To my surprise, the first three 2014 films I saw ended up in my top 10 of the year.
After that, the first of the summer films were starting to emerge. The first of four Marvel films Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out, and that film reminded how enjoyable the previous one was as The Winter Soldier was really enjoyable and I was so close to giving it an 8/10 rating.
Then we had some solid outings with Muppets Most Wanted, Noah and Transcendence , where I was the only one in the screening which has never happened before. Despite it bombing in America, I found it a lot better than how the majority see it.
April saw Marvel film number two The Amazing Spider-Man 2 disappoint and frustrate me. Giving a 6/10 rating meant it was the worst film I had seen this year.
Summer continued into May with the enjoyable Godzilla, a pretty decent thriller in The Two Faces Of January and the third Mavel movie, X-Men: Days Of Future Past. It seems that I did not like it as much as everyone else, but I still found to be a good watch. But there was a lot to take in and I felt to be one big tidy-up that sort of ruined a film that could have been great rather than good.
June, July and August saw three films that I fell in love with and ended up in my top 10. Compared to the last few Summers, I have not seen so many successes since 2010. Big box-office hit Maleficent managed to win the public over, I found it solid at best I'm afraid. Other summer films I saw were 22 Jump Street which despite not matching my expectations I still found it pretty funny, the highly disappointing Sin City: A Dame To Kill For and Jersey Boys which was a bit hit-and-miss.
September is usually a quiet month. Only saw The Riot Club and found it pretty good, but also had some problems. Then in October we saw my film of the year released along with the pretty good Fury. Sadly we had a few disappointments that month with Get On Up, the completely mis-leading The Drop and the plain and heavily flawed The Maze Runner. There was also Mr. Turner which I found pretty captivating, but far too long which ended being its downfall despite a terrific performance by Timothy Spall.
November saw The Black Sea get released. I found it pretty good, but sadly lacking in depth.
Rounding out the year was the disappointing but not bad Exodus: Gods And Kings, Unbroken which for me did not know what sort of film it wanted to be, Into The Woods which began well and ended with some serious flaws and the bonkers but fun Kingsman: The Secret Service.
The Oscar hopefuls that missed out on my top 10 were:
Inherent Vice - It may have looked nice and had a clever vintage feel to it. But director Paul Thomas Anderson kind of dropped the ball on this confusing mystery drama. Good performance as well from Joaquin Phoenix and Josh Brolin.
A Most Violent Year - Loved the gritty 70's tone, but the misleading title made this film a bit of a slow-burner that did not pay off in the end. Still lots to like about it though.
American Sniper - An interesting story that I felt to be a bit too patriotic and flag-waving for my liking. Bradley Cooper however is amazing.
Films just missing out on the top 10 were:
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes - A brilliant summer popcorn film that is further enhancing the franchise. It also manages to recognise motion-capture as genuine performances by some film awards committees.
99 Homes - A really interesting drama that I did not think would be that effective. The strong performances by Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield kept me interesting and made me learn a lot about the American housing market.
Chef - A highly enjoyable feel-good comedy that sees John Favreau do a great job in front and behind the camera. Don't see this on an empty stomach.
The Imitation Game - A terrific story that the world needed to know and it is lead by a wonderful performance by Benedict Cumberbatch.
Foxcatcher - Not as good as the critics make it out to be in my opinion. But it is still essential viewing. Many great performances and such a chilling tone that had me on the edge of my seat.
Calvery - A smart and witty dark comedy drama set in Ireland. It stars Brendan Gleeson as a priest being threatened during a confession. As the dark forces slowly close in on him, the laughs are constant and getting even more ridiculous.
Wild - The more times I think about it, the more I enjoyed it. Reese Witherspoon holds this film together and makes it such an surprisingly enjoyable watch.
Nightcrawler - So tense, brilliantly shot and a career best performance in Jake Gyllenhaal to boot.
The Theory Of Everything - The story may be pretty simple to follow and it definitely brought in the masses to Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones create the big on-screen relationship of 2014. It saw Redmayne play Stephen Hawking and the film shows the relationship of Hawking and his wife whilst discovering the greatest scientific theory of our generation.
Big Hero 6 - Disney continues to deliver which another brilliant family installment. Might not be as good as Frozen or Tangled, but still should not be missed.
Selma - Despite the story mixing between it being too slow and quite powerful, the performance of David Oyelowo is the big positive.
Big Eyes - One of Tim Burton's rare non-gothic pictures that always seems to work. Great performances by Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz also.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1- Another Hunger Games film that reminded how great this franchise is.
John Wick - A beautifully shot and highly enjoyable action flick. It sees a bad-ass Keanu Reeves play an ex-hitman coming back for a mission of a personal nature. One of the few full-on action films that you can have a lot of fun with.
