The Brometheus List is a top 15 list of flicks that are coming out in the current year. This year is the second year of its running, but highly upgraded from its original prestige format of Text Message in 2013 to the hallowed halls of the ComicBookMovie editorial section for 2014.
The list is created for my bros Captain Handsome and Garth Sidious – who have yet to discover the majesty of ComicBookMovie, and here’s to hoping they will – and covers the best of the best comic/scifi/fantasy/all-round rad movies in a money-down-gambling-bet kind of way as to which films will rule the hardest. As fans of the awesome we all know there’s categorically a best and a worst – and that’s why we’re here, to fight and discuss, and drink and argue and overindulge our brains in things to geekish levels. If you like doing this then this list is for you and that makes you my Brometheus. Well… as long as you are also not a tool.
Now I know this Brometheus List is a little late in the coming, and my only excuse is screw schedules, that’s why. And anyway have we really missed any good flicks yet…?
So without further adieu here’s my list for 2014. Wait… Oh yeah – MARVEL SUXX AZZ, DC RULEZ!!! My biases out of the way here’s the list:
The Top Five
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
Chris Pratt. James Gunn. Sci-fi is my bag, and those are a couple my favourite dudes. This movie’s eclectic cast, weird imagery, and the colour man, the colour!!! It’s reminiscent of that 60s/70s colourful and weird scifi style to me. Even if this flick is deemed shit by the masses (and who gives a damn what their uneducated minds think) - I think it would only add to the films appeal. I reckon, if it's lucky, this may just turn out to be as good as Ice Pirates... We’ve had the lead in from the after credit’s scene in Marvel’s last movie Thor, and as out there as it looked I reckon this could be James Gunn’s coming of age as a filmmaker. The Guardians of the Galaxy man, The Guardians of the Galaxy.
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
It's too close to release date for me to even start dissecting by now. This movie will be the pinnacle of all marvel has worked for and achieved up until now. The game is going to change after this – Marvel, like all good corporations know they have to innovate in order to thrive. Ant-Man, Guardians, moffa-tarkin Age of Ultron! Shit’s gonna happen in the MCU from here on out that you’ve never seen before. So this is the last of the classic Marvels, and what better to end it on than the first classic marvel superhero? Captain America... Mmm mmmmm. And PS that last Captain America movie was siiiiiiick.
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The original Apes is one of my all time favourites. Even the second one with the weird mutant human bomb worshipping is a guilty pleasure, and the third with the time traveling monkeys and the rad soundtrack still kinda rocks. But the franchise gradually just got worse culminating in the god awful Tim burton version (I think I hate that dude...). But I was awesomely surprised with Rise coming out in 2011. I don't reckon they're gonna drop the ball with this sequel and I reckon the Andy Sirkus Oscar hoo-har will rightfully start riling people up again...
4. Godzilla
Heisenberg’s in this, that’s almost enough to sell the flick itself. Round him out with Olsen who’s not only hot but also a top shelf actor and add Kick-Ass who has some acting chops we're yet to see – and you’re gonna have a pretty strong film. But honestly, that 90s Godzilla basically made me lose any interest in Godzilla as a franchise. In fact it's really beyond my feeble mind powers to even think of a plot that would make an awesome Godzilla movie, which makes my enthusiasm for this film even more impressive. Has anyone seen Monsters? It’s the director Gareth Edward’s debut film and an absolute masterpiece in my mind. (Maybe it's cause the lead Scoot McNairy reminded me of Matty Goldentone from Day I Die, like a lot…) It’s just the type of good film indies should be making. For him to step into Godzilla is a predictable pigeonhole, but something smells suspiciously awesome here. At the very least this will succeed where Pacific Rim, for me, failed.
Special mention: you're awesome Aaron Paul, but Need for Speed didn't make the Bromethean cut.
5. The Raid 2: Berandal
If you’ve seen the first Raid movie, this is needs no explanation for being in the top 5. If you haven’t seen it GO RENT IT OUT from your local VHS store and WATCH IT. This Welsh/Indo action flick could go down as not only one of the greats of 2014, but one of the greats of all time.
