It’s time to look at the best films that 2014 has to offer thus far. As we watch these films and more of our critics see them, the order may alter by the time December arrives.
But for the time being, these films had the most significant impact on us in 2014.
Whatever your tastes are, 2014 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for film. Documentaries and Action feasts are blended with action blockbusters and even several “Drama” movies, as is customary. Here are the best films of 2014:
Whiplash (2014)
Genre – Drama, Music
Director-Alejandro Peña-Ayala
Where to watch – Prime Video, Vudu, ROW8, Redbox. or Apple TV
A bright young drummer enrolls in a competitive music conservatory, where his ambitions of grandeur are fostered by an instructor who will go to any length to help a pupil reach their potential.
The critically acclaimed film Whiplash portrayed the story of a young drummer named Jonathan ‘JoJo’ Chalke.
Jojo played for the school’s jazz band, but his life changed forever when he became a student assistant to a famous jazz teacher.
The film showed how tough it was for JoJo to become a great jazz musician; however, it also demonstrated how hard working with a mentor could be beneficial.
In the movie, JoJo’s abusive father forced JoJo to practice until he had permanent hearing loss. Jojo’s father believed that the harder an employee works, the better he will perform.
This attitude can have dire consequences if it negatively affects an employee’s mental state. Some employees feel so threatened by their boss’ behavior that they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.
In this way, Whiplash highlights the damaging effects of forcing employees to pursue perfectionist dreams without considering their mental well-being.
Boyhood (I) (2014)
Genre – Drama
Director- Richard Linklater
Where to watch – Pluto TV – It’s Free TV, The Roku Channel, The Roku Channel, The Criterion Channel, Prime Video, Vudu, ROW8, or Apple TV on your Roku device.
Boyhood (I) (2014) is a coming-of-age drama film. The film follows the childhood and adolescence of Mason Jr. (Coltrane) from age six to eighteen, as he grows up in Texas with his divorced mother, Olivia (Arquette), and older sister, Samantha (Linklater). Mason Jr. witnesses the effects of his parent’s divorce, his mother’s various relationships, and his growth.
Boyhood (I) (2014) was filmed over twelve years, from 2002 to 2013, with Linklater filming a few days each year.
The cast remained the same throughout filming, with Arquette and Hawke playing Mason Jr.’s parents and Linklater’s daughter Lorelei playing his sister.
The picture was both commercially and critically successful. Grossing over $44 million worldwide and won numerous awards, including The Academy Award for Best Picture, the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and the BAFTA Award for Best Film, were all given to the film.
Nightcrawler (2014)
Genre – Crime, Thriller
Director- Dan Gilroy
Where to watch -HBO Max, Spectrum TV, Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, or Redbox
When Louis Bloom, a con artist desperate for work, enters the world of Los Angeles crime journalism, he blurs the boundary between observer and participant, becoming the star of his own story.
Dan Gilroy made his directing debut with the 2014 American neo-noir psychological thriller Nightcrawler.
Louis “Lou” Bloom, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a stringer who documents violent incidents in Los Angeles at odd night hours and sells the material to a nearby television news station. Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed, and Rene Russo also star.
The symbiotic interplay between unethical journalism and public demand is a recurring motif in the movie.
Gilroy originally intended to make a movie about American photographer Weegee, but He altered his mind after discovering the intriguing story possibilities around the stringer industry.
He created Lou as an antihero based on capitalism and unemployment.
Gone Girl (2014)
Genre – Mystery
Director- David Fincher
Where to watch – Disney+
With his wife’s missing having become the subject of a massive media frenzy, a man finds himself in the spotlight when it is assumed that he is not innocent.
Amy previously revealed to Nick that Amazing Amy was a perfected version created from the real Amy’s failures.
Their marriage deteriorated over time; both lost jobs during the recession and relocated from New York City to Nick’s hometown of North Carthage, Missouri, to care for his dying mother. Nick became estranged from Amy and began cheating on her with one of his students, Andie, while Amy became resentful of Nick for forcing her to relocate to Missouri.
A forensic examination of the house reveals cleaned bloodstains, indicating a murder. Boney discovers evidence of financial issues, spousal disputes, and Amy’s recent propensity to obtain a gun, and the story continues.
Foxcatcher (2014)
Genre -Biography, sports
Director- Bennett Miller
Where to watch – Spectrum TV, The Roku Channel, STARZ, Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, or Redbox
“Foxcatcher” is based on an actual murder case with public record details; this review details those events.
“Foxcatcher” is a moving, intelligent, and deadly serious drama based on an actual murder case in which a wealthy patron hired two wrestler brothers, attempted to seduce and control one, and murdered the other.