The Guest - A real surprise hit that had a great 80's vibe to it. It sees a grieving family welcome in a friend (played brilliantly by Dan Stevens) of their now dead son. But is he who he says he is?
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies - Despite this showing how stretched this franchise is, there is a lot of Jackson's magic in this. But I'm afraid this franchise should have been two films rather than three.
It Follows - A film that I only caught up with in the autumn of 2015. Remember seeing the trailer as a generic horror flick. The reviews it got intrigued me and boy did it get me. Never seen a horror this scary for some quite some. The style of film-making is indebted to the classics from the 70's. A great concept that is masterfully done with the old school style of horror. A very refreshing watch that terrified me.
The Babadook - Much like 'It Follows', a cleverly made horror film that is indebted to the classics. It also has terrific direction from first time director Jennifer Kent and amazing performances by Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman.
Predestination - A real hidden gem that gives us a refreshing take on the time-travel genre. It also has a great performance by Ethan Hawke and an unreal breakthrough performance by Aussie newcomer Sarah Snook.
Cold In July - A pretty cool and exciting crime thriller starring Michael C. Hall, Sam Shephard, Don Johnson and Vinessa Shaw. At first, you think this is a straight-forward stalker flick. It turns into something much more sinister and psychological.
'71 - A wonderful British thriller that sees Jack O'Connell play a British soldier accidentally abandoned behind enemy lines in Belfast in the 1970's. It is wonderfully visceral, extremely tense and O'Connell is amazing.
When Marnie Was There - Possibly the latest feature from Studio Ghibli sees a troubled girl sent to a coastal town to live with relatives. Upon her stay, she becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and a mysterious girl who lives there.
Wild Tales - A fascinating feature that shows six short stories of human social behavior at its most extreme. It is quite a pleasing movie that I can see many demographics getting a lot out of it. It should basically be called 'Karma: The Movie'.
The Fault In Our Stars - A well written romantic drama with two great performances by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. It tells the story of two teenage cancer patients who meet by chance on embark on a life-changing journey.
Song Of The Sea - A lovely animation from Ireland. A very enjoyable fantasy adventure that is suitable for all ages.
Still Alice - A heart-breaking drama which saw Julianne Moore deservedly receive the Oscar for Best Actress. She plays a linguistics professor become diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
Ex-Machina - Long-time writer for Danny Boyle, Alex Garland is in his directing debut with a highly thought-provoking sci-fi thriller. This is a film that I decided to give it a miss at the cinema. I completely regret that decision as this is a well thought out film with a lot of interesting ideas.
Some bits may feel a bit cliched and flawed, but the style of film-making and writing manages to enhance the enjoyment beautifully.
If this was a top 11, then Whiplash would be joining them. From start to finish, this is one relentless film that certainly pins you down into your chair. So many great things to say that includes the best final scene in all the 2014 films.
With those high-caliber films not making, you can tell the top 10 is going to be an impressive one. Here is my top 10:
Hiccup and Toothless are back with a new enemy to face and aiming to save the town of Burke once again.
It is pure family fun and clearly is the best thing to come out of Dreamworks Animation.
It tells the story of a washed-up movie star trying to make it big on the stage instead. Played by Michael Keaton, who ironically looks to be making his own comeback plays an amazing lead.
Other great performances such as Edward Norton and probably the best cinematography of the year by a country mile that is worth watching alone.
That great blend of action and comedy gave a sci-fi with a swashbuckling feel that always seems a perfect recipe for success for sci-fi's with a bonkers story line.
Filmed in 39 days over 12 years, this achievement in film-making shows us the amazing transformation of four characters.
If you loved the Before trilogy and Linklater's other works like Dazed and Confused, you will be interested in the characters and just adore the script that Linklater is well known for in his films.
It has that vintage summer popcorn feel to it. The pace is frenetic, the content is great to work out and the performances are enjoyable, especially by Emily Blunt. It was also my 100th film I saw at a cinema.
I was astounded by its cleverness, its style of comedy and the way it was animated.
Some may think it was cheap product advertising, but it had class in doing it.
A great mix of homage to film-making and smart comedy which made it an enjoyable viewing experience.
Since then, I have now watched a few Wes Anderson flicks and this still tops the lot.
It sees a group of astronauts leave Earth to find a way of saving their planet that is losing its food supply.
Despite a questionable final act that will divide audiences, it is quite a spectacle and is more of an event that is similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
It is not quite all there, but you just have to give its credit.
It is everything you could want in a Raid sequel. It was brutal, nasty, artful, perfectly choreographed and one hell of a thrill-ride.
Maybe some of the best fight scenes and car chases I have seen in a film.
Based on the best selling-novel it sees a wife go missing. While the husband is campaigning the town to help find her, certain events see the spotlight turn onto him and his innocence is pushed to the limits.
Fincher proves to still be one of the best in the business. Amazing performances and a gripping story that cranks up many notches.
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