10 Things That Surprised Us At The Movies In 2014

It's that time of year again when every wannabe film critic writes a list describing their favorite movies of the year, often including titles that haven't even been released to the general public yet. Isn't that beyond annoying? Fortunately for you, I'm not here to rank my personal favorites. I'll leave that to the millions of other movie critics out there, including the ones on this very site. Instead, I'm here today to give you an overview of the most surprising things that happened at the movies this year. Surprise is subjective at the best of times, but then again, so are all those end of year lists that we enjoy reading in the build-up to New Year, so why let that stop us? Join us, then, as we count down the 10 things that surprised us most this year and let us know if you can think of anything else that should be added to our list. Predictions for 2015 are also welcome in the comments section below, and surprising comments will be appreciated for their irony. 10) Guardians Of The Galaxy Didn't Suck It's hard to imagine now, but before Guardians of the Galaxy became the runaway success story of the year, many predicted that Marvel's first cosmic property would finally end their phenomenal winning streak. Fortunately for the comic book studio, it turns out that even a talking tree and a gun-toting raccoon can pull in the crowds. Obviously, it also helps that Guardians of the Galaxy featured a kick-ass soundtrack, surprisingly funny gags and a charismatic, star-making role from Chris Pratt, but it's still exciting that this all came from an unproven property that even many comic book fans were't familiar with. With the unexpected global success of Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel have opened the floodgates now for other more unusual heroes to take their turn in the cinematic spotlight, including DC's Shazam, Justice League Dark and even Marvel's own Inhumans. It's only a matter of time before producers throw caution to the wind completely and greenlight a Howard the Duck trilogy, presumably splitting the final chapter into two separate films to capture the epic mythos behind everyone's favorite talking duck. 9) Edge Of Tomorrow Bombed At The US Box Office Edge of Tomorrow grossed less money on its opening day than Oblivion. Take a moment to let that sink in. Tom Cruise's incredible return to form this year was less successful domestically than his previous sci-fi epic, which had been derided by critics worldwide. While Edge of Tomorrow did manage to recoup some success on the global market, the film's failure to open big at the US box office prompted a number of critics to suggest that Cruise's career is now on a downward spiral. Do movie stars still have the charisma to draw in huge audiences for original movies, or has the balance of power now shifted permanently towards more recognizable properties such as The Hunger Games and the Marvel Cinematic Universe? If we look solely at Edge of Tomorrow, there are two key issues at play. First, audiences may have become tired of Cruise predictably releasing yet another sci-fi summer blockbuster, particularly as Oblivion had been so disappointing, but the more likely reason for Edge of Tomorrow's lacklustre response is down to its name. Despite saturating moviegoers with posters, trailers and TV spots, the title Edge of Tomorrow ultimately meant nothing to audiences and was unable to pull in the crowds. 8) Lucy Proved That Original Properties Could Still Sell In direct contrast to Edge of Tomorrow, Luc Besson's Lucy became the sleeper hit of July, remaining near the top of the box office for the majority of the summer. Not only did this success confirm Scarlett Johansson's star power, but Lucy also provided evidence that audiences are still willing to sometimes take chances on original properties. Hollywood may still be lacking a variety of intelligent central roles for women, but the popularity of movies like The Hunger Games and Lucy is making producers sit up and take notice. Mainstream cinema is finally ready for a new kind of action star, one a million miles removed from the burly macho men of the 1980's. Sorry, Arnie, go back to Governing, or whatever the hell it is you do. 7) Captain America: The Winter Soldier Completely Changed The Game Let's be honest for a moment. While Captain America certainly kicked ass in the Avengers movie, his first solo effort wasn't exactly the thrilling WWII epic that fans were hoping for. Fortunately, The First Avenger was still a hit worldwide, guaranteeing that the Star Spangled Avenger would get another solo shot at the big screen... and thank god he did. The Winter Soldier delivered on every level, re-imagining the corny old-school adventures of the first movie into a credible 70's style thriller that became Marvel's strongest solo outing to date. Fans may have expected The Winter Soldier to up the stakes, but few could have anticipated the incredible critical reception it received. As if that wasn't enough, Captain America's follow-up also unexpectedly altered the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe with the revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been run by Hydra this whole time. 6) X-Men: Days Of Future Past Undid The Mistakes Of X-Men: The Last Stand After X-Men: The Last Stand enraged comic enthusiasts with the deaths of fan favorites and a general decline in quality, First Class gave hope to audiences once more, giving the franchise a push in the right direction. Then, Days of Future Past went one better, successfully adapting one of the most iconic X-Men storylines while combining the two separate casts that had sprung from the original movies and the prequel. The fact that Fox were able to take the complicated aspects of time travel and somehow retain the franchise's accessibility is surprising enough, but what really shocked audiences this year was the revelation that the events of Days of Future Past had wiped out all of the previous continuity, erasing the mistakes of The Last Stand. While the implications of this won't be fully realized until Singer releases X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, one thing we do already know is that founding members Cyclops and Jean Grey have been resurrected and will feature once again in future movies. The potential of this and other new developments following the continuity rewrite is hugely exciting for fans and also represents an exciting new approach to keeping franchises fresh and relevant. 