Film Trash Reviews: Best Films of 2014

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Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
Each day leading up to the New Year I will reveal ten films in the count down of my favorite films of the year. Feel free to chime in with your favorite films of the year or what you think of my choices. The top 20 films of the year will be revealed as part of my annual article for Buzz Feed as well as on here on New Years Eve at 10pm Central Time.

Here are the best films of the year...

#70 - Veronica Mars



It might not be the greatest film of the year or touch new ground but for fans of the show and I am one of them it does more than any episode could have done making worthy of the movie creation.

#69 - Palo Alto



Gia Coppola a cousin of the Coppola family does a great job taking from Sofia with style and art and adding smart and sharp interesting dialogue to the mix in this coming-of-age story.

#68 - If I Stay...



Despite bad critical reviews If I Stay adds a great sci-fi spin to the coming-of-age rom-com. Though the story is cliched it still builds for quite an entertaining ride.

#67 - What If..



Not just your basic Romantic Comedy, What If allows it's extremely talented cast and Juno Temple to thrive in what might possibly be the only film where she isn't shown completely naked.

#66 - The Mule



A late night shocker, The Mule didn't get much of a release in the United States but it's smart, captivating and true story allows for a very dark comedy with suspense to match.

#65 - White Bird in a Blizzard



Shailene Woodley is stunning in this book adaptation and the twists and turns just keep coming as the mystery unravels for this Sundance hit.

#64 - Blue Ruin



There is quite the story around the release of Blue Ruin and I was directly a part of it. Sitting in the theater at Sundance as the seats collapsed. The audience was escorted out and given a refund or to rewatch the film at a new screening. At the second screening the same thing happened and the theater was shut down. During the third and final screening that was for free a fire alarm was pulled. The film was never fully seen publicly at Sundance and it's creepy story transcended into how the film was received. However even on a surface level it excites.

#63 - Slaying the Badger



This is one of the best 30 for 30's from ESPN of all-time. A must watch, thrill ride.

#62 - Mitt



A documentary of the campaign of Mitt Romney gives an exclusive and unique inside look into a presidential campaign.

#61 - About Last Night



Kevin Hart carries this Broadway play into the 21st century and does a hell of a job at it.



The only one I have seen thus far is Blue Ruin. I loved it for the first half then it goes some places I didn't enjoy. This is pretty normal for me with thrillers. Good performance by the lead and some excellent scenes.
from me.

Oops. Thanks Mark
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Letterboxd



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
Yeah, Blue Ruin was on the list mostly for the story behind it's release as well as the style it presented. I feel like in the end it turned into a film about gun violence, which was sort of bizarre.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
Each day leading up to the New Year I will reveal ten films in the count down of my favorite films of the year. Feel free to chime in with your favorite films of the year or what you think of my choices. The top 20 films of the year will be revealed as part of my annual article for Buzz Feed as well as on here on New Years Eve at 10pm Central Time.

(Day 2)

Here are the best films of the year...

#60 - X-Men: Days of Future Past



Any film that tries it's best to tie an entire franchise together into one coherent story and does it with perfection is a film that must be on this list. By far the best X-Men since the original.

#59 - Pride



A strange but motivational true story about an LGBT community protesting for Minors back in the 1980's. Pride is weird in all the right ways but sometimes feels like a TV movie and because of that it falls down a few spots on our countdown.

#58 - Life Itself



A Movie about the man who talked about movies for a living and did it the best. This Roger Ebert doc is perfection for any lover of his work.

#57 - Under the Skin



Known for being the movie where Scarlett goes completely full frontal, Under the Skin is still a creepy and stylish film, however sometimes the story just seems to simple for the work put into making it such a great art film.

#56 - Dawn (Short Film)



Not much can be said about the 1950's coming-of-age film Dawn without giving something a way but if you ever get the chance to see it, it is definitely worth the watch.

#55 - The Sleepwalker



A film about a sleepwalker but as the mystery unfolds we realize that it is about much more than that. The creepy tone and spot on acting make this film better than it should be.

#54 - Fury



Yes it's just a simple WWII film but Brad Pitts in it and anything Brad Pitt is in can't really be all that bad.

#53 - Happy Christmas



You have to be a fan of Joe Swanberg's mumblecore works to understand the film and why the acting in it is spot on but even without a great script Swanberg does the best with telling a fitting story.

#52 - Toy Story That Time Forgotten (TV Special)



Pixar never goes wrong and in there only release of the year they still hit it on the head!

#51 - Still Alice



Julianne Moore will and should take home an oscar for her performance in this movie and her performance alone is the reason why Still Alice is number fifty-one on our countdown.



From that set I have seen X-Men, Under The Skin, and Fury. I liked them all to varying degrees and for different reasons. X-Men is fun, Under The Skin has amazing cinematography and a bizarre narrative, Fury is a very solid movie that ends poorly.

Can't wait to see Life Itself.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
Each day leading up to the New Year I will reveal ten films in the count down of my favorite films of the year. Feel free to chime in with your favorite films of the year or what you think of my choices. The top 20 films of the year will be revealed as part of my annual article for Buzz Feed as well as on here on New Years Eve at 10pm Central Time.

(Day 3)

Here are the best films of the year...

#50 - Snowpiercer



Snowpiercer has an amazing cast and great performances and you wouldn't be able to tell it by the makeup that covers the stars faces as well as the poor amount of advertising for this would be blockbuster smash. Snowpiercer leads behind the Hunger Games franchise as good end of the world drama done right.

