Lucy

Lucy is a 2014 French action film directed, written and edited by Luc Besson, and produced by Besson and Europacorp. It was released on 25 July 2014. The film was shot in Taipei, Paris and Cité du Cinéma. It stars Scarlett Johansson as the title character, along with Morgan Freeman playing Professor Norman.

Lucy is a 25-year-old American woman living and studying in Taipei, Taiwan. She is tricked into working as a drug mule by her new boyfriend, whose employer is a Korean mob boss and drug lord named Mr. Jang. Lucy delivers a briefcase to Mr. Jang containing a highly valuable synthetic drug called CPH4. Lucy is captured and a bag of the drug is forcibly sewn into Lucy's abdomen and that of others who will also transport the drug for sales in Europe. While Lucy is in captivity, one of her captors kicks her in the stomach, breaking the bag, releasing a large quantity of the drug into her system. As a result, she begins acquiring increasingly powerful mental talents and enhanced physical capabilities, such as absorbing information instantaneously, telekinesis, mental time travel, and can choose not to feel pain or other discomforts, in addition to other abilities. She kills off her present captors and escapes.

Lucy travels to a nearby hospital to get the bag of drugs removed from her abdomen. The bag is successfully removed, and Lucy realises that she requires the bags inside the other three drug mules to continue expanding her neural capacity and that the process of rapid cell growth the drug is stimulating will eventually kill her. Returning to Mr. Jang's hotel, Lucy assaults him and telepathically extracts the locations of all three drug mules from his mind.

At her shared apartment, Lucy begins researching her condition and contacts a well-known scientist and doctor, Professor Samuel Norman, whose research may be the key to saving her. After Lucy speaks with the professor and provides proof of her developed abilities, she flies to Paris and contacts a local police captain, Pierre Del Rio, to help her find the remaining three packets of the drug. Her powers continue to grow, leaving her able to mentally disable an entire police force and the men who made her a drug mule. Lucy recovers the drug and must hurry to meet Professor Norman, with whom she agrees to share everything she now knows, after he points out that the main point of life is to pass on knowledge. Jang and the mob also want the drug and a gunfight ensues with the French police.

This film is complete - beautiful cinematography, great story, a gripping score and tension that crawls into you and won't let go. Fans of the Fifth Element will recognize the increasingly frenetic pacing and staccato use of scene cuts, as well as the gorgeous, flowing camera work and the use of visual allegory from Besson's previous projects. Old film tricks used in new ways serve to build the tension from the first frame to "Lucy"'s final, shuddering climax. Elements of Leon The Professional and La Femme Nikita are present but feel more refined here, more sophisticated and deliver even more "oomph" to action fans.

However, beyond what we know of Besson's previous work lies the truth of why "Lucy" is such a fantastic film and a true, "must-see". If you love sci-fi - It's an excellent rendition of a classic theme. If you love Scar Jo, she's never been better and again demonstrates the range of a true talent. But, if you love films - be you a student, an enthusiast or "in the biz" - you must see "Lucy". It is on of those rarest of works that will remind you of why you started loving movies in the first place.

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I Origins

I Origins is a 2014 American science fiction film written, directed, and produced by Mike Cahill. The independent production premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. It is distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and opened in limited release on July 18, 2014.

A graduate student, Ian Gray (Michael Pitt), meets an interesting woman, Sofi (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), at a Halloween party, and he photographs her eyes. They start to have sex in a washroom, but she abruptly leaves without providing her contact information.

Gray is researching the evolution of human eyes with Karen (Brit Marling) and Kenny (Steven Yeun). Gray's goal is to prove that eyes have evolved in order to discredit creationists.

One day, Gray sees a number of elevens all at one time. He gets on bus number 11, but gets off when a seeing-eye dog starts barking at him. He sees a billboard a cosmetics ad featuring Sofi's unmistakable eyes, and uses it to track her down. Despite their different belief systems, Gray and Sofi's relationship develops and they eventually plan to marry. On their would-be wedding day, however, Karen calls Gray, informing him of a species of worm that is blind, but had the DNA required to develop an eye. This is the breakthrough they have been searching for.

