See more of the Best of 2014

Here we are, the best that 2014 had to offer. To some, 2014 was seen as a bit of a down year, one without any truly great movies. But even if it was a year without any single surpassing film (something that’s debatable, given the landslide win of our #1 movie), it was a year with lots of very, very good movies. To limit ourselves to ten seems self-defeating at times; nevertheless, here are our picks for the very best of the very best from the year that was.

#10 – The Raid 2

Since the release of Gareth Evans’ martial arts epic, a few movie rules have changed: Action films no longer have an excuse for uninteresting, shallow characters (villain, hero, or whatever). Filmmakers no longer have an excuse for making a two and a half hour film feel too long. Finally, anyone who uses shaky cam in a fight sequence must be killed; preferably by Yayan Ruhian, with a machete.

— Erik Paschall

There are times when an action movie can coast on action scenes alone. When your scenes are as good as the ones in The Raid 2, it is one of those times. The choice to make this one a cop drama makes it a little more accessible for those unfamiliar with martial arts films, though the plot is pretty much an afterthought. It’s a bit hard to say more without spoiling the fights, which take front and center throughout the film. Our hero will take on an entire room full of thugs, walk right through them, and cap it all off with a five minute fight against “that one henchman,” during which he will get beaten half to death before emerging victorious. He will then walk through the door for the next fight ready for more. Whatever you’re looking for, vehicle chases, crowd brawls, one-on-one fights, eccentric weapon choices, The Raid 2 has it all.

— Charlie Burroughs

#9 – Life Itself

Yes, this film seems made for those who write on sites like this one, and when Roger Ebert passed, the internet was stock-full of think-pieces and eulogies. But it wasn’t until I saw this documentary by Chicago documentarian Steve James – who can attribute his career to Ebert’s enthusiasm for the seminal documentary Hoop Dreams – that I felt I could finally lay Ebert to rest. While the film spends a lot of time on his television career on “At the Movies,” James doesn’t forget his prior life as an intern and eventual film critic at The Chicago Sun-Times. The results are the perfect blending of the man and critic that will leave even the most cynical film fan in tears.

— Tyler Lyon

Biographies often treat their histories as the stories of great men.  The problem with this view of history is that it turns men into idols.  Director Steve James evades this misstep, balancing historical retrospective with an intimate firsthand look at the last days or Roger Ebert.  Life Itself manages to be many things: a biopic, a review and critique of film criticism, and, perhaps most unexpectedly, a love story told in the final days of a man’s life.  The truly remarkable thing is that the film manages to do all this incredibly well.  A must see for anyone interested in film and film criticism.

— John Wedemeyer

#8 – Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy surprised me like it surprised everyone. It wasn’t your gritty Marvel adaptation. It was quirky, yet still added to the universe. It was a great summer escape that still lent itself to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe in a way that engaged me more than ever. There may be more “critically deserving” films, but Guardians epitomized why we go to the theaters: to lose ourselves in another world while making us question our own.

— Nicole Aronis

Marvel bet big on this one and it paid off. Previous films have hinted at how massive and chaotic the MCU really is but Guardians brought it all front and center with a team of obscure and eccentric characters. Even as we deal with tragic backstories and world-conquering extremists, the film never forgets to throw in the humor that has made this series so endearing. Rocket, Drax, and Groot are instantly memorable with their eccentricities, all characters and locations look great on screen, and the action is tense and engaging. In particular, the final confrontation with Ronan stands as one of the most memorable movie moments of the year. And last but not least, the soundtrack is excellent.

— Charlie Burroughs

#7 – Whiplash

For me, Whiplash delivered on all levels of production and execution. The score was outstanding, the character study was layered and compelling, and the performances from J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller were impeccable. Although Simmons has been garnering the most, and essentially the only recognition for the film (deservedly so), I was blown away by Teller’s performance as a perfect complement to the intensity of the story and the naivete of the character. Although I wouldn’t say it was the best performance this year, I believe that the Academy should take a note from the BAFTAs and their Rising Star Award, which I would immediately bestow upon Teller. Whiplash is a film that makes you totally content with being uncomfortable for nearly two hours – nail biting and wide eyed.

— Rachel Lutack

Whiplash is as singularly and intensely focused as a movie can be. We see nothing outside of our protagonist’s view of the world. While the performances are superb, it’s this laser like focus that really makes this film something special.

