The second half of any year is regarded as the time when the strongest films are rolled out, and with good reason. It's no secret that studios save the flicks they know will contend for awards for the fall and early winter. The fresher they are in peoples' minds come voting time, the more likely they are to rake in the wins and nominations. This leads to many movies released in the earlier months of the year falling by the wayside and not always getting the acclaim they may deserve.

The first couple of months of 2014 showed little in the way of quality filmmaking. Coming off a particularly strong 2013, January and February treated moviegoers to a series of duds such as Ride Along, The Nut Job, I, Frankenstein, That Awkward Moment, and The Monuments Men.

That slump would soon end, though, and the first half of 2014 would round out to a fairly solid six months of film, with plenty worth talking about come Oscar time.

To name a few honorable mentions, Godzilla gave us the worthy installation many had been waiting years for. Zac Efron's foray into R-rated comedies showed us he had the chops to keep up with Seth Rogen in Neighbors. Captain America: The Winter Soldier reminded us that while still unlikely, it is possible for a sequel to be better than its predecessor, and Disney's Million Dollar Arm> served up just enough cheese to leave us feeling satisfied.

All those films were well-worth our two hours at the theater, but these are the ten that will be worth revisiting from the first half of 2014.


photo courtesy of Dara Kushner/INFphoto.com

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10. Edge of Tomorrow

Tom Cruise seems to be trying his hand at finding a new big-budget film franchise to be a part of. Jack Reacher and Oblivion were certainly honest efforts, but he may have found what he was looking for with Edge of Tomorrow. Something of a cross between Source Code and Elysium, director Doug Liman is all about making fun films that also leave you toiling about them after the credits roll, and Edge of Tomorrow is no exception.

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9. Cheap Thrills

Cheap Thrills is a film that not many have seen yet, but it's the kind of movie you may come across on Netflix one day and watch on a whim, then find yourself annoying everyone you know to watch it so you can gush over how twisted it is. It's the first film from writer/director E.L. Katz, and it's an indulgently sadistic tale of a wealthy couple who offer varying sums of money to two strangers in exchange for performing tasks, which get progressively more and more extreme. It stars Pat Healy and Sara Paxton, who you may remember from Ti West's horror film The Innkeepers, as well as Ethan Embry and David Koechner. You can find it now on demand, iTunes, or streaming free on Amazon Prime.

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8. Rob the Mob

Here's another one that's yet to get the buzz it's due. Rob the Mob tells the true story of a wayward Queens couple, played by Michael Pitt and Nina Arianda, who set out on robbing mafia-run social clubs. The film effectively covers the events from their perspective, as well as the mob's, the FBI's, and the Newspaper's. This movie is overflowing with great performances. Aside from the two stars, Andy Garcia, Ray Romano, Griffin Dunne, and Frank Whaley all turn in excellent performances. Director Raymond De Felitta refreshingly captures the mafia in a way that doesn't take from Scorsese, Coppola, or Chase, and it's interesting to see people who are typically so romanticized on screen get caught (sometimes literally) with their pants down.

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7. Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer just made the cutoff for this list, and you can see it in select theaters now. It's adapted from a French graphic novel and directed by a South Korean filmmaker who's never made a film in English until now. It's about a train carrying the last living humans around a world that's been frozen by experiments that attempted to counteract global warming. This movie is all over the place, in a good way. It's got a sci-fi/fantasy universe that feels truly lived-in, more action than you ever thought you'd see take place within the confines of train cars, and some very funny comedic moments that break up some very real tension. This may be the most unique film you see all summer.

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6. 22 Jump Street

21 Jump Street caught most people by surprise. Now that they had some actual expectations set, it seemed the sequel would be fighting an uphill battle. Could directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller maintain their tongue-in-cheek schtick of making a movie that's self-aware enough to acknowledge how bad an idea it is to make said movie, while still earnestly trying to make a good movie? Well, they did it again. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum pair up again, this time they go, predictably, undercover to college. All the self-referential and fish-out-of-water and bromance jokes are there again, and somehow it works again. 22 Jump Street makes itself an ode to bad sequels, all the while managing to make a good one.

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5. The Double

From the trailer alone, you can see The Double looks like Charlie Kaufman by-way-of P.T. Anderson. Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska, it's about a guy who discovers his life has been taken over by a doppelgänger. It's director Richard Ayoade's best work since Submarine and you'd never guess the same person made both of those films. The Double is a home run in every aspect.

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4. Chef

Jon Favreau's filmmaking career could be likened to the aforementioned Doug Liman's, in that it ranges heavily from personal indie to big budget blockbuster. In fact, Liman directed Favreau's writing debut, the indie darling Swingers. But it had been some time since Favreau attached himself to a smaller independent project, until Chef. Despite a massive all-star cast, Chef has all the charm of an inspired young filmmaker who's just breaking in. It won't win any awards, but it's one you'll watch any time it's on, which is ,in some ways, a much truer test of a film.

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3. The Lego Movie

It's fast becoming Phil Lord and Chris Miller's world. Their other film from 2014, The Lego Movie, was yet another movie that probably wasn't supposed to be as good as it was. Conceptually, it seemed like a cash-grab. How good could a movie based on a toy building block generate anything remotely entertaining? But with an abundance of creativity paired with some talented and hilarious voice work from the likes of Chris Pratt and Will Ferrell, The Lego Movie makes for a fun and frenetic ride for any age.

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2. Blue Ruin

Blue Ruin is a product of Kickstarter funding, and it gives cause to be excited over what films internet crowdsourcing will provide us in the future. It's a gritty vengeance flick that focuses purely on the pursuit of revenge and barely even references the cause for retribution. Blue Ruin grabs hold of viewers with palpable tension and grips them until the very end. With a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, this is one that will be discussed more and more as the year progresses.

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1. The Grand Budapest Hotel

At number one, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a culmination of Wes Anderson's entire career as a visionary filmmaker as well as a display of growth and maturation that leaves us excited for what he's got up his sleeve next. Budapest Hotel carries all the same quirks, colors, camera angles, and actors he's revisited time and time again in his previous films, but this time something feels a little different. Don't be mistaken, this film is still undeniably Wes, but with a more kinetic style of story telling. We still are treated to great, unique characters, but now more than ever they are just pawns in a constantly moving, multi-layered plot that keep will keep even those immune to Anderson's charms engaged.