Sofi is upset, and suggests that humans are like the blind worm. Just because they cannot see light, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just because humans can't see God doesn't mean that God doesn't exist. Gray argues with her and grows impatient with her views, telling her that she is a "child." Later that day, though a freak accident in an elevator, Sofi dies in his arms. Gray is distraught, and Karen takes over much of his research. One evening, she brings him a meal at his home. He breaks down, and she comforts him - leading to a more intimate situation.

The biggest flaw in I Origins is its predictability. Perhaps this is due to the trailer leaving very little of the plot development to the imagination. Yet, having said that, I still found myself moved even to tears by several scenes in this emotional roller-coaster of a film. I'm admittedly a junkie for supernatural themed films (Ghost is a favorite of mine) and this film's attack on a sort of mentality that holds that science must equal atheism in its strictest form won me over after some hesitation. I think the numerous bad reviews of this film by mainstream critics come from those who hold some version of this aforementioned mentality, and took offense at the premise of this film, but for anyone either truly open minded, or else already convinced that there is more to life than meets the eye (pun intended), this film is a true joy, albeit a joy born of great suffering.

A scientist who spends his life trying to disprove God and intelligent design (I'm all for science and learning, and am NOT religious at all, but what satisfaction anyone could achieve by trying to deny the existence of omnipresent Love and Knowledge is beyond me - but I digress) meets a woman who seems to exist within a deeper realm of direct being - i.e. she seems to live with a connection to Love and Knowledge that the scientist only strives for. They fall in love. Things happen and their relationship is no more. Life goes on and strange things happen. Many people took great umbrage with the remaining development of the film, considering the concept too wild or far fetched, when in actuality it is a natural concept that (at least in a symbolic sense) would be more surprising if it were not true than if it was. For feel good entertainment value I give this film ten stars. Is it actually a perfect film? No. No film is perfect. But those who will not love this film would not love it under any revisions because it is not a film for such people. If you love the idea of life eternal and ideas about the real, tangible existence of a soul, this is a film you should not miss.

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a 2014 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Captain America, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger and the ninth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, with a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It stars Chris Evans as Captain America, with Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Robert Redford, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Captain America, the Black Widow, and Sam Wilson join forces to uncover a conspiracy within S.H.I.E.L.D. while facing a mysterious assassin known as the Winter Soldier.

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who wrote Captain America: The First Avenger, stated before that film's release that they were working on a sequel, and in June 2012, Anthony and Joe Russo entered negotiations to direct. The following month, casting of the supporting roles began with the additions of Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Principal photography commenced in April 2013 in Los Angeles, California before moving to Washington, D.C. and Cleveland, Ohio.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier premiered in Los Angeles on March 13, 2014. It was released internationally on March 26, 2014 and in North America on April 4, 2014, in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D. The film became a critical and financial success, having grossed over $713 million worldwide. A sequel set to be directed by the Russo brothers is scheduled for release on May 6, 2016.

With the success of the recent marvel films, this one again is sure to do well at the box office. whats more pleasantly surprising is that this film is probably the best they've made so far, even rivalling the avengers. I'm sure that with these positive reviews this movie will make upwards of 600 million, beating Thor: the dark world, but i doubt that it will beat iron man 3. however with the success of this movie, i feel that many more people with be eagerly waiting for the third instalment so watch out Batman V superman!!

The acting as expected from Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson was excellent. Robert Redford was impeccable in his role and he was worth the effort that Marvel put in to get him on board. The rest of the cast all play their roles extremely well and Marvel have done the right thing by bringing the Falcon in the movie, which was played well by Anthony Mackie.

