Top 10 Films of 2014 – Part 1

When I stopped doing the Sam’s Rant Film Awards a few years ago; I did so under the point that coming up with a list of films for several different categories was just a bit tiresome. In the end I just wanted to get round to saying what my Top 5 Favourite Films of the year were. So from 2013 onwards I decided to just do a simple Top 5 post to do just that. 2014 though has brought up a rather big issue. During the year I keep a count in my head of what my Top 5/10 films of the year were; in 2014 though, there was the colossal issue that the year had a fantastic selection of films to choose from, with me in the end watching more than 5 films and loving more than 5 films. It felt like choosing a Top 5 list only was wrong as there was soooo many good films and a lot of them deserve mentioning. So this year I am doing a Top 10. Ordering them was hard as on one occasion two very different films I considered being as good as each other, it was after watching one again I was able to split them. Some films were a massive surprise and ones I put up high on the list, while others that I had not seen in a few months had to be put in a position depending on how I enjoyed the films when I first saw them. In the end though I was able to work it out.

There are some casualties though and I would like to make special mention to 3 other films which I really enjoyed but not as much as the ones in this list; those films being Interstellar, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Dinosaur 13. Also, like last year and 2012, only films that were released in the UK during 2014 apply for a spot in this list, so sadly I can’t include AKIRA which I saw a few months ago, and loved, and cannot get the soundtrack out of my head. As like previous years I will put the following films in descending order, so starting with number 10 and whatever is at number 1 will be my favourite film. OK, that’s all the formal stuff, so now onto the fun stuff. Don’t forget; feel free to comment, Like, and Rate the post too. So without further ado; here are my Top 10 Favourite Films of 2014.

10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – The heroes in a half shell returned to the big screen this year in a big way in what was a combination of CGI MOCAP and live action. The heroes basically end up getting discovered by plucky reporter April O’Neal and then end up having to fight for their own existence. Personally I was expecting more from this film, I thought that this would be in my top 5 looking at clips and the trailer beforehand, and while I did really enjoy it, I thought it was a bit quick with several scenes going from point A to point G and generally thought that there could have been more. Either another foot clan attack, or having the skyscraper battle prolonged by having them fight their way upstairs, (sort of like The Raid), but this is a kids film so there can’t be too much violence of course. On the upside though, the main cast were all terrific especially the characters of April (Megan Fox), Splinter (Danny Woodburn and Tony Shalhoub), Raphael (Alan Richtson), and The Shredder (Tohoru Masamune) looked terrifying. We also got the brilliant elevator/lift scene too.

9. Divergent – To be honest, I did not see Divergent coming. The first time I heard about it was when I went to see Catching Fire and was given a little supplement which had the word Divergent on it. When it was coming closer to it being released, I had a little look at it and then decided to go and give it a try (it was either that or Muppets Most Wanted). I saw it, and really enjoyed it. I liked the setting of the world, the ideas of it and it had some really good points of action, even before everything gets screwed up for the main characters. Shailene Woodley was brilliant and I thought Zoe Kravitz was terrific too. While it wasn’t as good as other films to be released during the year, I really do rate this film. If you haven’t seen it, give it a try; you might be surprised.

8. The Lego Movie – When I heard that a Lego film was coming out, my first instinct was “Oh Dear”. I just thought it was going to be ridiculous, stupid and just wasn’t going to work. Then the reviews started pouring in, and the more and more I heard them I wondered if I should give it a try. So I went to see it with my Mam, and really did enjoy it. I thought it was absolutely hilarious. It took things from other films and genres and made them silly. From terrific moments to brilliant characters, especially Batman (Will Arnett). Batman was the best thing about this film; he even had his own theme music. Pretty much, every scene he was in, was hilarious and everything he said was comedy gold. The film’s main theme; Everything Is Awesome was fun too. Basically put it was just a very fun film (for a while I did have this at joint position with Divergent; and then I watched it again). Let’s just hope that Bionicle gets featured in the sequel.

