The best films I saw in 2014 were...

Posted Wednesday, December 31, 2014 at 3:01 PM Central

by John Couture

Over the course of the next few weeks, we are going to dig into the year that was 2014 in a little more detail, but I thought New Year's Eve would be a good day to share a few quick thoughts. First, you've seen at least a million "Best of" lists by now, so what's one more?

Mine is a bit unique though.

Instead of simply regurgitating what others have written and using their rankings as a guide, I'm only going to list the top five films that I watched in 2014. Of course, the one downside of doing this is that you won't know if I didn't see a film or did and just didn't enjoy it.

But hey, that's what the comments are for. Please debate me and let us know what were the best films that you saw in 2014. Also, if you check out the next story, you'll get a pretty good idea of the top films from 2014 that I haven't seen yet.

Without further ado, here are the best films that I saw in 2014.

5. Guardians of the Galaxy

   I was fortunate to have seen more and better films this year than I have in the last few years. I loved Guardians and in a normal year, it could have topped this list, but as I said this was an exceptional year for me in terms of seeing films.

4. Tusk

   Guilty as charged, I'm about as big of a Kevin Smith as you'll find around, but that doesn't mean that I can't be objective. For me, a true test of a film's greatness is how it resonates with you. If you find yourself thinking about the film days after you see it and wanting to see it again, then chances are good that it will end up on this list. Tusk was all that and then some.

3. Gone Girl

   There is certainly a theme with my list this year: all of my favorite directors. David Fincher certainly qualifies as one of my all-time faves and he doesn't disappoint in this tricky adaptation from the dark best-selling novel.

2. Snowpiercer

   The last film that I saw in 2014 almost took the crown as the best film I saw all year. It was close, real close, but there's just something special about the top film this year. That being said, it's been a long time since a genre film like this made such a strong impression and I'm excited to see what Bong Joon-Ho does next.

1. Interstellar

   I won't belabor the point, but there is no much that I absolutely loved about this film. Most of all, I think that I was happiest with Chris Nolan's smooth transition back into serious film. I think he's got a tremendous career ahead of him and I can't wait to be dazzled each and every time.