The Best Films of 2014.

Another year comes to a close and compared to other film years, 2014 ranks squarely down the middle. Some of its highest achievements are films I know I'll think about for years to come, while others already seem a forgotten memory. None of the films listed below have to worry, though. Whether they burrowed into my brain, immediately won over my affection, or challenged me enough to feel they had accomplished something, these films below represent (for better or worse) my favorite movies of 2014. Enjoy!

RUNNERS-UP

THE BABADOOK

There were few films in 2014 that dug in as deep as The Babadook and its leading female. Terrifying as horror, and even more-so as a psychological portrayal of a mother pushed to the brink, The Babadook is unforgettable beyond its spine tingling scares.

FORCE MAJEURE

Force Majeure isn't a disaster film, but it gives its central cataclysmic event more gravity than most would. Then it pores over the event for two hours, slowly running back and forth over motives and meaning until its characters crawl out of their skin and the audience longs for a simpler disaster.

FOXCATCHER

Watching the three central performances of Foxcatcher slowly decompose before our eyes would be enough to make the film linger, but its sustained feeling of dread and the slow unraveling of its tightly crafted world give it an impact that carries on long after the film's end.

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Wes Anderson is in the middle of a strange creative peak. In some ways, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a culmination of a strangely fascinating trilogy (complete with Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom) that takes Anderson's aesthetic and finds deeper humanity than he ever has before without sacrificing any of his vision.

IDA

The greatest pairing at the movies this year was at the heart of Ida, a heartfelt and visually concise drama that places two stunning lead performances against each other. The film's heaviness comes not just from its historical weight or its moral implications, but from the delicate portrait it paints of two women coming together to examine their chosen paths.

INHERENT VICE

On first viewing, Inherent Vice seems insignificant, scattershot and even a little silly. But Paul Thomas Anderson's grand vision and entrancing storytelling rhythms invite more than meets the eye. On second viewing, maybe those things remain true, but its committed style makes you forget the bumpy road.

LOVE IS STRANGE

A bittersweet love story, Love is Strange moves quietly from scene to scene of family interactions to fill in the blanks of two characters who find themselves stuck in what should be the happiest point in their lives. Movies and performances this goodhearted rarely get their recognition, but Love is Strange's quiet confidence gives it an emotional punch that sticks.

MR. TURNER

Mike Leigh films are rarely as rigid and thickly plotted as Mr. Turner, but what remains are his careful observations. Leigh takes his historical figure, draws out the boundaries of his life, and fills in the border with a fully felt portrait of a man who he could have easily created himself.

OBVIOUS CHILD

Long live the romantic comedy that finds a way to break the mold. Obvious Child throws a wrench in the standard romcom formula, but then follows the same map to arrive at a place so deeply sweet that it feels like the hundredth time and the first time.

THE ONE I LOVE

How did nobody come up with The One I Love before? It's conceit carries such a strange twist that you can't believe someone hasn't thought of it before as a way to get past the typical trappings of romantic drama. But thank god they didn't because the film we have instead manages to take its clever tweak to fascinating places.

THE TOP TEN

10. THE GUEST (TIE)

Ties are stupid! But I refuse to not find room for the kinetic energy of The Guest, a movie that dares to be a bare-bones slasher, a pulsating thriller, a high-grade military action film and none all at the same time. With each beat of its synth-driven score and each stare of Dan Stevens' gloriously over-the-top performance, The Guest becomes less an homage and more its own unique beast.

10. NIGHTCRAWLER (TIE)

Nor could I not save a space for the high-strung theatrics of Nightcrawler, a drama that tries to ask big questions of the media while still wearing the costume of a pulpy thriller. Less a cautionary tale and more a seedy action film with moments of bombastic moralizing, Nightcrawler is a committed vision that finds success because of its willingness to ride its dark path to the bitter end.

09. PRIDE

A "feel-good movie," if you must, Pride manages to be the most heartwarming film of the year by earning its own sentimentality and constructing a portrait of a historical moment we haven't yet seen without betraying its story to cloying emotional beats. Bravo.

08. SNOWPIERCER

Part satire, part thriller, Snowpiercer never short-changes either of these focuses in telling its thrillingly ambitious societal allegory. The themes are obvious, but the unique storytelling and director Bong Joon-ho's visuals make it the thriller of the year with a cast who drives it to the next level.

07. TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT

From the outset, Two Days, One Night offers you a clear idea of how its events will transpire. Brothers Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne make a simple promise: to take their slight conceit and turn it into something fully realized and quietly stunning. With the aid of Marion Cotillard's thoughtful performance, they succeed and find the year's most gentle heartbreak.

06. SELMA

In a year of biopics that seemed to rarely think outside the box, Ava Duvernay's Selma comes into the equation and moves beyond capturing history to capture a moment. In telling a story so simple and familiar, Duvernay's careful eye lands on something truer than many of her counterparts could ever accomplish.

05. LEVIATHAN

Leviathan is a 2014 film most people will see in 2015, and even more people won't see at all. But this Russian drama, which lightens its devastating blows with moments of fleeting comedy, deserves a bigger audience for willing to go full bore against a home government that continues to dig its citizens deeper into the past. Political filmmaking that drives far beyond human drama with some of the most stunning visuals of the year.

04. BIRDMAN

The sheer ambition of Birdman is more than most films would be willing to undertake, but only a director as angry and slighted as Alejandro G. Inarritu would be willing to push it to the brink in order to find success. And, despite the cinematic failures of his past, he finds something enthralling and ultimately cathartic in his story of flawed characters and their flawed art. 

03. GONE GIRL

David Fincher's second straight adaptation of a bestselling novel shouldn't have been this good. But with an eye as keen as his, a leading lady gunning for her material, and the year's most smartly assembled cast, Gone Girl becomes more than mere typical adult dramatic fare and becomes a haunting examination of the mundane surroundings of suburban marriage.

02. UNDER THE SKIN

Under the Skin is the cinematic experience of the year. For just under two hours, director Jonathan Glazer takes you on a spellbinding, transfixing journey that slowly fills the viewer with increasing dread and tension and refuses to relent. Neither simple science-fiction nor arthouse provocation, Under the Skin is the proof that an artist and actress at the height of their power can still turn viewers inside out.

01. BOYHOOD

In another universe, Boyhood could have been a folly. Imagine if Richard Linklater spent 12 years spent laboring over an unremarkable story, sub-par performances and arrived at a place of apathy. Instead, the stars aligned in the form of a perfectly matched cast, a script that flows effortlessly and a director who understood exactly the magic he could create if everything went right. It's a boring consensus choice, maybe, but also a film that is too good to deny and an accomplishment unmatched in 2014. 

2014 was an impressive, if not incredible, year for movies. In that same vein, I could've continued my list with any of these other impressive films: Beyond the Lights, Big Eyes, The Boxtrolls, Calvary, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Double, Frank, Godzilla, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Life Itself, Locke, Lucy, A Most Violent Year, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Skeleton Twins, Starred Up, Still Alice, Stranger By the Lake, Tracks, Venus in Fur, We are the Best!, Whiplash, Winter Sleep.

And for the opposite side of the spectrum, I don't typically watch bad movies because I don't seek them out. But sometimes they find me, and while I don't have enough of a scope to call them the worst, here are my Least of 2014:

01) The Judge
02) Men, Women & Children

03) Unbroken

04) The Monuments Men

05) St. Vincent