On Lists
Ahh, lists. I’m personally highly stressed out by them, and can’t possibly offer them up without all kinds of qualifiers. “Did we see everything? How subjective is this supposed to be? Is there a difference between ‘best’ and ‘favorite’?, What counts as a 2014 release?” All of these are valid questions and concerns when putting together lists. And we’re going to largely sidestep all of that here.
Because at the same time that lists can feel final, authoritative, and rule-bound, they can also offer much in the way of value. Together, the Cinapse team sees significantly more films than the average fan… so perhaps the biggest value in us offering up a collection of lists of the Top 10 favorite films of several on our team is to give readers an opportunity to discover. Cinapse is all about film discovery and celebration. So rather than dwell on films we didn’t like at all, or films that disappointed us… and rather than dwell on what did NOT make our Top 10 lists… we simply present to you a gathering of many of our favorite films in the hopes that you’ll be inspired to check something out for yourself that you were otherwise on the fence about. Perhaps your overall tastes align fairly well with one of our writers, or maybe one of these films had totally slipped past your radar. In all likelihood many of these lists will have significant overlap, and take from that what you will. If half a dozen Cinapse staffers all have a few of the same films on their lists, then maybe those are some of the very safest bets if you are strapped for time in your movie watching or awards season catch up.
Regardless, we hope you enjoy this collection of lists, and find some valuable discoveries among them. Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or in the Comments!
The Cinapse Top 10 Movies Of 2014 List Roundup
Ed: Since I am assembling the post, I get to offer the aforementioned qualifiers. These are my highly subjective picks, weighing personal enjoyment and quality as equally as possible. I tried to see as many major awards contenders as possible, but I didn’t see them all. Lists are hard. Enjoy!
1. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes 2. Snowpiercer 3. John Wick
4. Joe
5. Selma 6. The Grand Budapest Hotel 7. Guardians Of The Galaxy 8. Cold In July
9. The Imitation Game
10. Noah
15 Honorable Mentions (In Absolutely No Order At All): The Raid 2, Boyhood, The Babadook, The Tale Of Princess Kaguya, The Drop, Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, Lucy, Locke, Foxcatcher, Interstellar, Gone Girl, Lego Movie, The Guest, 12 O’Clock Boys, Under The Skin
(@Ed_Travis)
David:
Top 10 movies in 2014:
1. Boyhood 2. Grand Budapest Hotel 3. Whiplash 4. Inherent Vice 5. Birdman 6. Nightcrawler 7. Under the Skin 8. Gone Girl 9. Blind
10. Babadook
Stuff you may not have given a chance, but probably should: Guardians Of The Galaxy, Snowpiercer, Grand Piano, John Wick, The One I Love, Edge of Tomorrow, 22 Jump Street, Noah, The Guest, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. (@DavidDelgadoh)
Austin: Before going into my list I should clarify that I haven’t seen a whole lot of 2014 films. Looking at critics’ lists, there are some whose entire lists I haven’t watched. This is just my personal favorites so far. Contrary to what one might expect, writing about film actually decreased my movie viewing in general as writing is time-consuming, and I’ve slowed down on theatrical releases a lot to focus on home video. Most of my theatrical viewing these days is repertory.
10. The Lego Movie / How To Train Your Dragon 2 (tie)
Don’t make me choose between these two new animated classics full of beauty and heart.
9. Guardians Of The Galaxy
Among the best of Marvel’s expanding universe.
8. The Raid 2 (Indonesia)
A superb and mind-bogglingly visceral action spectacle.
7. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
A super-effective combination of old fashioned intrigue and Marvel’s moden flair.
6. Why Don’t You Play In Hell (Japan)
An absurdly outrageous love letter to film, this was my favorite pick of 2013’s Fantastic Fest Tour.
5. The Attorney (South Korea)
Sparks fly when a self-centered lawyer gets passionate about a social justice case (and you will, too).
4. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
The new Apes saga is the most surprisingly wonderful franchise of our time.
