There's so much to be thankful about every year: family, friends, your health. But I always make it a point to make a list of movies I'm thankful for. Why? As Mel Brooks once said, "Movies saved my life. They rescued my soul." I feel the same way. Through the good times and the bad times, they've been my companion in life. So without further ado, here's my list of top 5!
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| GONE GIRL |
1)
Book adaptations: There were some great book to film adaptations out this year from
Gone Girl to
The Fault in Our Stars to
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. And while they stayed faithful to the original material, they have retained their voice. All of these films debuted at number one at the box office, a pretty impressive feat. Who says the book is better?
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| THE LEGO MOVIE |
2)
The LEGO Movie: I'm still humming the crazily catchy 'Everything is Awesome' from the extremely funny and clever
The LEGO Movie from co-directors and writers, Chris Miller and Phil Lord. With a surprisingly emotional core and hilarious interpretations of iconic characters (I loved Will Arnett's angsty Batman), the animated film was meta to the extreme. But hey, it worked, I can't remember another film where there were more adults for an animated film than children.
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| THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY |
3)
Comic book adaptations: From March until the end of summer, you couldn't go far without bumping into a comic book film. They were everywhere, from the universes featuring Spider-Man, some Avengers, X-Men and even some new Guardians of the Galaxies. And there's here to stay, as is evidenced by both Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios both unveiling a superhero franchise lineup that goes deep in 2020. And I'm afraid that's only the start as
The Guardians of the Galaxy proved with claiming the number one this summer season. Clearly, this audience wants more.
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| THE EDGE OF TOMORROW |
4)
Time Travel: This oft used trope was back early this summer in two highly enjoyable films,
The Edge of Tomorrow (a clever sci fi
Groundhog Day starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt for 2014) and
X-Men: Days of Future Past where the X-Men generations past and present collided in an A-list bonanza that audiences loved.
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| HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 |
5)
Hiccup and Toothless: It was a long wait but 2014 featured the return of one of my most favorite animated duos, Hiccup and Toothless, older and wise, but just as adorable in
How to Train Your Dragon 2. Their friendship goes through some pretty difficult tests in the second film from the trilogy and that ominous line about Toothless's future has me pretty worried for the finale. But, until then, let's enjoy the lovable antics these two get into up high in the skies.
