Top 15 Best Movies of 2014

Finally, I've seen all the movies released in 2014. This includes every movie released from January 1 to December 31. Holdovers from 2013 do not count, and movies from 2014 released in January 2015, like American Sniper will be found in my list. My list is based off acting, technical categories, enjoyability, and overall movie quality. This was incredibly hard for me, because there were so many movies this year that brought something original to the table, and pushed boundaries. Links to my reviews are in the title if available. Here, without further ado, is my countdown.

HONORABLE MENTION: Neighbors

This is my honorable mention for enjoyability alone. Neighbors is the battle between a couple and their baby, and the frat house next door. I saw Neighbors in 2014 four times. I just ended up in a situation where this movie was playing, and I never objected to it. Yes it's raunchy, but it's hilarious. Plus it also has some heart to it, and it has a great message about growing old.

#15. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

This movie has lost a lot of my love, simply because I haven't seen it since it opened in April. But when I saw it, I was blown away by how serious a Marvel movie could get. This transcends the average superhero film, to become an espionage thriller about patriotism and the growing spy system in America. If I'd seen it recently, it'd probably be a lot higher. It's just a little faded in my memory.

#14. Wild

Wild is such a compelling story. Reese Witherspoon is at the top of her game in this movie, that tells the story of a woman hiking 1,100 miles to escape tragedy and redeem herself. It's a lot of following around one character, which is tedious to some, but it's a powerful movie nonetheless about dealing with life's struggles. The acting ability alone is strong enough to carry the movie.

#13. St. Vincent

St. Vincent genuinely surprised me. I didn't have huge expectations for this movie, but it was fantastic. I laughed, I cried, I got overwhelmed, and I felt triumph. That's what a good movie makes you feel. It's a little "softer" than a lot of the other movies released this year, but a movie you can't afford to miss if you want to see Bill Murray at the best of his dramatic and comedic talent.

#12. Whiplash

If you've paid any attention to awards, you know Whiplash. Actor J.K. Simmons has received virtually every award for his portrayal of an abusive music teacher with no boundaries. It's a great performance in a great movie. But this isn't for the faint of heart. It's tense, graphic, and uncomfortable at most times. It's appropriately titled, because you'll feel like you have whiplash while watching it from all of the sensory overload.

#11. American Sniper

For the people who are astounded this isn't higher on my list, I have reasons. A lot of people are championing American Sniper when they haven't seen every movie of the year. But American Sniper is an amazing movie, with great acting, scope, and a very difficult message. I'm happy so many people are talking about it because it's a movie every high school student should see. The horrors of war need to be shown to everybody so they understand what the military really does.

#10. Guardians of the Galaxy

This narrowly beat American Sniper for #10. I'm going by my experience, in a theater that roared every time Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot were onscreen. This movie has an incredible story, unforgettable characters, and a kooky plot that qualifies as action, sci-fi, satire, and superhero. I've seen it at least three times and I'd see it again. It's hilarious, it's serious, and it was the surprise hit of the year. This movie has everything going for it to becoming an iconic classic for years to come.

#9. The LEGO Movie

I knew I'd enjoy this movie when I walked in the theater, because I was a huge LEGO fan. I still have my LEGOs, all intact. I honestly thought it would be product placement. But this movie goes far and beyond product placement. It captures what it's like to play with these toys. By using animation (AND live action in one heartwarming scene), it conveys the LEGO company's message. Anyone can play with LEGOs, and anyone can be creative. It's so emotional, and so well done.

#8. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Hands down, the best superhero movie of the year. Sure, the Guardians were funny, and Cap was finally serious, but the X-Men beat all of them. Days of Future Past explains a timeline, in which Wolverine must go back in time to save the mutants from extinction, after a mutant responsible for JFK's death, and a scorned Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) wreak havoc, and cause an anti-mutant movement. Set in the 60s, it perfectly parallels the civil rights and gay rights movements, but sets it to the X-Men's mutant timeline. It's painfully relevant, and the execution is incredible, right to the absolutely amazing ending, that perfectly ties up the past, present, and future timelines.

#7. Gone Girl

Gone Girl puts a modern marriage under a brutal microscope, by setting it to a scenario in which a woman disappears and her husband is suspected of her murder. Portraying lies, deception, and manipulation, Gone Girl gives an insight into two big lies of modern relationships. I'm unfaithful to you, and I'm not the person you've married. By now everyone knows which lie Ben Affleck's character is embodying, and which one his wife is, and while I won't discuss spoilers, it's pretty much common knowledge by now. We also get a powerhouse performance by Rosamund Pike, in a role that transforms her into the now iconic "ice queen" Amy Dunne. Boyfriends and husbands beware.

