The Uloop Summer Movie Awards

By Brian Frosti on September 1, 2014

Image via showtimeshsowdown.com

As summer comes to a close it’s time to look back at what the silver screen brought us this season. There were spectacular blockbusters, emotional indie films and winning sequels with plenty of disappointments thrown in along the way.

The mixed bag that was summer 2014 is really a holdover for the epic year 2015 promises to be, but that doesn’t mean this year was without merit. And what better way to analyze them all than with some awards?

The following Uloop Summer Movie Awards will recognize both the best and the worst of what this summer had to offer: half Oscars, half Razzies.

Before we begin, a few ground rules. Movies will be considered from the beginning of May to the end of August, and only those that had some impact on the summer movie landscape.

For instance, indie flicks like “Snowpiercer” and “Chef” are in the running as the former caused a big stir after its direct to streaming release and the latter had a wide enough release that most movie fans had the opportunity to see it.

On the other hand, movies that will not be considered are the likes of “Night Moves,” “Filth” and “Boyhood.” All three were excellent films, and “Boyhood” may go on to earn some buzz at the Oscars, but none of them were on the radar of the masses.

These awards weren’t easy to do, as some categories, like Best Picture, had many nominees clambering for recognition, while others, like Best Lead Actress, didn’t have many performances that would even qualify.

I did my best to represent the summer movie landscape as a whole with these awards, with four to six nominees in each category, so hopefully they’ll illuminate which movies this year were worth your time and which ones are best avoided.

 

Best Visual Effects

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

“Godzilla”

“Lucy”

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

“Lucy”

WINNER: “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”

The overall disappointing Spidey flick had the best Spidey visuals, showcasing what it’s like to be the super powered web slinger better than any movie before it.

 

Best Supporting Actress

Jillian Bell, “22 Jump Street”

Emily Blunt, “Edge of Tomorrow”

Joey King, “Wish I Was Here”

Jennifer Lawrence, “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

Meryl Streep, “The Giver”

Robin Wright, “A Most Wanted Man”

WINNER: Emily Blunt, “Edge of Tomorrow”

The biggest surprise of the summer was successful largely because of Blunt’s power-packed performance. She was equal parts funny and intense at exactly the right times, putting her performance a step ahead of the other nominees.

 

Best Supporting Actor

Dave Bautista, “Guardians of the Galaxy”

Michael Fassbender, “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

Ed Harris, “Snowpiercer”

John Leguizamo, “Chef”

WINNER: Michael Fassbender, “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

When your Magneto performance outdoes Ian McKellan’s you deserve some recognition. Fassbender portrayed the quasi antagonist with the perfect dose of misguided optimism and intensity to deliver the standout performance of the summer’s most star studded movie.

 

Best Directing

Joon-ho Bong, “Snowpiercer”

Anton Corbijn, “A Most Wanted Man”

Jon Favreau, “Chef”

Doug Liman, “Edge of Tomorrow”

Matt Reeves, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

WINNER: Joon-ho Bong, “Snowpiercer”

“Snowpiercer” takes the gritty dystopian future genre to new heights. Director Joon-ho Bong crafts one of the most unique directorial efforts in recent memory which includes a torch-lit fight sequence that is one of the best pieces of direction I’ve ever seen.

 

Best Lead Actress

Angelina Jolie, “Maleficient”

Keira Knightly, “Begin Again”

Helen Mirren, “The Hundred-Foot Journey”

Shailene Woodley, “The Fault in Our Stars”

WINNER: Angelina Jolie, “Maleficient”

In an admittedly weak category Jolie sets herself apart by inhabiting the twisted role as expertly as possible. The movie itself wasn’t particularly good and never found an audience, but the saving grace was Jolie’s performance.

 

Best Lead Actor

Chadwick Boseman, “Get on Up”

Chris Evans, “Snowpiercer”

Jon Favreau, “Chef”

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, “A Most Wanted Man”

Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy”

Andy Serkis, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

WINNER: Andy Serkis, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

About time he won something, right? Andy Serkis gives a masterful performance in “Dawn” as he breathes life in Caesar through motion capture.