The movie is a great political thriller and i must admit, even without the bonus of superheroes, the script/story is a great movie. The superheroes is what we pay and want to see but the amazing flow of the movie itself should leave many satisfied. The superheroes and villains were all great and i hope we continue seeing the Falcon in the future along with Black Widow. This movie is the most closely linked with The Avengers and also Avengers Age of Ultron, from the rest of the phase 2 films. This is a great movie and one that i highly recommend watching.

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Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the tenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is directed by James Gunn, who wrote the screenplay with Nicole Perlman, and features an ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill forms an uneasy alliance with a group of extraterrestrial misfits who are on the run after stealing a coveted orb.

Screenwriter Nicole Perlman began working on the screenplay in 2009. Producer Kevin Feige first publicly mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy as a potential film in 2010, and Marvel Studios announced that the film was in active development at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2012. Gunn was hired to write and direct the film that September. In February 2013, Pratt was hired to play Peter Quill / Star-Lord, and the supporting cast was filled out over the next several months. Filming began in July 2013 at Shepperton Studios, England with filming continuing in London before wrapping up in October 2013. Post-production completed on July 7, 2014.

Guardians of the Galaxy premiered in Hollywood on July 21, 2014. It was released in theaters August 1, 2014 in the United States in 3D and IMAX 3D. A sequel has been announced and is scheduled to be released on July 28, 2017.

Just like everybody else out there I went to see this movie with no idea what so ever of this "Guardians of the Galaxy' characters nor story. In short, I wasn't expecting much from this movie. Boy, was I wrong! This movie quickly gets off on the right foot by introducing us to the main character's origins in one of Marvel's greatest introduction to date followed by the now iconic Marvel Logo intro. Pretty much every main character gets a backstory and reason why they are there. This is great filmmaking at its chore to begin with because this draws us immediately to root and care about the characters. Great action scenes, hilarious moments, endless funny one liners and outta of this world special effects make this movie the most complete Marvel movie I've seen so far. What makes it even greater to me is that at the end of this movie you recall all of the Main character's name and what the movie was from beginning to end. That in itself tells you how good it was.

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a 2014 American science fiction film directed by Matt Reeves and written by Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It stars Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. It is the sequel to the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which began 20th Century Fox's reboot of the original Planet of the Apes series.

It is the eighth theatrical film in the franchise. The film was released in the United States on July 11, 2014, and was met with critical acclaim, with critics praising its visual effects, story, direction, acting, and emotional depth.

As seen in a prologue, the ALZ-113 virus causes the collapse of human civilization following martial law, civil unrest and the economic collapse of every country in the world. Ten years later, Caesar leads and governs a new generation of apes in a community located in the Muir Woods. While walking through the forest, Caesar's son Blue Eyes and Rocket's son Ash encounter a human. The human, Carver, panics and shoots Ash, wounding him. Carver calls for the rest of his small party of armed survivors, led by a man named Malcolm, while Blue Eyes calls for the other apes. Caesar orders the humans to leave. The remaining humans in San Francisco, genetically immune to the virus, are living in a guarded tower within the ruined city. Prompted by Koba, a scarred bonobo who holds a grudge against humans for his mistreatment, Caesar brings a large group of the apes to the city where he conveys the message that while the apes do not want war, they will fight to defend their home. He then demands that the humans stay in their territory and states the apes will stay in theirs, too.

Humans generally have a superiority complex that makes them often consider all other forms of life as inadequate. Civilization has exemplified the mass exploitation and selfishness humans are capable of in the past, and present, on numerous occasions. The Planet of the Apes series delves on this complex. It displays the vulnerabilities of the human race and how nothing is to be underestimated.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will surely entertain. As the sequel to the last instalment, we follow Caesar in his new habitat following the human pandemic instigated by the Simian influenza. In a world where the human population is depleted and infrastructure collapsed, society is broken apart and in a fragile state. With stubborn and selfish humans, the fate of humanity does not rest in good hands.

