The top ten films of 2014

The past year I saw a grand total of 151 movies in the cinema. 2014 proved to be a commendable movie year, with many films I will cherish for a lifetime. Unfortunately there is only room for ten spots in my year-end list, so I had to leave out some very good movies, like Philomena, American Hustle, Fruitvale Station, Nebraska, Godzilla, Joe, 22 Jump Street, Under the Skin, Boyhood, Locke, Calvary, What If, Deux Jours Une Nuit and Love is Strange. In a lesser year any of those could have cracked the top ten. This year, they have to be content with an honourable mention.

A special shout-out as well to two pictures that didn’t play in Belgian cinemas, but that I did thoroughly enjoy on dvd: the exceptional documentary Finding Vivian Maier (fingers crossed it receives an Oscar nomination in a few weeks time) and Robert Redford one-hander All is Lost. Had these movies been playing in cinemas in 2014 instead of being released straight to dvd, both would have definitely made my top ten.

Keeping that in mind, without further ado, the ten best pictures of the year were …

Who wrote the best adapted screenplay of the year?

On day five of my countdown of the best achievements in film in 2014, we move on to the REALLY important categories, i.e. screenwriting. Which wordsmiths wrote this year’s best adaptations? Find it out in the video below.

The best-looking movies of the year

In part two of my look back on the cinema year 2014, I’m focussing on the cinematography, the use of a camera and lighting on a picture. Many movies looked great this year, but only five made the cut on my list. Which one will be crowned as best achievement in cinematography of 2014? Find out in the video below: