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(FROM THE ARCHIVE) BEST MOVIES OF 2014

  • Writer: Thomas
    Thomas
  • Dec 19, 2019
  • 6 min read

To kind of fill up my blog thing before I really start kicking, and centralize my stuff, I am going to be posting my best of lists from the past few years. I am going to copy and paste them froom my Facebook Notes, without editing. So some opinions have definitely changed, but these were my thoughts at the time.


Enjoy!


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like trying to keep up with the movies each year to, in part, keep up with the critical discourse, and also because I would love to be a film critic if filmaking doesn't pan out, though I doubt I have the intellectual heft for it. So I enjoy this and it is also sort of a compulsion.

I've seen between 85-90 2014 releases. But there are a bunch of movies I didn't get to catch up with that would have contended for all of this. Tangerines, The Boxtrolls, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, We are the Best, Night Moves, Beyond the Lights, Winter Sleep, Jodorowsky's Dune and pretty much all other documentaries released this year (Life Itself, Last Days in Vietnam, Virunga, Rich Hill, The Internet's Own Boy, The Missing Picture). Other quieter movies like Le Weekend, Tom at the Farm, and other imports like Child's Pose, Borgman, Young and Beautiful, Bethlehem, Big Bad Wolves. Other than that I've seen the majority of prestige films this year, including all major Oscar nominees (everything except Foreign Language, Documentaries, Shorts, and Animated). That is what I'm going on for this. That's not to say that once I catch up with other 2014 films this list wouldn't look different. For now, this year, this is what I feel like is the best of what I've seen.

Best Picture of the Year

  1. Selma

  2. The Grand Budapest Hotel

  3. Whiplash

  4. Starred Up

  5. Guardians of the Galaxy

  6. The Lego Movie

  7. Two Days, One Night

  8. Interstellar

  9. Only Lovers Left Alive

  10. Force Majeure

  11. Blue Ruin

  12. Ida

  13. Listen Up Philip

  14. Pride

  15. Inherent Vice

  16. Wild

  17. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  18. Under the Skin

  19. Frank

  20. A Most Violent Year


Honourabe Mentions: Big Hero 6, Mommy, '71,Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Locke, The Homesman, Stranger by the Lake, Boyhood


Best Actor in a Leading Role

  1. Jack O'Connel - Starred Up

  2. Tom Hardy - Locke

  3. Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel

  4. David Oyelowo - Selma

  5. Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler

  6. Bradley Cooper - American Sniper

  7. Miles Teller - Whiplash

  8. Joaquin Phoenix - Inherent Vice 

  9. Timothy Spall - Mr. Turner

  10. Michael Keaton - Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)


Honourable Mentions: Andy Serkis - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game, Chadwick Boseman - Get on Up, Johannes Kuhnke - Force Majeure, Matthew McConaughey - Interstellar, Oscar Isaac - A Most Violent Year, and Tom Hiddleston - Only Lovers Left Alive

Best Actress in a Leading Role

  1. Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night

  2. Anne Dorval - Mommy

  3. Reese Whitherspoon - Wild

  4. Julianne Moore - Still Alice

  5. Lisa Lovin Kongsli - Force Majeure

  6. Scarlett Johansen - Under the Skin

  7. Agata Trzebuchowska - Ida

  8. Tilda Swinton - Only Lovers Left Alive

  9. Tessa Thompson - Dear White People

  10. Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything


Honourable Mention: Hilary Swank - The Homesman, Elizabeth Moss - The One I Love, Angelina Jolie - Maleficient, Julianne Cote - Tu Dors Nicole,Marion Cotillard - The Immigrant, and Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl


Best Actor in a Supporting Role

  1. JK Simmons - Whiplash

  2. Ben Mendelsohn - Starred Up

  3. Michael Fassbender - Frank

  4. Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher

  5. Eddie Redmaybe - The Theory of Everything

  6. Josh Brolin - Inherent Vice

  7. Jonathan Pryce - Listen Up Philip

  8. Robert Duvall - The Judge

  9. Antoine-Olivier Pilon - Mommy

  10. Toby Kebbel  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes


Honourable Mentions: Rupert Friend - Starred Up, Michael Fassbender - X-Men: Days of Future Past,Ethan Hawke - Boyhood, Dominic West - Pride, Bill Nighy - Pride, Alec Baldwin - Still Alice, Tye Sheridan - Joe, Gary Poulter - Joe, and Charlie Tahan - Love is Strang

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

  1. Patricia Arquette - Boyhood

  2. Agata Kulesza - Ida

  3. Suzanne Clement - Mommy

  4. Maggie Gyllenhaal - Frank

  5. Elizabeth Moss - Listen Up Philip

  6. Laura Dern - Wild

  7. Carrie Coon - Gone Girl

  8. Tilda Swinton - Snowpiercer

  9. Renee Russo - Nightcrawler

  10. Elena Lyadova - Leviathan


Honourable Mentions: Marisa Tomei - Love is Strange, Marion Bailey - Mr. Turner, Melissa McCarthy - St. Vincent, Anne Hathaway - Interstellar,Jessica Chastain - A Most Violent Year, Octavia Spencer - Get on Up, Kristen Stewart - Still Alice, and Carmen Ejogo - Selma

Best Director

  1. Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest HotelAva Duvernay - SelmaDamien Chazelle - WhiplashDavid MacKenzie - Starred UpRichard Linklater - BoyhoodChristopher Nolan - InterstellarPawel Pawlikowski - IdaRuben Ostlund - Force MajeurePhil Lord and Christopher Miller - The Lego MovieJames Gunn - Guardians of the Galaxy


Honourable Mentions: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne - Two Days, One Night, Jim Jarmusch - Only Lovers Left Alive, JC Chandor - A Most Violent Year,David Saulnier - Blue Ruin, Alain Guiraudie - Stranger by the Lake, David Fincher - Gone Girl, Paul Thomas Anderson - Inherent Vice, Xavier Dolan - Mommy, and Jean-Marc Vallée - Wild

Best Original Screenplay


  1. Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel

  2. Paul Webb and Ava Duvernay - Selma

  3. Jonathan Asser - Starred Up

  4. Jim Jarmusch - Only Lovers Left Alive

  5. Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne - Two Days, One Night

  6. Stephen Knight - Locke

  7. Alex Ross Perry - Listen Up Philip

  8. Mauricio Zacharias and Ira Sachs - Love is Strange

  9. JC Chandor - A Most Violent Year

  10. Jeremy Saulnier - Blue Ruin


Honourable Mention: Pawel Pawlikowski and Rebecca Lenkiewicz - Ida, Dan Gilroy - Nightcrawler, Top Five - Chris Rock, and Stephen Beresford - Pride


Best Adapted Screenplay

  1. Phil Lord and Chris Miller - The Lego Movie

  2. Paul Thomas Anderson - Inherent Vice

  3. James Gunn and Nicole Perlman - Guardians of the Galaxy

  4. Nick Hornsby - Wild

  5. Gillian Flynn - Gone Girl

  6. Walter Campbell and Jonathan Glazer - Under the Skin

  7. Jon Ronson and Peter Stranghan - Frank

  8. Jordan Roberts, Daniel Gerson, and Robert L. Baird - Big Hero 6

  9. Chrisopher Markus and Stephen McFeely - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  10. Tommy Lee Jones, Kieran Fitzgerald, and Wesley A. Oliver - The Homesman


Honourable Mention: Adam Cozad and David Koepp - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Andrew Bovell - A Most Wanted Man, Simon Kinberg - X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Darren Aronosfky and Ari Handel - Noah


Best Cinematography

  1. Ryszard Lenczewki and Lukasz Zal - Ida

  2. Robert D. Yeoman - The Grand Budapest Hotel

  3. Bradford Young - A Most Violent Year

  4. Sharone Meir - Whiplash

  5. Dick Pope - Mr. Turner

  6. Bradford Young - Selma

  7. Nicholas Bolduc - Enemy

  8. Robert Elswit - Inherent Vice

  9. Jeremy Saulnier - Blue Ruin

  10. Mikhail Krichman - Leviathan


Honourable Mentions: Fredrik Wenzel - Force Majeure, Rodrigo Prieto - The Homesman, Michael McDonough - Starred Up, Jean-Christophe Hum - Stranger by the Lake, Michael Seresin - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Robert Elswit - Nightcrawler, André Turpin - Mommy, Yorrick Le Saux - Only Lovers Left Alive, and Erik Wilson - The Double

