I'm only a bit more than a month from declaring what my best and worst movies of 2013 were. I am in no way ready to really tell you what this year's best and worst were. The personal rule I impose on myself is that I must see at least 100 films released during a given year before giving such opinions. As of now, I'm at about 40. Don't worry, that's roughly 10 ahead of where I usually am come this time of year.
What I do like to do is at least give you a preliminary list. This is rather fluid since I plan on watching at least 60 more movies, including most of the Oscar contenders, and probably closer to 80 before I do this for real. By that time, movies here might not even be ranked in the same order. With that said, here are what I think the best and worst movies of 2014 that I've seen so far. Where available, click on the title for my full review. For some, reviews will be posted in the coming weeks.
The Best:
1. Gone Girl
2. The LEGO Movie
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
4. Under the Skin
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
7. The Raid 2
8. Edge of Tomorrow
9. Belle
10. The Equalizer
The Worst:
1. Godzilla
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction
3. Vampire Academy
4. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
6. Frankie & Alice
7. Earth to Echo
8. Only Lovers Left Alive
9. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
10. Think Like a Man Too
Once again, I'm sure this list will look drastically different, at least on the best side, after I watch lots more of that "critically acclaimed" stuff that gets released to theaters this time of year. Just give me some time.
Your faves?
I absolutely love that you recognised Belle, Under the Skin and Edge of Tomorrow. And Gone Girl first? Perfect. Looking forward to your definitive 2014 list!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Belle is one of those movies that might move much higher, or drop quite a bit. I really "just" saw it and I'm still processing it. Getting the review written will help me figure out which.
DeleteWow, surprised to see Godzilla atop the worst list. Pretty cool to see Gone Girl on the flipside, and I love that both Marvel films are on there too :) I'm posting mine pretty soon, so keep your eyes peeled! :D
ReplyDeleteA lot of that is because I had expectations for Godzilla which it failed miserably to meet. On top of that, I thought it did what it was trying to do rather poorly. The review explains it all a bit better. Gone Girl blew me away. It's going to be tough for anything to knock it out that spot for me.
DeleteI love seeing Gone Girl at #1! I hope some of these stick around after you hit 100.
ReplyDeleteIt's going tobe tough to move Gone Girl. Really, I think my top 4 all have an excellent chance of sticking until the end. The others should mostly end up 11-20ish.
DeleteGone Girl is my favorite too although I have high hopes for Birdman, which I'll hopefully see soon
ReplyDeleteMy feelings, exactly.
DeleteI haven't seen all these movies -- and I have yet to see most of the recent releases -- but Gone Girl is a great choice for #1.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I only saw GG because I convinced my wife we should see it on a recent date night. She liked it until the end which she hated. I understand because its not exactly a ringing endorsement for the institution of marriage. Lol.
DeleteGone Girl! Under the Skin! Guardians of the Galaxy! All in my Top Five right now.
ReplyDeleteGodzilla? You people are too hard on that film, which was rather great.
Loving that we have similar top 5s. Godzilla...well...we'll have to agree to disagree.
DeleteOur preliminary top 10s are pretty different although we do have a couple in common(Gone Girl, Under The Skin) I still have some to see until I publish mine. For what it's worth, here's my list so far:
ReplyDeletehttp://letterboxd.com/mas365/list/films-released-in-2014-ranked-so-far/
I'll check it out as soon as I get to a real computer- too many issues copying and pasting from my phone. Without seeing it, I'm guessing you have at least a few I haven't seen yet. It'll probably be this coming fall before I call myself done and post my "final" list.
DeleteYou're not getting any arguments from me.
ReplyDeleteHey Wendell! I'm THRILLED to see Belle on here, that'll definitely make mine too, same w/ The Winter Soldier and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Great list, man!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Belle is one that could move up for me since I just saw it and I'm still digesting it.
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