Every year is unique for movies and 2014 was no exception and in fact felt a little bit extra strange. The awards field felt a bit narrow with serious art pictures being in shorter supply than normal and a handful of great films against a sea of really good ones.  There were not as many huge films last year but there were a lot of smaller good ones and some mainstream event pictures delivered more than some of the serious dramas (there were a fair number of both that sucked pretty hard too). The list that follows is a list of my favorite films of the year, not necessarily the best. I saw far fewer films than year before last so there are some omissions here that owe to that but by and large these are the movies that I loved personally. Given that it is only 10 films it is not a comprehensive list of movies I liked so if something you love isn’t on here it shouldn’t be taken as a personal affront. It shouldn’t anyway but if you have been on the internet for more than 10 minutes you understand why it is a necessary caveat. So here is my list to add to the already sizable pile of top 10 lists. Share your thoughts in the comments below and let me know what your list is. Just try not to be a dick. Here we go:

10. 22 Jump Street

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are two guys who work in bad ideas the way other masters work in oils. A comedy remake of 21 Jump Street with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill sounded like a really terrible idea but it more than panned out with the funniest movie of that year. Going back to the well with a eye rolling title and putting the characters in college? That sounded pretty bad too but the writing/directing team of Lord and Miller made magic again with a movie that was not only what think is the funniest of the year but also built in the ridiculousness of the idea into the movie and makes fun of itself way more effectively than any detractors could manage.  Hilarious from start to finish and at least as good as the first one was.

 

9. X-Men Days  of Future Past

After the success of Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men First Class I was really bummed to hear that he was moving on but I got excited again when I heard Bryan Singer was coming back. Then I heard it was Days of Future Past and my head exploded. I never thought I would see the story adapted into movie form and to have some of the original cast return along side the new cast and hopefully clean up the continuity messes that Last stand and Wolverine Origins left sounded amazing. Sure, there were changes to the source material as there always are but it was looking pretty sweet. Then we saw Quicksilver and I thought we were fucked. As it turns out, Quicksilver’s scene in the movie was one of the best of the year and the movie over all reminded the world that the Avengers isn’t the only super hero team to which we need to pay attention.

 

8. The Lego Movie

Another seemingly bad idea that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had this year was to make an animated movie based on Legos. With no central mythology for a toy that allows you to build things with tiny foot piercing blocks, a Lego movie felt like a cheap cash in to rob parents of their hard earned dollars for a 90 minute toy commercial. It turns out that the Lego Movie was another Lord and Miller rope a dope that delivered amazing social and pop culture satire while telling an ultimately heart warming story. And it is really, really funny. The animation was amazing and the way it blended the world of Legos together into a large world of intertwining licensed properties reminds of the feat Who Framed Roger Rabbit pulled off 26 years ago. At this point, as far as Miller and Lord are concerned, the only bad idea would be to assume that whatever they do isn’t going to be great.

 

7. Nightcrawler

The first film of screenwriter turned director Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler is a beautifully shot film that will absolutely make your skin crawl. It is kind of like watching the most awkward episode of the Office ever if it included murder, gore and questionable sexual situations. Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic as Lou Bloom, a grafter who finds that he can make money filming late night footage of crime and accident scenes to sell to TV. Bloom might be one of the creepiest characters of the last 10 years and Gyllenhaal’s performance is the lynchpin that holds it all together. This is not a movie to everyone’s taste as it is enormously dark and uncomfortable but it is amazing. That Gyllenhaal was not nominated for a best actor Oscar is a travesty.

 

6.Grand Budapest Hotel

Probably the most Wes Anderson movie of all of Wes Anderson’s movies, the Grand Budapest Hotel just drips the director’s style and does so with a complicated story within a story (and sometimes more stories) structure that feels like you are watching an intricate and beautiful puzzle being assembled by someone who intrinsically knows where all the pieces go. If you are not a fan of Anderson’s style then you will not find much love here but if you are a fan you will be lavished with an embarrassment of riches. The performances are just right and the film hits all the right comedy beats. I can never decide which of Anderson’s films is my favorite but this one definitely ranks as it finds a writer/director on the top of his game undeterred by people who aren’t into it.

