The Best Films of 2014 – the Half-Way Point

Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.

The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.

In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.

Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:

International Box-office Top 10:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office: $710.8 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
6. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
7. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
8. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
9. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
10. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million

Tuorhoth’s Top 10:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
6. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
9. RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper

Top 10 Anticipated:

1. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
3. Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
8. Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
10. The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga

Weekend box-office – 10th to 16th of May 2014 – will Other Woman get revenge on Spider-Man 2?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is kicking off the summer movie season with its US release but early predictions saw it falling behind blockbusters Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Godzilla. Sony need their sequel to take off otherwise their planned franchise could be quickly forgotten.

US:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Director: Marc Webb – $92 million
2. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – $14.2 million
3. Heaven is for Real – Randall Wallace – $8.6 million
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – $7.7 million
5. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – $7.6 million

UK:

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – £2 million
2. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes – £1.4 million
3. Pompeii – Paul WS Anderson – £1.2 million
4. Tarzan – Reinhard Klooss – £0.8 million
5. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – £0.5 million

Spider-Man 2 has done decent numbers but it’s still greatly disappointing. The new X-Men, ordinarily the timid cousin of Avengers and Spider-Man, has a predicted $125 million coming its way. Meanwhile The Other Woman has hardly capitalised on this position, sitting still in second place. While it has been impressive, the revenge comedy is likely to lose the title of this year’s big summer comedy to Bad Neighbours, A Million Ways to Die in the West or 22 Jump Street. Despite these surprises, this week I’ve scored a decent 4/10, taking my running total to 129/270.

US:

1. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
3. Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return – Will Finn, Dan St Pierre
4. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes
5. Heaven if For Real – Randall Wallace

UK:

1. Bad Neighbours – Nicholas Stoller
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb
3. The Other Woman – Nick Cassavetes
4. Sabotage – David Ayer
5. Pompeii – Paul WS Anderson

Andrew Garfield, Dane DeHaan and Emma Stone in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, this week’s UK and US number one.

Weekend box-office – 28th of March to 4th April 2014 – will Divergent be dauntless against The Muppets?

It’s likely that this week is the one to cram in your major but risky releases before Captain America arrives to dominate the box office and so we’ve got a battle between sci-fi thriller Divergent and comedy sequel Muppets Most Wanted. On paper, Muppets should triumph due to it’s huge fan base but it’s possible that the young adult novel adaptation Divergent could follow the likes of Twilight and Hunger Games with huge success and not sink like Mortal Instruments, Beautiful Creatures or The Host. Find out what we thought would happen last week before checking out what went down at the box office below.

US:

1. Divergent – Director: Neil Burger – $56 million
2. Muppets Most Wanted – James Bobin – $16.5 million
3. Mr Peabody and Sherman – Rob Minkoff – $11.7 million
4. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – $8.7 million
5. God’s Not Dead – Harold Cronk – $8.6 million

UK:

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson – £1.3 million
2. Need for Speed – Scott Waugh – £1 million
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – £0.8 million
4. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – £0.8 million
5. Non-Stop – Juanne Collet Serra – £0.7 million

The Muppets have genuinely underperformed in the US but they’re an international sensation and could attempt to recoup oversees. Divergent’s success however may well have greenlighted it’s sequel, most likely called Insurgent. Anderson’s Budapest Hotel has crept up the box office to the top while Need for Speed, Lego Movie, 300 and Non-Stop have all slipped. This week I’ve scored 5/10 taking my running total to 98/210.

US:

1. Noah – Darren Aronofsky
2. Divergent – Neil Burger
3. Muppets Most Wanted – James Bobin
4. Sabotage – David Ayer
5. Mr Peabody and Sherman – Rob Minkoff

UK:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo
2. Muppets Most Wanted – James Bobin
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson
4. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
5. The Legend of Hercules – Renny Harlin

Theo James and Shailene Woodley in Divergent, this week’s US number one.

Ralph Fiennes and Saoirse Ronan in The Grand Budapest Hotel, this week’s UK number one.

New posters for The Double, Foxx and Stone to make Martin Luther King and Michael Bay plans Telemark thriller

You may have read any of my previous blogs about The Double and so know a bit about this film. Richard Ayoade (the brilliantly comedic star of The IT Crowd and director of the 2011 hit Submarine) directs this film which has some major faces of Hollywood in it; Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me, The Social Network, 30 Minutes or Less), Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, Stoker, The Kids Are All Right), Chris O’Dowd (Friends With Kids, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, Bridesmaids), Wallace Shawn (Toy Story, The Princess Bride), Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum, Cinderella Man), Noah Taylor (Vanilla Sky, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Yasmin Paige (Ballet Shoes) and Craig Roberts (Submarine, Jane Eyre) are all set to star!

The story sees Eisenberg’s character Simon as he looses his grasp on his life when his doppleganger (Eisenberg again) turns up and starts stealing everything and everyone he loves. Both Eisenberg and Wasikowska feature in these new character posters from Empire which you can enjoy be clicking next to cycle through.

Jamie Foxx (Oscar winner for Ray as well as being loved for Collateral, Django Unchained and Law Abiding Citizen) recently starred as the President in the recent action thriller White House Down. After that, he’s got a voice credit in the upcoming comedy animation Rio 2 (April 4th 2014) before he’s off to terrify Marvel fans as Electro in The Amazing Spiderman 2 (April 18th 2014) and then give us something to smile about in comedy Annie (December 19th 2014). His next potential role is in a Martin Luther King biopic though.

Oliver Stone (3 time Oscar winner of Platoon, JFK, Any Given Sunday and Wall Street fame) is set to direct the production which Paul Greengrass and Lee Daniels were linked to before. Dreamworks, who got the rights back in 2009, are going to produce the project. Screenwriter Kario Salem will be rewriting a draft script originally written by Ronald Harwood (known for smash hits like The Pianist and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and the successful Quartet and Australia).

We move on to Michael Bay, director of the Transformers trilogy, Armageddon, Pearl Harbour and many others, and his possible next project called Sabotage: A Genius Scientist, His Band of Young Commandos and the Mission to Kill Hitler’s Super Bomb. It’s nothing to do with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Olivia Williams and Terrence Howard’s crime thriller of name Sabotage but it tells a story similar to Anthony Mann’s 1965 thriller The Heroes of Telemark (however based upon the yet unreleased novel by Neal Bascomb) and sees a team of heroes going into 1940s Germany and destroying Hitler’s secret weapon.

The Double – October 12th at the London Film Festival

Martin Luther King – 2016?

Sabotage: A Genius Scientist, His Band of Young Commandos and the Mission to Kill Hitler’s Super Bomb – 2016 or 2017?