The New York Film Critic’s Circle released their picks for the best films of 2014 this morning, but I’m going to focus on the selections from the director of Shaun of the Dead and The World’s End instead. Edgar Wright sat down with Esquire‘s Emily Zemler to discuss the year in review. Oddly enough, there is some crossover between Wright’s selections and what won from NYFCC today, namely Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Whiplash.
Here are Edgar Wright’s Top 10 Films of 2014:
(in no particular order)
“Birdman” (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
“Boyhood” (Richard Linklater)
“Edge of Tomorrow” (Doug Liman)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Wes Anderson)
“Interstellar” (Christopher Nolan)
“The Lego Movie” (Phil Lord/Chris Miller)
“Nightcrawler” (Dan Gilroy)
“Snowpiercer” (Bong Joon-ho)
“Under the Skin” (Jonathan Glazer)
“Whiplash” (Damien Chazelle)
Quick aside, while most critics and cinephiles would pick Jennifer Kent’s Mister Babadook as best monster of the year, Wright has a different candidate in mind:
“My favorite horror movie of 2014. Well, J.K. Simmons is the great cinematic monster of the year, truly terrifying as the music tutor who pummels the puppyish Miles Teller into shape. Sweat and blood flies, hearts and spirits are broken, and yet all the while, you are tapping your foot to all that jazz. Superb.”