Top 5 Thursday: Actors/ Actresses of 2014

I'm still looking back to 2014 and all the great actors and actresses of that year. Some stood out more than others. Here are my favorite actors and actresses of 2014.

5. Jennifer Lawrence

Nominated for an Academy Award again for her role in “American Hustle” and she was in “X-Men: Days of Future Past”. She played Katniss Everdeen again in the third installement of “The Hunger Games” series and she got a hit with the song “The Hanging Tree”. And and didn’t even mention all the other awesome stuff she said and did in interviews and talk shows.

 

 

4. Rosamund Pike

Finally she got the role she deserved. In “Gone Girl” she nailed it, she was definitely the best bit of the film.

 

 

3. Michael Fassbender

He was in “12 Years a Slave” and I really wanted to whip him. His performance was so good, he played a convincingly good bad guy. Then there was “Frank” and off course “X-Men: Days of Future Past”. He’s had a pretty good year.

 

 

2. Matthew McConaughey

Okay, I used to be critical. I didn’t think much of McConaughey, he made some bad movies. But ever since “The Lincoln Lawyer” I started to like him more and more. Now, I think he was one of the best actors of his generation. In 2014 he won an Acadamy Award for his wonderful performance in “Dallas Buyers Club” and also hit theaters with “Interstellar”. But for me the highlight is “True Detective”, what an awesome show!

 

 

1. Chris Pratt

He had a small role in “Her”, voiced for the awesome “The Lego Movie” and finished of with the coolest movie of 2014: “The Guardians of the Galaxy”. Chris Pratt is also coming with “Jurassic World” in 2015, so Pratt is without a doubt my favourite star of 2014.

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: Keira Knightley, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams

Best & Worst: Matt Damon

I really like Matt Damon. He looks like an average guy and is down to earth. But when he starts acting, he blows us all away. Damon is talented and has made some great films. Here are my choices for best and worst Matt Damon movies.

 

 

This movie is incredible. Okay, the ending was different from its original, but still it’s a great film. I liked Matt Damon in the bad guy role, the mole, the snitch.

Honorable Mentions: “The Bourne Identity”, “Good Will Hunting”, “Invictus”, “The Bourne Ultimatum”, “True Grit”

 

 

Not even all that bad, but towards the end the movie lost its credibility. It could have been a lot better. Matt Damon doesn’t have a lot of stinkers.

Dishonorable Mentions: “Ocean’s Thirteen”, “The Good Shepherd”

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 4: Mission: Impossible 3

Director: J.J. Abrams

Genre: Action/ Thriller

Runtime: 125 minutes

Year: 2006

Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Keri Russell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudup, Simon Pegg, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q, Eddie Marsan

Description: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) comes face to face with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer while trying to keep his identity secret in order to protect his girlfriend (Michelle Monaghan).

Review: Ethan Hunt is sent on another mission. The task sounds simple: save one of their own after being held captive. But it’s a lot more complicated and it leads Hunt and his team to Germany, the Vatican, Virginia and Shanghai.

The raw but perfectly calculated action is probably the best thing about “Mission: Impossible 3”. The intrigues and the bond between Hunt and his team members Luther, Declan and Zhen are also very strong. I love the way how the team manages to outsmart everyone, by dodging cameras, blowing up Ferraris and disguising as their enemy. Hunt’s personal life is a little less interesting though.

Like the first two films, the cast is strong. Off course Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames do great. But Philip Seymour is very convincing as the bad guy. And Simon Pegg, who always manages to add cynicism and dry humor to his scenes.

“Mission: Impossible 3” is a great action thriller, a wonderful addition to the series.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (171)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Everly

Description: A woman, Everly (Salma Hayek), faces down assassins sent by her ex, a mob boss, while holed up in her apartment.

Director: Joe Lynch

Starring: Salma Hayek, Togo Igawa, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Laura Cepeda, Akie Kotabe

Trailer: Trailer "Everly"

Comment: Not sure about this.

Project Almanac

Description: A brilliant high school student and his friends uncover blueprints for a mysterious device with limitless potential, inadvertently putting lives in danger.

Director: Dean Israelite

Starring: Allen Evangelista, Sam Lerner, Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Ginny Gardner

Trailer: Trailer "Project Almanac"

Comment: It's produced by Michael Bay.... so....

To Write Love on Her Arms

Description: A drama centered around Renee Yohe and her battle with drugs, depression, and other life issues that ultimately leads to the founding of charity group To Write Love on Her Arms.

Director: Nathan Frankowski

Starring: Kat Dennings, Chad Michael Murray, Rupert Friend, Mark Saul, Juliana Harkavy, Cornin Bleu

Trailer: Trailer "To Write Love on Her Arms"

Comment: Hmmm..... I don't know.

Along the Roadside

Description: Two young people from different parts of the world, their vastly different cultures and their journey of self-discovery during the drive to the largest music festival in California.

Director: Zoran Lisinac

Starring: Michael Madsen, Lazar Ristovski, Sheldon Bailey, Greg Collins

Trailer: Trailer "Along the Roadside"

Comment: Not a lot of good trailers this week.

Victory's Short

Description: After nine years without celebrating their wedding anniversary,Gabrielle Montvignier ,heir of a fortune in decline,is invited by her husband to a supper to make up for the past nine years. Gabrielle has become a cold,wounded,cynical woman because of her gigolo type husband.nevertheless she accepts the invitation even though the relationship is dead. What she doesn't know is that he has planned to eliminate her during this strange supper.

Director: Mika Ela Fisher, Benjamin Feitelson

Starring: Mika Ela Fisher, Benjamin Feitelson, France Péleau, François Guibert

Trailer: Trailer "Victory's Short"

Comment: Okay, maybe this is a (somewhat) good trailer.