3. Turtle Power: The Definitive History Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
As a TMNT megafan this documentary was made for me; interviewing director Randall Lobb was one of my year’s highlights.
2. A Letter To Momo (Japan)
Much weeping ensued with this magical and profound look at grief and growth through the eyes of a pre-teen girl.
1. John Wick
Great character, action, and world-building. I can see this dropping eventually in favor of more serious fare but this was my immediate gut reaction.
My Year In Review on Letterboxd with top 20, Discoveries, Reviews, etc.
(@VforVashaw)
Jon:
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel 2. Under the Skin 3. Guardians of the Galaxy 4. Jodorowsky’s Dune 5. The Lego Movie 6. Birdman 7. John Wick 8. Nightcrawler 9. Snowpiercer
10. Gone Girl
Honorable Mentions: The Guest, Boyhood and Blue Ruin.
Awesome Films I saw but haven’t been released yet: Felt, The Tribe, It Follows.
Disclaimer: Have not seen Inherent Vice or Selma yet. (@Texas_Jon)
Jordan:
(In alphabetical order)
1. Birdman — Feels like a play that outgrew the stage.
2. The Drop -Came out of nowhere and refuses to vacate my brain.
3. Fury — When a quiet dinner scene is just as intense as your tank fight, you’re doing something right.
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel — We’ve come a long way from the Bottle Rocket Motel
5. The Guardians of the Galaxy — Can we make Groot the official spokesperson for Arbor Day?
6. The Lego Movie — Should’ve sucked and yet blew all of our collective minds.
7. Nightcrawler — Maybe I don’t dislike Jake Gyllenhaal as much as I thought….
8. Obvious Child — Came for the controversy, stayed for the feels.
9. The Skeleton Twins — Laugh ’til you hurt. Hurt ’til you laugh.
10. Whiplash -I couldn’t tell you which was louder: Teller’s drumming of my on-edge pulse.
(@ProblemPasture)
James:
1. The Raid 2 — Because it’s The Godfather of Action Cinema
2. Under The Skin — A hypnotic riddle wrapped in a mystery inside Scarlett Johansson’s alluring form
3. Locke — Who thought the pouring of concrete could be so riveting?
4. The Babadook — The best horror film that’s not really a horror film in years
5. The Tale of Princess Kaguya — Heartwarming + Beautiful + Poignant = Studio Ghibli’s best film since Spirited Away
6. Foxcatcher — Intense. Compelling. Sad. Horrible.
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel — Wes Anderson turns Ralph Fiennes into a cracking comic actor in a literate screwball comedy with a surprisingly deep emotional core
8. Boyhood — Because Richard Linklater is awesome at cinematically translating the human experience
9. Starred Up — Brutal and riveting anti-Shawshank shenanigans that proves Jack O’Connell is a star
10. Why Don’t You Play in Hell? — The most funnest film about the fun of film ever made
Honourable Mentions: What We Do in the Shadows, Whiplash, Nightcrawler, Predestination, Mr Turner, ’71, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Lego Movie, Calvary, Gone Girl, Blue Ruin, Cheap Thrills, Edge of Tomorrow, Guardians of the Galaxy (@JCOnThaGrid)
Liam: Cinapse Editor Liam O’Donnell recorded an entire episode of his Cinepunx podcast which was a “year in review”. There he listed 20 of his favorite films in no particular order.
Gloria The Grand Budapest Hotel The Look of Silence Jodorowsky’s Dune Under the Skin Blue Ruin Snowpiercer Guardians of the Galaxy The Guest The Lego Movie Whiplash The Tale of Princess Kaguya Nightcrawler The Way He Looks Force Majeure Her Locke Night Moves Ida
Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
(@liamrulz)
You can also find an incredible list from Cinapse staffer Jacob Knight relating his 15 Favorite First Time Viewings of 2014 (which are all repertory films not made this year).
Feel free to disagree, recommend anything we missed, or echo our praises of certain films on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!
And We’re Out.