December 27, 2014 // 9:00am
Illustration by Jaclyn Kessel; Photos Courtesy Everett Collection, NBC
2014…what a year, amirite? During each of the final 14 days of the year, the Decider staff will be counting down our favorite and most memorable moments of 2014. If you happen to miss an installment along the way, don't fret! You can follow all the action on our official Best 14 Of '14 hub page.
We've spent the last few days talking about the best of the year — the things we genuinely loved, and the best examples of what we watched while we grit our teeth. As consumers of massive amounts of pop culture, it's quite easy to become jaded about the same old things day in and day out, rarely allowing ourselves to truly enjoy and appreciate what comes across our radar. This year, however, there were still plenty of offerings that genuinely surprised us — things that reminded us how good entertainment can actually be.
14
'Peter Pan Live!'
Sure, it wasn't brilliant (an oft-told story, this time in the form of an old-timey musical for children), and it wasn't so remarkably bad to merit its three-hour run time, but one thing's for certain: Allison Williams worked very hard, and it showed. Finally stepping out of the shadow of Marnie, her character on HBO's Girls, Williams proved herself a pro as the boy who would never grow up. [Where to stream Peter Pan Live!]
13
'Wild'
Wild could have been a run-of-the-mill inspirational movie, but luckily its source material — Cheryl Strayed's memoir — provided a good foundation: an unlikeable, if redeemable, woman who goes on a solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in order to restart her life following the death of her mother, a recent divorce, and a budding heroin addiction. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, Wild is, yes, an inspirational tale, but a gut-wrenching one that never lets its lead character, played wonderfully by Reese Witherspoon, off the hook.
12
'How to Get Away With Murder'
From executive producer Shonda Rhimes comes this campy, trashy, and incredibly entertaining legal thriller series, combining the typical case-of-the-week format with a meandering mystery plot that seems to owe a major debt to Donna Tartt's literary thriller The Secret History. On top of all that, we get the indelible Viola Davis on our screens every week. [Where to stream How to Get Away With Murder]
11
'Gone Girl'
Photo: 20th Century Fox; Courtesy Everett Collection
The cards were stacked against this one: a runaway bestselling novel, the seemingly poor casting of Ben Affleck in the lead role, a seemingly unfilmable plot device. Yet David Fincher accomplished what few directors manage to deliver: a faithful adaptation, a well crafted and acted film, and a deliciously dark, brutal, and sexy thriller. [Where to stream Gone Girl]
10
'The One I Love'
It's hard to keep the momentum of a spooky, sci-fi romance going, especially once the twist is revealed so early on in the film. Yet Charlie McDowell's film accomplishes just that with a little help from its two stars, Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass, who both deliver quiet and fascinating performances as a married couple trying their best not to split up. [Where to stream The One I Love]
9
'The Skeleton Twins'
Photo: Roadside Attractions; Courtesy Everett Collection
We've grown to love Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader's comedic work, especially when they work together. So it was a bit of a shock to see them in more subtle, dramatic roles. Needless to say, we like them doing whatever they want to do together. []
[Where to stream The Skeleton Twins]
8
'Transparent'
Everyone seemed to expect that Transparent would be good, but we had no idea it'd be this good. Following an incredibly layered and fascinating family, the patriarch of which has decided to transition into a woman, Transparent gives a wide array of interesting characters who, through each thirty-minute episode, seem more complicated and unique than anyone found in an hour-long episode of television found on a network series. [Where to stream Transparent]
7
'The Cosmopolitans'
The world of Whit Stillman blessedly, and briefly, returned to us in the form of this pilot released on Amazon featuring Adam Brody and Chloe Sevigney as two Americans living in Paris and their expatriate cohort. Although Amazon sadly passed on the pilot, it gave Stillman fans exactly what we'd been yearning for: the clever wit, the incredible performances, and a great heaping of Stillmanesque charm. [Where to stream The Cosmopolitans]
6
'Peaky Blinders'
If the title alone didn't scare you away, perhaps the anachronistic soundtrack — featuring the music of the White Stripes, Nick Cave, and PJ Harvey — might induce a couple of groans. But this is hardly a British Boardwalk Empire; the series, which follows a real-life gang of bootleggers and thieves in Brighton, is a brutal and shocking account of a dark time in England's history. [Where to stream Peaky Blinders]
5
'Maps to the Stars'
David Cronenberg's Hollywood satire is a mixed bag — at its best, it's a David Lynch-lite feature. But despite its flaws, Cronenberg's film features one hell of a performance from Julianne Moore as a spacey actress haunted by the ghost of her mother. More impressively, it allows teen heartthrob Robert Pattinson to prove his talents beyond brooding vampire; his second collaboration with Cronenberg, Pattinson shows off a great performance.
4
'Inherent Vice'
After the one-two punch of There Will Be Blood and The Master, one wouldn't be shocked if Paul Thomas Anderson couldn't keep up his momentum as a director. And attaching himself to the enigmatic author Thomas Pynchon was a surprising move. Yet Anderson's adaptation of Pynchon's hazy, '70s-set hard-boiled detective story proves his ability to dip back into the groovy, bizarre, and hilarious arenas of his earlier films, again providing a winding plot and an impressive cast of characters reminiscent of Robert Altman's best work.
3
'Jane the Virgin'
A telenovela on the CW about a young woman who gets accidentally pregnant while being a virgin? Oh, brother, can you imagine? But while you might expect it to be comprised of the worst qualities of Ugly Betty, Jane the Virgin is actually a sweet, fully, and delightful series that's as well-written as it is goofily bonkers. [Where to stream Jane the Virgin]
2
'Mad Max: Fury Road' Trailer
We have to wait until next year to see this revamp of the classic film franchise, but holy cow: there hasn't been a movie trailer as exhilarating as this one, one that leaves us satisfied for the time being (how many times can you watch that on a loop? I've lost count) while still leaving us thirsty for the full-length movie.
1
'The Babadook'
Look, a movie called The Babadook is going to be a tough sell — after all, there's no much scary about the way that word sounds. Yet this horror film, which starts off deeply and quietly suspenseful before going full-throttle with an unleashing of terror and fright, succeeds on all accounts. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, The Babadook isn't just one of the scariest movies to come out in years — it's also one of the year's very best. [Where to stream The Babadook]
Feeling overwhelmed by all that the world of streaming has to offer? Enter Decider Streamline. It's our weekly video that will feature our top five picks for what you should be streaming this week.
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