It is genuine in every frame. It’s also a throwback to 1970s commercial filmmaking; in the end, “Foxcatcher” is difficult to accept due to fundamental miscalculations in performance, direction, and makeup, as well as a certain clumsiness in its attempt
to make a grandiose statement about American principles, or their lack thereof
This would be near the top if I had to list movies I regret not seeing.
Its plot revolves around a story of brotherly love and rivalry that turns sour, sordid, and ultimately tragic.
Inherent Vice (2014)
Genre -Comedy, Romance
Director- Paul Thomas Anderson
Where to watch – Vudu, Redbox., Prime Video, or Apple TV
The film “Inherent Vice” is about a stoner who appears to be stoned. This is only one aspect of what distinguishes it. Drug-fueled Larry “Doc” Sportello, a private investigator in Los Angeles, investigates the disappearance of a former fiancée.
Many have compared the film, based on Thomas Pynchon’s 2009 novel, to the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski, a drug-fueled LA comedy with a similarly labyrinthine mystery and some shared themes.
Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello, the film’s hero, is standing on the beach, waiting for the tide to return.
He’s a shaggy-haired, mutton-chopped man-child, a little piggish in the way that many hippie guys were back then, but primarily decent; he wouldn’t hurt a fly unless he thought the fly was bogarting his joint, and even then, maybe not.
When frustrated, he blurts out sentences that are non-sequiturs to everyone except him and makes high-pitched strangled sounds a la Ben Braddock in “The Graduate.”
The Drop (2014)
Genre -Thriller
Director- Michaël R. Roskam
Where to watch – Disney+
Bob’s deep love for the dog is highlighted to significant effect.
He doesn’t understand how to care for a pet; this is where Nadia’s advice comes in handy, but this only adds to his appeal as a protagonist.
And, of course, montage sequences in which Hardy walks his tiny dog around the park, tangling himself in the leash as the dog runs around him, never get old.
The Drop is an intense thriller.
Hardy’s performance elevates Lehane’s functional script, bolstered by an outstanding performance from Noomi Rapace.
We only wish James Gandolfini, a fantastic actor in his own right, had more to do. As it stands, his involvement in Roskam’s film should have been avoided entirely.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Genre -Action-Adventure
Director- James Gunn
Where to watch – Disney+
When brash space adventurer Peter Quill steals a mysterious, all-powerful orb, he is pursued by relentless enemies.
He forms an uneasy alliance with a motley crew of misfits, setting the stage for a desperate battle to determine the galaxy’s fate.
In a 1988 opening chapter, Earth boy Peter Quill is abducted by aliens shortly after his mother’s tearful death.
When we see Quill again 26 years later (now played by Chris Pratt), he’s renamed himself “Star-Lord” and joined the Ravagers, a band of intergalactic bandits led by blue-skinned hillbilly scalawag Yondu (Michael Rooker).
Yondu has tasked Quill with retrieving a mysterious silver orb from a cavern on a dead planet.
When Quill arrives, “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone blasts on his Walkman from a mom-made mixed tape of 1970s hits, carefully preserved since his childhood as a security blanket.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes-(2014)
Genre -Sci-fi, Thriller
Director-Matt Reeves
Where to watch – Disney+
Human survivors are hunted in Dawn of the Apes. Fighting for survival in the aftermath of a deadly pandemic that has lasted a decade, Caesar attempts to maintain control over his growing ape community.
However, when both species cross paths, they attempt to reach an agreement to maintain peace and avoid a war between apes and humans.
To find a hydroelectric dam that would bring power back to
A group of people commanded by a man named Malcolm in San Francisco intruded on the apes’ territory.
An encounter with the apes leads to the discovery of a guy named Carver severely injuring the ape Ash. Malcolm can prevent further escalation, and Caesar, the apes’ leader, orders the humans to leave.
Caesar brings his army to the human community as a show of strength, inspired by Koba, a scarred bonobo.
Caesar declares to the community that, despite the apes’ desire for peace, he will fight humans if forced to.
The One I Love (2014)
Genre – Fantasy, Drama
Director-Charlie McDowell
Where to watch -a comedy thriller
Ethan and Sophie, a married couple, see a therapist regularly. He identifies a disconnect in their relationship after inquiring them to each play a note on a musical instrument and suggests they spend the weekend on a secluded estate.
Sophie visits the estate and has intimate relations with Ethan in the guest cottage. She returns home to find Ethan fast asleep.
When she brings up the sex, he says he can’t remember, so Sophie goes to bed alone while he sleeps in the visitor cottage.
