My List: The Best Films of 2014
Latest Movie Reviews:
Unbroken
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
Foxcatcher
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
Annie
The Penguins of Madagascar
Hector and the Search for Happiness
Interstellar
Big Hero 6
Dumb and Dumber To
Birdman
Whiplash
Nightcrawler
Fury
Men, Women, and Children
Laggies
St. Vincent
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day
The Good Lie
Kill the Messenger
The Skeleton Twins
Gone Girl
The Drop
This Is Where I Leave You
Guardians of the Galaxy
Boyhood
Calvary
When the Game Stands Tall
What If
.
Wish I Was Here
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Begin Again
Snowpiercer
22 Jump Street
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Edge of Tomorrow
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Fault in Our Stars
- Grab the hankies.
Maleficent
- Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Chef
- Food. Lots of Food.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
- An X-citing X-ample of a sequel that X-ceeds X-pectations.
Godzilla
- Godzilla plays a supporting character in his own movie.
Belle
- An entertaining and inspiring story about human dignity.
Mom’s Night Out
- Still a bit cheesy, but a step in the right direction for “faith-based” films.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
- A bloated spectacle that works because, and only when, it wears its heart on its sleeve.
Million Dollar Arm
- Jon Hamm is the worst part of this Jon Hamm movie.
Transcendence
- A beautiful waste.
Heaven is For Real
Colton Burpo’s been to Heaven, and he wants you to know that it’s for real.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Some stuff blows up, and Captain America saves the day again. Whatever.
The Muppets Most Wanted
- The Best ‘Muppets’ Movie since… well, the last one!
Draft Day
- Kevin Costner stars in a dull look at a dull tradition within America’s favorite sport.
Noah
- Amid a flurry of controversy, ‘NOAH’ has flooded into theaters. Is the movie faithful to the Biblical story? … And is it even a good film?
The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Wes Anderson at his most Wes-Andersonian.
Need for Speed
- Do you have the Need?
The LEGO Movie
- “Everything is awesome!”
Mr. Peabody and Sherman
- “I forbid you to fight in the Trojan War!” Isn’t it what any good father would tell their son? Albeit, most fathers probably aren’t a talking dog. Or the inventor of a time machine that brought them to the Trojan War in the first place.
Non Stop
- Everyone is suspect.
Her
- A poignant and deeply heartbreaking exploration of the many facets of falling in love, and of the reasons we give ourselves for accepting counterfeit love in an ever-changing world of instant connection and growing loneliness.
Robocop
- Don’t go see this movie. Just don’t.
Short Term 12
- An intimate gem of a movie about tackling personal demons, and the power of grace.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
- Stop Dreaming. Start Living.
The Monuments Men
- Is art worth dying for? Certainly not ‘art’ this dull.
Labor Day
- A sap-fest that’s one part The Fugitive, and one part The Notebook.
August: Osage County
- Meryl Streep’s borderline scenery-chewing performance heads up this dark dramedy featuring a number of A-list actors.
Lone Survivor
- A moving and harrowing tribute to those who daily put their lives on the line for their country.
Frozen
- Disney returns to form with this delightful new sing-along adventure.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
- A moving history lesson that narrowly succeeds as a tribute to the life of Nelson Mandela.
Philomena
- A moving journey through grief with the unlikeliest of duos.
Saving Mr. Banks
- This joyous celebration of the struggles that accompany bringing art to life is a spoonful of sugar.
Gravity
- Quite possibly one of the most stunning and beautifully simple films ever made.
12 Years a Slave
- A heart-wrenching and brutal look at our nation’s greatest atrocity.
American Hustle
- Is it even possible for a David O. Russell-directed drama with Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, and Jeremy Renner to fall flat on its face? Apparently.
Inside Llewyn Davis
- Does the holiday season already depress you? Well, here’s the perfect movie for you.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
- The gang is back together! And they’re staying classy.
The Book Thief
- An admirable little film that is both bleak and hopeful.
Nebraska
- A delightfully simple road-trip dramedy from Alexander Payne.
The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
- Still trying to capture that good ol’ “Lord of the Rings” magic.
The Dallas Buyer’s Club
- A flawed but gritty look at the rise of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980′s, led by a forceful performance from Matthew McConaughey.
The Christmas Candle
- A sentimental, if hokey, Christmas movie for the whole family.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- The Hunger Games: All-Stars Edition.
Out of the Furnace
- A mediocre drama with top-notch performances from Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, and Casey Affleck.
The Way Way Back
- A heartfelt, hilarious, and original “coming-of-age” story that enchants throughout.
Matt Tory 