At the end of each year, there's a desire to compare its films to the previous year. Last year's films featured monumental achievements, from Steve McQueen's emotionally powerful 12 Years A Slave to Alfonso Cuaron's all-on-the-line thriller Gravity. In 2014, the major awards magnets have gone on more personal journeys, so comparing 2014 to 2013 is rather pointless.
Richard Linklater explored the trials of a boy growing up over a 12-year period. Alejandro G. Inarritu ditched overbearing drama for a quirky trip into the mind of a has-been action star. Bennett Miller took us into the mind of another obsessed man. Dan Gilroy found another deranged mind for his directing debut.
While 2014 won't exactly be a banner year for blockbusters, it is the year that critics seemed to agree that Hollywood could produce summer hits that didn't insult our intelligence. Godzilla may have its flaws, but it showed that you can make a decent monster movie still. And there's not much more about Guardians of the Galaxy that I can add.
Even with 2014 nearing a close, there are still many awards favorites that I've yet to see, either because they haven't hit wide release or because I just missed them. I'm still kicking myself for not getting to see Boyhood yet. I don't know how much longer I have to wait to see Selma and Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice won't go wide until mid-January. So, this list will obviously only be based on films I did see.
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