— Greg Rodgers

Whiplash works because of tempo. The pacing and rhythm of the film shares an almost symbiotic relationship with the music. It’s as intense a film as there’s been this year, in no small part because of the highs and lows, both of the character of Andrew as he struggles to meet Fletcher’s expectations, and of the pacing, at times frenetic and hurried and at others steady and assured. Close ups of drumsticks slamming on drumheads, or blood dripping down Andrew’s clenched fists, or the hardened and critical eyes of Fletcher, always watching and studying his students only adds to this. J.K. Simmons treads between false concern for his students and pure vitriolic contempt, but it always seems part of a bigger plan for him. Miles Teller holds his own, at times boasting an admirable confidence and determination, and at others appearing to fall apart at the seams (not too dissimilar to Natalie Portman’s performance in Black Swan). The movie works because everybody and every aspect is on key, hitting the right notes. Damien Chazelle takes his directing cues from the same music he clearly reveres.

— Eduardo Ramos

#6 – Nightcrawler

Writer-Director Dan Gilroy takes us on a journey through midnight L.A. and into the pitch black heart of a sociopath.  Jake Gyllenhaal turns in the best performance of his career in this ugly look at the viscous and cannibalistic nature of ambition.  Balancing style and substance, Nightcrawler is an unflinching, powerful piece of filmmaking.

 — John Wedemeyer

An underrated leading man, Jake Gyllenhaal is an almost always solid performer who seems perpetually this close to finding the role that really allows him to shine. Nightcrawler finally gives him that opportunity. At his slimy best, Gyllenhaal perfectly portrays a wide-eyed opportunist and optimist who does his darndest at trying to sell other people on himself with elevator speeches and other “How To Succeed in Business” techniques. His amoral methods of finally getting ahead aren’t frowned upon, but more seen as a natural (and necessary) state of being in the 21st century.

— Brett Harrison Davinger

An intense and unnerving satire of the rags-to-riches, American dream story, with Jake Gyllenhaal at his eye-popping best.

— Erik Paschall

#5 – The Grand Budapest Hotel

I can’t get over the structure to this film. Something that could easily be seen as gimmicky is instead employed as a perfect compliment to the story, as director Wes Anderson invites audiences to go imagining with him through his colorful storyscape. Jam packed with humor of both the clever and the shocking variety, there’s a perfect balance of whimsy and brutality here. In fact, the entire production is in perfect balance, recalling a childlike sense of wonder, exploration, and adventure for its now adult director and audiences. It is in the nature of the medium for a movie to prescribe its story to the audience, but there was no film all year that made me feel so much a participant in its telling as The Grand Budapest Hotel.

— Tim Falkenberg

 — Rachel Lutack

Wes Anderson’s ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel” is not just a visually stunning film, but one with a great deal of heart. Anderson assembled a star-studded cast for the ensemble piece, including award winners Ralph Feinnes, F. Murray Abraham and Tilda Swinton in a film that spans decades in the history of the titular resort.  While the story ostensibly centers around a purloined work of art and a suspected murder, it is more, at it’s core, about the connections between people on all rungs of life’s ladder.  The supporting cast, featuring Anderson stalwarts Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Bob Balaban and Jason Schwartzman, click on all levels and make this a most delightful, stylish film.

— Kerry Kelaher Fredeen

#4 – Snowpiercer

In a world where most films can’t handle being more than two things, Bong Joon-ho’s film about a train manages to be a contemplative science fiction story, an action thriller, a piece of social commentary, a study of humanity, and a service to every member of its unbelievable cast. This movie should have crashed at any one of those points, yet remarkably it makes every one of its lofty goals.

— Erik Paschall

Bong Joon-ho creates a stark and fully realized future aboard the Snowpiercer, a hellish train, circling the drain of humanity.  This story of class revolt is thick with social commentary and thematic complexity.  Filled with fantastic performances and wonderful art design, Snowpiercer is a suitably violent look at mechanized dread at the end of the world.

— John Wedemeyer

With a uniquely bonkers scifi premise, a standout cast that effortlessly balances diversity with acting chops, and a script so neatly structured you could build a skyscraper on it, Snowpiercer is my new template for what genre action films should be like. The ideas are big but the plot threads are crystal clear, the setting is unique but instantly accessible, and the character development is never anything other than front-and-center.

— Gabriel Urbina

#3 – Boyhood

Boyhood seemed at all turns effortlessly crafted, perhaps because of director Richard Linklater’s ability to let things reveal themselves in their own time and simply allow capital-L-“Life” happen to his characters. It’s amazing how Linklater was able to construct a real sense of the life of a family through one boy’s eyes,  particularly given his sporadic filming process of shooting for just a few weeks every year for a dozen years. The movie will rightly be praised for its directing all throughout the awards season, but I’m not sure people will ever appreciate the acting from the ensemble, which is truly a marvel. For every actor to come back each year and get right back into their familial relationships without making anything seem disjointed was probably the achievement of the year.

