My Top 5 worst films of 2014

It takes a lot of work to be the best, but sometimes it’s harder to be the worst. I’m very selective about what films I see in theaters, so there are some horrible movies out there that won’t be on this list because I didn’t see them.

  1. Godzilla– Long, boring set-up featuring mostly uninteresting characters, before ending in a monster on monster battle that wasn’t worth the wait.

 

  1. Sex Tape– Despite a solid premise and the chemistry between the leads, the film has no idea what way to take things and the plot sputters around randomly.

 

  1. Let’s Be Cops– Very few laughs and only one character provides any solid comedy.

 

  1. Lucy– Dark comedy, nonsensical science and a trippy plot can’t be saved by Scarlett Johansson or Morgan Freeman

 

  1. Into the Storm– The tornados are great, but the remaining hour is filled with boring characters lugging video cameras with them everywhere they go.

Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

A strong ending to the Hobbit trilogy, but never lives up to the expectations generated by the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The story itself was OK, but it seemed the entire middle section of the film did nothing more than set the stage for the battle sequence at the end. And when that battle arrived, it was a bit of a letdown. Everything in this trilogy seemed to be leading up to the fight with Smaug the dragon, and while we got that, it was over much too soon. Instead, the film sets up a more traditional Lord of the Rings showdown featuring all manner of races and Orcs. Another massive Middle-Earth battle comes off as repetitive, no matter what new creatures they add to the mix. Only when the fights got down to one-on-one personal battles did any of the chaos become interesting. With almost two dozen characters, only a handful had become memorable throughout the series. Their stories, particularly the ones with tragic endings, brought some much needed emotion to the climax.

*** out of *****