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 Drama of the Year
Birdman
The Fault in Our Stars
Fury
Noah
The Normal Heart
WINNER – Birdman
Everyone loves Michael Keaton, or at least they should, and Birdman was an amazing way for the world to be reminded of that. It was sweet and sad, and Keaton’s portrayal of an actor known for playing a super hero who’s fallen off the map is not only bitingly reminiscent of the real man but it hits a soft spot for all nerds who once loved an actor just for playing their favorite character. The movie is dynamic and has a great cast of characters – some you love, some you hate, and all that confuse you at varying times. Birdman tells a great story that makes you really sad at times, but it’s edgy and funny and honestly that’s how I think all dramas should be. And I don’t care what anyone says, Keaton was the best Batman, even if he sounded like Beetleguese at times. – Keriann
Second Place – The Fault in Our Stars
Like I said in my review of The Fault in Our Stars back before the film came out, this story holds a very special place in my heart. Based on the bestselling novel by John Green, I have seen Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus’ (Ansel Elgort) journey with cancer and love five times, three of those times on the big screen. Every single viewing I end up sobbing, not only because I am grieving for the characters I love, but because this story has come so far. The online community of Nerdfighters feel extremely connected to this story, having been infatuated with it since before it was even released. As the little guys, seeing TFIOS hit the big screen feels like a giant slap in the face to anyone whoever told us we were weird for being the outcasts. TFIOS was extremely successful this Summer, beating out Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow in the box offices with $ 304 million worldwide and being the number one film during its opening weekend. – Charlotte
Third Place – Fury
A group of elite tank cavalry hold off the German war machine so the rest of the allied forces can push into Europe. Fury is like the last scene of Saving Private Ryan but with more tanks and for the entire film. It’s exciting it’s dramatic and it’s extremely well put together. The cast is one of the strongest put together for most films. Brad “Wardaddy” Pitt leads the brilliant cast with a stellar performance. The rest of the tank crew is made up by Shia LeBeouf, who despite being a little nutty in real life is excellent here, Logan Lerman, the new to the crew young kid whom I’d like to see more of, Michael Pena, as good as ever, and Jon “Bring back Shane” Bernthal. Drama, action, and an outstanding cast, there aren’t more reasons necessary to see and love Fury. – Scott
RUNNER UP – Noah
I think I’m maybe one of five or seven people on the planet that liked this movie. The problem is too many people saw it and thought, “Rock monsters? I don’t remember any rock monsters in the story of Noah,” and hated it. However, this is an Aronofsky joint, and he likes his weird. Additionally, he might have invented the style of the rock monsters (or nephilim as they’re called), but almost all his extra content was culled from extra-biblical sources, most coming from the Book of Enoch. I can’t say enough about Aronofsky and his cosmic vision of the world. – JH
RUNNER UP – The Normal Heart
Everyone has AIDS. AIDS, AIDS, AIDS. Also known, apparently, as gay cancer. In all seriousness, though, this movie will destroy you emotionally. Mark Ruffalo and Jim Parsons star as part of a group of gay men in New York City fighting desperately both for recognition as a people coming under a deadly new virus, and to fight their stigma as second-class citizens. There’s really nothing happy about this movie; it’s meant to alarm you. The early 90’s were a time of progression, but there was a whole other civil rights movement going on that never got any attention. – Sherif
Genre – Horror/Sci-Fi
Director – Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Quantum of Solace)
Cast – Brad Pitt, others
Alluring element – A film adaptation of one of the best sci-fi/thriller books ever
Check it out if you liked – World War Z by Max Brooks, The Walking Dead, I Am Legend
After a long-delayed release, the film adaptation of Max Brook’s award winning book, World War Z, finally managed to infect theaters June 21st. The rights to make the movie were initially won by Pitt’s production company, Plan B, in a bidding war between Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in 2007, but the production of the film was caught up on a multitude of issues including five different screenwriters and going $50M over budget (the budget for this film was almost as high as Man of Steel‘s). Perhaps the most absurd hang-up was when Hungarian police confiscated “weapons [that] included hand guns, machine guns, high-precision sniper rifles, hand grenades and a large quantity of high-caliber ammunition” due to a miscommunication with Customs. Even through all the drama off-camera, the Pitt crew were able to put together a thrilling film that has you on the edge of your seat for the entire ride.