— Eduardo Ramos

Boyhood could have just as easily been my #1 choice, and is really more of a 1A. The beauty of the film lives in the real day to day moments that make up life and not in the big “events” that act as signposts in life, and paradoxically that what sticks with you long after you’ve watched it. You don’t just watch Mason growing up, you experience for yourself the pain and exhilaration of growing all over again.

 — Greg Rodgers

Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is getting all the attention for its unique production schedule, which is special in its own right, but what’s truly amazing is how well Linklater’s writing style fits with the ambitions of the film. His best work is known for capturing slices of life; the result of that approach here is one of the most enjoyable films of the last 5 years.

— Tyler Lyon

#2 – The LEGO Movie

The LEGO Movie highlights a conflict that many of today’s blockbusters have run into: satisfying old fans of franchises like Star Trek and superhero comics while also luring in new fans. As the original fandom grows up, their franchises sometimes age with them, introducing darker storylines and more mature concepts. Consequently, these franchises can become inaccessible to the younger audiences they were originally intended for. The LEGO Movie reminded me why I became a fan of characters like Batman in the first place. Simply put, it’s fun to pretend you’re a superhero and go on a quest to save the world.

Also: SPACESHIP!

— Charlie Burroughs

The year’s first big surprise was also one of its most accomplished films. The fact that something as corporate-sounding as a film based around a line of children’s toys was the year’s high water mark of visual creativity and humor was at the very least a shock. That the filmmakers didn’t stop there but also made the film one of the year’s most sincerely moving and joyous experiences is nothing short of an act of gravity-defying wonder.

— Gabriel Urbina

I love LEGOs. I grew up with them and played with them on nearly a daily basis from the time I was in preschool until I was well into my teenage years. Hell, I still pull out old LEGO sets from time to time and rediscover the pure creative joy that they have to offer. This movie, oh man, this movie gets that. It understands what LEGOs are, what they represent, the imaginative freedom they provide a platform to express. And it’s almost nonstop laughs throughout the film. And it’s one of the prettiest looking films of the year. This movie is joyful, capturing the generation-defying charm that is often attributed to Pixar work, but doing so in a way all its own.

— Tim Falkenberg

#1 – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

So many of Birdman‘s individual pieces would be enough to mark it as one of the year’s best. Its wryly satirical commentary on celebrity and superhero culture. Its air-tight plotting and seamlessly flowing script. Its virtuoso conceit of presenting a full film as if it was a single take. And the quietly brimming intensity of its towering central performance. It’s the fact that all of these pieces come together and, rather than cancel each other out, compliment everything around them beautifully that makes it a masterpiece. Birdman is, in many ways, a film of excesses, but under Iñarritu’s expert guidance it somehow clicks together into more, far more, than the sum of its parts.

— Gabriel Urbina

One of the boldest, most daring feats of cinema in quite some time. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu directs Birdman within an inch of his life, injecting soul and darkly twisted bits of humor his examination of a former movie superhero’s existential crisis while Micheal Keaton gives a career defining performance as said actor trying to go legit on the Broadway stage.  Shot with mad brio (and then some, considering the one-shot visual conceit) and featuring an incredible ensemble cast including Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts, Birdman could have felt like a gimmick and still been a hoot to watch; instead, it becomes more, an irresistible film that impresses the eyes, heart, and mind.

— James Tisch

Above all, Birdman challenged us to look at ourselves and our impact on the world – as Michael Keaton’s Riggan does throughout – while simultaneously bopping our heads to Antonio Sanchez’s jazzy drum rhythms., Keaton, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, and Emma Stone each delivered noteworthy performances, supported by the rest of the outstanding cast. Keaton in particular brought such gravity to a character whose extreme eccentricities that at times bordered on outrageous. Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu wrote a beautiful story that challenges the world of show business on all fronts, actors, directors, critics, and audiences alike. Birdman is a force to be reckoned with.

— Rachel Lutack

Centered around a fantastic performance by the perpetually underrated Michael Keaton, Birdman is easily one of this year’s most engaging films. Along with delicious black humor at its bleakest (always an attraction for me), its stream of consciousness filmmaking style lends the perpetual discomfort of an uneasy dream without feeling too cloying. It’s also one of the few films this year that manages to get audiences to feel on a personal level the existential plight of its protagonist.

 — Brett Harrison Davinger

Perhaps the most exhilerating aspect of Birdman – and the movie is full of them – is that immensely talented director Alejandor Gonzalez Inarritu seems to have regained the wicked sense of humor and fun he displayed in his first feature, Amores Perros. Birdman covers a lot of very serious territory, but manages to never take itself too seriously in the process.

— Greg Rodgers

See more of the Best of 2014