Strange as it may seem, we’ve reached the end of 2014: Year of ice bucket challenges, ebola scares, the resurgence of pop songs about butts, and lots of sad, serious news that’s still a little too depressing to reflect on. In movieworld, we saw a rise in VOD viewing and a decline in theatrical attendance (score one for the agoraphobes!), but no year would be complete without every website in town giving your their Best Films of the Year©®™☺ list.
So as we wind things down at the SAGindie offices, we take a look back at our staff’s favorite movies of 2014, from big-time blockbusters to sleeper indie hits to obscure festival finds. These are the flicks that best represent why we love movies (and also give us a chance to step onto our soap-boxes and yell our extremely valid and important opinions). You’ll also see that we’re not very good at the whole “sticking to 10 films” thing.
Happy movie-watching, and we’ll see you all in 2015!
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Darrien’s Top 10 (or 9?):
- Whiplash
- Obvious Child (for the difficult ending)
- Selma (brilliant)
- The Imitation Game
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- The Lego Movie
- Chef (don’t go hungry)
- The Hundred Foot Journey
- The Equalizer (Denzel has a special set of skills, baby!)
Sad, but I don’t have a 10th. But I haven’t seen The Theory of Everything or a few other big movies yet.
Eliza’s Top 10 (or 12?):
- Force Majeure #1 #1 #1
- Under the Skin
- Whiplash
- Listen Up Philip
- The Overnighters
- Uncertain Terms
- Thou Wast Mild & Lovely
- Wetlands
- Mommy
- Jodorowsky’s Dune
- Heaven is for Real (LOL jk)
- Deux jours, une nuit
It’s more than 10 oh well.
Colin’s Top 10:
- The One I Love – I couldn’t shut up about this movie, which I’m sure made me annoying but if you’d just listen to me and watch it we could turn this into a dialogue instead of a monologue. Sheesh.
- Nightcrawler
- Boyhood
- Birdman
- The Skeleton Twins
- 22 Jump Street
- Snowpiercer
- Blue Ruin
- The Babadook
- Edge of Tomorrow
I also feel I should get this off my chest: I actually liked Men, Women & Children! Sure, it didn’t change my life or anything, but the amount of hatred people have for it kind of baffles me. Settle down, folks. It wasn’t that bad. At least admit that Kaitlyn Dever and Ansel Elgort were straight-up adorable, you heartless monsters.
Amanda’s Top 10:
- Snowpiercer – Fav of the year, also Tilda Swinton, what a gem
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Marvel’s best in my book
- We Are the Best! – I went through a punk phase in middle school
- Finding Vivian Maier – Really insightful look at a woman who hid behind her camera
- Whiplash – Stunning performances
- Chef – Be prepared to make grilled cheese
- Interstellar – SPACE!
- Boyhood – Just too cool on multiple levels, continually in awe of Linklater
- Only Lovers Left Alive – Tilda Swinton
- Wild – Some flaws, but it did make me want to hike more
WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2014?
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