Honorable Mention - Star Trek Into Darkness
JJ Abrams is such an amazing director that he has managed to turn me into a full blown Star Trek fan with this movie and his first one. The story and action were awesome. And Bendict Cumberbach put forth a truly career launching performance.
10 - The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug
Much like the first part of The Hobbit last year this was an awesome movie. I actually liked it a lot more than the first part and the dragon stuff was amazing. I was very nervous that they would screw the pooch on that one, but they didn't at all. This movie is still nowhere near Lord Of The Rings level though.
9 - 42
They did such a good job of portraying the racism that Jackie Robinson faced that it was literally uncomfortable to watch it at times. They did a great job of telling the whole story from lots of different points of view and it featured what might be one of Harrison Ford's greatest acting performances in his career.
8 - Fast & Furious 6
This was the best popcorn movie of the year. Sure all of it was over the top just like everything else in this franchise but few franchises get me this pumped watching them. Not as good as the fifth entry but probably the second best of the 6 behind that one.
7 - Captain Phillips
Tom Hanks finally showcased is awesome acting ability again. This was a very intense movie and he did such a great job of showing that tension physically since so much of the movie was him and his captors crammed in a little emergency boat. You felt the journey of this character throughout the whole ordeal.
6 - Catching Fire
Wow!!! This was so much better than the first installment in every way. It looked better. The action seqences were better. The acting by all the awesome supporting actors was highlighted more. Sure it ended in a frustrating Empire Stikes Back kind of way but I can't wait for the next installment.
5 - Monsters University
I was very afraid of this movie after how Pixar/Disney really mailed it in with Cars 2 a few years back but this movie was great. And it pulled off a rarity of making a prequel that works. This is probably the best one I've ever seen outside of X-Men: First Class and it was great how they showed you all the characters that you were already familiar with while introducing great new ones too.
4 - The Wolf Of Wall Street
This is one of those movies that was so wrong in so much of the stuff that they put on screen but they did such a great job of showing how completely out of control this lifestyle was and the cost that came with it eventually. Leonardo DiCaprio's drugged out of his mind scene might be one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen in my life.
3 - Oldboy
This movie blew my mind. And I knew the basic outline of it and what not. But it was so intense and was such a total mindscrew for the main character and the viewers from beginning to end. I still can't believe that Spike Lee made this movie. It kills me that this didn't get a wider release and practically nobody saw this.
2 - The Butler
I am by no means a history buff so when a movie comes along and makes me care about historical stuff that speaks volumes. This movie did just that. And the presidential terms that this butler lived through made this almost like a Forrest Gump trip though White House history. Great performances thoughout the movie and an amazing look at family dynamics through changes in society was spot on.
1 - Gravity
This is one of those years where I could go with the best made movie or what is a once a decade movie going experience. While this movie was very well made, I'm giving it the number one spot based on what an amazing experience this was at the movies. I was skeptical at best about this movie keeping my attention for the duration of it but based on the ticking clock before the shrapnel did another orbital rotation you were stuck holding your breath and bracing for the craziness to happen all over again. This is only the third movie that I would say was worth seeing in 3D since the whole price jacking con job started. Visually it took this movie to a whole other level.