Sophie joins him in the middle of the night, apologizing for her behavior and taking a nap beside him. The following day, she makes him cheese and bacon, which is strange because she despises it.
John Wick (2014)
Genre -Action, Crime
Director- Chad Stahelski
Where to watch – Lionsgate Play, Apple iTunes
An ex-hitman emerges from retirement to find the gangsters who murdered his dog, the last gift he received from his late wife.
The plot revolves around John Wick, who seeks vengeance on the son of a Russian gangster for stealing his vintage car and murdering his puppy, which serves as a memorial to his recently deceased wife, Helen.
Former assassin John Wick’s wife Helen succumbs to a terminal illness. Following her death, John receives Daisy, a beagle puppy, as Helen’s final gift to help him cope with his grief.
Daisy and John bond while driving around in John’s vintage 1969 Ford Mustang. He approaches John at a gas station and offers to buy his car.
Iosef is enraged when John refuses to sell. Iosef Tarasov, the son of Russian crime leader Viggo Tarasov, has been arrested Iosef and his supporters broke into John’s house that night to steal his car, leaving John unconscious and killing Daisy.
The Babadook (2014)
Genre – Horror
Director- Jennifer Kent
Where to watch – Pluto TV – It’s Free TV, The Roku Channel, The Roku Channel, Prime Video, Vudu, Vimeo, or Apple TV
Amelia is in a dream sequence when the film begins. It’s a sequence she’s probably been reliving – and tormented by – for the past seven years.
In “The Babadook,” there is an immediate sense of urgency in a nightmare scene in which Essie Davis’ Amelia is being rushed to the hospital. And this is a nightmare scenario.
The child she was rushed to the hospital to deliver is now in early elementary school, so the urgency is gone.
She tells the story in the film’s first half through Amelia’s increasingly bleary eyes.
When the ostensibly nonexistent Babadook begins to manifest himself, most devastatingly in a car rearview mirror incident that provides one of the film’s most jarring and viscerally potent sequences, it is Amelia’s turn to play the monster.
The previously implacable Sam begins to appear vulnerable, as, duh, he IS, while Amelia’s hatred for her son reaches supernatural proportions.
The Rover (2014)
Genre -Dystopian Western drama
Director-David Michôd
Where to watch -Hulu
It is based on Michôd, and Joel Edgerton wrote the story. It’s a modern western set in the Australian outback ten years after the global economic collapse.
A hardened loner hunts the men who stole his only asset, his automobile, ten years after the global economic crisis.
He captures one of the thief’s brothers along the way, creating an uneasy friendship during the perilous voyage.
A cold-blooded nomad wanders the scorched Australian outback on a mission to find the individuals who stole his last remaining item – his automobile – ten years after the global economic meltdown.
When he comes across a seriously injured gang member, he adopts the fragile, naive young man as an unsuspecting collaborator.
Interstellar (2014)
Genre – Adventure, Drama
Director- Christopher Nolan
Where to watch – Paramount Plus, Spectrum TV, The Roku Channel, Prime Video, Vudu, Redbox., ROW8, or Apple TV
One of the most mentally stimulating blockbusters of the 2010s was Interstellar. As a result, many people needed clarification on the Interstellar plot, high-concept science, and daring ending.
It’s time for Interstellar explained, a deep dive into the film in which we answer some of the most frequently asked questions.
You’ll know the narrative and meaning like the back of your hand by the end; you might even remark the fourth dimension will have an “interstellar explanation.”
Interstellar is loud, sentimental, and full of advanced scientific theories that serve the story well but are primarily theoretical in real life.
In the case of Interstellar, it enhances it. Interstellar’s story spans multiple periods.
The movie depicts how We travel from Earth to the surface of other planets, the circling ship, and finally to a fifth dimension that connects all of them. That’s a lot to explain, so we’ll try to do it together.
22 Jump Street (2014)
Genre -Action Comedy
Director- Phil Lord
Where to watch – Spectrum TV, The Roku Channel, STARZ
Enko and Schmidt pay a visit to Mr. Walters (Rob Riggle) and Eric (Dave Franco) in prison for advice on how to find the WHYPHY supplier.
In the photograph, Walters notices a unique tattoo on the dealer’s arm and insists they will have found their man if they find the tattoo.
While hanging out with Zook and Rooster, Jenko discovers Rooster does not have the tattoo, but Enko notices it on Zook’s arm.
Schmidt and Jenko have been invited to join the jock-led team. Fraternity, but Schmidt declines, exacerbating their rivalry.
During a counseling session, they realize that Zook may have been purchasing the drugs rather than selling them, and they soon find Ghost and his men on campus.