Top 10 (2013-)2014

[BakuryuuTyranno]

I'm still convinced this (allowing movies from the previous year) is the best method; for example, I still have 5-6 rentals from this year alone, so technically they wouldn't be allowed to qualify at all otherwise. Likewise The Babadook is supposed to be good, but wasn't released near me.

Movies that got better with age: The Shout, Night of the Creeps, Shark Hunter, (possibly) Lighthouse, Hydra, (possibly) Wyvern,The Haunting in Connecticut, The Woman in Black, V/H/S/2, In Fear, Before Dawn

Surprisingly good movie(s): After nearly ten years of making films that lacked even characters who talked/behaved like actual people and generally making The Asylum look good in comparison, Platinum Dunes made Ouija, which featured few (or no) jump "scares", no arbitrary love interest, actual pacing, characters who seemed normal and don't spout pseudo-exposition, and actual attempts at suspense.

Hopefully, that marks a change...

The actual list itself:

10: Time Lapse/Damned Before Dawn - kinda reaching here, but this year really didn't provide much that stood out. One movie about a camera that takes photos of the future that was interesting, one about people besieged by a banshee, which was... atypical.

9 & 8: The Tenant and Cheap Thrills - These movies will either disgust people or impress them with quite how far these movies go. They're similar in that respect so I'm not which one wins...

7: Mine Games - A strange concept which could've gone either way, but mainly this movie has charm to some degree. I'm not sure I'd enjoying it as much if it were lacking that charm.

6: The Corridor - This character-driven horror suffers from some oddities, like opening with someone dying (splatter fans aren't going to overlook that the movie is largely a character piece just because of one scene), but it had some good ideas including a contender for the best Lovecraftain creature, which literally shows no desire to harm anyone, yet could and would kill everyone.

4 & 5: Late Phases and The Last Showing - Again, not sure what order I'd put them in;

Late Phases is an interesting character piece and werewolf movie with realistic characters. Some anti-cliches can themselves become cliches; such as killing the love interest. Late Phases makes her the very first victim, which is kinda different.

The Last Showing meanwhile features Robert Englund playing a sociopathic cinema employee who uses a couple watching a film as his actors. Can't say much more about this one.


3: Haunted - Yes, I'm listing a Lance Henriksen movie here. But basically about a father and son haunted both by a past event and by spirits in the woods.

2: Honeymoon - A strange about a couple in a secluded location, when suddenly the wife begins acting strange. I actually don't remember this one so well to be honest aside from being very interesting.

1: The Canal - Basically, according to the filmmaker(s), this one was supposed to be like a nightmare. It certainly was as surreal things happen, the protagonist's life gets worse, people close to him die, and there's little if anything that can be done about it.

[Rev. Powell]

Here's mine hot off the digital presses.

If you can't be bothered to click:

10. THE DOUBLE
9. THE DANCE OF REALITY
8. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
7. BOYHOOD
6. THE LEGO MOVIE
5. ENEMY
4. LOCKE
3. BIRDMAN
2. WHIPLASH
1. CALVARY

[claws]

I didn't watch that many 2014 productions this year, but I did watch tons from 2013. Anyway, my ten favorite 2014 first time viewings:

10 Oculus (2013)
09 Godzilla (2014)
08 Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
07 Trance (2013)
06 World War Z (2013)
05 Pacific Rim (2013)
04 Now You See Me (2013)
03 The Croods (2013)
02 American Hustle (2013)
01 Gravity (2013)

Honorable Mention:

Odd Thomas (2013)
Afflicted (2013)
13 Sins (2014)
Wer (2013)
Haunter (2013)

and "hey, this wasn't too bad at all!" category:

Amer (2009)
Resolution (2012)
Final Prayer (2013)
Here Comes the Devil (2012)
Kiss of the Damned (2012)
Blood Glacier (2013)
Magic Magic (2013)
Alien Abduction (2014)
Nurse 3D (2013)

Older first time viewings:

The UFO Incident (1975 TV Movie)   had its share of creepy moments.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)   I've seen bits and pieces over the years but never the entire movie in one sitting.
What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)   Seen only parts when I was a kid.
Macho Man (1985)   Rare German local bad movie cult film.
Twirl (1981 TV Movie)   Very entertaining.
The Appointment (1981)   Bizarro British Horror/Drama.
Higher and Higher (1970)   Excellent Swiss Exploitation.
Hot T-Shirts (1980)   Cannon crap. Only worth seeing for Corinne Alphen.
Scanners III: The Takeover (1991 Video)   Underrated fun bad movie.

[dean]

Can't be bothered remembering all the good films (there were a heap) but just came back from 'Nightcrawler' and that was a pretty damn fine last hurrah for the year.

