This is the first of a two-part special for Tuorhoth Movies that’ll conclude one year and kick off another. Tomorrow we’re discussing the mammoth releases of 2015 but this year’s given plenty to talk about, from the B-movie delights of Godzilla to the D’Movie horror of Mrs Brown. We’ll begin with the year’s financial countdown featuring the US, UK and international takings. These may not prove to be the definitive figures as Interstellar, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Big Hero 6 and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies are all still rising and last year Frozen proved us wrong by overtaking Iron Man 3. But for now these calculations are our most accurate.
US:
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Director: James Gunn – Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan – $332.9 million
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman – $311.3 million
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie – $259.8 million
- The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett – $257.8 million
- Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – Mark Wahlberg, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci – $245.4 million
- Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Sam Riley – $241.4 million
- X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, Peter Dinklage – $233.9 million
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Toby Kebbell, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell – $208.5 million
- Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, TJ Miller – $203.2 million
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan – $202.9 million
- Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins – $200.7 million
- 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Wyatt Russell – $191.7 million
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman – Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Will Arnett – $191.2 million
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans, Aidan Turner, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett – $183.5 million
- Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, McKenzie Foy, Bill Irwin, Wes Bentley, David Gyasi, Casey Affleck – $178.8 million
UK:
- The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett – £36.5 million
- The Inbetweeners 2 – Damon Beesley, Iain Morris – Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas – £35.8 million
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Toby Kebbell, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell – £35.4 million
- Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan – £30.4 million
- X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, Peter Dinklage – £29.3 million
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman – £27.4 million
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill – £26.6 million
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan – £26.1
- The Wolf of Wall Street – Martin Scorcese – Leonardo Di Caprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew MacConaughey, Margot Robbie – £24 million
- Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris – £24.2 million
- Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – Mark Wahlberg, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci – £21.3 million
- 12 Years a Slave – Steve McQueen – Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt – £21.2 million
- Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Sam Riley – £21 million
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie – £20.7 million
- 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Wyatt Russell – £20.2 million
Worldwide:
- Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – Mark Wahlberg, Kelsey Grammer, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci – $1.1 billion
- Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan – $772.5 million
- Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Sam Riley – $757.8 million
- X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Patrick Stewart, Peter Dinklage – $746 million
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie – $714.1 million
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan – $709 million
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Toby Kebbell, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell – $708.3 million
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman – $676.2 million
- Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, McKenzie Foy, Bill Irwin, Wes Bentley, David Gyasi, Casey Affleck – $650.1 million
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans, Aidan Turner, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett – $628.8 million
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill – $618.9 million
- Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins – $525 million
- Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx – $498.8 million
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Jonathan Liebesman – Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Will Arnett – $477.2 million
- The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett – $468.1 million
- Lucy – Luc Besson – Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman – $458.9 million
- Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson – $369.2 million
- Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ray Winstone, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $362.6 million
- Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris – $356.6 million
- The Maze Runner – Wes Ball – Dylan O’Brien, Will Poulter, Kaya Scodelario – $339.8 million
- 22 Jump Street – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Wyatt Russell – $331.3 million
- 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Jack O’Connell – $331.1 million
- Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, TJ Miller – $325.5 million
- The Fault in Our Stars – Josh Boone – Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe – $304.2 million
- Divergent – Neil Burger – Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Miles Teller, Jai Courtney, Zoe Kravitz, Ansel Elgort – $288.7 million
In an era where billion dollar movies are a fairly regular recurrence, 2014’s claim of one film to have accomplished this feat is a slump from previous years (2010 – Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland; 2011 – Harry Potter 8, Transformers 3, Pirates 4; 2012 – The Avengers, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit; 2013 – Frozen, Iron Man 3) and nearly all new entries are failing to cross the $800 million mark but this is still an overall lucrative year for film.
Interstellar is the only original property to feature in the top 10 and the top 25 only includes Edge of Tomorrow, Lucy and The Lego Movie (also perhaps the very loosely adapted Noah). Godzilla, Maleficent and TMNT are all revivals or remakes of previous material and the only non-sequel adaptations are Guardians of the Galaxy, The Maze Runner, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars and Gone Girl.
The return of stalwart franchises Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games, Transformers and The Hobbit dominated but Marvel Comics have most obviously triumphed. The rebooted Spidey’s second outing was actually a slip up from the first but the X-Men’s goliath comeback made it the first time they’d graced the annual top 10 since 2006’s The Last Stand.
