When I was first thinking about making this list I felt that there weren't that many great movies that came out in 2014, especially since movies like Boyhood, The Theory of Everything and The Grand Budapest Hotel weren't the movies I considered top 10 worthy. Not necessarily because I didn't liked them, it is just because I don't consider them great. But the more I was thinking about about movies and looking at list of movies that came out in 2014, I realized that there were actually many great movies that came past year. So much so that Certain movies that I really enjoyed but didn't made it on the list - Fury, The Imitation Game, Selma, Foxcatcher, A Most Violent Year, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Of the big ones I haven't seen American Sniper and The Tale Princess Kaguya, but I'm pretty confident about my list regardless.
10. Nightcrawler
This movie proved once again that Jake Gyllenhaal is legitimately a great actor. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a thief who starts shooting footage of accidents and crimes in Los Angeles and seellingt it to different news chanells. This movie is approprietly creepy with a really crazy performance from Jake Gylenhaal. Screenplay and editing were fantastic in this film.
9.Edge of Tomorrow/Live Die Repeat
Edge of Tomorrow proved that Tom Cruise is still capable of making badass action movies. While this movie is a take on Groundhog Day, it managed to add some of its interesting quirks that made it unique. Emily Blunt is one of those actresses that I enjoy watching wherever she is in, and her character in this one was particularly amazing. The way in which her and Tom Cruise's character interacted was rather enjoyable. And those monsters looked really great. Although the ending was kinda on the weak side I still feel that everything that happened prior to that ending was amazing that merits its place at number 9 on my list.
8.Captain America Winter Soldier
This is my second favorite movie from Marvel universe, right behind The Avengers. The best thing about this movie were great action scenes all around with some great set pieces (that one with aircraft carier is probably my favorite). I also felt that Steve Rodgers's character was particularily well developed in this one. As much as this movie works as a great action movie it also works very well as a great spy thriller. Evem supportnig character got their time on the spotlight with Anthony Mackie as a Falcon being the true standout.
7.The LEGO Movie
Phill Lord and Chris Miller in my book can't do wrong. Whenever I watch one of their trailers (and basically seeing whatever material they are tackling) I am always skeptical and basically expecting a train wreck. But each time they manage to surprise, and usually I consider their films to be one of the funniest of that year that it came out. They also had 22 Jump Street coming out this year which was also hilarious, but I preferred this movie. I fell that this is probably their best work to date. They managed to make that LEGO world rather interesting and funny. All of this was helped by great voice acting with Chris Pratt and Will Arnett doing particularly a great job.
6.Gone Girl
David Fincher is one of my favorite modern directors, so much so that I can say that aside from Alien 3 I enjoyed all of his movies. This movie is worth watching even for Rosamund Pike's performance alone. But when you add to that a complex and interesting relationship story, a role that is tailor made for Ben Affleck and sure direction from David Fincher you will have truly a great film, which this it is. This movie had Trent Raznor and David Fincher teaming up again, and it was for the best. The score for this movie was haunting and mesmerizing at the same time. The movie really captured the spirit of the book and it managed to even improved it in certain ways. 5.Snowpiercer
This is one of those movies that probably not that many people saw. It actually came in certain parts of the world in 2013 but its official US release was in 2014. It came simultaneously in theaters and on VOD. This movie is actually based on French graphic novel and it was directed by Bong Joon-ho (who made two of the movies I enjoyed a lot - The Host and Memories of the Murder). This sci-fi story takes place in 2031 where some of the last surviving people live in this train which is organized in such way that poor people are in the last train living of these black brick of food (which I'm not going to reveal what are there made of), and rich people live in luxurious front wagons. The movie follows Chris Evans who leads the group of rebels on their journey to the front of the train in their try to overtake it. There are some crazy action scenes and performances (particularly from Tilda Swinton - you probably never seen her like this before) in this movie. This movie also works great as a political allegory basically showing us the all negative part of certain class structures.
4.The Raid 2
If you haven't seen first part of this movie immediately watch the first one and then watch this one. The first one really surprised with some of the greatest martial arts scenes, so much so that once I've heard that they were doing a sequel I was wondering how were they going to top that. And somehow they managed. This movie pick up pretty much where first movie left of. The story this time is much more fleshed out, and instead of taking place in one apartment this time it takes place on several locations, which makes cinematography that much better. They also somehow manage to go even crazier with martial arts scenes. Hell they even have one car chase scene that puts to shame pretty much every car chase scene I've ever seen. This is one of the true action gems of last year.
3.Guardians of the Galaxy
This movie is just pure fun. Watching this movie was the best theatre experiance I've had in 2014. James Gunn manage to take a material that seemed like a real tough sell and make it into something amazing. A movie that has a talking racoon and a talking tree (which pretty much says I am Groot) seems like a silly movie. While movie does have some silly moments (which are silly in a good way), it still managed to show some heart. This movie is flat out hilarious all the way trough. Even though the villians are kind of weak, the good thing about this film is that it doesn't spend that much with them. It focuses on group of misfits consisted of - Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Chris Pratt is a great lead in this flick, but the true star of this film is Rocket Racoon, who is probably my favorite character of 2014. Special effects and make-up are also amazing in this film.
2.Whiplash
J.K. Simmons is absolutely amazing in this film, he gives not only the best supporting performance of the year but probably the best performance of the past year period. And Miles Teller shows us that he is one of the most exciting up-and-coming young actors. This movie is absolutely amazing. I am a big fan of jazz music, so a big plus for this movie right from the get-go was the fact that it was about an aspiring jazz musician (drummer). It showed in a great way how obsessive people can get and how being a great musician takes a lot of tears, sweat and even blood. It was probably hardest for me to choose whether if this movie will make it number 1 on my list or the movie that eventually made it. I would even say that they are interchangeable as far as placement on my list goes. But for now this is the order of my list.
1.Birdman
And finally my favorite movie of 2014 is Birdman. Amazing performances, great script and some genuine surprises were responsible for this movie making it number 1 on my list. Michael Keaton needed this great performance to prove that he can still give us something acting wise. This movie in a great way pokes fun at its stars. Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thomson who is a washed-up actor who used to play superhero called Birdman and at once point he was a big star (sounds familiar) trying to make it on Broadway. Edward Norton plays Mike Shiner an acclaimed Broadway actor who is really hard to work with (which is pretty much how Edward Norton is when he is working on movies). Then you also have Emma Stone who plays Riggan's daughter, and she is amazing in this movie as well.What is truly amazing about this film is that cinematographer managed to make it out like this entire movie was made in one epic tracking shot. Also music in this movie was great as well, or to be precise the drumming that you could hear almost throughout entire movie was really cool. But for me probably the best part of this movie was the humor. Truly an amazing movie that would be remembered for the years to come.
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