14 DAY TRIAL // Say you’re just a regular guy / gal and you want to find out what to expect from a movie before seeing it in theaters. Whichever your reason for that, you have pretty much 2 very reliable options to do so: you either check out reviews on Rotten Tomatoes or you look for the film’s rating on IMDB.
Both can offer you important information into the film’s reception, but the latter has the clear advantage of offering an estimate of its popularity; while RT also offers the possibility to read users’ reviews or have regular users vote for its final score, IMDB is all about the fans.
So if you want to know what the fans think of a new movie, there’s always that. Here is the top 10 list of the highest rated releases of the year that’s about to end.
“X-Men: Days of Future Past”
The latest installment in the rebooted “X-Men” franchise managed to do the apparent impossible and please fans and critics alike. Featuring a cast of younger actors (the “young” mutants) and the original stars of the franchise (playing the same mutants but in an older version, from a parallel future), “Days” went back and forth in time swiftly and efficiently, making for a solid installment in a rebooted franchise in which few actually had any faith at first.
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
Here again is a movie that got many going “what in heaven’s name is this?!” when the first trailer came out. Proving that it can make anything into a smashing hit, even if it’s based on an obscure comic book, Marvel took a group of aliens and turned them into unlikely allies fighting for the admirable common goal of saving the entire universe. In the process, it made Chris Pratt the breakthrough star of the year – take that, Chris Hemsworth, who robbed him of his People Magazine’s Hottest title!
“Big Hero 6”
Disney continued its long winning streak of 2014 with this animated movie that pairs a plus-sized inflatable robot named Baymax with Hiro Hamada. Together, they will embark on an amazing adventure that will bring them closer than anything else but also save the city of San Fransokyo. In case you need any more telling, this is a Disney movie targeting a much younger audience, but it seems like older moviegoers loved it just as much, as it got an 8.3 rating on IMDB.
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
As a rule, it’s hard to make sequels that live up to the originals – so imagine how hard it must have been for Peter Jackson to make an entire spinoff franchise that would rise to the very high bar set by “The Lord of the Rings” one. “The Battle of Five Armies” was all that and so much more: it was a perfect piece of the perfect puzzle and the best way to say goodbye to Middle Earth.
“The Imitation Game”
Just when you thought that Benedict Cumberbatch couldn’t get any more lovable and worthy of your respect, he goes and stars in a brilliant movie like “The Imitation Game.” Directed by Morten Tyldum, the film tells the story of famed mathematician Alan Turing, who cracks the Germans’ Enigma code in World War II. Though it features other amazing performances as well (from Keira Knightley and Mathew Goode), it’s Benedict that’s getting the most Oscar buzz right now.
“Gone Girl”
Hollywood is in a constant search for movie ideas, so it often turns to popular novels for scripts. Gillian Flynn’s brilliant book on terror and the war between the sexes was turned into one of this year’s biggest hits in the able hands of David Fincher. It’s rare for a film to be a match for the book it’s based on, but this is one of those fortunate instances – and it’s a must-see, if not for Fincher’s superb style of storytelling, for Rosamund Pike’s brilliant (and mostly overlooked) performance.
“Boyhood”
The reason why this little film got so much media attention at first was that it took 12 years to shoot. Not make, which would imply that it could have spent years in pre-production hell, but to shoot, as director Richard Linklater thought it best to tell a boy’s story of “boyhood” by actually seeing it with his own eyes. Then, audiences started realizing that “Boyhood” was really an awesome movie, that it wasn’t just hype and no substance. US President Barack Obama recently named it his favorite movie of the year, if it counts for anything.
“Whiplash”
There’s nothing subtle or delicate about “Whiplash,” a movie about an aspiring musician (a drummer) who enlists at a private music school in the hope of becoming great. That may still turn out to be the case, but until then, he will have to survive it. Starring J.K. Simmons in the role of the instructor and Miles Teller as the musician, “Whiplash” is a tour de force of acting and exceptional moviemaking. It may even land Simmons an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, which would be a very well-deserved win.
“Birdman”
Not that Michael Keaton went anywhere in recent years, but critics and fans have rushed to call “Birdman” his “comeback” movie, which, by the way, he hates. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring very recognizable faces like Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Naomi Watts, “Birdman” packs a solid punch, being funny and meaningful at the same time – and most definitely a breath of fresh air for today’s cinema. Keaton too is considered a favorite at the Oscars for this role.
“Interstellar”
Christopher Nolan likes to make big movies: big in scale and even bigger in story. “Interstellar” is his biggest to date, taking audiences and his flawed hero to space – and then farther than ever before, through a black hole that connects galaxies. Nolan is still a victim of his own gorgeous style, which is to say he still pays more attention to details than to the human characters who populate his world, but “Interstellar” is considered his best film to date – and it’s also the highest rated of the year, as per IMDB users. A full “Interstellar” review is also available.
