances are top-notch, beginning with relative newcomer Oscar Isaac in the lead role. A year ago, he played a folk singer in the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis, a small, above-average picture which got buried in the onslaught of excellent films released at the end of 2013. Isaac really shines here. He should have received a Best Actor nod, but I'm sure his day is coming. Coincidentally, Isaac is slated to appear in the new Star Wars picture, which hits theatres next fall.

Jessica Chastain is also excellent as Morales' wife – a decent-hearted lady who wishes her husband were a little more daring in his business dealings. Her character is more than the standard "wife" character we've seen many times before. She's intimately involved in the business, and she's not afraid to stand up to adversaries. An almost unidentifiable Albert Brooks plays Morales' lawyer Andrew, again intimately involved in the business, but more than just the "straight man" character we've seen before. And I love how Chandor's script allows us to become acquainted with various characters in Morales' life and in his business – a truck driver and his wife, a salesman, the teamster boss who pushes for Morales to arm his drivers, a couple of Morales' business competitors, and so forth. Each character is well-drawn, and serves an important role in this supremely interesting story.

I also like the look of this picture. It's a bit of a modern-day film noir, cast in dimly-lit interiors, with characters who speak in hushed tones about important matters, occasionally bursting into the sunny yet unpredictable and unnerving outside world.

That's it for now enjoy the reading

'Mommy' is one of those movies where screenplay moves fast yet the story unfolds slowly. This ingenuity shifts the film from art-house to entertaining realm. 2-3 months of characters' lives take around 130 minutes of screen time which give ample time for all details to unfold. Despite the subject matter being serious, the film never appears to be dry. Thorough importance is given to character development. I must add that I haven't seen such marvelous character development in my recent history of film-watching. We get to know and empathize with all idiosyncrasies of the characters. We laugh and cringe with the on-screen characters.

The plot of the film is not predictable at all. Just when you think you figured out what is happening the story throws up a new dimension. At places hidden emotional feelings of Patrick are insinuated which compel the viewer to churn his mind. Die's dream sequence towards the end of the film showing Patrick's life successful and happy was truly surreal and well placed - a mother's dream for his son.

Overall, 'Mommy' is the finest Canadian film I saw in a long time. The film is truly a riot - an excellent piece of cinema.

The only one i've seen from this page is Nightcrawler. Great film.

It seems a masterpiece from start to finish. Good script, good leadership and good actors, with the extraordinary performance of Javier Gutierrez and award-winning photography of Alex Catalán. Its start with some credits in spectacular photographs gets you into a hard cruel murder investigation with two very different cops. The strength of the narrative does not fail in any of its minutes of footage. Its history can remember the great American series "True Detective", because they are similar situations faced with two policemen and two parallel landscapes: American Southern Mississippi with the background and the Spanish south in the Guadalquivir marshes.

The film takes you to an unknown world closer, because it is a part of Spain, but is unknown because you can not visit the exhibition. We make us the guided tour, and gets us so well there that we can really feel what those places breathe. Not only that ..; is a fantastically intriguing story of murder; well done; a fast pace and suspense worthy of the best seen. It speaks of Spain and the problems that come from deep roots.

Finally we have a serious film with a stellar performance, superb photography and groundbreaking argument. It's truly original and with background

The stand out feature of the Lego Movie for me would be the way the Lego Universe was created. The movie paid great attention to detail making everything appear as it would made from Lego, including the water and clouds, and the surfaces people walked on all had the circles sticking upwards a Lego piece would have. Combined with all the yellow faces, and Lego part during building, I was convinced action took place in the Lego Universe.

A combination of adult and child friendly humour should entertain all, the movie has done well to ensure audiences of all ages are catered to.

The voice cast were excellent, especially Liam Neeson's split personality police officer, making the 2 personalities sound distinctive, and giving his Bad Cop the usual Liam Neeson tough guy.

The plot is about resisting an over-controlling ruler, highlighted by the name of the hero's "resistance piece". It is well thought through, well written, and revealing at the right times. Full of surprises, The Lego Movie won't let You see what's coming. Best animated film since Wreck it Ralph!