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Godzilla 2014

Godzilla is a 2014 American science fiction monster film directed by Gareth Edwards. It is a reboot of the Godzilla film franchise and retells the origins of Godzilla in contemporary times as a "terrifying force of nature". The film is set in the present day, fifteen years after the unearthing of two chrysalises in a mine in the Philippines. From the pods come two giant radiation-eating creatures, known as "MUTOs", which cause great damage in Japan, Hawaii and the western United States. Their awakening also stirs a much larger, destructive, ancient alpha predator known as "Godzilla", whose existence has been kept secret by the U.S. government since 1954. It stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston. The screenplay is credited to Max Borenstein but includes contributions from David Callaham, David S. Goyer, Drew Pearce, and Frank Darabont.

The film is a co-production between Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures. It was distributed by Warner Bros. worldwide, except in Japan where it was distributed by Toho. It is the second Godzilla film to be fully filmed and produced by an American studio, the first being the 1998 film of the same name. The project initially began in 2004 and was originally intended to be an IMAX short film titled, Godzilla 3D: To The Max, to be directed by Yoshimitsu Banno, director of Godzilla vs. Hedorah. After several years in development, the production was transferred to Legendary for development as a feature film. Producers Kenji Okuhira, Brian Rogers and director Banno were retained by Legendary. Shortly before filming began, several producers were dismissed from the production and a court case is ongoing between themselves and Legendary. The movie was filmed in the United States and Canada in 2013.

The film was released worldwide in 2D, 3D and IMAX on May 15, 2014; in North America on May 16; with releases in China on June 13 and Japan on July 25, 2014. Critical reception for the film has been positive, with some praising the film for its slow pace and dramatic build-up, while others criticized the length of time before the titular character's appearance, as well as its on-screen duration; however, the direction, visual effects, music, characterization, and creature designs were positively received.

Critics have lost their way. They have rated this film average/below average because they dislike the tease of Godzilla in the movie and say an improvement would be having him centre stage every scene he's in. When you look back to some of the greatest, most tense horror/sci-fi films like Jaws or Alien, you will see that they don't always show the creature from the start, but little snippets, building tension throughout the movie. They call this a B-movie because they enter the screening with the mindset that its cheesy because they don't understand the meaning behind Gojira itself, making it sound like just another monster movie when it's not. The fans are speaking out, showing their appreciation for the movie and love for the view Gareth is giving Godzilla, but the critics do not. Never listen to them; their opinions don't stand for the millions that actually GET what the director was trying to establish here.

Also, if you're a monster movie type of person, go see this. If you're not, don't go see it. It is that simple. Don't go judging on how bad an actor is in a film when you can't even memorize a single line. Don't go writing a review that is completely biased just because you do not know the concept and origin of Godzilla. Half of these reviews are trolls anyway so it is best to ignore them (and including me if I sound ignorant). If you like monsters or Godzilla, go see it and make up your mind. If you don't, then spend your money on something else.

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Transformers 4 Age of Extinction

Transformers: Age of Extinction is a 2014 science fiction action film based on the Transformers franchise. It is the fourth installment of the live-action Transformers film series and stars Mark Wahlberg in the lead role. A sequel to Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the film takes place four years later, after the invasion of Chicago. Like its predecessors, the film is directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Ehren Kruger is the film's screenwriter, having written every Transformers film since Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The film features an entirely new cast of human characters and is the first in the series to feature the Dinobots. Returning Transformers include Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Leadfoot, Brains, and Megatron now known as Galvatron. The film was released on June 27, 2014, in IMAX and 3D.

Upon release, the film's reception was negative. Critics overall expressed dislike for the acting, directing, length, and writing. It received an average rating of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the lowest rated film of the franchise, although some praised the action scenes, visual effects, and Wahlberg's and Tucci's performance. The film was also a commercial success, grossing over $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue. It became the third movie in a franchise where more than one film grossed $1 billion worldwide. The other franchises being Pirates of the Caribbean and The Dark Knight Trilogy.

