If we had to sum up the Year in Movies for 2014 in one word it would be "surprising." Not that any particular film had a twist we weren't expecting—though some did—but rather many of the best flicks we saw this year weren't the ones we were expecting to love as much as we did. The Lego Movie—essentially a two-hour commercial for building blocks and Batman—turned out to be, yes, awesome. Richard Linklater dropped a movie he'd been working on largely unbeknownst to anyone for more than a decade with Boyhood. X-Men: Days of Future Past saved the franchise in the wake of many duds. Guardians of the Galaxy proved the great Marvel superhero teams don't begin and end at the Avengers. And then Birdman came along and proved the best superheroes are sometimes the has-beens. Here, in no particular order, are our 11 favorite movies of 2014. (Expand the gallery to fullscreen for a full rundown of why we liked each film.)
...because not everything we loved this year could fit into one list.
Best Performance In a Tank Top: Channing Tatum, 22 Jump Street and Foxcatcher
Best Performance By a Talking Brick: Elizabeth Banks, The Lego Movie
Most Meta Performance: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Fewest Words, Most Tears/Love: Groot, Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Supporting Robot: TARS, Interstellar
Most Repulsive Supporting Actor: Jon Bernthal, Fury
Best Sci-Fi Makeover: Karen Gillan, Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Oscar-Bait Makeover: Eddie Redmayne, Theory of Everything
Best Oscar-Bait Makeunder: Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Best Villain: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Best Use of Retcon-ing: Jean Grey, X-Men: Days of Future Past
Best Pedigree, Worst Movie: *Transcendence *
Most Versatile, Actress: Tilda Swinton
Most Versatile, Actor: Andy Serkis
