KANSAS CITY, Mo — After watching more than 200 movies the time has come to choose the best. Not an easy task… Well maybe a little easier than most this year, since the overall quality of movies in 2014 was pretty weak and pathetic. But let’s to this. Here are my choices of the five best movies of 2014.
And the fifth best movie this year is “Run Boy Run” a powerful and moving holocaust drama. Beautifully shot. Well acted. This engaging and haunting film played at the Kansas City Jewish Film Festival at theKemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Missed it? Please check it out. It’s worth it!4. THE LEGO MOVIE
(PG) Warner Bros.
Number four on my list is the animated masterpiece “The LEGO Movie.” So clever, fun, original and irreverent. The unique visuals and fantastic writing help add to the zaniness. So engrossingly entertaining I started playing with Legos again and I am a grown man. A very grown man.
3. SELMA
(R) Paramount
My number l three of the year is “Selma” the movie that will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year. Remember where you heard it first. Hard to believe this is the first feature film ever about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and it’s brilliant. A perfect balance of the politics of protesting and the life of King behind closed doors. Fascinating.
2. GONE GIRL
(R) Fox
My number two film of the year is a salacious and deliciously seductive slice of guilty pleasure cinema done at a high level. Director David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” is a mesmerizing morality tale with pulpy overtones written by Kansas City native Gillian Flynn.
1. TOP FIVE
(R) Paramount
Being dramatic is easy. Being funny is really really hard. And comedian Chris Rock nails it with his unflinching, daring and keenly observant comedy “Top Five” which he wrote, directed and stars in. Think Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” except for the millennial generation. This is the best movie of the year. Thanks Chris Rock. And what a surprise.
There you have it. The five best movies of 2014.
Click here to receive weekly emails full of FOX 4′s entertainment news!
What’s our criteria for reviewing a film and awarding the popcorn bag ratings? Click here to find out.
Follow on Twitter: @fox4kc @RussSimmons1 @sedwardskc