7. The Wind Rises – I had waited a long time to see this film. I have not seen Spirited Away, or any other film by Studio Ghibli or Hayao Miyazaki, but I want to, even more after seeing The Wind Rises. The story of a young man who just wants to make good airplanes. Just one catch, the only people interested in airplane production at the moment is the military. What in a sense is mostly a love story between a young man and woman, and a young man and his aircraft designs; the film tells a story of the characters and the love for humanity. But that’s not all, the film also tells a story of pre-World War 2 Japan with the main character going on to design the Mitsubishi A6M Zero (while it has been fictionalised a bit it is based on the life and work of Jiro Horikoshi). What was generally a nice film overall, and a really pleasant experience, I loved the film’s story, characters and setting from the first minute to the last. The films ending credits theme was also rather sweet. An absolute lovely, brilliant film.

6. X-Men: Days of Future Past – I had been waiting a long time for another X-Men film. The last one (not including Wolverine spin-offs, although The Wolverine was terrific) being in 2011 and then 2006 before that. When Days of Future Past was finally on its way, I was really excited, almost more than most films due out in 2014. I was particularly excited about the addition of the original trilogy’s cast; as well as the tandem with the cast from First Class alongside some new characters from the comics including the mighty Sentinels. What is more of a double sequel to both Last Stand, First Class and The Wolverine in some respects, and based on the X-Men timeline of the same name; Days of Future past was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I enjoyed it from start to finish and was really happy to see the old cast return alongside the new. Also back was the theme tune (remixed a little) from X-Men 2 in the opening titles, which I thank Bryan Singer a lot for bringing back. Altogether it’s good to know that while other comic book and graphic novel adaptations may waver, X-Men is around to provide us all with Good Films.

GENEPOOL (The normal Top 5 List should return to normal next year, as there are only 7 films I am really looking forward to this year).

Bionicle Is Back

During the early 2000’s, Lego released a toy like no other that it had produced at the time. The Toy was story based and revolved around certain characters and the adventures they went on. The toy was more like a set of constructible action figures than construction based sets and used a new form of construction too. Next to that, the toy was also a far cry to Lego’s previous creations as it was against their passive beliefs from when the company first started. This new toy was very experimental and originally released under the Lego Technic brand before going out on its own and as a result became one of Lego’s biggest and best-selling franchises spinning off into other forms of media and merchandise including Video Games and a Movie (way before the 2014 film) and as a result was the kick-start Lego needed to get out of the financial troubles they suffered in the 1990’s. While this toy has since stopped being produced and replaced, recent news has given me cause for excitement with the announcement that Bionicle is making a comeback.

Back in the early 2000’s, for me, Lego was still something I enjoyed, but something I didn’t play with all that much, and the only Lego I really used was my brothers old Lego Bricks from a couple of boxes in my room. Then I spotted Bionicle, and I was interested. I liked the fantasy look about it, the almost superhero like element about it, and that it looked a lot like Lego Technic. Lego Technic was a more grown up variety (at least to me) of Lego but the kits and sets were really expensive, and I didn’t have enough pocket money at the time to afford them. Lego Bionicle though really did interest me, and I kept my eyes on it. Eventually, round about the time of the release of the Bohrok sets, I began to get them. The Bohrok were the first things I got. These alien like, bi-pedal bugs with vicious looking teeth came in these cylindrical jars, like containment tubes. The idea was, you could construct them, then hang them in the jars. They could both stand on two legs, but the design meant they could be rolled up into balls too. The sets also had motion too where you would push down on a little lever at the nape of the neck and it would make the heads jump out forward. In the end I collected three Bohrok sets; a black one (NUHVOK) a brown one (PAHRAK) and a more especially themed blue one (GAHLOK-KAL). One of the things that made Bionicle stand out was that he sets of figures such as the Bohrok could be combined together to make bigger models. I however, didn’t collect the right sets to make a big one. I only collected three Bohrok, The brown and the black one does combine together, but the third colour was red. While I could substitute the pieces of the blue one, part of me still liked keeping the models separate and for many years (until at the time of writing this) inside their tubes.

