Another year is in the books, and we here at Hush Comics couldn’t pass at the chance to rank our favorites of this year’s releases in all types of mediums. Some of the winners will surprise you; heck, some of the results surprised us. The results are completely subjective, and therefore were chosen with infallible logic. We would love to hear your opinions on what we have chosen, or if you thought we missed anything. This should be a fun review before we gear up for 2015.
Click on the link to take you to the “Best of 2014” homepage.
Another year is in the books, and we here at Hush Comics couldn’t pass at the chance to rank our favorites of this year’s releases in all types of mediums. Some of the winners will surprise you; heck, some of the results surprised us. The results are completely subjective, and therefore were chosen with infallible logic. We would love to hear your opinions on what we have chosen, or if you thought we missed anything. This should be a fun review before we gear up for 2015.
Click on the link to take you to the “Best of 2014” homepage.
Best Comedy
22 Jump Street
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Knights of Badassdom
Neighbors
Sex Tape
WINNER – 22 Jump Street
Let’s be honest. No one goes to see a Jump Street movie because of the plot. But that doesn’t make the franchise any less hilarious. This time, cop duo Schmidt and Jenko are working undercover as college students. While the hijinks were the same, I found this movie funnier than its predecessor because the kids that were doing bad things were actually of age. Ice Cube was hilarious in this movie, particularly when it came to his daughter. There were many laugh-out-loud moments, making it our favorite comedy of the year. Plus Channing Tatum never hurts. – Adrian
Second Place – Neighbors
Although North Korea has made America look like pansies by canceling The Interview with Seth Rogan and James Franco. In 2014, we need to remember we had the next best thing, kinda. We had Neighbors with Seth Rogan, Zac Efron and Dave Franco. This movie was filled with all the classics the world expected out of a Rogan-Franco film; drugs, penises, and the most amazing dildo sword fight scene known to cinematic history. This film was hilarious, and allowed me to see how non-stressful and unserious the world can be sometimes. Without a doubt, 2014 became a little more comical with Neighbors. – Evan
Third Place – Knights of Badassdom
For 90 minutes (ish), Knights of Badassdom made LARPing the coolest thing in the world – and not in that dickish sarcastic way. What really drew me in were the guest appearances by Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones) and Danny Pudi (Abed Nadir in Community), not to mention that Firefly’s Summer Glau is the main love interest. This movie does have a bit of horror mixed in, but it’s much more Tucker & Dave Vs. Evil than Cabin in the Woods. – Sherif
RUNNER UP – A Million Ways to Die in the West
Don’t get me wrong, A Million Ways was not a great movie. It was barely a good movie. However, it was a Seth McFarlane movie, and that much it lived up to. This cast of relatively big names leads a fun adventure with the typical Seth McFarlane-esque humor. There are guest appearances, mustache dances (pictured above) and a lot of innuendo – thank you Jesus for Sarah Silverman. I especially enjoyed the commentary on how primitive a time the Wild West days actually were. People died, a lot. Fun fact: Liam Neeson, who plays the bad guy in the movie, insisted that he keep his Irish accent, only to pay homage to McFarlane’s joke on Family Guy of playing a cowboy with an Irish accent. It’s no coincidence that Seth McFarlane gets to cast a bunch of great actors; these guys love him! – Sherif
RUNNER UP – Sex Tape
One thing is for certain: nobody understands the Cloud. It’s almost like those hackers got their idea from this movie, because damn, how could that timing be any more awkward, right? Aynway, this movie revolves around an aging, but still somehow kind of hot Cameron Diaz and the sex tape she made with Jason Segel. There are tons of penis jokes – I know those are all the rage now – but the funnier part to me are the ones that make fun of how little this generation understands about the technology we use every day; isn’t that right, JLaw? You’re not gonna see anything spectacular here, but Jason Segel fans will still love his comedy. – Sherif
May was full of comic book movies, but June is about to get the summer poppin’ with a variety of family and comedy films. There are some pretty cool independent films out, too. Here’s the skinny on this upcoming months’ movies:
June 6 – Edge of Tomorrow
Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt
Another year, another Tom Cruise action flick. It’s not that I don’t think he does a poor job at being an action star, but every idea he’s in feels completely recycled. Even though the premise of the film is nothing like Oblivion, the ambiance of the films feel exactly the same, and there is absolutely nothing to convince me there is something new and exciting to see here. Actually, the plot reminds me of 2011’s Source Code; in Edge of Tomorrow, Tom Cruise is forced to repeat the same day of war against the Mimic aliens over and over again, trying to find the point in all of it. The film is borrowed from the Japanese novel All You Need is Kill. It’s a really cool concept, and looks worth seeing if you like the genre. – Sherif
June 6 – The Fault in Our Stars
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort
“Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is an atypical teenager living with cancer, oxygen tank trailing forever behind her. While medication and frequent doctors visits have extended her life quite a bit, she is very much aware that she is dying. After being deemed depressed by both her mother and doctor, Hazel begins attending a cancer support group. It is here that she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), a charismatic, sly, metaphoric loving cancer survivor determined to make his mark on the world. Together they find “a forever within the numbered days,” a love that transcends their illness, and an adventure that makes them both feel infinitely alive whilst on the border of death.” – Charlotte (an excerpt from her full spoiler-free review here)
June 13 – How to Train Your Dragon 2
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Djimon Hounsou, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig
How To Train Your Dragon was an incredibly well done movie about a boy that brings peace to his viking village and the dragons who inhabit the area. There’s several different dragon types shown in the movie (and even more are presented in the TV show spin off, The Riders of Burk). However, the spotlight shines brightest on Hiccup and his Night Fury Dragon named Toothless.The pair make an amazing team, ending a war and saving lifes, all while Hiccup learns to accept himself and discover his unique calling in life. The first movie is phenomenal, and a must see, full of moments that will make you laugh, cry, and leave you on the edge of your seat. The second movie introduced a character previously alluded to be dead, Hiccup’s mom (can’t wait to hear that explanation); it turns out that dragon training is in his blood. This reunion comes just in time as an enemy force, composed of more dragon-riding vikings, threatens to strip Hiccup and his friends of their beloved dragons. The trailers give me high hopes that this sequel can be held to the same standards as the first. The imagery is stunning (makes me sad I don’t have a dragon of my own) and there appears to be more of the same adorable dragon humor as the original. I look forward to seeing all the new dragon types and Hiccup all grown up. – Sara
June 13 – 22 Jump Street
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube
Ever since the first modern 21 Jump Street, starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, I have loved seeing this combo on the big screen. And now that the sequel is being released, I am absolutely excited. This movie better hold up to my expectations because if it doesn’t, I might just have to go back to either high school or college and start selling drugs, and they don’t want that. In this action-packed comedy the police duo are stepping out of the little leagues and heading into the majors as they tackle college. That’s right! The big give-me-a-C-O-L-L-E-G-E, and what does that spell? It spells nothing but chaos and comedy rolled into one movie. With returning characters such as Captain Dickson, played by Ice Cube, Deputy Chief Hardy, played by Nick Offerman, and Mr. Walters, played by Rob Riggle, I believe that this will be a great movie. And if you go see this movie for anything, anything at all, you must go see it to see Channing Tatum’s flawless Hispanic accent. And I do mean flawless. So go see this movie. It will be amazing; it will be your worst…I mean best nightmare (see what I did there?). – Evan
June 20 – The Rover
Starring: Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson
A huge economic collapse happened 10 years ago in the West and now all hell breaks loose in the new drama, The Rover. This film takes place in Australia where we meet Eric (Guy Pearce), a man whom, after the collapse, has nothing left but one possession and a gang breaks in and steals it and in the process of them trying to get away one of the gang members is injured and left behind for dead. The gang member, Rey (Robert Pattinson), teams up with Eric to catch the gang since they left him for dead. The film seems like a good drama but it also seems like a movie that may not hit certain audiences too well. It seems like a lot of the post apocalyptic sort of drama action films like Children of Men, I Am Legend, and Book of Eli. I tend to like this genre and I will not pass any Twilight hate onto Robert Pattinson and not see the film which may end up being a performance that shows he is more than just sparkly Edward to a lot of people. If you like intense dramas definitely check this out as well as if you enjoy the end of the world with no zombies but lots of action and thrills type of film. – Jacob
June 20 – Coherence
Starring: NIcholas Brendon, Elizabeth Gracen
Honestly, the plot of Coherence is a little befuddling. However, that won’t stop me from seeing it. Coherence takes place in one night at a dinner party of eight close friends. When a comet passes Earth, weird stuff starts to happen, and the friends find out about each other, them selves, and their relationships. Every review has touted it as being incredibly well written and acted. I will go see it purely off the cast, though. Elizabeth Gracen, who played Amanda in The Highlander TV series is a seller. But the winner is to Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander Harris on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not only have his roles since Buffy ended been sparse, but this role doesn’t make him seem like the “nerd” he has so often portrayed. I am excited to see him break out of his typecast shell and explore other roles. -Adrian
June 27 – Transformers: Age of Extinction
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci
Say what you will about Michael Bay, but he has made some damn good Transformers movies. The fourth installment, Age of Extinction, finally lets go of the formerly famous Shia LaBeouf and choosing a more adept action hero. Marky Mark himself takes the reigns on this one; giant robots are already the fail-safe summer blockbuster, but now that Mark Wahlberg is starring instead of LaBeouf, I’m much more interested in seeing it. Since Dark of the Moon pretty much wrapped up the trilogy with Optimus Prime pretty much going Sub-Zero on Megtron, I’m not too sure where Age of Extinction is going, but it almost looks to be LEGO Movie type of thing going on, inspiring kids to pick up their Robots in Disguise one more time. The world has recovered from the Decepticons’ attack and the Transformers have officially been rendered obsolete. Somewhere along the line, the stupid, puny humans reactivate the Decepticons and create DINOBOTS! Don’t expect this to blow you away, but it’s a necessary summer action movie carried by a vetted action hero. Plus, DINOBOTS! – Sherif
June 27 – WHITEY: United States of America v. James J. Bulger
Starring: Various
Okay, I admit it. I’m a total sucker for crime documentaries; there’s just something alluring about organized crime that I love watching stories about. That being said, James Bulger’s story is straight-up frightening. There is nothing entertaining about mass murder and dealing; Bulger reign in Boston ranks up there with some of the most gruesome. It also opens up eyes in the way that he was able to stay out of prison. He had the FBI on pay-roll for decades. He was just convicted in 2011, at 81 years old. Bulger is such a bad man that he was used as the inspiration for Jack Nicholson’s Frank Costello in The Departed, as well as Showtime’s Brotherhood, and an upcoming film titled Black Mass starring Johnny Depp. This won’t be for the faint of heart, or for people who are bored by the genre, but it will make for a captivating and horrifying documentary about one of America’s most notorious gangsters. – Sherif
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