#49 - The Homesman



The Homesman might be just a western but it is one of the best ones I have seen in the last twenty years, right behind Meeks Cutoff. This truly dramatic story will shock you!

#48 - The Normal Heart



A films with A-list actors performing underground protesters of the AIDS situation in NYC in 1980, The Normal Heart comes in as one of the best TV movies of all time.

#47 - Nymphomaniac Vol. 1



Vol. 1 works mostly as a back story of understanding for that situations that happen in the second Vol. All together Nymphomaniac is a masterpiece but the stories of her teen years exploring her sexuality make for a quite engaging and raw experience for viewers.

#46 - The Battered Bastards of Baseball



One of the best documentaries of the year, Battered Bastards of Baseball is a shocking and exciting tale for both sports lovers and lovers of documentaries alike.

#45 - Ivory Tower



Did you go to college. Then this will be engaging and interesting, a must watch. If not I'm sorry but I did...

#44 - Get on Up



Not the best True Story on the countdown...we'll save that for the top ten. However this James Brown Bio Pic is about as good as it can get and for that it makes the countdown at number forty-four.

#43 - Life After Beth



I hate Zombie movies, I really hate them so when there is one that I like, it gets the credit it deserves. This is one of those few times.

#42 - Frank



Have you watched Frank? Then watch Frank. I don't know how else to explain the attraction to this weird masterpiece.

#41 - The Babadook



The Babadook is thrilling, funny and scary all at the same time. I have never had a film where I'm laughing one second and then jumping out of my seat the next. This thrill ride is one of the best horror films of the last five years, it just so happens this was a really good year for movies otherwise this film would make the top twenty.



I really disliked Snowpiercer, but seem to be significantly in the minority on that one. Can't wait to see Frank, coming to Netflix soon.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
Yeah Battered Bastards of Baseball is shockingly good and is on Netflix right now. Frank is definitely strange but strange in a punch drunk comedic sort of way, a remarkable true story!



Yeah Battered Bastards of Baseball is shockingly good and is on Netflix right now. Frank is definitely strange but strange in a punch drunk comedic sort of way, a remarkable true story!

I may check out Bastards. I have heard a couple people talk about it.



I've been looking to watch Pride. I've heard good things about it.
__________________
Not So Slim Shady



I really disagree with a lot of your... I don't even know if it's long enough to call analysis, but yeah. + It's a little weird to see the word "perfection" used for a movie you have ranked 60th. Anyway. It is nice to see some movies on there that I haven't heard of. Will add a few to my watch list.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
Each day leading up to the New Year I will reveal ten films in the count down of my favorite films of the year. Feel free to chime in with your favorite films of the year or what you think of my choices. The top 20 films of the year will be revealed as part of my annual article for Buzz Feed as well as on here on New Years Eve at 10pm Central Time.

(Day 4)

Here are the best films of the year...

#40 - Land Ho



Land Ho is a simply a buddy comedy about two old men taking an adventure on there last limb and for a change the story isn't about either one of them dying.

#39 - Noah



You ever wonder what a bible story would look like as a blockbuster if they stayed glued to the source material but the filmmakers weren't tripped up in the faith...Noah is that film.

#38 - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes



Finally the time has come where technology will allow for a film with this amount of visual effects to stand the test of time. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes goes back to the social commentary that made the original film great while still building from the blockbuster franchise.

#37 - Fort Bliss



Fort Bliss is one of those films that on a bad year would be in the Oscar race but instead it seemed to nearly disappear. This emotional story of a mother struggling with adapting to her child after being deployed is pure gold.

#36 - Rob the Mob



And the award for stupidest title of the year goes to...

Rob the Mob is awesome, thrilling, true crime, gangsta genre filmmaking with a twist but because of it's title and marketing it will never see the audience it needs to go down in history.

#35 - The Double



The Double is the winner of the two man source material war that was (Enemy vs. The Double) this year. It is definitely a flavor film...If you like Drive and Being John Malkovich than The Double is for you because it's both movies put into one

#34 - The Skeleton Twins



"Are you reading Marley and me? Sad."
"Why is it sad? Does the dog die at the end? Look how much I had left."

#33 - Guardians of the Galaxy



Due to this film, we will see new levels of story telling.

#32 - Edge of Tomorrow



Tom Cruise is a badass again!

#31 - Cold in July



You can't say much about Cold in July without giving too much away. Style, mystery and ooooo THAT SOUNDTRACK. Make this the a great detective film.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
#30 - Big Hero 6 (tie)



A superhero animated disney adventure with just as much heart and comedy as any film from the disney brand. Big Hero 6 is genuinely funny entertainment for all ages.

#30 - Neighbors (tie)



Screw Animal House, I might get a lot of flack for this but Neighbors is my favorite frat house comedy of all-time.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
#29 - 22 Jump Street



22 Jump Street answers a question I have long asked...Will there be a time and place when a film is parodying itself?...and the answer is Yes and it is comedy gold.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
#28 - St. Vincent



St. Vincent is one of those comedies that comes out of no where and based on the performances and cast of the film becomings something better than it ever should have been. St. Vincent is one of my favorite films of the year and it should be said that on any other year most of the films remaining on this list would be in my top ten.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
#27 - Oculus



This film came out of no where and quickly became be the best horror film of the year. Who would have thought that WWE Entertainment would finally put out a good product. Oculus is thrilling entertainment with an editing style that is top notch.



Somewhere out there I'm having a good time.
#26 - Feast (Short Film)



The best short film of the year will get an oscar in a few months and then this sweat film of a dog growing up will most likely fade into nothingness. But still it is great!