My REVISED top 10 films list for the year 2014

David Oyelowo in Selma

For the last few years it feels like a mediocre time for movies until December rolls around, and then you see a slate of films that reaffirms your faith in Hollywood's creative juices.

As 2014 comes to a close, I have solidified my top 10 favorite films of the year -- with the very huge caveat that I have still yet to see a handful of strong contenders.

For instance, I still need to see and want to see: A Most Violent Year, Big Eyes, Wild, American Sniper and The Imitation Game -- all films that I could see earning a spot on my list when all is said and done. So, consider this a tentative top 10 until I've had a chance to really assess this past year's offerings.

Still, I am happy to say that despite the dominance of superhero films and young adult novel adaptations, there were some breathtakingly inventive and moving motion pictures in 2014. And I am also happy to report that some of those films came from fresh voices instead of the same old usual suspects. There were also quite a few letdowns (*cough* Interstellar *cough*) and overrated movies. We lost some giants, like the great Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams. And we saw a major studio, Sony, shaken to its core by an unprecedented hacking.

But I digress. What do I think are the best movies of 2014? Here are my first thoughts on the matter.

10) Top Five - Quite possibly the funniest film of the year in a particularly weak one for mainstream comedy. Chris Rock finally finds his voice as a director and an actor in this Woody-Allen-esque and very meta look at a middle-aged comedian trying to rediscover his passion for his craft. The movie isn't perfect, Rock still has his problems portraying women. But this film has the most uproarious cameos of the year, some of the most savagely funny scenes and it feels fresh -- which is more than I can say for a lot of Hollywood comedies these days.

9) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - If you can get past it's mouthful of a title, this epic action film was easily the best summer blockbuster of the year (sorry Guardians of the Galaxy fans). This smart, insightful film built on its very good predecessor and wound up with an even richer, more sophisticated adventure. Credit goes to director Matt Reeves (one of the underrated new auteurs), the incredible CGI -- which is the best I've ever seen -- and the great Andy Serkis, who imbued lead ape Caesar with so much leading man appeal that he outshone all his human co-stars. Can't wait for the third installment in this ape vs. man saga.

Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck in Gone Girl

8) Whiplash - A wild and intense film largely revolving around two characters -- determined young drummer Miles Teller and his dictatorial and manipulative instructor J.K. Simmons (who is likely the shoo-in for the best supporting actor Oscar). The movie has the excitement and tension of a dynamite action film which is impressive for a story that revolves around a youth jazz band. If you overlook some of the more unrealistic flourishes, you'll enjoy this film for the madcap masterpiece it is. Bonus points for the incredible score.

7) Gone Girl - Director David Fincher struck gold again with yet another interpretation of a pulpy but imperfect popular novel. In my humble opinion, his directing and editing improved on author Gillian Flynn's prose on every level. Rosamund Pike gave a revelatory performance and Ben Affleck solidified his status as a relevant leading man with this film. But this was Fincher's show from beginning to end. His signature style may occasionally teeter on the edge of self parody, but he has been such a consistently excellent auteur that I am in line already for whatever he does next.

6) Foxcatcher - This brooding true crime film is clearly not for everyone's tastes, but I found it truly riveting. It boasts three of the best, truest performances of the year from Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum in a film that is more than it appears to be. Yes, it details the descent into madness of a rich elitist and the toll it took on a pair of wrestling brothers he desperately wanted to mentor -- but it also is about capitalism and greed and the American preoccupation with dominance. An endlessly fascinating, quiet film that I definitely am looking forward to revisiting.

There is some separation here for me between my top five and the rest of the pack. Any of these four films could wind up emerging as my final favorite film of the year. These are compelling and effective movies that are among the best of 2014 because they so thoroughly accomplished what they set out to do.

Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin

5) Inherent Vice - Paul Thomas Anderson makes a triumphant return after his mercurial take on Scientology, The Master. A sprawling, gorgeous and hilariously funny homage to the oddball era which was the early 1970s, this shaggy dog mystery may rub some audiences the wrong way, but I loved it. First off, it has such a fun, eccentric cast of underused character actors (like Benicio Del Toro, Eric Roberts and Martin Short) and performers doing what they do best (Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson and a never better Joaquin Phoenix). I have no idea how this stoner epic compares to the book but its a testament to this whacked out film that I immediately wanted to read it.

4) Under the Skin - The weirdest (in the best way) film of the year is this beautifully strange and mysterious sci-fi drama, which provided Scarlett Johansson with the best role of her career. This trippy film has been compared to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and it's easy to see why -- it is open to so much interpretation and can be viewed as a genuinely thought provoking meditation on women's bodies and how they are used and manipulated. This movie never had a chance commercially and was unfortunately reduced in some circles to 'the movie where ScarJo gets naked' but it's so much more than that. It's almost impossible to describe -- I'll just say that it haunted me when I first saw it earlier this year and I knew that it would make my top five no matter what else came out this year.

3) Birdman - Quite possibly the most fun I've had at the movies this year was watching this comeback vehicle for one of my all-time favorite actors, Michael Keaton. He gave what remains my favorite acting performance of the year in a self-referential role as a washed-up actor trying to to redeem himself with a stage production of a Raymond Carver story. He is bolstered by an eclectic supporting cast including a never better Emma Stone and Edward Norton. And the movie's inventive visual style (it's made to appear as one single shot) could have felt gimmicky but wound up being exhilarating. A truly cinematic original that deserves all the accolades it's receiving. I can't believe it's not a bigger hit.

When it comes to my number one and two, I have gone back and forth several times. I didn't want to have a tie -- because ties are lame -- but these picks are really as neck-and-neck as they could possibly be. I ultimately make my final pick for the best of the year based on the fact that it was the most original film and I prize that over everything else.

2) Selma - It may be a conventional biopic in many ways -- but it's also one of the best and more relevant I've seen. Last night I saw this searing and powerful film (I'll be writing more about it later for msnbc) and I was blown away. No movie moved me more emotionally this year. Director Ava DuVernay does an incredible job of humanizing Martin Luther King, providing a history lesson without losing nuance or tension and of telling a story that takes place nearly 50 years ago that feels more relevant to our times than any other movie released this year. The performances and production design are all note-perfect and the film is unflinching in showing the dark side of the voting rights struggle. It's in so many ways the opposite of The Butler, a safe and audience friendly look at the civil rights era. Selma is restless and revolutionary, quite possibly the best awards contender of the year.

1) Boyhood - I haven't revisited this film since it first came out and yet it still sticks with me as the most profound movie-going experience I've had this year. Now, on second viewing I could change my mind about that and go with Selma, which is fresher in my mind. But here's the thing, despite the recent backlash to this movie, I still feel like it's the greatest coming-of-age movie I've ever seen. And due to the mind-blowing audacity of the project (it was filmed over 12 years) I felt like I had literally lived with the characters on the film -- which is a feat that is incomparable. Richard Linklater made the banal and everyday feel epic and captured this unique era of our lives better than any recent movie I've seen. A towering cinematic achievement even if it wasn't driven by plot or a flashy style. This gets my vote because it was the most innovative movie I saw this year.

Speaking of this year -- I started this blog in January largely to appease myself and my frustrated desire to write about film for a living. I have finally found an outlet for that in my day job but the feedback and positive encouragement I've received for this movie blog has inspired me to keep it going. I have to give thanks to Brian Wezowicz for inspiring me to do this in the first place and Elizabeth Rosado for reading and editing every single one of my posts.

Happy new year!