KILLING TIME’S TOP 10 FILMS OF 2014 *UPDATED WITH AMERICAN SNIPER*

I know I bashed it all year, but truly 2014 was the most mediocre year at the movies I’ve experienced in my lifetime.  As such, I haven’t published my TOP 10 until now, not because I don’t have ten good films, but because I keep waiting for all the films that are supposed to be Oscar favorites to come to my theater and -thus far- they haven’t.  Now, next week the Academy will announce the 2015 Oscar Nominations and I will, no doubt, be hopping up and down mad just like I am every year.  But that recognition, will bring those films to more markets and my Top 10 may look significantly different by the time we hand out our own version of the Oscars: The 3rd Annual Renaissance Film Awards.  What film will follow The Dark Knight Rises and Gravity as Best Picture winners?  How much will this list change in a month?  Right now, here are my Top 10 Films of 2014 with links to my full reviews.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America The Winter Soldier, Captain America, Steve Rogers, Chris Evans

2. The LEGO Movie

THE LEGO MOVIE

3, Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy

4. American Sniper

American Sniper, Bradley Cooper

5. Big Hero 6

1400548647000-1BIG-HERO-SNEAKPEEK-64332692

6. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies, Smaug, Benedict Cumberbatch

7. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Caesar, Andy Serkis, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

7.  Gone Girl (viewed during hiatus-no review)

Ben Affleck, Gone Girl

9. Edge of Tomorrow

badass-trailer-for-edge-of-tomorrow

10. Snowpiercer

Chris Evans, Snowpiercer

3 thoughts on “KILLING TIME’S TOP 10 FILMS OF 2014 *UPDATED WITH AMERICAN SNIPER*”

    1. Big Eyes is a perfect example of a film I’m dying to see that’s nowhere around where I am. Could very well alter this list. Marvel had something to do with three of my top five films of the year. What a triumph.


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      1. Big Eyes got to me on a very basic emotional level, but it was never going to be a big success. There was buzz surrounding it, but a big question mark was attached to the buzz, and when the Weinsteins decided to open it wider on Xmas to fill the Interview void, that was the kiss of death (especially since the Interview opened after all, on an already overstuffed day). As soon as it became clear that Big Eyes was too mainstream, wacky, and broad to be a prestige film, the strategy should have been to carefully build an audience. Because when an independent film does not immediately become a darling of the insiders, THEN box office affects the acclaim it receives.

        I think you will enjoy it. Christoph Waltz is so over-the-top as to dwarf any of his past roles, and the film takes its time to build steam, but it’s kind of a spiritual kin to Ed Wood, and not just because it’s a Burton biopic with the same screenwriters. I was highly satisfied.


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