5.  The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug-  Most people that I talked to seemed thoroughly disappointed with the first Hobbit film, a movie that I found slow, but entertaining.  I’ll preface this by saying that it is necessary to differentiate the movie from the book, as most people who seem to dislike the film only complain about the differences from the book.  If you have the ability to separate these two, this film is a step up from the first, with a better flow of energy to it.  The added content, which doesn’t come from the book, adds to the plot more significantly than the original, and characters from the first that I didn’t care about are better written, to make them more interesting and relatable.  An overall better sequel.

4.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire-  Another great sequel, Catching Fire fixes all of the issues that I held regarding the original.  Be it the way the book was written, or the interpretation of such by the director, the movie feels darker and more real.  New characters are more interesting, as are the ones we already know.  As our main protagonist Katniss goes through more terrible ordeal, she becomes more scared, but also more determined to fight the corrupt system in which she lives.  The action and camera work have been fixed, disposing of the shakey-cam violence, and actually allowing us to see what is happening.  And the twist at the end, for those of you who, like me, didn’t read the book, is very good.  This movie succeed where the first one failed, it has made me truly excited for the next installment.

3.  The Worlds End-  Though I had not been truly introduced to his works until earlier this year, director Edgar Wright has become one of my favorites in terms of comedy.  Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World are all great comedies, and this one is no exception.  The story, while ridiculous, is made relatable by it characters, who are all believable in their own right.  Gary King, played by Simon Pegg, is mentally stuck in an age when he was cool, and is desperate to get back to those days.  Thus, even when he finds out that his old town has been taken over by robot aliens, he continues to fight through them, to relive the glory days.  This all leads to great comedy, and pretty good action, whenever fights with the blue-blooded aliens commence.  And, like most Edgar Wright films, the comedy is quick and witty, leaving the possibly of finding new jokes upon repeated viewings.  It’s a great ride, for anyone who likes Wright’s style of comedy.

2.  Pacific Rim-  From the trailers, and the movie itself, most would conclude that this would be a movie that I wouldn’t enjoy.  It focusses on the action, rather than actually developing a plot or characters.  The acting is decent, nothing special, and there not much to speak of in terms of depth.  But, after all that, I like it.  Why?  Because it is fun, more so than any straight action film I’ve seen in awhile.  The action is awesome, with cool designs to all the creatures and robots. Ron Pearlman and Idris Elba are great in their roles, and the rest of the characters are passable, allowing themselves to be sidelined for the action.  And, unlike the Transformers films (which have numbingly annoying characters and juvenile comedy), it has dialogue written to further the plot, and not to do much else.  And, while this doesn’t make the film any better developed, it shows that Guillemo del Toro new what the film was about:  the world it had created, and the spectacle of the action.  And sometimes, that is enough.

1.  Gravity-  When my good friend Dan brought me to see this movie, I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down with anticipation.  The film looked decent, backed by a good director (Alfonso Cuaron) and two big name actors, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.  A lot of the complaints that I had about the film, from the trailer, was that it just looked like Sandra Bullock floating in space the whole time, with little going on.  And, to this day, people bring this up when I try to explain to them that this film is brilliant, and has to be seen by everybody.  Everything is amazing, but the acting is what really makes the movie special.  Bullock and Clooney do a spectacular job, and their dialogue is superb, perfectly complimenting the characters: a calm and collected Clooney, and a frightened and distant Bullock.  The film is exhilarating, with quite possibly the best CGI I have ever seen, and sound mixing that is amazing.  I’m serious, somebody give the sound editors of this movie an award; I want them mentioned at the Oscars.  There were a few scenes in the movie that were so intense, that my friend and I looked at each other, awestruck and speechless at the film presented to us.  If that isn’t a sign of quality, I don’t know what is.