Top Ten: The Best Films of 2014

     From more than 80 titles, I have chosen my top ten most favorite films of 2014. The process included further analysis of the movies, with some changes after seeing them twice or more, weighing them for impact, execution/editing, cinematography and personal satisfaction. The final three selections were the tough ones; there were at least five or more that could have made the final cut, so I added an "honorable mentions" list. Without further ado, here they are..

Top 10 Best Films:

10. The Lego Movie

(Directed by Chris Miller & Phil Lord. Starring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson)      Everything is awesome when an animated film delights you to bones. The Lego Movie hits all cylinders, from eye candy visuals to witty one-liners to its political message. It also features a surprisingly earnest story and a remarkable cameo from Will Ferrell. 9. The Grand Budapest Hotel

(Directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, Jude Law)      Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel is an outlandish concoction of thrills and laughs. The tale revolves around the deepening relationship between a concierge (Fiennes) and a lobby boy (Revolori) in a once glorious hotel in a fictional European land. Ralph Fiennes's brisk delivery is worth noting and Tony Revolori is another revelation. Conversely, it really is the supporting ensemble cast, from Tilda Swinton to Willem Dafoe, Adrian Brody to Bill Murray, which made this film about nostalgia and being young a success.

8. The Skeleton Twins

(Directed by Craig Johnson. Starring Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson)      The Skeleton Twins is a simple story about twins Maggie and Milo, reunited after a number of years, when both of their once happy lives became tragic. The exceptional compassion from its lead actors (Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) elevated the film into a level that made it a heartfelt pleasure instead of a dragging cliché. Also, it features the best lip-syncing moment in movie history.

7. Gone Girl

(Directed by David Fincher. Starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry)      Gone Girl is brilliant filmmaking, an exquisite adaptation that has been true to its source material. David Fincher is a director often associated with the term "thought provoking", but he's not settled to just being that kind of an auteur. In Gone Girl, he has still shown flare on the plot twist column, but it is more of him being a realist on how marriage develops in the modern age that has driven the plot. Damn, Rosamund.

6. The Babadook

(Directed by Jennifer Kent. Starring Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall)      The Babadook is a breath of fresh air from the putrid cheap scares of most horror movies nowadays; it is purely horrifying and genuinely moving. It also works as a smart psychological film, with a final scene that stirs the audience to different interpretations of what really occurred.

5. Enemy

(Directed by Dennis Villanueve. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon)      "Chaos is order yet undeciphered", the opening line to this film is the key hint to the narrative’s message. Similar to "Under the Skin", here is another cryptic film that will make you connect everything about the story right after the credits roll. Dennis Villanueve seems inspired by David Lynch and David Fincher, as he created a surreal masterpiece. This is a story that will have you guessing even after the last shocking reel.

4. Nightcrawler

(Directed by Dan Gilroy. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton)      First time director Dan Gilroy (brother of "Michael Clayton" director Tony Gilroy) has already proven how promising of a newcomer he is, in Nightcrawler. This is partially due to a well-written script and the viscerally deft tonal shifts of the movie. Nevertheless, what really made the film an instant classic is the career defining performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, which has drawn comparison, by a number of critics, to Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro's eminent character from the 1976 film, "Taxi Driver"). Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom is a charismatic evil inside a courteous suit.

3. Under the Skin

(Directed by Jonathan Glazer. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Adam Pearson, Paul Brannigan)      2014 is a great year for Scarlett Johansson, she kicked the year of with "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (which belongs to my five best superhero movies of all-time) and became an ass-kicking chick in "Lucy" (a tale that is both brainless and wildly entertaining). However, what really did put ScarJo on a pedestal is the sci-fi art film from Jonathan Glazer entitled "Under the Skin". Under the Skin is a compelling picture, this is the kind of movie that you'll watch first as a haunting visual experience and back again as an art to decipher. This might seem like a "too-artsy-I-can't-get-it" type, but it is purely literal stuff, with a cohesive message on both the beauty and the beast innate in every human being.

2. Snowpiercer

(Directed by Bong Joon-Ho. Starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-Ho, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton)

     Bong Joon-Ho's imaginative world of "Snowpiercer" is something that you have never seen before; it is desolate, inexplicable and wicked. This is by far the best apocalyptic science fiction vehicle I've seen from the past decade; it just never loses steam, an exceptional story that twists and turns with each door of the train being opened. A delight to the eye and brain from start to (the unexpected) finish, better watch it now or you'll miss a frenetic and helluva memorable classic.

1. Boyhood

(Directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater)       Richard Linklater pulled the greatest trick of his career in a masterpiece that touches the human heart. Boyhood is an emotional experience that mirrors the existence of its viewers, a personal expression at its purest. I cannot define Boyhood as a film of any existing genre as it propagated into something that is more than a drama or a coming-of-age story. It is unconventional in its own right, disdaining rules of filmmaking, disregarding the customary three-act structure. Furthermore, Boyhood is the most fascinating portrayal of life ever made; I did not watch this movie, I lived in it.

Honorable Mentions:

Whiplash

Guardians of the Galaxy

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Edge of Tomorrow

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Only Lovers Left Alive

Interstellar

Pride

Jodorowsky's Dune

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Note: Unfortunately, most of the award buzzing movies released last year was not shown theatrically and is still unavailable on DVD/Blu-ray here in the Philippines, that's the reason why there are tons of other movies that you might wonder of not making my top ten. The list includes Birdman, The Imitation Game, Theory of Everything, Citizenfour, Foxcatcher, Selma, The Immigrant, Still Alice and American Sniper.

Other Good Movies:

22 Jump Street, John Wick, The Guest, Big Hero 6, Fury, Filth, Chef, Obvious Child, Begin Again, Locke, Neighbors, The Fault In Our Stars.

Worst Films of 2014:

1. Let's Be Cops

2. Transformers: Age of Extinction

3. I, Frankenstein

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

5. Sex Tape

6. Dracula Untold

7. The Other Woman

8. Ouija

9. If I Stay

10. Blended

Other Awful Releases:

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Annabelle

Winter's Tale

The Judge

Transcendence

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