 

5. Captain America: the Winter Soldier

Captain America: the Winter Solider kind of came out of nowhere for me in the sense that it is easily one of the best Marvel films next to the Avengers. I expect a certain baseline quality from Marvel at this point but Anthony and Joe Russo pulled off something fantastic. The action scenes were on point and exciting, the story dripped with intrigue and the ton was just right with a surprising amount of comedy amidst an otherwise serious film. The Winter Soldier had it all and changed the landscape of Earth-bound Marvel movies completely. Add to that a lot of source material fan service and a change of status quo that didn’t feel forced or shoe horned and you have a clinic on how to make one of these movies. Also Robert Fucking Redford is in this thing.

 

4. Gone Girl

When I read Gone Girl I was struck by two things. One was near uncontrollable anger about the ending and two was just how hard this thing would be to adapt to film. On the first point, I didn’t hate it because the ending made me angry. It is not an ending meant to make the reader happy. It affected me profoundly and I was impressed by how emotionally moved I was by it even if that emotion was anger. On the second point, I was glad that author Gillian Flynn had taken on the duties of adapting it and felt a bit better. The fact that my favorite director, David Fincher, was doing it and hired Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike for it solidified my ticket purchase. I still wasn’t really prepared for how good it would be. Pike, in particular, was magnificent in this movie and Affleck used his real life experience with intense public scrutiny to inform his character to great effect. Tyler Perry also hit this out of the park while Fincher brought a sense of comedy to it that the source material lacked a bit. Taken all together, Gone Girl is a fantastic film but it is not a happy or uplifting one. I think it would be difficult to make it to the end without feeling something and in a world of disposable entertainment that is a great thing indeed.

 

3. The Skeleton Twins

Speaking of films that make you feel but not necessarily happy, the Skeleton Twins is about a pair of estranged twins who come together after one attempts suicide (the other hadn’t quite managed to attempt). The movie that follows examines family and relationships and what it takes to make a person feel ‘alright’ with themselves. The two leads Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig are both fantastic drawing on their chemistry from being on SNL together for so long. While there are moments of comedy here it is a drama and the two primarily comedic actors show serious dramatic chops which they use to great effect in a story that is simple yet peppered with small complexities that make it feel real. It lands on a hopeful note but the journey there is filled with big and little ups and downs and I was completely enthralled. This is a film that definitely deserves more attention.

 

2. Whiplash

My vote for best movie of the year and what should win best picture at the Oscars, Whiplash is tight and intense from beginning to end with fantastic performances from JK Simmons and Miles Teller and sure handed direction from writer/director Damien Chazelle.  It almost feels like a horror movie with tension stretched so thin it could snap at any time. A look at obsession from both sides of the student teacher relationship, Whiplash leaves the audience breathless and unsure of how they feel about what they have just seen. The structure suggests a standard movie of underdog achievement but leaves your head spinning at the end. It is relentless and vicious and if JK Simmons doesn’t win an Oscar for this performance then there is no justice in the world.

 

1. Guardians of the Galaxy

So, yes, I did just say that I thought Whiplash was the best of the year but this is a list of my favorite movies and Guardians of the Galaxy is that hands down. I saw this six times in the theater and even after several more viewings at home it still hasn’t lost its fun. I haven’t felt like this about a movie since I was a kid and I think that the perfect blend of comedy, action and sentimentality is absolutely amazing. I have never been to a movie that made me cry in the first five minutes only to make me laugh uproariously a minute later but that is how this movie is. It offers characters that you care about, special effects that look amazing, action that is consistently fun to watch, jokes that land hard and emotional weight that anchors it. Guardians of the Galaxy is a complete package and it proves that good writing, directing, special effects and performance can transcend the ridiculousness of a premise. And it made mainstream heroes of Rocket Raccoon and Groot and that makes me happier than I can express. Guardians of the Galaxy is the real deal and it is hands down my favorite of the year.

 

Alright there it is, those are my top 10 movies. A top 10 least favorite list and a top 10 favorites you might have missed will be forth coming, but these are my favorites.  As mentioned above, these are not all the movies that I liked this year so if a favorite of yours doesn’t appear it doesn’t mean I think it or you suck. Unless I do but I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Sound off below on your favorites and share your top 10 as well!