Review:

The movie isn't the best movie out there for sure. But it's the best of all Michael Bay-made Transformers films. I kept my expectations low due to Michael Bay factor, and what I've got was more than I expected, which made me pleased in the end.

This movie abandoned the "Bumblebee and his stupid friends" concept and focused entirely on Prime and survival of Autobots, which had been the main projection of the Franchise since G1. In this case, I can easily say this is the first TF movie that really felt "Transformers oriented". Even though there still existed the idea of "An unnecessary family and their dumbfuck relations", Mark Wahlberg made a hell of a good job to have that family factor "endurable" while waiting 2.5 hours just for dinobots to pop up.

Despite the questions popping out of nowhere, the plot is quite entertaining and at most times makes the watcher wonder what will happen next, unlike the first three installations. The visuals are absolutely amazing though.

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Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow is a 2014 American military science fiction film starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Doug Liman directed the film based on a screenplay adapted from the Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The film takes place in the near future, where an alien race has invaded the Earth and defeated the world's military units. It follows Major William Cage (Cruise), a military officer inexperienced in combat, who is deployed into a combat mission against the aliens. Though Cage is killed in minutes, he finds himself starting over in a time loop, repeating the same mission and being killed. Each time, Cage learns to better fight the aliens, and he teams up with Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt) to defeat them.

Rights to All You Need Is Kill were bought in late 2009, and a spec script was sold to the American studio Warner Bros. Pictures for production. The studio co-produced the film with the Australian production company Village Roadshow. Filming began in late 2012 and took place mainly at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden outside London. Trafalgar Square in London was also a filming location for some scenes.

The film was released in theaters in 28 territories, including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Germany, Spain, and Indonesia, on the weekend of May 30, 2014. On the weekend of June 6, 2014, it was released in 36 additional territories, including North America (United States and Canada), Australia, China, and Russia. The film received largely positive reviews from critics. As of August 3, 2014, the film has grossed $362.8 million worldwide. (c)Wiki

Review: 

Edge of Tomorrow (EOT for me) will be the most surprising blockbuster of this year (maybe along with X-Men: Days of Future Past) for doing its job so well that beats every expectation about what it has to offer. A storyline about one man that is shown to us doing the "same" things every time could be dull. But EOT has a thoughtful script full of turns and fun that entertains and allows to Cruise to do new things inside that particular Groundhog Day.

I wont spoil anything because the movie is full of valuable twists, surprisingly good chemistry between Cruise and Emily Blunt (Full Metal B**ch) and it has an involving script aside of the spectacular action sequences. The first one in the movie is totally amazing. But the rest is as that good. The movie clearly develops in the action and the riveting pace. It offers what a great blockbuster should be and it reaches that superb goal.

Also Tom Cruise gives his best performance in so many time. Maybe, I'm not joking, this is his best performance ever. For the first time he is not doing an smiling hero. He is a coward. He is a scared and inexperienced soldier who has to learn to be more skillful (and to escape from his personal loop) every time he returns to the "same" day. And Cruise is wonderful in that role. You really don't recognize him. Forget his frequent smiling, his heroic or possible macho topics. This could be a new and groundbreaking role inside his career even if you are not a big fan of him (I'm not going as far as saying that this is his best movie or the most enjoyable one of all, but this movie could be one of his best ones too). And when a movie has a star doing his job properly and much better than expected, a great script and a riveting pace (the movie is never boring) the whole concept has the job done. And that's the case of EOT. Also the stellar performances from Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson are truly good.

In fact I'm glad that this one came after "Oblivion". That one was good, but this one is different and much better. Don't expect "Oblivion 2" or its same style because you will be wrong.

Please, trust me and go to the theater to enjoy this wonderful, original and surprising entertainment. It delivers much more than you could expect, delivers the best Cruise (in so many time that I personally think that this is Cruise at his best) and delivers a clever story with a good twist. Enjoy! 

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