The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1 (2014)

I have admittedly the never been a huge fan of  the whole Hunger Games franchise. The first film plagued with its annoying shakycam was just about passable. the second film was a marginal improvement and was actually a solid movie but still didn't have me riveting with joy. And so with part 1 of  the final chapter of this rather average teen dystopian story comes another film that actually is quite solid. It is much more heavy on it's drama than the action itself and keeps a general downbeat tone throughout most it. Performances are solid and shakycam kept a bare minimum (thank goodness!) and generally the film is well executed and provides a good setup for the second half, which if pulled off correctly could be the best film of the series. I seem to be liking each film more than the last which is quite rare for a series especially one that I kind of disliked in the beginning.
But overall this works well as a decent set up for the finale and keeps a certain level of intrigue througout despite it not being super good.
***

Interstellar (2014)

Interstellar represents Chris Nolans most ambitious film to date and though it doesn'y quite hit the levels of greatness that it should, The film is still undoubtedly a great one. All the space stuff is handled fantastically and looks great. The narrative is takes a few unexpected turns and stays engrossing throughout it's 3 hours run time. The films main issues seem to lie in some of it's character and dialogue elements. There's nothing inherently wrong with these elements but they just don't hit the same level of greatness that rest of the film has. Haven't said that the film has a strong emotional core, strong themes and I can't help but admire Chris Nolan's ambitiousness.
Overall a great sci-fi film that probably should have been even greater. It's still one of my favourite films of this year though and is definitely worth the watch.