Best Movies of 2014

01 of 10

1. THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

In a star-making turn, Eddie Redmayne brought complexity and humor to his portrayal of physicist and bestselling author Stephen Hawking. Diagnosed with ALS in 1963, Hawking transcended disability with irrepressible genius – and the strength of his first wife, Jane (the luminous Felicity Jones). A tender story of a difficult marriage, Everything was a brainy movie with real heart.

02 of 10

2. WILD

The story of a lost woman (Cheryl Strayed, played by Reese Witherspoon) who finds herself on an epic hike hit the heights of emotional power and visual poetry.

03 of 10

3. GONE GIRL

The movie of Gillian Flynn's bestseller, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, was a riveting and clever popcorn thriller driven by Pike's delicious wickedness.

04 of 10

4. BIRDMAN

Part crackling backstage black comedy, part soulful rumination on acting, family and fame, Birdman let Michael Keaton soar again.

05 of 10

5. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

As big, broad and openhearted as its lovable star Chris Pratt, this good-natured matinee movie's best special effect was its charm.

06 of 10

6. INTO THE WOODS

With a tuneful cast of A-listers having the time of their lives (Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick and Emily Blunt among them), this witty rendering of Sondheim’s musical was pitch-perfect.

07 of 10

7. SELMA

This biopic made the great Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) human – showing the poignant self-doubts of a man changing history.

08 of 10

8. BOYHOOD

It started with a simple but brilliantly ambitious plan by director Richard Linklater: Film a coming-of-age story in real time, as its lead actor aged from 7 to 18. The resulting story about an ordinary boy's journey was sensitively, engrossingly told. But Boyhood's real achievement is the way it made you think about your own life, and maybe your children's – how keenly kids feel everything; how fast they grow up; how joyful, painful and, especially, how fleeting life can be.

09 of 10

9. THE IMITATION GAME

Benedict Cumberbatch triumphed as WWII code breaker Alan Turing, who helped defeat Nazism and bring on the computer age but was persecuted for being gay.

10 of 10

10. AMERICAN SNIPER

To pull the trigger or not? Bradley Cooper's transformative performance and the tension-ratcheting battle scenes pulled you into the mindset of the deadliest sniper in American history, Chris Kyle – and what happened to him after Iraq will keep haunting you.