10 Movies You Won’t Believe Are Turning 10 in 2024
As we have turned our calendars over to a new year, we’re always thinking about what movies are celebrating some unbelievable anniversary. Here are ten movies released in 2014 that are now approaching 10 years old.
The experience of seeing these movies in the cinemas are still fresh in your mind right? Like it was only yesterday? Wrong, it was 10 years ago. Sorry. Commiserate the inexplicable passing of time, and reflect on these movies that have stood that test of time and remain memorable experiences today. Check out the video above for a unique presentation of these movies, or read on for some brief commentary on why we’re still thinking about them in the year 2024.
Interstellar
Christopher Nolan’s spectacular Interstellar follows a group of astronauts, headlined by Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, who travel through a wormhole near Saturn in search of a new home for humankind. Like most Nolan films (with the exception of perhaps The Dark Knight) this isn’t going to be everyone’s favourite film. It might take multiple views to even put all the pieces together, and reach a satisfying explanation (if one exists). But, this is a stunning film to experience – a true one-of-a-kind IMAX experience that only a few films (and filmmakers, honestly) a year provide. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot it on 35 mm movie film in the Panavision anamorphic format and IMAX 70 mm. Interstellar was nominated for five Oscars, winning a lone one for Best Visual Effects. Nolan, who has never won a Best Director Oscar, might see his fortunes change with Oppenheimer at this year’s ceremony.
Buy or rent in the Movie Store.
Boyhood
This extraordinary coming-of-age story depicts the childhood and adolescence of Mason Evans Jr. (Ellar Coltrane) from ages six to eighteen as he grows up in Texas with divorced parents (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke). Director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, School of Rock) developed the script throughout production, which began in 2002 and was finished in 2013, writing the next year’s portion of the film after rewatching the previous year’s footage. He also allowed the main actors to participate in the writing process by incorporating their life experiences into their characters’ stories, a collaboration he has also made with Hawke and Julie Delpy through the decade-spanning Before trilogy. Boyhood was nominated for six Oscars, with Arquette winning Best Supporting Actress. Intimate in narrative, but technically an epic achievement, this is a study of the human condition that should continue to be celebrated.
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Gone Girl
Gone Girl, self-adapted by Gillian Flynn from her best-selling (and divisive) novel, would become the highest grossing film of David Fincher‘s (Fight Club, The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) career. The story revolves around Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), who becomes the prime suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike). The midway twist should be widely known by now and one’s appreciation of this story might be dictated by how this is received. Gone Girl feels like the quintessential Fincher text; a dark and twisted mystery that allows a renowned perfectionist to finely tune the look and tone of every frame. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who have become frequent collaborators with Fincher, remains highly praised to the day. This was a Zeitgeist event-film in 2014; a renowned filmmaker bringing a hot-topic novel to the screen for the masses, becoming an influential work in its own right.
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The LEGO Movie
The LEGO Movie was the one that started it all. Obviously the animation is extremely impressive, featuring a level of incredible detail that we hadn’t seen before, but the clever writing and humour remains a potent combination. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) were the architects of this phenomenon. The story focuses on Emmet Brickowski (voice by Chris Pratt), an ordinary LEGO minifigure who helps a resistance movement stop a tyrannical businessman (Will Ferrell) from gluing everything in the LEGO world into his vision of perfection. LEGO has only grown in popularity since the release of this film, with elaborate new sets being released every year and appealing to all demographics – children and adults alike. There have been multiple movie spin-offs (with The LEGO Batman Movie arguably surpassing this one, just quietly) but this is the one that turned heads and made everyone scramble to the cinema to see.
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Edge of Tomorrow
Tom Cruise‘s Aliens-meets-Groundhog Day was a surprise hit in 2014 and Edge of Tomorrow has remained a satisfying re-watch candidate ever since. When Earth falls under attack from invincible aliens Maj. William Cage (Cruise), an officer who has never seen combat, is assigned to a suicide mission. Killed within moments, Cage finds himself thrown into a time loop, in which he relives the same brutal fight over and over again. The way that director Doug Liman and the screenwriters (including Christopher McQuarrie, who would take over the Mission: Impossible franchise) have used the time loop feature is very impressive. There’s humour – the loop is reset in often amusing and unusual ways – and there is a clever twist that adds genuine stakes in the film’s final act. This really has everything. Cruise is an inimitable leading man, but Emily Blunt has never been more badass. They make for an awesome partnership as Cage’s fighting skills improve with each encore and Blunt’s Sergeant Rita Vrataski becomes a willing ally.
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Snowpiercer
This polarising film possesses a rare ambition, courtesy of the vision of South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (Parasite, Memories of Murder). It also features one of Chris Evans‘ most impressive performances. The story takes place aboard the Snowpiercer train as it travels a globe-encircling track, carrying the last remnants of humanity following a failed climate engineering attempt. Evans leads the lower-class passengers (which also include Jamie Bell and Octavia Spencer) at the rear of the train in a revolt against the elite who occupy the front. This violent, action-packed study of class structure and the natural order of humanity is so batty you can’t help but get swept up in it, while the video-game-level structure offers up jaw-dropping new surprises behind every door.
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Fury
David Ayer, perhaps better known for the much-maligned Suicide Squad or more recently the Jason Statham-led The Beekeeper, helmed one of the decade’s most impactful war movies in Fury. Brad Pitt, Shia LeBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña and Jon Bernthal star as members of an American tank crew fighting in Nazi Germany during the final weeks of the European theatre of World War II. There might be a hint of inspiration from films like Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986), detailing the tight camaraderie of the crew, and between the epically-staged blood-soaked battle sequences there is a powerful story of male bonding. Ayer acknowledges the depravity of man when facing the horrors of war, but uses that to progress and round out the characters so that we genuinely care for them. Special mention for Steven Price’s amazing musical score, which elevates these visceral sequences into the real of the unforgettable.
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Inherent Vice
Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will be Blood, Phantom Thread) reunites with the incomparable Joaquin Phoenix (The Master, Joker), this time tackling the material of reclusive novelist Thomas Pynchon. This strange, richly textured and often confounding film follows Larry “Doc” Sportello (Phoenix), a well-intentioned but bumbling stoner and private investigator who finds himself embroiled in multiple cases that lead him to traverse the criminal underworld of 1970s Los Angeles. There’s just so much to luxuriate in when watching Inherent Vice and it sits amongst Anderson’s best.
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They Came Together
From the creative minds of David Wain and Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer) this hilarious parody of romantic comedies contains some of the most meme-able comic moments ever created. You can say that again. Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler headline the cast as Joel and Molly, whose relationship is conveyed throughout the film, but the supporting cast of fellow comic geniuses includes Bill Hader, Ellie Kemper, Melanie Lynskey and Christopher Meloni. Throwing this one on is never ever a bad choice.
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The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Grand Budapest Hotel remains the peak of Wes Anderson’s craft. There is just so much fun to be found in the end-to-end frivolity. The stunning shot composition, memorable music, and deep ensemble cast are now to be expected in a Wes Anderson film, but what is repeatedly surprising is his ability to find humour in the most sad and mundane events. With Grand Budapest Anderson broke into the mainstream. Not only did it pick up four Oscar wins (including for Score and Production Design) from nine nominations, but even the most animated critics of Anderson’s style would declare begrudging appreciation for what still feels like the perfect distillation of his most inventive formative tendencies and strongest storytelling abilities.
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