Most Underrated Movies of the 2010's (By Year): 2014

Honorable Mentions: Dom Hemingway, Kill the Messenger, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Edge of Tomorrow (aka Live. Die. Repeat.): Doug Liman's adaptation of the Japanese graphic novel All You Need is Kill about a cowardly military media relations officer (Tom Cruise) who gets forced to fight on the frontlines of a war against a lethal alien race known as Mimics who gets caught in a time loop reliving the same day after killing their leader is arguably the most quietly influential blockbuster of the past decade. Its moderate financial/critical success led to a resurgence of films using plots revolving around time loops and Emily Blunt's role as the tough, decorated solider who has teach to Cruise's character to become an unselfish hero marked the start of a shift in how female characters are portrayed in these types of movies. It also doesn't hurt that the film happens to be a funny, action-packed and just plain exhilarating spectacle that reinforces why the particularly brand of joy that a well-executed piece of escapism delivers is so special.

The Skeleton Twins: Another year, another slept-on Sundance acquisition. Not only did The Skeleton Twins feature a pair of fearlessly powerful performances from Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig that showed that they're much more than just standout Saturday Night Live alums, it examines subjects like childhood trauma, mental illness and how the powerful, honesty-driven bond between siblings  can help navigate through life's toughest situations in a really beautiful, profound way that you don't see very often in dramedies of any production size or narrative style.  

Top Five: Looking at Chris Rock's filmography through the early 2010's, it was fair to question whether or not he was better off just sticking to stand-up. Even in his better big screen projects (Death at a Funeral, Pootie Tang, Head of State), the sharp wit and incendiary delivery that has made one of the most strongest comedic forces to ever step foot on a stage rarely ever shined through. After 20+ years of acting, the full extent of Rock's comedic talent finally made its way to his movies with Top Five. By making his third directorial effort a semi-autobiographical story about a comedian turned actor whose confidence is wavering after getting sober, starring in a string of unsuccessful projects and entering a highly public relationship with a famous reality TV star to try to remain relevant, a visibly revitalized Rock was able to seamlessly bring the sincere, intelligent, honest and deeply hilarious observations that have defined his career on stage to the screen for the very first time. Here's to hoping that his upcoming work, which includes appearances in Robert Zemeicks' remake of The Witches, Saw reboot Spiral and the fourth season of FX's anthology series Fargo continues to be as heartfelt and brilliant as this.