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 3: Skyfall

Director: Sam Mendes

Genre: Action/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 142 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Bérénice Marlohe, Helen McCroy, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Judi Dench, Ben Wishaw, Albert Finney, Ola Rapace

Description: Bond's (Daniel Craig) loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. Whilst MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

Review: Fifty years before “Skyfall”, the first James Bond movie came out: “Dr. No”. That this franchise would become the longest running movie series ever, no one expected that in the sixties. With “Skyfall” we have 23 movies and six different men who played James Bond. And the end is very far away.

“Skyfall” is a treat. The previous two movies, “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace” had connections, but “Skyfall” is a completely new story. The movie opens with a spectacular chase, that ends in James Bond getting shot. The MI6 organization thinks he is dead. When he returns after six months, MI6 is under attack of cyberterrorists and M’s position is in danger as well.

After the opening scene, you know “Skyfall” will not disappoint. The action is spectacular and it’s all filmed beautifully. However, “Skyfall” isn’t just an action movie. The focus is on the relationship between Bond and M. Especially the middle part, in Shanghai and Macau, does the spy thriller justice. But how gorgeous those scenes look, they make you wait for action a tad to long.

  Where Daniel Craig proofs again that he’s a great James Bond, it’s Javier Bardem that steals the show as villain Silva. The eccentric character is a pleasant addition to the film, in combination with the somewhat cold Bond. And also Judi Dench does a great job, as usual.

If “Skyfall” is the best Bond movie, I don’t know. But it is definitely recommended for both Bond fans and the ordinary movie fan. And even if the runtime of the film is a bit too long, it’s an entertaining movie. “Skyfall” makes you forget about the mediocre “Quantum of Solace” and shows you James Bond is not going to retire any time soon.

Rating: 4/ 5

DVD Collection Update (18)

It's been a while since the last update, I just simply didn't buy any movies or series for a long time. But Santa was good to me with some new additions to my collection and some giftcards. So here are the Dvd's I received and bought.

Off course I needed this fourth season of "The Walking Dead". We're in the middle of season 5 now. What I liked about season 4 is that the group was seperated and all the characters got a bit more attention.

I found "Blood Diamond" for only 1 Euro. That's practically nothing! I've seen the movie before, it's really good. Haven't watched it since I got it though.

"Sons of Anarchy" has already ended, but we still have the Dvd's. I'm still waiting for season 7 to come out, but season 6 was a present from my brother for my 30th birthday. Really cool. He is currently watching it with my mom.

I bought this the day it came out, because I loved this movie so much. And I rewatched "Guardians of the Galaxy" yesterday. And I know that it will be watched many many times. It's just such an awesome film, can't wait for the sequel. But for now, "Guardians of the Galaxy" is enough to keep me happy.

I hope that one day I will have every Disney animation ever made. I got a bit closer with getting "Oliver & Company". I remember seeing it in theatres (in 1988) and I never saw it again after that. So, this is a welcome gift.

And I also got "Frozen", another Disney movie. This movie is great, I love the characters, story and songs. "Love is an Open Dooooooooooor!"

Something else for a change, a music DVD. It's a Foo Fighters concert in Hyde Park. Like the two Disney movies, this was a Christmas gift from my brother. I didn't even now this DVD excisted, so that makes it even cooler.

I recently saw "Edge of Tomorrow" with a link on the internet and I didn't really expect that much. Well, was I wrong. It blew me away and ended up being one of my favorite 2014 movies. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt really kick some ass in "Edge of Tomorrow". I ended up buying it today.

Also a movie I saw in 2014, but then in theatres, was "Godzilla". It really did justice to the Original and I just had to own in on DVD. So I bought it today.

In the Picture: Characters from "Frozen"

I’m a big Disney fan and again they did it. They made an animation that I love. And in the old fashion way, with songs! Off course “Frozen” also has some wonderful characters that I would like to share with you. Here they are.

Elsa

Voiced by: Idina Menzel

As the queen regnant of the kingdom of Arendelle, Elsa appears calm, reserved, regal and experienced in grace. Beneath this elegant appearance Elsa is quite complex. She is troubled with her abilities.

Anna

Voiced by: Kristen Bell

Anna is, unlike her sister Elsa, eccentric, optimistic, energetic, awkward and far from elegant. She usually acts before she speaks and can be rather impulsive. Anna does holds a lot of innocents to her. She is a pure and hopeless romantic, dreaming of romance the minute the gates open.

Kristoff

Voice by: Jonathan Groff

Kristoff is a bit of an individualist and acts as a loner. He can also be rather grumpy and selfish at times, as well as a bit lazy. But with all these flaws comes a heart of gold as well. His best mate is his reindeer Sven and he brings out his loving side.

Olaf

Voiced by: Josh Gad

Olaf is a goofy and naïve snowman, but extremely lovable and caring towards his friends. Because he was built during their childhood, Olaf retains the childlike personality that filled Anna and Elsa during those yearsm appearing to be very whimsical and playful. Olaf has an odd fascination for summer, he fantasizes about what summer would be like for a snowman, completely unaware of the tad consequences.

Hans

Voiced by: Santino Fontana

At first, Hans looks the prince any girl would dream of. Anna falls for him right away. But, Hans is cold, conniving, cruel and calculating. He has a hunger for admiration, power, obedience and chivalric honor. As the youngest of thirteen siblings, Hans has spent his life being ignored.

Sven

Voiced by: -

Sven is a loyal, goofy and rather childish reindeer. He spends most of his time by Kristoff’s side. Sven is his conscience. He may not seem intelligent, he does have a strong moral character. He constantly convinces Kristoff to do the right thing.

 

 

Favorite Character: Olaf