2014 Movie Ranking #79 - #60

Let's resume the ranking, shall we? 118 movies I watched in the year 2014, and slowly but surely I am ranking them from least to most favorite. #118 through #80 have been ranked, and this entry will cover #79 down to #60. So far there has been nothing really to get excited about. I have disliked most of these movies for pretty similar reasons. They bore me, put to me sleep, can't hold my attention, aren't memorable in any way, etc etc. Or maybe I have seen them too many times and can't squeeze any more enjoyment out of them. Now we move into the realm of movies I actually did like. Although some of them not very much.

#79

Dances With Wolves

This movie actually won this ranking of mine several years ago. The first time I saw this movie, I thought it was epic. It really seemed authentic, and took me on a journey back in time to a different world. I fell in love and was in awe for almost the whole film, just soaking it all in. The musical score was great too.

I waited several years before deciding to watch it again. As feared, I didn't like it nearly as much the second time through. Knowing what is going to happen takes a lot of wonder out of the movie. I wasn't nearly as emotionally invested as I was the first time through. The extreme long length of the movie started to become noticeable to me. I have no doubt that this is still a great movie, I just wasn't feeling it this time around. 

#78

No Holds Barred

When I saw this appear on Netflix I was reminded of how much my brother used to love this movie when it first came out. As a kid I loved Hulk Hogan, but I never really got into this movie. It was too serious for me.

Watching it now as an adult, it is decent fun. There is nothing earth shattering here. The plot is a bit pedestrian, but if you can enjoy this for what it is, it should be a relatively good time. It is a good way to kill an hour and a half, but if you are looking for something that will stick with you for a long time, this isn't it.

#77

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn

Everyone always points to this movie as being one of the best Star Trek films out there. While I am not going to say it was bad, it wasn't as good as the hype suggested. For the most part I enjoyed it and had a relatively okay time watching it. But never at any point was I like "OMG this is so awesome, best Star Trek movie ever!1!!!" In fact, I preferred the much maligned Search For Spock to this movie.

#76

Equilibrium

The premise of the movie sounds interesting. It's one of those dystopian future tales with a twist. In the future no one is allowed to show emotion. There are officers that deal swift and lethal justice to anyone who breaks the law. One of the officers (played by Christian Bale) begins to see the lunacy in all of this and joins a rebellion, yada yada. We have seen a similar story to this one in a countless number of movies and books over the years.

Perhaps because of the lack of emotion, this movie seemed to take itself far too seriously. There are some intense fight scenes, but even those I wasn't as invested in as I should have been. Again, this was an okay movie. Was I jumping out of my seat over it? No.

#75

The Conjuring

Another movie that falls victim to over hyping. From what I had heard, this was supposed to be one of the scariest movies of all time. Yes, it has some moments. But I can name off the top of my head at least ten movies that affected me more than this one. It is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination though.

I did enjoy this. But it wasn't as good as I had been expecting. It is just a run of the mill solid horror movie in my opinion. There is nothing memorable here and nothing I really was able to look back upon with overly fond thoughts when this was over.

#74

The Ruins

I had seen this movie once a few years ago, and I was far from impressed. The whole idea of killer plants and whatnot seemed really hokey and generic to me. And it probably is.

But I read the book and I actually really enjoyed it. I figured I would give the movie another shot. I did like it much more this time around. I felt like I got to know the characters a little bit better. Still not a world beating film but some of the gore and death scenes are worth your time.

#73

The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear

I have always loved the Naked Gun movies. Slowly but surely I am on a quest to rewatch all of them since I haven't seen them in years. I still need to get around to part 3.

While I really enjoyed the first movie in the series, the second fell a little flat for me. Same gags, same jokes. While the first one at least had some kind of redeeming story, this one didn't hold my interest as much. It's still funny, and there are still a lot of reasons to watch this movie. But for whatever reason I couldn't get into this one as much as I had the original.

#72

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I really wanted to like this more than I actually did. The original Lord of the Rings movies were all very epic to me the first times I had seen them. For some reason the Hobbit series in general just doesn't carry the same weight for me. Maybe because it is a smaller scale quest in comparison to the others. It's not like the fate of the world rests on these dwarves getting their treasure back.

Plus the movie is sooo long. That's to be expected from a Middle Earth movie, but still. There are some fun moments, like the barrel scene - and of course Bilbo's encounter with Smaug, which was pretty cool. But I left with the feeling that I should have liked this more than I actually did. I plan to rewatch this again to see if my opinion of the movie will change for the better.

#71

The Breakfast Club

I expect this to be an unpopular opinion, but I wasn't the world's biggest fan of this movie. I can see why it made such an impact. The characters are great, there are fun moments, it teaches a lesson, etc etc.

