My Top Movies of 2014

If I had a vote for Oscar Best Picture nominations, here's my list of 10 movies I'd want to put on my ballot:

10.  Captain America:  The Winter Soldier.  I love the battle scenes in this movie.  You have no clue who is or isn't Hydra.  And then Falcon asks Captain America how they can tell the good guys from the bad guys and Captain America responds with something similar to, "If they're shooting at us, they're the bad guys."  Oh yeah, this movie is one great adventure.








9.  Begin Again.  I can't deny it, I love music.  This movie just shines with the joy that comes with creating music.  I wish I could create music.  Instead, I am relegated to enjoying it (along with photographing it.)  This movie satisfies that deep desire within many of us who wish we could be a talented musician.









8.  Edge of Tomorrow.  Tom Cruise in a really awesome movie?  Yeah, some of you might be scratching your heads.  If you are one of those individuals, I say give this movie a shot.  It is a complex and yet understandable Sci Fi movie.









7.  Big Eyes.  You're shocked that someone could be so demented.  And then you can't help but laugh at that same individual when his time of judgement arrives.

6.  Gone Girl.  So Big Eyes stars a demented man.  Gone Girl stars a dangerously manipulative woman.  Ah, I hope I never run into a person like Amy Dunne.










5.  Nightcrawler.  Lou Bloom is creepy.  In some ways, how can someone who focuses a camera on individuals who are on the edge of life and death not be creepy.









Honestly, the following four movies are really difficult to distinguish.

4.  Grand Budapest Hotel.  So hysterically funny.  And there is so much carefully detailed imagery.  The bath house scene almost teases you to discover all the details in what should just be a plain old conversation between two individuals.









3.  Boyhood.  As folks know by now, this film was made over a number of years.  This movie is called Boyhood, but I also think it could at various times throughout the movie be called:  Fatherhood, Motherhood and Sisterhood.  A wonderful time capsule of life.









2.  Whiplash.  Begin Again follows the joy of making music.  Whiplash highlights the intense dedication it takes to become great.  There is blood, sweat and emotion damage.










1.  A Most Violent Year.  A moral man working/living in an environment of ambiguous ethics.  Does he succeed?  This depends on how much grey you allow into your own life.  Either way, this movie ranks (very narrowly) as my best movie of the year.  









Over-all, I think 2015 was an outstanding year at the movie house.

Note:  there are still one or two movies that I haven't seen that could potentially make it onto this list.  If I do catch those movies and fall in love with them, I'll potentially update this at a future date.