Choosing the best films for 2014 got a little difficult this year because I liked several in each of the categories of Action/Adventure/Sci-fi, Drama, Animation and Comedy. While I did not choose a Documentary in my top 10, the most revered this past year is Life Itself, the story of film critic Roger Ebert. The foreign film category had a couple of stand outs like Ida and Two Days, One Night, but unless you attend film festivals or have a local art house that shows foreign films, you possibly would not have seen many this past year.
Most of you know my favorite genre is AASF (action adventure science fiction) and those I found a must see include Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Fury, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, Interstellar and others. So you can see that one category could easily fill my top ten for this past year.
After much consideration I found that if a fan wants to watch an action film it should definitely be on the big screen at your local theater.Films in this genre are a phenomenon with all the computer graphics, special effects and green screen technology. So we can safely say here that to choose the best movie it has to be a matter of acting and storyline that separates the good from the very best. This year has a couple of stand-outs that featured excellent acting skills and a creative script. There’s no argument that Guardians of the Galaxy has a smart cast that gel together for a remarkable film and that’s my choice for number one in this category. Composed nicely with a lot of surprises, the movie entertains from opening scene to its explosive ending. Coming in second is The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies serving up a huge amount of action and ending the trilogy with a fine wrap.
The next category of Drama had at least ten choices I would have made for entertaining films over the past year. My choice for best film in this category is Foxcatcher with its extremely good acting from a cast that delivers from beginning to shocking finale. It by far outshines the competition for its compelling story, very good direction and incredible performances by Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Tatum Canning. A close second goes to the loud and engrossing Whiplash that turns a simple story into a battle to reach one’s highest potential. The acting here by Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons is outstanding in rolls that are extremely challenging and deliriously exhausting. A third choice of Nightcrawler adds to this category because of its strong and wicked performance by Jake Gyllenhaal coupled with a devious demanding character played by Rene Russo. The story turns very dark and gripping as Gyllenhaal turns up the evilness in his character. Gone Girl completes my selections in the drama genre. The crime script builds a missing wife story around a despondent husband with accusations flying around the whole town. Excellent performances by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike steer the audience into unpredictable twists that make the story suspenseful and gripping.
As far a Comedy goes, it’s been a light year for a good belly laugh and choosing one for a top ten list is very hard. The number one choice is the zany Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. With a huge cast that brings very comical dialogue, hilarious adventure and performances that depict eccentric enjoyable characters, the movie’s creative escapade equals It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Only St. Vincent comes close to my first choice that includes a fine performance by Bill Murray with the assistance of the marvelous Melissa McCarthy. The two put on a comical show with a heartwarming magical twist that’s pure gold.
The Animated film taking one of the spots in my top ten is a creative fun loving adventure about a boy who gets raised by trolls and finds happiness with a princess. The Box Trolls takes number one in this genre for the soft play artistic animation, a fun story that has some unique twits and plays to all age levels. Coming in a close second comes Big Hero 6 a very creative film that begins with an unexpected event and turns into an adventure story complete with super heroes and an unpredictable ending. Another animated family feature that plays to all ages.
The following is my top ten films for 2014.
1. Foxcatcher
2. Whiplash
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. The Box Trolls
6. Nightcrawler
7. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
8. St. Vincent
9. Big Hero 6
10. Gone Girl
While the list is my choice for the year’s best and are ten of the best bets for my reader’s entertainment, the Oscar nominations may be very different as they ordinarily do not choose comedy and animation in their picks. There for I submit to you my guess for the top films from which the Academy of Arts and Silences will possibly choose.
The following are a dozen or so possible choices listed in alphabetical order and do not indicate a choice for Best Film at this time. Each of the films are very good and worthy of being on the Oscar List.
American Sniper, Big Eyes, Birdman, Boyhood, Foxcatcher, Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Selma, Still Alice, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash, and Wild.
