Dear Readers,

If you read the site frequently, you’ll know that we are home to B-movie aficionados, superhero apologists, and film school theorists alike. Read a few reviews and you’ll quickly get to know who has a soft spot for everything Canadian, and who refuses to bestow perfect praise on anything ever.

Yet we did attempt to create an authoritative Dear Cast and Crew list of the year’s top films. We thought of everything: democratic voting, socialistic slotting, even secret autocracy.

None of it worked.

Each review is written from the perspective of an individual critic, and subject to their own personal criteria for what it worth seeing (and what isn’t). My list is no different.

After seeing just over 200 films this year, here are the highlights. You can judge me accordingly.

The Top 14 Films of 2014

1. Nightcrawler
2. Boyhood
3. Whiplash
4. The Imitation Game
5. Force Majeure
6. Edge of Tomorrow
7. Mistaken for Strangers
8. Mommy
9. The Overnighters
10. Under The Skin
11. Blue Ruin
12. Nymphomaniac Parts 1 and 2
13. Ida
14. Only Lovers Left Alive

Top Ten Favorite Canadian Films (Mommy memorial list)

1. Afflicted
2. Tu dors Nicole
3. The Editor
4. Enemy
5. Corbo
6. Bang Bang Baby
7. The F Word
8. Trailer Park Boys: Don’t Legalize It
9. Bloody Knuckles
10. The Captive

*Special mention – Had The Dirties (2013) been eligible (I didn’t catch it until this year), the film would have topped this list.

The Surprisingly Good

Locke
Robocop
The Lego Movie

Superior Sequels

22 Jump Street
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Planes: Fire & Rescue

The Unapologetically Awesome

Snowpiercer
Godzilla
The Raid 2

Overrated Everywhere Else

Birdman
Life Itself
The Immigrant

Didn’t Disappoint

How to Train Your Dragon 2
Dumb and Dumber To
Gone Girl*
*Yes, I acknowledge the irony of listing the film here.

Extra Special Indies

Obvious Child
The Guest
The Babadook

Avoid at All Costs

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Revenge of the Dragons
Open Windows
They Came Together
Devil’s Knot

For another take on 2014, check out Jared Young's Top Films of 2014.