The main problem I have with the movie is probably the same reason why so many people like it. Bender to me was just SO freaking annoying. There was nothing redeeming about his character at all in my opinion. He went out of his way to start crap with others, but couldn't take it when said crap was returned in his direction. He was a total asshole for most of the movie. Why people like him so much, I have no idea. And he looks like he is way way too old to be in high school.

#70

Mad Max

I don't know what I was expecting when I sat down to watch this movie, but this was not it. Not in a bad way though. I think I expected it to be more apocalyptic and less resembling of regular society. 

This is a decently fun movie. Like some of the others to appear on this update, it is nice, quaint. Charming in a nostalgic kind of way. It's a good way to waste an hour and a half. But will it stay with you? Will you jump out of your seat if you have never seen this before? Probably not.

#69

Carrie

If you like the book Carrie, or the older version of the movie, you will probably like this? There is nothing new or significantly different about this remake, other than that it has been recast and now takes place in the present day. This is a pretty good movie. They didn't ruin Carrie for me or anything. 

I just wonder why, if this was going to be so faithful to the source material, would they even bother making a new version? This is good, but pointless. This version of Carrie wasn't ugly enough to get picked on, I must add. Sissy Spacek, I can see that. She is fug. But this Carrie is kind of cute.

#68

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

This is another Star Trek movie that I had heard was really good. I have seen it in the past, but that was before I had bothered to watch the original series. While it is an entertaining story, and does a good job detailing the beginnings of the Federation's alliance with the Klingon Empire, I kind of expected more.

It was a decent movie. But a little boring in parts and didn't exactly wow me.

#67

Hook

I actually watched this before Robin Williams died, otherwise I likely would have looked at it from a different perspective. I like Hook, and I have always liked Hook. Again - for some reason or another - I couldn't get into it as much as I have in the past.

Still enjoyed the movie. Still a lot of memorable scenes out there that capture the imagination. Maybe my falling asleep in the middle of this had something to do with why it ranks so low on this year's list.

#66

Double Indemnity

I don't care much for old black and white movies, but my interest was piqued from a Big Brother game I ran where Phyllis Dietrichson was a character. I was interested to see what she was "really" like, so I watched this. 

Like a lot of other movies that appear on today's update, it wasn't a bad movie. It was slow and methodical in parts, but interesting. There was never a moment that got my heart racing, and the ending I could see coming from a mile away. But it was "nice" and entertaining. A good movie, sure.

#65

Gravity

I expected to like this much more than I did. This was so much hype placed onto this picture. Although it nice to look at visually, the actual movie itself was nothing I haven't seen before. I've seen space disaster movies. I have seen the old "stranded astronaut" thing multiple times. It is very well done, I won't deny that. I just wasn't enthralled. 

#64

The Lovely Bones

I had just finished the book right before seeing the movie. I like the book a lot. It was very sad and depressing, but not so horrible that you lost hope reading it. I was actually surprised that this was as good as it was. I thought they would butcher it, and it would suck, but I didn't mind it. It would likely rank higher if I wasn't so distracted while I watched it (I watched it with the wife while eating dinner). Plus, I expected it to tug at the heart strings more than it actually did. No man tears were shed upon the watching of this movie.

One scene that stands out to me and I must mention is the bathroom scene. If you have seen the movie, you should know what I am talking about.

#63

Oldboy

This is the rare case where I actually enjoyed a remake of something more than the original. I wasn't a fan of the Korean Oldboy. I thought it was boring and awful. I don't even know why I watched this, considering, but I am glad I did. It makes more sense and seems a lot more coherent than the original. There were still a few parts where my mind wandered and I would miss something crucial, but that was more my fault than the movie's.

#62

Twilight

I am sure you are surprised to see this rank so highly. But I actually didn't mind the movie. Just because I like experiencing new things, I had read the Twilight series in 2014 to see what the hype was all about. It's not incredible or anything, but I was entertained. 

Of course, I had heard the movies were awful, so I expected this to be bad. I mean it is not really a good movie, but I was entertained. I am sure if I was a serious film critic I would nitpick the special effects (Edward running with Bella on his back and the fight scenes were lol worthy) and the acting. But I am not. This was a faithful representation of the book and although it was really long, it didn't feel that long to me. It was kind of interesting to see how things stacked up on the big screen vs in my mind when I had been reading the books.

#61

Petals On The Wind

There was never a Petals In The Wind movie before this, so even though this was made for TV, I was very excited to watch it. It picks up years after the original Flowers In The Attic left off. Although there are some inconsistencies with the book, it is still a decent adaptation. The story itself is nowhere near as interesting as Flowers, but having read all of the books, I was stoked to see the direction they were going to take this movie. And for the most part I liked it.

#60

Flowers In The Attic

Flowers In The Attic was a pretty faithful representation of the book, unlike the old 80s movie. The twincest was not left out, which was nice to see. Why I was so excited for twincest, I have no idea. But it is there. I've always been a fan of the basic story, and this version tells it very well. My only complaint is that the grandmother wasn't as intimidating as in the original movie.