My end of the year list for films is always my most incomplete list, because so many films come out at the end of the year in New York and Los Angeles and nowhere else, simply to qualify for the Academy Awards. So as always, here is a list of films that could have made my top 20 if not for the fact that I have no ability to see them yet: Mr. Turner, Inherent Vice, Selma, Two Days One Night, Song of the Sea. This pisses me off. And until I quit making this list, die, or move to New York or LA, I will keep complaining about this. I mean, I can't see Inherent Vice and Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite director. It's an outrage, I tell you!
Looking back at my top 20 list from last year, I noticed that there were more heavy-hitter directors that popped up. Paul Greengrass, Edgar Wright, Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers, Steven Soderbergh, Woody Allen, Noah Baumbach, Richard Linklater -- they all appeared on my list last year. While 2014 doesn't have the pedigree to match that, I'd say that it was still a pretty great year for film, and I'm very satisfied with my top 20.
The rules: As long as a film got an official release in 2014, it was eligible for placement on this list. This is an important thing to remember, since many of the films that appear in my top 20 premiered at film festivals in 2013, but didn't get released in theaters until this year. And in the case where a film got no theatrical release, then a VOD debut in 2014 will make it eligible. Now that all of that has been cleared up, on to the actual list...
