359 – Into the Woods (2014)

It’s hard to say how many stage musicals get adapted to the screen on average each year, but 2014 seems to have produced more than usual. The last year has produced both Jersey Boys and Annie – a pair of pretty terrible movies, regardless of how appreciated or beloved the source material may be. The stage-to-screen transition is a difficult one to pull off where musicals are concerned, but that would never stop a studio from trying. Disney is the latest company to attempt such an undertaking, choosing Rob Marshall (Chicago) to usher Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods to the screen. 

109 – Transcendence (2014)

Cerebral science fiction is all the rage these days. Movies like Her and Under the Skin have proven that sci-fi films don’t need huge budgets and set-pieces to be good (apparently having Scarlett Johannson on board doesn’t hurt either). Making a traditionally successful science fiction movie is another matter, however. Transcendence, the first directorial effort from frequent Christopher Nolan cinematographer Wally Pfister, tries to shoot the gap between these two mindsets, and ultimately disappoints on both fronts.