My Top 10 Films of 2014

Howdy people of the internet, the year is pretty much done and all major films that’s come out have come and gone, with all that being said I think it’s about time that I give you my top 10 list of my favourite films of 2014. Now before I get into this list I have to explain a few things:

1. As per-usual I DO NOT include 2013 films that got released in 2014 here in the UK, and what I mean by that is films like: The Wolf of Wall Street, 12 Years A Slave, Fruitvale Station, those were originally released in 2013 in the US and for me they don’t count. I only list films that are new and were released between the start and end of this year.
2. The following films are listed as such because I had a good time with them but I also tried to categorize them in terms of fun,  surprise and re-watch value.
3. This list was hella hard to construct because I find it hard to stack certain films on top others when some are clearly better than others, but since it is personal enjoyment it really changes things up.

With all that in mind let’s begin shall we?

10. The Imitation Game

The last entry on this list was hard because before my final choice there were at least three other films occupying this space, but once I thought about it I found The Imitation Game deserves a spot on this top 10. This was a film I expected to be good however it really surprised me how good it was with a very intriguing story about one man’s goal to help win WWII by cracking an uncrackable Nazi code with a computer, but more so than that, it about a man struggling with his identity in a time when he wouldn’t be accepted for who he really was. And with an incredible performance from my man, Benedict Cumberbatch, it was a great piece of film to watch.

9. Edge of Tomorrow

I feel bad about Edge of Tomorrow, it is a film I keep forgetting came out this year because it was released in a very specific window of time around Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past, so it sort of slipped under the radar. But make no mistake I like this film, in fact, I REALLY liked. The best thing about this film was the way it surprised me with how fun and awesome it was. I mean the trailer for the film looked so shit and I seriously thought the film was gonna be crap from the way it was marketed, but man I was so wrong. This film’s main aspect was the repetition of going through the same day over and over, however it was handled in such a smart, action-packed and humourous way and with awesome performances from Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt and Bill Paxton, it was a good time.

8. Godzilla

Now I can see a lot of people getting on my case about this choice as Godzilla wasn’t everyone’s favourite film and putting above the previous entries will probably annoy some people. But screw it, I don’t care. This film I saw three times in the cinema and had a great experience each time. This was the reboot I wanted and while it had its problems for sure, I will never be able to get over how good the film made me feel with the great visual effects, monster fights, soundtrack and cinematography.

7. How To Train Your Dragon 2

I think that this is the first film on the list to give me the feels yo (for those who don’t know what that means, it means: A wave of emotions that sometimes cannot be adequately explained). How To Train Your Dragon 2 was a terrific sequel to the 2010 original which pretty much improved the first film in every way possible. The story was deeper, the visuals were detailed, the music was incredible and the characters were so wonderful. Overall the film just gave me an emotional feelings that I haven’t felt in an animated film for a while.

6. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Ah X-Men: Day of Future Past, you lovely film you. This was the film I was really hoping would be good because it could have been a train wreck, but it ended up being one of my favourite experiences in the cinema. This film had some great action, a cool time travel story and an incredible cast of past and present characters. Bryan Singer not only continued the good string of X-Men films but he CORRECTED THE FRIGGING TIME AND ERASED X-MEN 3 AND X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE FROM EXISTENCE! BEST. THING. EVER. It really does annoy me that this film escaped the top 5, however I believe that the next films honestly just beat it out of the higher half of this list.

5. Nightcrawler

Okay now we’re into the meaty half of the list and here we have a film that I had no expectation for and it ended up being on one of my favourite films of the year. Nightcrawler is one of the most impressive films I have seen in a while as it deals with a subject matter that is very close to life; news reporting. Through a determined yet unsettling main character Lou Bloom, we get to see the inner workings of how news is filmed and presented and the dodgy dealings that go on behind the scenes. The film is disturbing and makes you question the morals and ethics of that line of work and thanks to an epic performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, it was a film I had to watch twice.

4. Guardians of the Galaxy

Oh yes, Guardians of the Friggin’ Galaxy! This was a film I was hyped for, but didn’t know whether it would turn out to be good or not because it was an unknown Marvel comic book property when compared to its previous films. However Marvel Studios proved that they can pretty make anything work as this was not only one of the best comic book films in recent history but also one of the best sci-fi films for quite some time. It also helped that the soundtrack was amazing, the cast were incredible and the humour was on-point throughout.

3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This is a film that I think deserved that spot especially after seeing it the second time. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is such a great film, it takes the foundation of the first film and expands upon it in a great and unique way. This was the film where the apes were the focus, it was not only about Caesar but also about Koba too and their relationship. The film was very dark, emotional and tension-filled throughout with awesome performances and incredible visual effects.

2. Gone Girl

Man, Gone Girl, what a great film. This was almost number one, however I really would have needed to see this film a second time to know if I loved it to the highest degree. That being said this was a film that loads of people were talking about before it was released and then I saw it, and then I believed in the hype. I don’t know how this film compared to book, however as a film I thought it was incredibly thought-provoking, full of tension and had so many unexpected twists and turns. Ben Affleck gave a great performance but I think it was Rosamund Pike that really surprised me with her incredible performance for sure.

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

It was a close call between this film and Gone Girl, however in the end I think I always knew that Captain America: The Winter Soldier would end up being my number one. When considering my first experience with the film, how many times I’ve seen it and how much fun I had with it, I just had to put it as my number one. Cap 2 pretty much outdone the original in every way possible and was the first film since The Avengers that’s truly changed the game for the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its story and genre-focused adventure. Add on top of that great characters, an amazing story, some of the most impressive action sequences and hand-to-hand combat that would make your mind explode, this was one of the best comic book films to come out, ever.

Conclusion

In the end 2014, its had its ups and downs but I do believe that its been a WAY better yeah than 2013. The good films were awesome and made me feel super happy and satisfied with my time at the cinema. With 2015 on the horizon I can’t wait for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Spectre, Jurassic World and Tomorrowland among some of the major films I’m interested in, I cannot wait to see how it turns out.

So how do you feel about my list and are any of your favourites on here? Also do you feel like some of these entries are wrong? And just in general what were you favourite films of 2014? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to leave them below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post, laters! 😀