It’s a shame he won’t be recognized when the Oscars come around as his performance was truly one of the best of the year.

 

Best Picture

“22 Jump Street”

“Chef”

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

“Edge of Tomorrow”

“Guardians of the Galaxy”

“Snowpiercer”

WINNER: “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

“Dawn” is the rare sequel that surpasses the original in every way. Director Matt Reeves manages to keep everyone on the edge of their seats as tension builds and boils over into the spectacular action you saw in the trailers.

Now we get to the fun part. The movies that bombed, flopped and disappointed. These last four awards will name the worst of the worst and, perhaps even more upsetting, the most disappointing.

 

Worst Actress

Drew Barrymore, “Blended”

Cameron Diaz, “Sex Tape”

Melissa McCarthy, “Tammy”

Nicola Peltz, “Transformers: Age of Extinction”

Charlize Theron, “A Million Ways to Die in the West”

WINNER: Melissa McCarthy, “Tammy”

Why do people keep giving her lead roles? Melissa McCarthy has one mode and that’s uncomfortable raunchiness, which is fine in a supporting role but never worth two hours of screen time. Hopefully Hollywood figures out we’re sick of her soon.

 

Worst Actor

Will Arnett, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

Eric Bana, “Deliver us From Evil”

Seth MacFarlane, “A Million Ways to Die in the West”

Adam Sandler, “Blended”

WINNER: Adam Sandler, “Blended”

In a category where many actors were dragged down by bad writing Sandler falls the farthest. What’s even worse is he doesn’t seem to care. It’s been quite some time since he’s made any effort on screen whatsoever.

 

Worst Movie

“A Million Ways to Die in the West”

“Blended”

“Tammy”

“Transformers: Age of Extinction”

“Step Up: All In”

“The November Man”

WINNER: “Transformers: Age of Extinction”

The public was cautiously optimistic for “T4” when Mark Wahlberg came aboard but the final product was the worst movie the franchise has ever put out. Hopefully Michael Bay takes this as his cue to pass on the reigns.

 

Most Disappointing

“A Million Ways to Die in the West”

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”

“Jersey Boys”

“Maleficient”

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

“Transformers: Age of Extinction”

WINNER: “A Million Ways to Die in the West”

Seth MacFarlane’s highly anticipated follow-up to “Ted” was viewed as one of the must-see comedies of the summer–then people actually saw it.

The talented writers and talented cast combined to create an overall unfunny and uninteresting western adventure that was undoubtedly the most disappointing summer movie.

What did you think of the awards? Did I recognize your favorites? Was I too harsh on some of them? Let me know in the comments.

Before I go there’s one last piece to add: the rankings for every movie this summer! All of them (with the same restrictions as before). Best to worst. Here we go.

  1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  2. Guardians of the Galaxy
  3. “Snowpiercer”
  4. “Chef”
  5. 22 Jump Street
  6. Edge of Tomorrow
  7. X-Men: Days of Future Past
  8. “How to Train Your Dragon 2”
  9. “Neighbors”
  10. “The Fault in Our Stars”
  11. “Godzilla”
  12. “Get on Up”
  13. “Begin Again”
  14. “A Most Wanted Man”
  15. “The Hundred-Foot Journey”
  16. “Wish I Was Here”
  17. “Lucy”
  18. “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”
  19. “Jersey Boys”
  20. “When the Game Stands Tall”
  21. “The Giver”
  22. “If I Stay”
  23. “Million Dollar Arm”
  24. “Maleficient”
  25. “Hercules”
  26. “Let’s Be Cops”
  27. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  28. “Earth to Echo”
  29. “The Purge: Anarchy”
  30. “As Above, So Below”
  31. “The Expendables 3”
  32. “Into the Storm”
  33. “And So It Goes”
  34. “Think Like a Man Too”
  35. “Deliver Us from Evil”
  36. “Sex Tape”
  37. A Million Ways to Die in the West
  38. “Step Up: All In”
  39. “Blended”
  40. “The November Man”
  41. “Tammy”
  42. Transformers: Age of Extinction

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