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The Best and Worst Films of the Year...So Far (Midway Report)


2014 has been a good year so far for the movies seeing great movies right from the start of the year and seeing not so many awful movies this year and looking at the second half of the year, I may be in for some entertaining treats.

So far, here are the 5 best films of the year...so far. The #1 selection so far is probably guaranteed to be in my top 10 in the end of the year. The rest, we'll see.

5. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Along with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it has been a surprisingly good year for superhero films. But, this film takes all of the characters and puts them in a time-travel movie that is action-packed and funny simultaneously. It is my favorite X-Men film of the franchise.

4. Under the Skin

A very interesting and unique sci-fi film that surrounds a woman that lures men into being in the right moment at the right time. We see that side but we also see the vulnerable side of the nameless alien character played by Scarlett Johannson, who continues her streak of strong performances. It is a very good quiet science fiction film.

3. How to Train Your Dragon 2

A film that soars with imagination and beauty that surrounds the story with some visual panache and scary situation, including a moment that will terrify kids. It is more intense than I thought after watching this, but at the same time, it was marvelous time at the movies. The Oscar race for Best Animated Feature will be very interesting next spring. And speaking of which...

2. The LEGO Movie

"Everything is awesome...everything is cool when you're part of the team." That's a song that I just could not get out of my head because it has a nice beat to it. But, anyway, this film was a treasure because this movie makes fun of everything and has everything for everyone. It is a funny comedy and also a surprisingly moving film towards the end that describes the feeling of playing with LEGOs.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel

This is my favorite film of the year so far because the story is not as tonally predictable as I could have imagined and it was a fun movie to watch and I can easily watch it again. It is one of Wes Anderson's five best because mainly of Ralph Fiennes' excellent performance, which in my opinion, could qualify as an Oscar nominee for Best Actor. But, it is a story that is visually enticing and bittersweet that there are qualities of the film that I can never forget. It is funny, charming and a bit melancholy.

The 5 Worst Films of the Year...So Far

5. Pompeii

Kit Harrington's thinking, "Boy, I am so tired and bored that I can't wait for this shoot to be over. I wonder what the final cut will look like." It is a stupid final cut, Kit, full of cheese and noise.

4. Think Like a Man Too

Yeah, they're drunk. They have no idea that this is like another Hangover sequel or a rip-off of their own movie.

3. A Million Ways to Die in the West

I think Seth McFarlane wants to hide himself from working as the director again or maybe wants to get back working with his Family Guy stuff. A huge misfire for the creative filmmaker.

2. 300: The Rise of an Empire

This movie will be remembered as the movie with the sex scene between Eva Green and Sullivan Stapleton and also, the movie that was not needed. Besides that scene, Green's performance was basically the only spark of the sequel.

1. Endless Love

This "Abercrombie and Fitch commercial" romance is endless, indeed. The worst film of the year...so far.

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