The Lil Review Oscars
- alilreview
- Feb 23, 2015
- 6 min read
A ‘Lil Review
The 'Lil Oscars: The Really Best Movies of 2014
Tonight is “Hollywood's Biggest Night” honoring many films for their various achievements. As usual, they are mostly films that have an “artsy” flare that don’t reflect box office, or many people in geeky circles
Here at The Lil Review we decided to actually credence to movies that we are actually interested in. No disrespect to American Sniper or The Theory of Everything, but these are not movies I personally interested in shelling my $8.50 for to see. So I decided to actually give nominations, and awards for movies that I actually like. Welcome to the “Lil Oscars”
Best Picture:
Guardians of The Galaxy
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Snowpiercer
The Raid 2: Berandal
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The LEGO Movie
Winner: Guardians of the Galaxy.
This is weird because my favorite Marvel movie is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. How can this beat Captain America 2? Because, this was single handedly the best movie experience I had at the movies this year. Not since my childhood has a movie successfully incorporated a soundtrack into the movie to well. It is at the point that now when songs from the soundtrack are heard, I have to break out and start singing, and I am immediately taken to the scene of the movie where the song is at the time. This movie did a great job at expanding the Marvel film franchise beyond Earth, and raised the stakes by introducing the Infinity Gems (sure they were in other Marvel movies, but this one actually let you know about the Infinity gems on a whole), and setting up Thanos as the big bad guy. This movie just was great because two of the best characters were nothing but zeroes and ones: Rocket Raccoon and Groot, were completely CGI characters that the audience were fully invested in and cared for. Towards the end when Groot “died” the audience actually got sad when he sacrificed himself for his team, and then at the end of the movie when he survived and danced, it stole the show. The movie did a great deal of world-building and made comic fans smile from ear to ear by showing Knowwhere, Cosmo the dog, and many other great Easter eggs.
Honorable Mention: Captain America The Winter Soldier, Snowpiercer, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Best Director:
James Gunn: Guardians of The Galaxy
Gareth Evans: The Raid 2: Berandal
Bong Joon-ho: Snowpiercer
Doug Liman: Edge of Tomorrow
Peter Jackson: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
Phil Lord and Chris Miller: The LEGO Movie
Winner: Garath Evans: The Raid 2 Berandal
Although this was not the best movie, this is without a doubt the best directed movie. The last half-hour of the movie proves this director is ready to play with the big boys. The action incorporated in this movie is impeccable. The car chase scene and the final battle were expertly filmed and the made the audience feel as though they were a part of the action. The cinematography was perfect. There are a few scenes in the movie that made me question if they actually killed real people for the car chase or the “shotgun to the face” scene. Everything about this movie film-wise was perfect. Garath Evans should be in charge of all action scenes for all movies going forward!
Biggest Disappointment:
Godzilla
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Sabotage
Amazing Spiderman 2
Expendables 3
300: Rise of An Empire
Winner: 300: Rise of An Empire:
This is movie was dreadful. I still haven’t gotten through this movie because I continue to turn it off. It’s just bad.
Honorable Mention: Amazing Spiderman 2. This movie was atrocious. I’m glad that Marvel and Sony have worked out a deal so that Sony stops putting out terrible Spiderman movies.
Best Animated Movie:
Big Hero 6
The LEGO Movie
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Rio 2
Winner: The LEGO Movie
How this movie was overlooked by the Oscars is a crime….. A CRIME!!!!!!!!!!!! This is probably one of the best movies of the year. I fought this movie tooth and nail, but once I saw it, I was like” THIS MOVIE IS PERFECT!!!!!!!” This movie was marketed as a giant commercial for LEGO toys, and turned out to be much more than that. This movie transcended all ages/races, etc. This should literally have been nominated for Best Picture by the Oscars, but they didn't even nominate it for Best Animated film…. A CRIME. I have to give this movie its props because this is a perfect movie.
Best Actor:
Chris Evans: Snowpiercer
Andy Serkis: Caesar: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
James Mcavoy: Professor Xavier: X-Men Days of Future Past
Matthew Mcconaughey: Interstellar
Chris Pratt: Peter “Starlord” Quill: Guardians of the Galaxy
Winner: Andy Serkis: Caesar: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
As much as I would like for Chris Evans to get this role, anytime Andy Serkis dons the CGI “Gollum” outfit, he’s destined for greatness. He killed it as Caesar in the first Planet of the Apes movie, and continues to knock it out of the park in the sequel. Eventually the Academy will be forced to recognize his acting and he will get an honorary Oscar. He made you believe the emotions and internal conflicts that Caesar had, and once again he made you forget he was a CGI character.
Best Supporting Actor:
Bradley Evans: Rocket Raccoon: Guardians of The Galaxy
Toby Kebbell: Koba: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Winner:
Toby Kebbell: Koba: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
There is no contest: Koba was the “Loki” this year. Every time he was on the screen in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, he owned the screen. Rest assured, he was a bunch of zeroes and ones, but you understood his characters motivation and why he felt he needed to wipe humans away. After all, he was subject to biological experiments and had a legitimate problem with humans. Although you knew he was the villain, it not necessarily his fault.
Best Actress:
Eva Green: 300: Rise of an Empire
Emily Blunt: Edge of Tomorrow
Winner: Emily Blunt: Edge of Tomorrow.
The problem with female roles in the geek world is that they are far and between. Many times, the woman in a geek flick is either the leader, or the damsel in distress. More times than not, they are the damsel in distress. This makes it difficult to actually select a considerable actress for this award. In Edge of tomorrow, Emily Blunt plays the “full metal bitch” who had the “power” before Tom Cruise’s character did and is perfectly capable of killing the aliens with no problem. Most of the movie she is Tom Cruise’s “Obi Wan” teaching him how to harness the power of “resetting the day,” and she’s fantastic in this role. It is rumored that she will be cast as Carol Danvers in the Ms. Marvel movie coming in 2018, and that would be great casting on Marvel’s part.
Best Cinematography:
Interstellar
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
Snowpiercer
Winner: Tie between Interstellar and Snowpiercer
Both of these movies are beautifully shot. Interstellar is a filmmaking marvel. The different worlds visited just present a great landscape. Between the interstellar travel scenes to the different planets that the astronauts visit, this is beautiful.
Snowpiercer is perfect filmmaking. The pitch black battle scene is superb shooting. From the night vision battle scene, to when the sunlight breaks the scene, it’s perfect. When the group continues to go forward in the train and they see different train cars and the aquarium is just perfect.
Best Special Effects:
Winner: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
As great as many potential movies are, there is no comparison needed, in fact no additional nominees needed. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has sheer perfect special effects. The most intriguing characters in the movie are the apes, and it takes a long time for you to remember that they aren't real apes. They were living and breathing characters, and they captivated our attention throughout the whole movie.
Best Choreography (Fight Scene):
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Raid 2 Berandal
The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
Snowpiercer
Winner: The Raid 2 Berandal
Duh!!
This movie had the best fight scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie period! The final battle is perfect! This doesn't even need an explanation.
Best TV Show (That Is Better Than Most Movies):
Game of Thrones
Walking Dead
House of Cards
True Detective
Fargo
Winner: Game of Thrones
All of these shows are top notch, and done exceptionally well. However, when it comes to sheer production input and output, Game of Thrones is up there. That show delivers a movie film every single episode. If they in fact offered a monthly subscription at the local theater to see Game of Thrones on an Imax screen, I would be first in line to see it in that format.
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