What I'm Thankful for in 2014: Movies Edition

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!

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.  

New Trailers: The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent!

It's a Shailene Woodley double feature with the trailers of two of her films that were released last month.   These are roles that could launch Woodley into a Jennifer Lawrence-like stratosphere.

First up is the trailer of the YA adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars written by John Green.  The book is funny, sad and deeply poignant and I'm glad the trailer reflects that tone in it.  Directed by Josh Boone, a relative newcomer, the cast features Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell and Willem Dafoe.  Woodley actually cut her long hair to play the part of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a teenager stricken with cancer who falls in love for the first time.  And yes, while that does sound depressing, the characters in the book/film are anything but.  This is definitely on my list of films to catch up with this year.  The Fault in Our Stars releases June 2014.

Up next is another YA adaptation, this time a dystopian thriller by author Veronica Roth, the first of the best-selling trilogy in which society is divided up into five factions that showcases the best of your abilities.  But it also means that everyone looks out for themselves and there are no family loyalties.  Beatrice Prior has a difficult path ahead of her when she is shown to be a Divergent and doesn't belong in any one faction.  She must navigate her life and those of her loved ones and protect them from the plans of the leader of the Erudite, Jeanine Matthews.  The films also stars Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Maggie Q, Tony Goldwyn, Ashley Judd and no, your eyes did not deceive you, that's actually Kate Winslet as Matthews.   Divergent will release big this March and try to steal a bit of The Hunger Games' thunder as that franchise is midway through its series and their's is just beginning.  Are you ready?