#6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This was the first movie of 2014 to have me going back for seconds. With all the movies I see, it's pretty much a new one every weekend. But I put aside my plans to go see this movie again. It's incredible. I thought Rise of the Planet of the Apes was an amazing movie, but the sequel capitalizes and improves upon it on so many levels. The stakes are higher, the characters are more fleshed out, and the story is much tighter. Caesar is such a tragic character, and his name can no longer be a coincidence. In a movie with crazy apes all over the place, it's surprisingly poignant, and carries a strong message about identity, by displaying what's supposed to be our primitive relative becoming more advanced than we are.

#5. The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel came out all the way back in March. Yet here we are, almost a year later, and it's predicted to sweep the Oscars' technical categories, and maybe even win Best Picture. It's a whimsical, beautiful movie with a lot of heart and soul. If you can only watch movies with a straightforward beginning, middle, and end with formulaic storytelling, you probably won't be able to stand this movie. Told through four timelines, and tending to lead towards the comedic and ridiculous side, it's for the real cinema-lovers. Every shot is framed perfectly. Ralph Fiennes gives a terrific performance as the hotel concierge accused of murder, and every character is just as colorful as the backdrop. It's a truly fantastic achievement in filmmaking.

#4. The Imitation Game

Alan Turing's story has been criminally unwritten from history books. The Imitation Game hoped to finally get his story to the public, and it delivered. Turing and his team of mathematicians broke Enigma, the code all Nazis used for WWII communications, by building a computer. The script is tightly woven, with elements of war movies, espionage thrillers, and transcends your average biopic. Turing struggled with his sexuality, and the government is responsible for his horrible fate because it was illegal at the time. It's all handled respectfully, and Benedict Cumberbatch gives a powerhouse performance of a character both strong-willed and incredibly fragile at the same time. Keira Knightley and the rest of the stellar cast adds to this movie's great story of a great man. Most of the technology we have, even the kind used to make any of these movies wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for this man's creation.

#3. Boyhood

My Top 3 were very hard to choose from. My review of this Boyhood is still my most viewed one, and the one that started my love for writing reviews. Boyhood tells the 12 year story of a kid growing up in a broken home, torn between the influences of his two very different divorced parents. It's actually filmed over twelve years, and I believe this technique, unheard of until now, will win it Best Director at the Oscars for Richard Linklater. Patricia Arquette stuns as the supportive but lost mother, and Ethan Hawke is also good as the carefree father. It's Ellar Coltrane's performance as the boy, Mason, that the whole movie relies on. Here is a 6 year old who can actually act better than some adults working today. Every part of this movie is just the kind of thing movie fans like myself fall in love with. Great story, great acting, with a unique method of storytelling to make it like no other movie before it, and like no other you'll ever see.

#2. Birdman (Or the Unexpected Value of Ignorance)

Barely beating Boyhood is Birdman. Michael Keaton plays a washed-up actor known for playing an iconic superhero, whose life has turned to dirt. He's desperately trying to revive his career by directing, writing, and starring in a Broadway play, but his volatile druggie daughter and a method actor in his play threaten his comeback. The cast is top-notch, with Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis, and Amy Ryan appearing alongside Keaton. The best feature of this movie which has cinema-fans drooling is its one-shot camera technique. The entire movie is filmed with one camera take that the actors rehearsed over and over for 19 days. With such a fabulously flawed cast of characters, great direction from Alejandro Iñárritu, a killer script with memorable lines, and this truly magnificent camera shot, Birdman is the movie for movie lovers. It glances into the true downfalls of celebrity more than Gone Girl, Whiplash, or any other movie criticizing fame, and it's unforgiving. PTSD plays a huge part here as well, and everything is just so beautiful. It's a movie tailor-made for movie fanatics like me, especially because I'm a huge fan of superhero movies too.

#1. Selma

I wish Selma got the attention it deserves. Holy cow, this film is incredible on every level. David Oyelowo gives an inspired performance worthy of Martin Luther King Jr, Ava DuVernay directs and writes with such impeccable skill, the sets and cinematography are great to look at, and John Legend and Common's song "Glory" really is a masterpiece of music. Whether the Academy's racist or not is for a different time, because I'm focusing right now on why Selma should be celebrated. The message of the film goes beyond the film's 1960s setting and is reminiscent of today's struggle with racism in places like Ferguson. When "Glory" plays during the film's credits, and you see the fates of everyone involved with the Voting Rights Act, you will get chills. It's a great story that schools do not teach. I was learning when I was watching Selma, and I was greatly disturbed by what I saw. The fact that innocent people protesting peacefully were treated so horribly, even violently attacked and killed is shocking to say the very least. Lastly, this is not a movie about Dr. King. It's a movie about Selma, and the Voting Rights Act. He was just the man there at the right time. It never focuses on him, and it transcends your average historical film. Much like 12 Years a Slave last year, this is the movie that will stop you right in your tracks and make you think about what the past was, what our present is, and what our future could be like if we don't stand up and make a difference.