Re-ranking my top 10 movies of 2014
A decade later: what faded, what holds up, and what I overlooked.
The longest-standing annual tradition on the Marshall and the Movies Substack continues into its fourth year! Before I unfurl my top 10 movies of the current year on New Year’s Eve, I look back at where I stood on the state of movies a decade ago and size up how I think those rankings hold up today.
Back in 2014, I wasn’t too impressed with the overall crop, writing:
“Another year gone by, and what an odd and largely unremarkable one (at least for me). That’s not to say, however, that there were not plenty of good movies to see. Between two years – this and last – packed with film festivals as well as a summer living in Los Angeles, I have racked up a shamefully high film count for 2014. The final tally: 154. That’s a gain of over 50% from just two years ago.”
It’s a position not entirely different from the one I hold about 2024: a year not shy on some genuinely fantastic films, but perhaps not great for the art from the macro perspective. But with some distance from 2014, I can now see how many of these movies would mean even more to me than I anticipated — and my thoughts on some that didn’t make the original cut would evolve in exciting ways in tandem!
Everyone signed up to receive emails from Marshall and the Movies can see the ultimate ranking below, but only paid subscribers can read the full write-up explaining how my thoughts have changed on each of these movies over the last decade.
If you’re interested in seeing some introspection on how I’ve grown and changed as a writer and person from when I was 22, then invest in this publication!
What Fell Off the List + Honorable Mentions
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