2014 Top Ten

Having seen 100 movies last year, and with awards season in full swing, I threw together my Top 10 list for 2014.  A few notes on the list: 1) these were movies I had seen, so The Babadook, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and several other popular movies with very narrow releases were not considered; 2) some of the movies that had limited releases in 2014 and have since had wider releases after the New Year were not considered, like Still Alice, American Sniper, Selma, and several others.  A full list of films I had seen in 2014 is available by idly flipping through my Facebook feed, but no one really wants to do that.

10. The Lego Movie - Pure fun, from front to back.

9. Imitation Game - The best of the late year bio-pics.

8. Birdman - Not without it's flaws, but incredibly interesting and well produced.

7. Big Hero 6 - This is what all kids movies should be like.

6. The Drop - A menacing thriller with a slow burning plot.

5. Guardians of the Galaxy - Who would have thought a movie with a talking tree and racoon would be so good?

4. Snow Piercer - I always have time for absurdist films, particularly with Alison Pill

3. Locke - Proof I would watch Tom Hardy read the newspaper.

2. The Grand Budapest Hotel - The most Wes Anderson-y action movie ever. 

1. Whiplash - Great music, great performances, and incredible writing. My favorite of the year.

Some honorable mentions:

1. Foxcatcher for the most surprising casting choices and performances.

2. A Most Wanted Man for making me miss Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

3. Theory of Everything for Eddy Redmayne's performance of a man suffering with ALS (personal attachment there).

4. Godzilla for being the most-fun monster movie in forever.

5. Stalingrad for being the worst movie of this year or any year, past or future.

If you agree or would like to tell me how wrong I am, feel free to comment.  I love to tell people how wrong their opinions are.