Top 10 movies of 2014

I love movies. I love movies so much that in this list of Top 10 Movies of 2014 I left off two Bill Murray films — Saint Vincent and The Grand Budapest Hotel. And anyone that knows me knows that Bill Murray is my favorite actor. So we here at GameZone collaborated to come up with our Top 10 movies of 2014 list. We didn’t agree on all of the movies on it, and we had to make some tough cuts, but considering our demographic and interests, these are the ones that made the list.

10 Chef

Personally, this is one of the best films I’ve seen this year. John Favreau, John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara and Scarlett Johansson headline an amazing cast and an even better script. It’s a heartwarming father and son story with dramatic moments sprinkled in throughout some truly funny writing and acting. It’s also a redemption story. And if you love food, see Chef. I left craving a Cuban sandwich.  And bought one 10 minutes later. I devoured it.

9 X-Men: Days of Future Past

Days of Future Past deserves a Top 10 spot just because it completely undoes Brett Ratner’s atrocious X-Men: The Last Stand. While there are some issues with continuity between all of the X-Men movies and time travel, we are willing to look past the few issues Days of Future Past has. In the end, it ends up being one of the best X-Men movies yet, rights all of the franchise’s wrongs, and fixes what they did with some of its characters.

8 The LEGO Movie

Everything is awesome about The LEGO movie. With a star-studded cast of voice-over talent, and incredible story that’s funny and touching, and some insane animation, The LEGO Movie is a great family film that both kids and adults love. Also, I can’t get that dang song out of my head.

7 John Wick

While I didn’t see Keanu Reeve’s latest movie, John Wick, the rest of the GameZone staff did and vouches for it. One even went to say that it’s his second favorite movie of the year, right behind Guardians of the Galaxy. What drives this movie is the action, action, action. There’s really only one word used to describe this film: badass.

6 Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow is a bit more than Groundhog Day with Tom Cruise, aliens and battles. It has received wonderful reviews and shows that Tom Cruise is still capable of carrying a blockbuster action film. It’s exciting and entertaining and features great action sequences.

5 Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one to the top three movies Marvel has made, and might be the best stand-alone film. I can honestly only think of The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy as better Marvel films. Chris Evans is excellent and charismatic in the lead, and the film mixes great action sequences with an old-style conspiracy thriller.

4 Interstellar

Christopher Nolan strikes again. While the film is a bit polarizing among critics, the beauty of the film cannot be denied. Interstellar is gorgeous. It has some really strong characters and Jessica Chastain is masterful in it. The rest of the cast — Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey — are excellent too. All of the disagreement in the film is about pacing, where the story goes, and the path it takes to get there. Still, Interstellar is quite a spectacle to watch.

3 Boyhood

I’ve never quite seen a coming-of-age story presented like this. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience that is about life. It’s one of those movies that will be discussed in classes and lectures 50 years from now. Everything clicks in Boyhood, which I consider an achievement in modern film.

2 Big Hero 6

Disney Animation Studios continued their impressive streak of amazing movies (following Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph and Frozen) with Big Hero 6, originally a Marvel comic that was adapted and changed a bit, but for the better. The animation is of course spectacular, and the story is full of touching, heart-breaking, and feel-good moments. It’s the complete package of humor, action and drama, and it shows kids that scientists and nerds can be cool too! ***Fist bump*** “Badaladaladalah!”

1 Guardians of the Galaxy

One of the many reasons Guardians of the Galaxy deserves the number one spot in the Top 10 movies of 2014: Marvel turned Andy from Parks and Recreation (Chris Pratt) from a chubby loser into a sex symbol. Guardians of the Galaxy was a seemingly unknown Marvel property until it released this summer and took the world by storm. It’s wise-cracking cast of misfit characters was fresh, funny and easy to root for. Guardians of the Galaxy was an adventurous foray into Marvel’s properties, and because of its success we get even more Marvel movies that we could ever dream of. Oh, and Guardians of the Galaxy was an amazing movie — the best Marvel movie yet.