I read the hobbit when I was really young, absolutely loved it and have done so ever since. It probably helped make me the geek I am. I get so conflicted about these movies and the liberties they take, but each time I walk out of the movie in IMAX I am so grateful Peter Jackson has dedicated such a huge chunk of his life to making these flicks. The last two were all kinds of professional cinematic making awesomeness (in the true sense
and the colloquial sense of the word) and this last installment won't let us down. Plus it’s gonna have Billy Connelly as a dressed as a dwarf riding a battle pig. Good work Jackson, have a Monteith's Gold on me.
7. Noah
I thought this one would be higher on my list. I’ve loved Aronofsky since PI. He's been threatening to do a high-styled CBM for quite a while now, and I think this is his one, and where he should really shine. His ability to mix high concept stuff and his solid grasp of dramatic tension, coupled with his ability to make great actors step up their own game – he should be right in his forte here. And plus Jennifer Connelly’s in it. But why is there a nagging feeling in my mind that this film might not live up to my hopes and expectations..? There's no red flags here are there?
Special mention: Exodus, another historical, biblical, epic – Ridley Scott is due man, but I’m not sure it’s gonna surpass these 15 flicks...
8. Transcendence
This film’s here a little bit out of hope and a partially out of expectation. Like I said earlier science fiction is my bag, and this film has quite a lot of ingredients to make it what should be a really strong movie. It’s the debut film of long time Nolan cinematographer Wally pFister, who’s eye and style is great, and I’m hoping he’s learnt the good from Nolan and left all the bad behind with him. J-Depp’s on board, who’s going to prove he can act again, and his back up cast is really strong. The imagery and tone so far look very promising for this AI based scifi… An interesting side note is that the writer of the film is apparently tackling the
Prometheus sequel – if true, I will be sitting in great judgment and speculation.
Special mentions: the awesome scifi that didn't make the list but I wish coulda, and will no doubt end up being far more rad than this movie -
Ex Machina,
Under The Skin.
9. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
This movie’s been threatening to come out since the first one was released. Unnecessary sequel? No way dude! The first one was one of the best comic adaptions ever, and there’s plenty more stories to tell in the town of Sin City. I didn’t actually realize Eva Green was cast as the dame to kill for until I saw the trailer, but that is
awesome news as she could really fit the bill – lets hope she and the rest of the cast do a bang up job. This movie won’t be able to top the first one, but if it can sit right beside it on the shelf I’ll be very happy and hope to see even more volumes to added over the years.
10. Snowpiercer
What is going on with this movie? It keeps popping up here and there but never seems to be released. There doesn't seem to be any word on it here in Australia. Maybe I've already missed it… From the outside the film seems like a great high concept idea used to illustrate a classic theme of class struggle. If you aren’t aware, it's about a train set in perpetual motion speeding around the earth while the outside world is a frozen wasteland of death and decay. It's Korean with an international cast including Cap America himself Chris Evans, and the original chest-bursting fatality John Hurt. All the pics I’ve seen look good, and I'm looking forward to this as an intriguing bit of cinema. Now where the hell is it..?
The Top Fifteen
11. Interstellar
Ah Nolan. The guy’s got some good flicks (Batman Begins, Memento) and I may be in the minority but I'm not a big fan. His flicks seem like a lot of pseudo intellectual wank heaped with piles of exposition, and dark adult themes converted to PG rated movies. As I said earlier, my favourite part of his movies is the cinematography - hence why pFister's film gets the higher rating. Man, I watched the special features on The Dark Knight Rises just the other day (I stole the blu-ray from Captain Handsome without him knowing) and man what a bore. I mean even when Nolan talks he sounds like he's bored with himself and the movie. You're talking about batman dude, get into it! But this is pretty much his last chance for me before I stop caring at all about his movies. Scifi weirdness involving corn and wormholes - could work. And if a pseudo-intellectual high exposition style doesn't gel with scifi then it doesn't gel with anything.
