Best of the week Film

Follow us on Wednesday with the introduction of the best films of the week (15 October)

1. Gone Girl (2014)

Director: David Fincher
Writers: Gillian Flynn (screenplay), Gillian Flynn (novel)
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris

The first 2 hours of this movie is amazing! Great story,Oscar caliber acting by Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck,great pacing by the director.
What spoiled it for me was the last 20 minutes.It seems the director puts the story in fast forward and suddenly it is over.
Leaving a bad taste for the truly great 2 hours that come before it.I still think it was a good movie and that Pike and Affleck will get acting nominations.
I just wish the ending was a little better.Well worth the price of admission.

2. Dracula Untold (2014)

Facing threats to his kingdom and his family, Vlad Tepes makes a deal with dangerous supernatural forces – whilst trying to avoid succumbing to the darkness himself.

Director: Gary Shore
Writers: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless
Stars: Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Sarah Gadon

Here’s a general tip for big budget epic films: don’t trust them with directors of Gatorade commercials and writers who have never worked on a feature film.
This plot holes in this film will leave you asking how anything makes sense and questioning every other scene.
The most ridiculous part of the plot is when the sultan says “men do not fear what they cannot see.” Clearly the sultan has never seen.

3. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Director: Miguel Arteta
Writers: Rob Lieber(screenplay),(screen story)
Stars:Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Ed Oxenbould

Follows the exploits of 11-year-old Alexander as he experiences the most terrible and horrible day of his young life-a day that begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by one calamity after another.But when Alexander tells his upbeat family about the misadventures of his disastrous day, he finds little sympathy and begins to wonder if bad things only happen to him. He soon learns that he’s not alone when his brother, sister, mom and dad all find themselves living through their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Anyone who says there is no such thing as a bad day just hasn’t had one.

4. Annabelle (2014)

A couple begin to experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll shortly after their home is invaded by satanic cultists.

Director: John R. Leonetti
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Stars: Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis, Alfre Woodard

That’s a pretty familiar setup, and Annabelle is a pretty familiar movie. Too familiar. After a couple of possessed cultists attack the pregnant Mia (Annabelle Wallis) at home and some Jiffy-Pop popcorn almost causes the house to burn down (hey, it happens!), she and her husband John (Ward Horton) move to an apartment, at which point the real fun starts. Eventually, it becomes clear that there are demonic spirits who have eyes for the couple’s newborn daughter, Leah, and they’re playing off the mother’s protective instinct to try and convince her to give the child to them. Because that’s what evil spirits do.

5. The Judge (2014)

Big city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his father, the town’s judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth and, along the way, reconnects with his estranged family.

Director: David Dobkin
Writers: Nick Schenk (screenplay), Bill Dubuque(screenplay)
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga

Amazing story makes you think. and keeps you awake all the way trying to figure it all out. Both Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr were both AMAZING… and deserve BIG WINS at the next Academy Awards / Oscars for this. Robert Downey JR is one of the BEST actors. I enjoy everything both of these guys do. I hope they all win big and are not forgotten during the next awards season.

6.The Equalizer(film)

The Equalizer is a 2014 American thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Richard Wenk, based on the television series of the same name. The film stars Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Melissa Leo, Haley Bennett, and Bill Pullman.
Principal photography began in June 2013 on location and took place in different cities of Massachusetts. This was the first film to have Village Roadshow Pictures co-finance the deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment since Saving Silverman in 2001. The film was premiered at 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2014, and released worldwide on September 26.

7. Addicted (I) (2014)

A gallerist risks her family and flourishing career when she enters into an affair with a talented painter and slowly loses control of her life.

Director: Bille Woodruff
Writers: Christina Welsh (screenplay), Ernie Barbarash(screenplay)
Stars: Sharon Leal, Boris Kodjoe, John Newberg

Well I read the book and saw the movie last night….. I (like the audience) was gasping, panting, screaming, laughing, sitting up straight in pure shock, shaking my damn head, but completely understanding her predicament….William. ….oh William…oooohh William!!!! Tyson put it DOWN!!!!!! And that first scene with Boris…….speechless… Ladies…forget the crap on here… did you enjoy magic mike? If you did….don’t hate here…..it is far more entertaining. We go to the movies to be entertained! What’s the moral dilemma? Not enough dead bodies onscreen?…not enough shoot outs? Did you really consider watching the movie to learn more about sex addiction? Or did you want to escape your reality for just an hour and a half to see a freaky movie with William, Tyson, and ooooo… Boris? Or is the problem that the majority of the cast is African American? When we do movies….we become so critical of ourselves…way more critical than we are of others when they make the exact same type of films….There is no problem when they do it. But instead of just seeing for ourselves, we go on message boards to hate….ourselves. Excuse me for having raging hormones and getting my fix. I’m going to see it again next week with another group of friends just so I can see William say…..well there is a line that he says in the film and the whole audience lost it! But if you’re a prude…you’ll never know. -signed….clearly Addicted ….ha!

8. The Maze Runner (2014)

Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they’re all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow “runners” for a shot at escape.

Director: Wes Ball
Writers: Noah Oppenheim (screenplay), Grant Pierce Myers(screenplay)
Stars: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter

Wes Ball’s background is in animation and effects, and he certainly has an eye for composition. Thankfully, he doesn’t just lean on visual flash in his debut feature, the adaptation of the first of James Dashner’s four books, and his skills allow him to build a convincing world around his appealing cast without losing them in it completely.

9. The Boxtrolls (2014)

A young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator. Based on the children’s novel ‘Here Be Monsters’ by Alan Snow.

Directors: Graham Annable, Anthony Stacchi
Writers: Irena Brignull (screenplay), Adam Pava(screenplay)
Stars: Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost

In many ways a beautiful movie, and yet in other ways it’s not very good at all. As an achievement in stop-motion animation, it’s stunning — seamless and detailed, so perfectly done that it’s easy to forget that you’re witnessing skill and not magic.

10 . Left Behind (I) (2014)

A small group of survivors are left behind after millions of people suddenly vanish and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction.

Director: Vic Armstrong
Writers: Jerry B. Jenkins (based on novel), Tim LaHaye(based on novel)
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Lea Thompson, Cassi Thomson

This Left Behind may be worse than the last Left Behind, but it’s much less boring, thanks in part to the commitment of its star, who plays the often ludicrous material with the straightest of faces. The Cage works in mysterious ways.