Theatrical releases enjoyed in no particular order;

R100
Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler
Wetlands
The Distance

Some more are there I'm sure but my god I saw a lot this year

[bob]

2014:

10 Annabelle 4/5
9 Sharknado 2 (does this count since it wasn't theatrically released?) 5/5
8 Draft Day 5/5
7 Hercules 5/5
6 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 5/5
5 Edge of Tomorrow 5/5
4 How to Train Your Dragon 2 5/5
3 Guardians of the Galaxy 5/5
2 Captain America: The Winter Soldier 5/5
1 Intersteller 5/5

Older movies seen for the first time:



10 Island of Lost Souls
9 Blood Diamond
8 American Psycho
7 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
6 Friday The 13th
5 A Nightmare on Elm Street
4 When Harry Met Sally
3 Brazil
2 The General
1 Solaris (1973)

honorable mentions: Puppet Master, Déjà Vu, The King of Comedy, Ice Age, Jacob's Ladder, Gone Baby Gone

[RCMerchant]

2014-
1.CAPTAIN AMERICA-WINTER SOLDIER
2.DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
3.AS ABOVE,SO BELOW-yeah-I know its one of those found footage things-but I liked it anyway...the idea was original and fun.
and...I aint seen anymore good movies from 2014!
2013-
1.DARK SKIES
2.42
3.STAR TREK-INTO DARKNESS
4.NEBRASKA
5.MACHETE KILLS!
6.GRAVITY
7.12 YEARS A SLAVE....and thats it! thats 10!

Old movies new too me-
1.13 ASSASSINS (2010)
2.the INNOCENTS (1961)
3.ICHI THE KILLER (2001)
4.PATHS OF GLORY (1957)
5.TROLL 2 (1990)-yup first time i seen this hilarous piece of s**t.
6.DEAD END (2003)
7.CURSE OF THE DEMON (1957)-yup- an old Monster Kid like me-first time I seen it-loved it.
8.the GOLEM (1920)-see above-I love this movie!
9.RIKI OH-The STORY OF RICKY (1991)-this was made in '91-looks like '81-love it! Never had a chance to see what you guys already knew!-(Tiana got Netflix)!
10.HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN (2011)

plus I rewatched a whole mess of movies-like watching them new when I intoduced them to Tiana-like DEAD ALIVE,the BRIDE OF FRANKENSTIEN,DRACULA,FRANKENSTEIN,RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD,BRAIN DEAD,REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE...to name a few! Its fun to show genre films...GOOD ones-to people who are not into these kinda films-and they become fans! I got Tiana hooked! 

Odd-of all the above  newer films-only 42,NEBRASKA,GRAVITY,and 12 YEARS A SLAVE would have been considered 'A' films-if it was the early '70's or older-all the other movies would would have been made as  exploitation films. Oh-I guess not thje Planet of the Apes-it was made in 1968 as a big deal.
But superheros?- Old serials from the 40's. Star Trek is an old TV show. DARK SKIES? -Roger Corman stuff.
Hollywood is still cranking out B movies-only with million dollar budgets-most crap.

[BoyScoutKevin]

I don't think I've seen 10 films in 2014, so there goes any hope of coming up with a list of the 10 Best for 2014.

What I can say, I can remember a time, when the top 10 grossing films as the box office were also the top 10 critically praised films of the year. Not anymore, and two reasons for that. One of which is a "known" and one of which is a "guess."

The known is that taste in films have diverged. The critics and audiences no longer like the same films.

The guess is that critics no longer think a popular success at the box office is worthy of top 10 critical praise. For example . . .

Let us take "Guardians of the Galaxy," if not the top grossing film of the year, then one of the top grossing films of the year, and what made it such for audiences . . .?! The perfection or near perfection it achieved in . . .

casting
acting
cinematography
direction
writing
and especially music,
etc.

And all based on an idea, which nearly everyone thought would fail at the box office. Which should put it up there with the other films praised by the critics, but which is not.

As for myself . . .
the bad news is that I'm seeing fewer films. Because I am finding them less and less interesting.

The good news is that I'm saving money. I can't seem to get out of the cinema without spending anywhere between $15 and $20 for each film I see. More if the film is in 3-D.

This year . . .?! We'll see what we'll see. Will it be a better or worst year than last year . . .?! Who knows . . .?!

[Rev. Powell]

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was 91% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.

[BoyScoutKevin]

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was 91% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.

But how many best 10 critic lists did it make? A lot fewer than many other films that were released last year.

[Rev. Powell]

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was 91% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.

But how many best 10 critic lists did it make? A lot fewer than many other films that were released last year.

It was on some. It made mine.

I actually found a site that lists a breakdown: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2014. GUARDIANS scored #19 in their system, making 30 critics top 10 lists. No one made it their top movie but 3 critics made it #2. I think that's pretty good for a pure popcorn movie, you may think differently. 

[BoyScoutKevin]

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was 91% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.

But how many best 10 critic lists did it make? A lot fewer than many other films that were released last year.

It was on some. It made mine.

I actually found a site that lists a breakdown: http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2014. GUARDIANS scored #19 in their system, making 30 critics top 10 lists. No one made it their top movie but 3 critics made it #2. I think that's pretty good for a pure popcorn movie, you may think differently. 

Thank-you for that. I am glad to see that there were at least a few critics who thought of it highly enough to include it on their list of the 10 Best Films of 2014, as I think it is the type of film that most critics ignore, or the type that is popular with audiences, which I think are actually harder to make than films that would seemingly appeal to the critics, as to make a film that appeals to audiences one has to appeal to a broader range of tastes, then one does when one makes a film that would seemingly appeal to critics. Thank-you again. And as I'm not going to make a list of 10 Best for 2014, I don't know where it'd appear, but I did enjoy it, and I am looking forward to the next two films in the series.