5) A Horror Movie Contained An Oscar Worthy Performance The Academy Awards are notoriously snobbish, usually rewarding films of a certain style and caliber while leaving genre movies out in the dust. Even the most celebrated critics acknowledge that some of the greatest films ever made originated in the horror or science fiction genres, yet our buddy Oscar rarely agrees. While some classics like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby have received some limited recognition from the Academy, other iconic horror movies such as The Shining and Halloween were never even considered, despite their now legendary status. Australian horror movie The Babadook came out of nowhere this year, gaining more and more buzz with every festival showing until it was eventually released to huge acclaim in cinemas. While the success of this small Australian feature was unexpected, the truly surprising thing about Jennifer Kent's debut is that it contains a star-making turn from its lead Essie Davis, one which is surely worthy of Oscar recognition. It's been a while since a horror movie has generated any Oscar buzz, but then it's also been a long time since a scary film has featured a performance of this caliber. Davis' transition from exhausted caregiver to monstrous mother is more than worthy of attention during the upcoming awards season. However, the real surprise will be whether Davis actually wins an Oscar. Stanley Kubrick was nominated by the Razzie Awards following his work on The Shining, so stranger things have certainly happened... 4) Channing Tatum Proved That He Can Act! Speaking of Oscar buzz, another surprise performance that's gaining some attention from the critics this year is Channing Tatum's role in Foxcatcher. While those who saw Tatum in earlier movies such as Step Up and Dear John may have their doubts, the musclebound performer has begun to prove his acting credentials in Bennet Miller's latest movie. As Olympic wrestling champion Mark Schultz, Tatum is receiving rave reviews from respected publications such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Let's not forget that Steve Carrell is also generating a huge amount of award buzz for his central role in Foxcatcher, joining the ranks of other comedians who became award bait following their plunge into more dramatic roles. Few would have predicted that the 40-Year-Old Virgin would one day have a chance at nabbing an Academy Award, but the real dark horse here is still Tatum. Will Magic Mike pull a McConaughey, or is this his only shot at Oscar gold? 3) The LEGO Movie Wasn't The Cynical Cash-In We All Expected! After toy-based properties like Battleship and G.I. Joe lowered all of our expectations, anticipation for a movie based on LEGO wasn't exactly hitting Batman V Superman levels of fanaticism before its release. Despite this, The LEGO Movie went on to defy all predictions, grossing an incredible $69.1 million debut at the box office and receiving a huge number of critical plaudits. Those who predicted that The LEGO Movie would be straight to DVD drivel powered purely by product placement were stunned to discover that Chris Miller and Phil Lord had actually crafted a smart and subversive film, one which appeals equally to children and adults. A witty Sylvanian Families movie must be right around the corner then... 2) Richard Linklater Actually Managed To Pull Off Boyhood You can imagine how nervous Richard Linklater must have been when he decided to pitch Boyhood to Hollywood producers. Linklater: "So, I'm thinking about filming a boy's development over a twelve year period, shooting with the cast for one week each year. To keep the film authentic, the cast will bring their own experiences to the script through ongoing workshops. Audiences will lap it up." Producers: "Errrrrrr..." Fortunately, financiers took a chance on Linklater's vision and filming for Boyhood began in 2002, wrapping up twelve years later in 2013. It was always likely that Boyhood would prove popular on the art house scene, but incredibly, Linklater's project has surpassed all expectations, proving to be a huge commercial success, too. With a budget of $4.42 million, Boyhood has grossed over $30 million worldwide so far and has been placed at the top of many critics end of year lists. What could have just been another interesting cinematic experiment has become one of Hollywood's most unlikely success stories. 1) The Interview Was Banned....Sort Of It's been impossible to ignore the Sony hacking scandal in the news recently, as more shocking revelations hit the web on a daily basis. However, the controversy reached its peak when alleged bombing threats from North Korea prompted Sony Pictures to halt the release of Seth Rogen's comedy, The Interview, from cinematic release. Turns out the communist state aren't huge fans of American movies that involve the murder of their beloved leader Kim Jong-un. After Sony announced they had "no further plans" for The Interview, including a halt to release on DVD and VOD, outrage spread worldwide, culminating in a statement from Barack Obama himself who called the cancelled release a mistake. In the following days, the studio finally reconsidered their stance, releasing The Interview Christmas Day on YouTube and a number of VOD platforms. The controversy may have prevented Rogen's satire from enjoying a widespread cinematic release, but the publicity that's been generated so far exceeds anything that The Interview could have attained otherwise. Tell us, what do you think of our choices? Can you add any more surprising moments to the list? Share your thoughts and predictions for 2015 in the comments section below!