Film Reviewer Jr.: 2014 Mid-Year's Best 20 Films (Film List)

It’s unavoidable…

Each year since the beginning of the decade, during the months of September to December, the Oscar season will begin. Inevitably 90% of all films released during the months of January through August (nearly three-fourths of the year) will be forgotten by the Academy Awards, regardless of how critically acclaimed and/or loved they are. In fact, I’m willing to bet that not a single film released so far will be nominated for 2014 Best Picture (with perhaps, the slight exception of Boyhood). This would (and most likely will) be a complete shame considering how great (critically, not financially) 2014’s been so far with superior sequels, terrific thrillers and the best year for animation since 2011.

The list I've made is to honor those unfortunate films that’ll soon be pushed out of sight and mind by the Oscar-bait and “superior” films (a last hurrah for the underdogs of the Academy Awards). The films here are the best I've seen these past seven months (January consisted mostly of me catching up on 2013 releases) and recommend for you the readers to also watch. As luck would have it, I've written a review for every film on the list; so if you’re curious about one of them, simply click the title link to read a more in-depth review.

P.S. If I haven’t written a review on a 2014 film yet (take for example, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), then that simply means I haven’t seen it yet. So if you’re wondering why a certain film didn't make the list, check to see if I've written a review first (2013 leftovers are also included here).

Now then, LET'S BEGIN:

The Other 10: (Alphabetical Order)

Giver (The)