While Chris Pine (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit) and Jennifer Lawrence (Serena) have struggled, stars to have consistently impressed this year include Michael Keaton (Birdman), Matthew MacConaughey (Interstellar), Scarlett Johansson (Under the Skin), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Channing Tatum (Foxcatcher), Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), David Oyelowo (Selma), Tom Hardy (Locke), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Jack Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Domhnall Gleeson (Frank) and Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, ’71, Starred Up).
However our own heroes of the year are Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The duo (behind Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street) brought us a pair of smash hits this year: the first was the greatly dreaded release of The Lego Movie, the year’s most charmingly brilliant film. Comedy sequels seem to never turn out well but Lord and Miller’s follow up to Jump Street outdid the original’s impact. We’re still distraught they they didn’t get the Ghostbusters gig as it’s hard to imagine anyone more perfect for the film.
We now advance to our main feature, the top ten (or twelve) best films of the year. This ought not to be confused with the upcoming Tuorhoth Awards which may include the late entries The Theory of Everything, Into the Woods, Jupiter Ascending, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Paddington and Exodus: Gods and Kings. For now, we feel the need to highlight the releases that almost made the cut, Mr Turner, The Boxtrolls, The Maze Runner, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Noah.
12) The Imitation Game
Director: Morten Tyldum
Writer: Graham Moore/Andrew Hodges
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Allen Leech, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Rory Kinnear, Mark Strong
Why It Was Great: This harrowing WW2 story may thrill quite as much as its “race-against-time” pitch suggests but Cumberbatch, Knightley and Dance’s truly thought provoking performances all engage.
11) The Grand Budapest Hotel
Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson, Hugo Guiness
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Jude Law, Tom Wilkinson, F Murray Abraham
Why It Was Great: The often tedious Anderson brings us a genuinely hilarious caper. As loveable as Revolori’s Zero is, Fiennes (tied with Channing Tatum) is the comedy revelation of the decade.
10) The Two Faces of January
.jpg)
Director: Hossein Amini
Writer: Hossein Amini/Patricia Highsmith
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
Why It Was Great: Amini’s directorial debut is gorgeously shot and Isaac and Mortensen’s roles are stunningly intense.
9) Edge of Tomorrow
Director: Doug Liman
Writers: Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth/Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton
Why It Was Great: Maybe a career best for Cruise, this sci-fi flick was excellent in concept and execution via Liman’s thrilling action and Blunt’s reinvention as an action star.
8) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Director: Anthony and Joe Russo
Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Ed Brubaker
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Redford, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Cobie Smulders
Why It Was Great: Marvel’s back to basics premise slips up in the OTT finale but the Bourne like quality of action was astonishing. Evans proves Cap’ as more than the patriotic stereotype.
7) The Lego Movie
Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Writers: Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman
Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day
Why It Was Awesome: Consistent in gags and created on of the greatest on screen Batmans. Freeman’s Vitruvius is a delight.
6) The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Peter Jackson, Guillermo Del Toro, Frank Walsh, Philippa Boyens/JRR Tolkien
Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Aidan Turner, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett
Why It Was Great: A slip up from previous instalments but it’s still a phenomenally crafted fantasy adventure.
5) Godzilla
Director: Gareth Edwards
Writers: Max Borenstein, Dave Callaham
Starring: Aaron Taylor Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
Why It Was Great: An British indie director steps up to the big leagues as he helms a multi-million blockbuster that has all the same style, suspense and human drama of his previous work (Monsters) while still being the ultimate homage to a screen legend.
4) X-Men: Days of Future Past
Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Simon Kinberg, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Peter Dinklage, Evan Peters, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Nicholas Hoult, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore
Why It Was Great: A masterful marketing strategy landed the film on nearly double the series’ previous peak but this time-setting crossover delivers for fans as the most emotionally battering superhero film yet.
3) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Director: Matt Reeves
Writers: Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver/Pierre Boulle
Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Toby Kebbell, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit McPhee, Gary Oldman
Why It Was Great: Serkis is simply brilliant as Caesar, Reeves direction is sharp and stunning and there are APES ON HORSES. What’s not to love?
2) Guardians of the Galaxy
Director: James Gunn
Writers: James Gunn, Nicole Perlman/Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, Glenn Close, John C Reilly
Why It Was Great: The return of the one liner (“We’re just like Kevin Bacon”), thrilling, fantastical action and antiheroes to become enduring icons of the decade.
1) Interstellar
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan
Starring: Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessican Chastain, Mackenzie Foy, Michael Caine, David Gyasi, Wes Bentley, Bill Irwin, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn
Why It Was Great: If not his greatest, this is Nolan’s grandest picture yet. The visual effects are on a level previously unrealised on film while the performances are numbingly raw and the altogether result is truly beautiful.
Coming Soon – The 2015 Preview Issue
tuorhothmovies 