FINALLY we’re here. Below are my ten favorite movies from 2014. I like them all for different reasons. Maybe one was just super entertaining and maybe I found one to be the most puzzling thing I’ve seen in some time and just couldn’t stop thinking about it. Who knows but you’ll soon find out (maybe). After taking a look at my awesome Top 10 list, comment below and tell me your favorite movies of 2014.
10. Chef
A feel good film that includes a nice story about food and a father-son relationship. Mr. Do it All for this movie, Jon Favreau, put on a great performance, and did a great job directing and with the script. Only bad thing about the movie is that it makes you really hungry with all the good looking food it shows so then you have to spend money on food that doesn’t look half as good. Stressful.
9. Neighbors
A movie with my boys Seth Rogen and Zac Efron is a clear win on paper…and it played out that way on the big screen. The movie was hilarious, and it wasn’t just because of the two headlining stars, but because the rest of the cast also showed up whether it was Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jerrod Carmichael or anyone else on the cast (sorry I just got tired of typing names). A movie that was meant to be funny was very funny, and really that’s all you can ask for.
8. Dear White People
A great movie and a great debut for director Justin Simien. It wasn’t the funniest movie of the year but did cause
plenty of laughs (especially the scene where the invitation to the big party at the end was read). I just loved how it wasn’t a movie about white people acting all racist to black people or black people acting all racist to white people. It was a movie that smoothly dealt with how race can play a role in the lives of different groups of young people while being entertaining at the same time but not being all preachy about it.
7. Enemy
This movie is fairly slow but it doesn’t feel that way because you’re wondering how Jake Gyllenhalls characters came to look exactly the same. ‘Enemy’ is full of mystery which draws me to it. The mystery even comes at the end with the weird, shocking, surprising ending. I was so thrown off by the end that I enjoyed trying to find a theory for its meaning since the meaning isn’t explained up front. The unknown is what makes me love this movie. Little details might be given throughout the movie so I’m going to have to watch it a few more times to figure that out.
6. Gone Girl
Man, this movie was intense (thanks to the haunting score, the plot and the great performances from the cast). I’m so glad I didn’t read anything about the book before seeing it because that would of ruined the ride the movie took me on. I was sick when I first went saw the movie but that cold went out the window for a majority of the movie because what I was watching had my undivided attention. I couldn’t wait to see what would ACTUALLY happen to Amy (played by Rosamund Pike, who put on one of the best performances of 2014), and what would happen to Nick because of what the world thought happened to Amy. And then the end came…it wasn’t as shocking as the ending for ‘Enemy’ but it sure did stir up a lot of conversations and debates. I love when an ending can do that. Oh yeah, this movie is another point for Good Ben Affleck.
5. Snowpiercer
The ending didn’t live up to the potential the rest of the film created but that doesn’t matter because the rest of the film was awesome ride and wasn’t what I expected. The travel to the front of the train came way sooner than I thought and thank goodness it did because it led to so much true excitement and ruthless killings. The sick part of me really enjoyed the latter.
4. The Raid 2
The scale of the movie truly got much bigger in this sequel compared to its predecessor. For the most part that was a good thing. The negative came in when the story was being built through dialogue and I kind of hate having to read subtitles for long periods of time. But the action pieces were great (some even better than the first one) and probably, collectively, the best fight scenes I’ve ever personally seen in a movie. The choreography was so interesting to watch and of course the violence was cool. So even with the various slow moments, the action really did a good job making up for it.
3. The Lego Movie
I usually love me some childish, vulgar humor but this movie is a prime example that a movie doesn’t need that type
of humor to be really funny. The humor is universal so all ages can truly enjoy it. Also, the little details that were implemented to show that the world was truly all LEGOs went all long way for me and made me appreciate the movie more.
2. The Guardians of the Galaxy
This movie is so awesome that it’s hard to not put it at 1 but I have to remember the feeling I had when I watched the number 1 movie on this list. What makes this movie is the humor brought by a majority of the cast (especially Rocket and Groot of course but Dave Batista as Drax brought lots of laughs which surprised me. His acting skills are clearly not the best but that worked with his characters personality so well) working in hand with the entertaining action set pieces that gives you a complete fun experience at the movies the whole way through. I’ve been a Chris Pratt fan thanks to Parks and Rec. but his work ethic to get in character for the movie and then his performance in front of the camera is something that should be commended. The Marvel Universe is taking every Chris it can find and making them a huge star (Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and now Pratt). I will try to be a little picky and say that I wish the villians had a little more hand to hand combat time. Seeing Ronan actually physically take on one of the Guardians at the end or seeing Nebula vs. Gamora‘s fight scene last a little bit longer would have been preferred but all that is put to the side when you’re given a movie that is a blast to watch like this one is.
AND DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!!
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Surprise surprise, a Marvel movie. But this isn’t just any Marvel movie, this is one of Marvel’s best movies. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, another one of Marvel’s best movies. was so close to taking this top spot though. It had the humor and gives viewers that good ol’ warm feeling inside but ‘Winter Soldier’ had the better action and more was at stake in this movie. The latter was a big plus because Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) hasn’t seen a big shake up until this movie and the effects will probably have a long lasting effect in what happens in plenty of their upcoming movies. Also, ‘Winter Soldier’ was entertaining from beginning to end and I love to be entertained. All that (and much more that won’t be listed here) is why ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ is my favorite movie of 2014.
Here are movies that I saw after I started posting my complete movie list and what number the would have been on the list:
5. American Sniper
40. Big Eyes
42. The Imitation Game
49. Foxcatcher
77. Selma
Once again feel free to comment below and tell me your favorite movies of last year or we can just discuss how great my list is. Whatever.
My 2014 Complete Movie List: #20 – #11
(Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox; VSB – http://verysmartbrothas.com/the-dear-white-people-roundtable/; Scott Mendelson – http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/02/23/weekend-box-office-lego-movie-tops-with-31m/)
I See Movies 