Special mentions: From a director who’s movies are actually intellectual and are actually dark - David Fincher’s
Gone Girl with Ben Affleck. Fincher is a legend, and this movie would make my list but like
Locke with Tom Hardy, it’s not quite this target audience.
12. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
I thought the first movie kinda sucked. Kinda
a lot. I remember inwardly groaning at a lot of the movie, and now don't even remember why. Which also makes it kind forgettable too. What wasn't forgettable was how damn awful the score was - which looks to be one of the first things they've started fixing on this sequel. Hans Zimmer seems to have recruited Pharrell, Johnny Marr, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and *coughcough* some dude from Incubus. Sweet! Way to up your game! Then look at how rad the new (old?) spidey suit looks – it’s undeniably
right. In fact there’s not a lot I have seen that doesn't look surprisingly awesome for this sequel. I genuinely like Garfield in the role, and this film looks as though they're setting it right in the thick of an actual comic book: surrounded by villains and kicking some ass! If only those pics of nerdy Jamie Foxx pre-electro didn't set my inward-groan sense tingling all over again...
13. The Rover
Scifi, low-budget, Australian outback – always a good mix. This is David Michods follow up flick from the freaking awesome Animal Kingdom. I used to read the dude’s articles in IF mag years ago, he's rad and his film aesthetic is rad. This flicks a not-too-distant-future scifi crime drama starring Guy Pearce, who is gonna rock this movie's… Wait a minute - Scoot McNairy is in this too?!? Bonus. This guys great - the dude from Monsters that I mentioned earlier and also recently seen in the All Hail The King marvel one-shot. But anyway, I got a real good feeling about this one. Scifi, low-budget, Australian outback...
Always a good mix.
14. 300: Rise of an Empire
I think this is the only one on the Brometheus List that has already come out. This 300 sequel was actually on my 2013 Brometheus List – Not sure if they pushed it back or I just stuffed up… I’ve steered clear of the reviews so far, but why would you doubt this? Necessary? No. Visually awesome? Surely. Eva green looking all hot and kicking ass, Sullivan Stapleton – a long lost son of Steve Bisley and another Aussie boy made good, lots of sweaty man-abs running around… And boats man, boats! Just get off your high horse and go see it.
15. X-Men: Days of Future Past
I've never even read an x-men comic. But there's got to be more to them than this bland series of ComicBookMovies. I see the fervor with which people hold them so dear, so know there has to be more to them. But I'm judging it on movies alone. First class seemed to be a movie of one step forward in the right direction and two steps back, and The Wolverine brought a bit of good will back to the franchise for me (and I love Hugh! Go Aussie! Dudes got dedication. You'll get your Danzig style wolverine in the reboot. Maybe.), but this movie seems to be doing all it can to undo that. I absolutely loved he first X-Men, but the game has changed and nothing that comes out as promo for this makes the film look at all interesting. Bland costumes. 25 magazine covers of shit. It’s like Bryan Singer’s so in love with what he’s doing he just can’t see it from the outside. Actually, just talk to Nomis about it, he can say it all. But we all know we're gonna end up watching this film, and therefore it ends up last and least on The Brometheus List.
Special Mentions: the other reboots that didn't make the list but I know I’m gonna check out
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
Hercules the Rock (not Hercules the Lame),
Robocop.
The Dark Horse
A Walk Among The Tombstones - This is an adaption of a well regarded nourish detective book. It's gonna be R and it's gonna be Liam Neeson. Methinks that means it's gonna be rad. Keep an eye on it.
The Bombers
Dracula Untold - come on Luke?
Really? Put your hat in the ring for Doctor Strange at the least!
Jupiter Ascending - I just know my girlfriends gonna convince me to see this. Freaking Channing Tatum as a furrie with ears and a tail. I thought Cloud Atlas
may have been awesome, but I'm thinking this is the movie that will prove that no, it really wasn’t.
Pompeii - is this out yet? Don't care and no one else will either.
So there you go, long list, long read but what better have you got to do with your time? Don’t agree with it? Tell me about it below. Stand by your predictions and prepare to get flack come year’s end. Or don't. Actually do what you want, but keep watching rad flicks ☺
Later Brometheusesses!