Anyone can tell you which movie made the most money this year (Guardians of the Galaxy), or which wide release had the highest Rotten Tomatoes score (Boyhood), or whether Sinbad was in anything (no). But who cares about that? We’ve compiled the details that truly matter. Learn these and be everyone’s favorite minutiae-oriented blowhard at your next party!
Longest movie: Nymphomaniac: Director’s Cut, 325 minutes
Shortest movie: (tie) Bears, Meet the Mormons, 78 minutes
Longest title: Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
Shortest title: (tie) Ida, Joe
Movies in which a dog is killed: Calvary, Cheap Thrills, Joe, The Babadook, John Wick
Movies in which a cat is killed: Deliver Us from Evil, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Movies in which a horse is killed: Wild, Fury, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Pompeii, The Homesman
Movies in which a gazelle is killed: The Good Lie, Lucy
Movies in which Michael Shannon is killed: Young Ones, They Came Together
Movies in which a hero stops a villain by throwing a knife through the villain’s hand, impaling it to the wall: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Divergent
Movies in which some characters randomly have Scottish accents and others don’t: Maleficent, How to Train Your Dragon 2
Animated sequels in which central characters are reunited with long-lost parents: Rio 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2
R-rated comedies in which outsiders sneak into a frat house, and in which Dave Franco and Seth Rogen appear: Neighbors, 22 Jump Street
Movies named after popular songs that frustratingly don’t feature those songs: In Your Eyes, Night Moves, And So It Goes, The One I Love, Gimme Shelter
Movies that use the song Obvious Child by Paul Simon: Obvious Child (duh), Wish I Was Here
Movies that use the song Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto: The Double, Inherent Vice
Movies that use the song Vitamin C by Can: Inherent Vice, Life After Beth
Movies centered on characters that had already appeared in at least four previous movies: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Godzilla, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Hercules, The Legend of Hercules, Muppets Most Wanted, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, I, Frankenstein, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Son of God
Movies in which characters discover their own twins or doppelgangers: Enemy, Muppets Most Wanted, The Double, The One I Love, The Identical
R-rated sex comedies starring Freaks & Geeks cast members in which a sex toy is brandished as a weapon: Neighbors, Sex Tape
Movies in which mirrors are smashed: Oculus, Foxcatcher, Nightcrawler
Movies with wormholes via which a long-lost daughter is saved: Big Hero 6, Interstellar
Movies where we’re told at the beginning that we don’t know the real story behind a famous character, and it turns out it’s because the movie completely changed it: Hercules, Maleficent, Dracula Untold
Movies where a man goes home with a woman he meets on the street, dances seductively for her, and is then preyed upon by her: Under the Skin, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Movies in which a resistance movement hacks the oppressive government’s broadcast signal and sends a message to the whole country: The Lego Movie, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1
Fictional movies that include footage from real documentaries: Interstellar, Lucy
Movies that have a Cinderella character who leaves a shoe behind: Into the Woods, Top Five
Please welcome our newest sorority sisters: Annie, Belle, Annabelle, Ida, Lucy, Selma, Tammy
And the new fraternity brothers: Frank, Noah, Joe
Remakes of ’80s movies: Annie, RoboCop, About Last Night, Endless Love
Movies in which the protagonist ultimately becomes a computer intelligence: Transcendence, Lucy
Movies in which Cameron Diaz worries about her sex life being exposed: The Other Woman, Sex Tape
Movies in which the lead is framed for his significant other’s murder: Gone Girl, Horns
Movies in which a heavily made-up Tilda Swinton appears: Snowpiercer, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Zero Theorem
Music-oriented movies featuring James Corden: Begin Again, One Chance, Into the Woods
Movies that open with the protagonist discovering their spouse cheating on them: Tammy, This is Where I Leave You
Depictions of bleak futures starring Kodi Smit-McPhee: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Congress, Young Ones
Movies in which Willem Dafoe plays a German: The Grand Budapest Hotel, A Most Wanted Man
Movies in which Brenton Thwaites has his expectations of reality upended: Oculus, The Signal, The Giver
Movies with important sequences set in Austin, and in which Twitter is a vital plot point: Chef, Frank
Movies in which Jack O’Connell is held prisoner: Starred Up, Unbroken
Movies involving reclusive authors: The Fault in Our Stars, Listen Up Philip
Movies in which critics are portrayed in a less-than-flattering light: Birdman, Big Eyes, Top Five, Mr. Turner, Chef, Life Itself
(Additional reporting by the indispensable William Goss.)
5 thoughts on “2014 Movies: The Miscellaneous Data”
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great list! love the categories and Snider’s humor!
Glad to hear it. Thanks for reading!
Totally loved reading it. Infact, have bookmarked it. Kudos for the effort put.
Forgot one: Movies where Christoph Waltz makes nice with a creator, only to steal their innovation out from under them: Horrible Bosses 2 and Big Eyes.