My first concern when seeing the full preview trailer for the film was that it is nothing like the book. One of my favorite novels of all time, Max Brooks’ World War Z is a collection of short stories that explain, piece by piece, how the war against the zombies began and ended (I won’t go into too much detail; I will post a book review soon). The movie, however, was very linear, as it followed our main character, Gerry Lane (played by Brad Pitt), as he searches the world for the origin and cure of the zombie disease. I originally imagined World War Z would take the form of a TV miniseries, with each episode giving the opportunity for the complete story to be told in great detail. A film medium doesn’t really allow for that deep exploration that does the book justice. I hate to turn into one of those people who criticizes movie adaptations from books as being not as good as the original material, so I will try my darnedest to keep my thoughts about how it compared to the book to a minimum and just focus on the movie.
This is Detroit, before the War.
That being said, World War Z is terrifying. The zombies remind me very much of the infected in I Am Legend, with rigid movement and exaggerated facial tweaks, as well as a penchant to move like stampeding wildebeest. This throws all zombie logic out the window. Watching The Walking Dead religiously gives me an inkling of hope that, if forced with the pending zombie apocalypse, I could maybe survive. I could hole up in the West Georgia Correctional Facility, and clear it out with my buddies in phalanx. Things might not be that bad. Well, after watching ten minutes of World War Z, that idealistic mindset was sent crashing and burning to the ground. With the commencement of the apocalypse, you can truly sympathize with the characters stuck in the middle of it. There is a prominent sense of panic that is maintained for the entirety of the film. Perhaps the most impressive feat was that this was all done while boasting a PG-13 rating; there is limited blood and hardly any gore. While it probably could have benefited from more graphic biting/turning scenes, World War Z makes a strong case for “less is more.”
Brad Pitt takes up a majority of the screen time, but he’s not the only character that makes an impact. Everybody that he and his family interact with has fear and distrust in their eyes. Above all, they all panic quite realistically and do very stupid things when faced with mortality. It’s a breath of fresh air in a genre that forces everybody into cliche big speeches before being killed off in dramatic and allegorical fashion (“A FUCKIN SHARK ATE ME!” – Samuel L Jackson from Deep Blue Sea). All characters are believable in their actions, letting the film scare you instead of letting the characters telling you what to be afraid of. Conversely, the zombies were heavily CGI’d. I would have liked to see more make-up and less computer animation. While the incredibly freaky speed and power of the zombies makes them scarier, it takes away from the realism of the environment in World War Z that makes it so daunting. The pace of the film is very fitting. Lane travels around the world in search of the origin of the disease, and a possible cure for it. From New Jersey to South Korea to Israel, you never feel like you get a moment to catch your breath. By the time the film had reached its climax, I was certain we were only half-way through. It was stimulating throughout and ended on a fairly high note, which is refreshing for a movie set during the end of the world.
So remember when I talked about not trying to compare it to the book earlier? I totally lied. Max Brooks’ masterful novel left the writers so much room to build on. Perhaps the best part of the book to me was the systematic deconstruction of the human way of life. From the military to politics to neighborhood watch, the novel gave a very realistic and frightening portrayal of what it would look like if our fragile reality was blown to hell. I personally feel like the movie suffered from streamlining everything to show Lane’s adventure instead of choosing a more varied approach. That’s not to say that all was lost in translation. The reference in Israel to the “Tenth Man,” the North Korean solution and the referral to zombies by American soldiers as “Zeke” were well-placed tributes to the book. There are also subtle nods to The Walking Dead when Pitt’s character offers a Dale-like solution to prevent the spread of immediate bites, as well as a few additional Easter Eggs I challenge you to find. A lot of references allude to stories in the book, but they’re often left hanging on the tip of Z‘s tongue. Really, though, you can’t get away with calling this a World War Z movie without the Lobo, without Yonkers, and without the rest of the bat-shit craziness that the world comes to once they hear the fat lady sing.
When it comes down to it, World War Z offers the latest and greatest zombie action flick since 28 Days Later (I know, not technically a zombie movie; get off my back!). It will keep you in your seat from start to finish, and it feels like a genuine attempt at showing how screwed and unprepared everybody is for a full-scale rise of the dead. A lot of the soul of the book was lost in the translation of having one protagonist. But what Z lacks in range, it makes up for in gruesome sincerity. The human condition is documented well amongst the CGI’d swarms of zombies. I would recommend that you lurk your way to theaters to see this film if you are a fan of zombie movies, thrillers or Brad Pitt.
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