It took me a while, but I’ve finally seen all the motion pictures I felt necessary to make a thorough top ten list. 2014 was a great year for movies, despite what we always hear-“The prices are too high and the movies aren’t as good as they used to be.” It was an especially great year in film for me, as I got to cover the Chicago International Film Festival for the first time, as well as the Chicago International Movies And Music Festival (for the second time). There were a ton of great pictures in both fests, as well as the plethora of movies that played nationally.

Below find my top ten movies of the year, along with another ten honorable mentions. I’ve also included some awards, were I the one to hand them out. Please enjoy and feel free to comment with your own thoughts.

10. Nightcrawler

9. The Babadook

8. Ida

7. Mistaken For Strangers

6. Obvious Child

5. The One I Love

4. Whiplash

3. Force Majeure

2. The Grand Budapest Hotel

1. Birdman

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):

Begin Again

Big Hero 6

Boyhood

Inherent Vice

The Lego Movie

Love Is Strange

Maps To The Stars

Selma

Timbuktu

The Trip To Italy

Awards

Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne in The Theory Of Everything

Best Actress: Essie Davis in The Babadook

Best Supporting Actor: Ed Norton in Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel

Actress: Patricia Arquette in Boyhood

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu for Birdman

Screenplay: The One I Love

Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman

Score: Johann Johannson for The Theory Of Everything

Overrated: Gone Girl

Underrated: The Trip To Italy

Breakthrough: Jenny Slate in Obvious Child

The Worst: Sex Tape