Top Ten Movies of 2014 (5-1)

I had to break the news to my idiot friend last night that I couldn't put I, Frankenstein in my top ten movies of the year and it was as if I had just told him that he was adopted or something. The look of disappointment on his face combined with the fact that I had just made him watch what he considered to be one of the most boring movies of all time made me fear for my life as I walked back to my car. So to cheer him up, I will refer to him as Chance (cuz his momma took one) in this article and this article alone, as he has this weird man crush on Van Damme (Hard Target).

When Frankenstein first came out, I thought that it would be a no brainer entry into my top ten but I had no idea that Hollywood would surprise me by coming up with something fresher than a CGI farm full of Frankenstein eggs? So with that said, here are the five best movies of 2014.

5. Under the Skin
How can a movie that has ScarJo getting naked on screen for the first time not be considered the best movie of all time? It should be rated #1 but I realize that not everyone loves her as I do, so I pushed it down a few spots as a result of that. But besides the fact that she shows off her wonderful body, this avant-garde take on alien abduction is one of the best movies I've seen from a visual perspective in a while. The creepy score is the perfect compliment to the odd subject matter.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2014/04/under-skin.html

4. The Raid 2: Berandal
This is easily the best martial arts movie that has been made in the past decade. Every fighting scene somehow tops the one that came before it and by the time the baseball man and hammer girl came on screen, I was completely floored.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-raid-2-berandal.html

3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Budapest is the culmination of all of Wes Anderson's past weirdness packed into one movie. He took the best of everything you loved from each of his previous films and made his best work to date. Ralph Fiennes seems like a natural in his role and this film is visually stunning if nothing else.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-grand-budapest-hotel.html

2. Boyhood
Everyone that has ever lived can connect with this movie in some way. Whether it's empathizing with the single mother trying her best to raise two kids on her own or having a flashback to your teenage years when you were so psyched about scoring a six pack that throwing knives at a wall seemed like the best night of your life, this film reaches every element of growing up in the 90's and it doesn't leave anyone out regardless of your race, gender, or social class.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2014/07/boyhood.html


1. Birdman
Inarritu once again is able to make an icon of the underrated Michael Keaton. He uses Keaton's real life experiences to tell the story of a struggling actor who is trying his best to gain respect in the industry by writing and directing his own Broadway play. His uses a single shot format and a killer score to keep your eyes glued to the screen and every actor gives the performance of a lifetime in what is easily the year's best film.
http://onlyfreshness.blogspot.com/2014/10/birdman-or-unexpected-virtue-of.html