Dare we say that, so far, 2014 has been an exceptional year for movies? Undoubtedly yes.
So what if the overall box office was down a whopping 40% this past weekend compared to last year’s 4th of July numbers? Looking at what’s new in theaters, this weekend’s competition wasn’t exactly superior. Though Deliver Us From Evil is better than its domestic gross and critical consensus imply, Transformers: Age of Extinction and Tammy, the weekend’s top two earners, represent the worst of 2014’s cinematic slate, and, thus, are best forgotten from this point forward.
There’s been too much excellence in theaters and on VOD this year. Justifying the undying cliche “something for everyone,” the last six months have contributed terrific films to all conceivable genres. If you’re one of the few remaining rom-com fans out there, the Jenny Slate-led indie Obvious Child is the best of its funny/cutesy kind in years; if you’re into weird midnight-movie fare, Under the Skin and Enemy combine A-list talent (Scarlett Johansson and Jake Gyllenhaal, respectively) with dark and hauntingly strange stories of lost identity; for action lovers, Snowpiercer is the wonderfully insane antidote to those brain-numbing Autobots. And that’s not even mentioning hilarious comedies like Neighbors and top-tier superhero flicks like X-Men: Days of Future Past.
See what we mean? To further drive home the point, here’s our official list of The Best Movies of the Year (So Far).