Top Ten (movies that I was able to watch during) 2014:

 

1.        Guardians of the Galaxy – Keep in mind that I haven’t seen really any of the latest Oscar contenders, but I’m pretty sure none of them will be as singularly fun, fresh, geeky, entertaining, action-packed, and cool as this one was.  Credit to the filmmakers for basically giving us a Breakfast Club version of misfit and mismatched super heroes.  And to the cast and voice-work for being pitch perfect.

2.       How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Tough call to put this so high on the list, but it really was one of the more transporting movies for me this year.  When I watched it again at home with the family, I was just as enthralled.  These films tap into real emotion.

3.       Captain America:  The Winter Soldier – This one stands tall in the pantheon of comic book movies, right beside The Dark Knight.  It transcends the genre and felt immediate and urgent with the politics in play.  This is modern day action filmmaking at its best.

4.       The Hobbit:  The Battle of the Five Armies – I concede that this trilogy isn’t quite on the level of Peter Jackson’s first foray into Middle Earth…but honestly, did it ever stand a chance in that comparison?  It didn’t, but it doesn’t need to.   He succeeded where George Lucas couldn’t.  He returned for a trilogy that feels truly connected to the original films and expands the world on screen.  And this closing version couldn’t have been handled better, in my opinion. 

5.       The LEGO Movie – This movie is so fast and funny, I didn’t catch all the jokes on my first viewing.  It basically vomits color onto the screen, but that’s not a bad thing when it’s handled as shrewdly as this is.  Fun stuff.

6.       X-Men:  Days of Future Past – Pulling the two separate casts together was a gimmick I fell for.  My complaint is they didn’t give us enough of the future world overrun by Sentinels, but what little they did provide was great.  And any X-Men film with McAvoy and Fassbender in those roles will probably default to being on my Top 10 list.  They are just awesome.

7.       Lone Survivor – Tense telling of real bravery.  The movie is staged and acted so well that the message of honor for these fallen soldiers really comes across. 

8.       Edge of Tomorrow – Slick science fiction. 

9.       The Fault in Our Stars – Well…it made me cry.

10.   American Hustle – This was a holdover from 2013 that I didn’t catch until this year.  As an ensemble, the cast is terrific.  Feels like a tribute film to the Scorcese gangster classics. It works.  And Jennifer Lawrence is memorable in her crazy lady performance.