Best Editing

  1. Tom Cross - Whiplash

  2. Barney Pilling - The Grand Budapest Hotel

  3. Jonathan Amos - 20,000 Days on Earth

  4. Martin Pensa and Jean-Marc Vallée - Wild

  5. Sandra Adair - Boyhood

  6. Claire Mathon - Stranger by the Lake

  7. Leslie Jones - Inherent Vice

  8. Kirk Baxter - Gone Girl

  9. Elisabet Ronaldsdottir - John Wick

  10. Spencer Averick - Selma


Honourable Mentions: Julia Bloch - Blue Ruin, Matthew Hannam - Enemy, Ron Patane - A Most Violent Year, andFred Raskin, Hughes Winborne, and Craig Wood - Guardians of the Galaxy


Best Art Direction and Production Design

  1. The Grand Budapest Hotel

  2. The Lego Movie

  3. Guardians of the Galaxy

  4. Interstellar

  5. Mr. Turner

  6. Only Lovers Left Alive

  7. Ida

  8. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  9. The Immigrant

  10. A Most Violent Year


Honourable Mentions: Inherent Vice, The Homesman, Get on Up, and The Double

Best Costume

  1. The Grand Budapest Hotel

  2. Guardians of the Galaxy

  3. Mr. Turner

  4. Selma

  5. Interstellar

  6. Inherent Vice

  7. A Most Violent Year

  8. X-Men: Days of Future Past

  9. Pride

  10. Get on Up


Honourable Mentions: The Homesman, Unbroken, Noah, Frank, and Monuments Men


Best Hair and Make-Up

  1. Guardians of the Galaxy

  2. The Grand Budapest Hotel

  3. Selma

  4. Inherent Vice

  5. Mr. Turner

  6. Get on Up

  7. Unbroken

  8. X-Men: Days of Future Past

  9. The Immigrant

  10. Blue Ruin

Honourable Mentions: Noah, and Frank


Best Original Score

  1. Alexandre Desplat - The Grand Budapest Hotel

  2. Mica Levi - Under the Skin

  3. SQURL and Jozef van Wissem - Only Lovers Left Alive

  4. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Gone Girl

  5. Justin Hurwitz - Whiplash

  6. Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans - Enemy

  7. Johnny Greenwood - Inherent Vice

  8. Marco Beltrami - The Homesman

  9. Alex Ebert - A Most Violent Year

  10. Tyler Bates - Guardians of the Galaxy


Honourable Mentions: Mark Mothersbaugh - The Lego Movie, Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans - The One I Love, Nick Cave and Warren Elis - 20,000 Days on Earth, Brooke Blair and Will Blair - Blue Ruin, Henry Jackman - Captain America: The Winter Soldeir, and Amin Bouhafa - Timbuktu


Best Use of Non-Original Music

  1. Guardians of the Galaxy

  2. Whiplash

  3. Only Lovers Left Alive

  4. Selma

  5. 20,000 Days on Earth

  6. The Grand Budapest Hotel

  7. The Guest

  8. A Most Violent Year

  9. Pride

  10. Inherent Vice


Honourable Mentions: Mommy, Love is Strange, and St. Vincent


Best Visual Effects

  1. Interstellar

  2. Guardians of the Galaxy

  3. X-Men: Days of Future Past

  4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  6. Under the Skin

  7. Noah


Best Sound Effects and Editing

  1. Whiplash

  2. Under the Skin

  3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  4. Guardians of the Galaxy

  5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  6. Interstellar

  7. American Sniper


Best Collaborative Performance

  1. Andy Serkis - Caesar - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  2. Toby Kebbel - Koba - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  3. Bradley Cooper and Sean Gunn - Rocket - Guardians of the Galaxy

  4. Chris Pratt - Emmett - The Lego Movie

  5. Bill Irwin - TARS - Interstellar

  6. Scott Adsit - Baymax - Interstellar

  7. Toby Jones - Dr. Arnim Zola - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

 
 
 

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