To begin with, I just collected the Bohrok and a few little models here and there. The sort of little packs which went for £5 or less. Eventually though, I did buy my first hero figure, that of the blue, axe wielding Gali Nuva. I liked the fact the character carried an Axe, it was different and the picture on the box looked Awesome. After that I got the green, sword wielding Lewa Nuva. Like before however, I did not collect all the right sets to build the full large one. In this case it was Kopaka Nuva I needed to complete the set and make the bigger version. But in the end I only bought the blue and green one and then, a whole new set of Bionicle was released and I was unable to buy it.

As my enjoyment of Bionicle continued, I also became interested in two things announced for the franchise. One was the video game for the GameCube, which I did not play in the end; and the direct to video Bionicle Movie, which I did see. I remember waiting and waiting for it, and then going to Blockbuster (remember them?) the day it was released to see that it was not there. My Dad very kindly bought it for me though and so I watched it the following day after school; and really enjoyed it. I watched it again the following Christmas too. The film used CGI and gave the characters voices, one of which sounded like Wolverine from X-Men Evolution, but the story was still pretty interesting.

Eventually though, my interest began to wane, around about the time the sets appeared to change completely, it was like the old stories and characters had just disappeared. For me, I began to get more interested in other things. But every now and then, I would look at Bionicle to see what was happening with it. To this day I still have my collected sets including the Bohrok and main action figures, although Gali Nuva has lost the ability of their right leg as the joint at the hip is broken. A couple of years ago I did begin to plan an idea for a single frame comedy series using my Bionicle sets as the main characters and have a possible story arch. The stories though would revolve around one of them being serious, and the other not so serious and a bit daft. I didn’t get round to doing them though. Then back in 2011, 2012, after receiving some money from my Granddad, I decided, instead of using the money on DVDs or Videogames, I decided to spend it on some Lego. I hadn’t bought any Lego in years, and kind of really wanted some. The first thing I looked up was Bionicle, which I discovered, almost to my horror, but not quite horror, that the sets had been discontinued. I was quite sad at this. The idea that Bionicle had been stopped being produced. I had so much fun in the past with them. The news was close to heart-breaking. I did discover that the series had been replaced though with Lego Hero Factory, which didn’t look as good as Bionicle, but I bought a character from this set, and a Lego flatbed with excavator set, all part of the Lego City range. Since then though I have become interested in a new Lego series; Lego Mixels. I first spotted them on a day out with a friend, and liked the fact that the individual sets only cost £3. So I bought a set, then the following week another, and then when in the paying queue at Argos, I bought another. The sets work a lot like Bionicle in the idea that certain sets can join together to create larger models. At the moment though I have three sets, each a different colour. For me though I like the amount of excitement they bring. It may only be three pounds worth of Lego, but it gives me a lot of enjoyment.

When I went to see The Lego Movie in April, I noticed there was a brief mention of Bionicle, but I thought it wasn’t enough. It was one of Lego’s bestselling toys during its production, and as such it should have had more of a part. But this sighting made me wonder. A few months ago while looking online I heard rumours of a possible return of Bionicle, but no concrete details were available at the time. Then last week, I looked it up, and was directed to the Lego Website, an official page for a new Lego Bionicle series. First I was sort of sceptical, but excited enough to do some further research. I looked on Amazon to no luck, but then I looked on Wikipedia, and discovered that Bionicle is indeed being re-launched in 2015. I was really happy at this news. Further research showed that the sets will be combine-able too, so maybe I might complete a set at long last. While I have yet to discover an actual release date for the sets, I am really excited by this news and am looking forward to seeing what the new series looks like. While it has been a few years since Bionicle has been seen, from first impressions of the new sets, I am really excited to the new releases and simply the announcement that the franchise is set to make a comeback, has got me pumped up and ready for the day it finally gets released. Lego Bionicle has returned.

GENEPOOL (Let’s hope Lego bring back the Bohrok too).