The Best Reviewed Movies Of 2014: From Wild To The LEGO Movie

So we've looked at the best and worst movies of the year as rated by the largest sampling of moviegoers available publicly (IMDB). And as you know, the public opinion sometimes differs from that of professional film critics. As it should, film critics often see hundreds of new movies a year (a larger sampling of content) and have thus have a more discerning taste. So after the jump we will take a look at the best reviewed movies of 2014.

This list was compiled from Rotten Tomatoes and not Metacritic. Both sites have their advantages. Rotten Tomatoes includes a larger sample of reviews, while Metacritic features a smaller more-selected grouping of film critics. Rotten Tomatoes calculates critic scores using a positive or negative score for each review. One movie could be 100% fresh with all the critics giving the movie a 7/10 grade. Metacritic attempts to gauge the score of each critic's review (not just a positive or negative, but a number 0 to 100) averaged together, giving you a better indication of what the response is to any given film, and not just a percentage of positive reviews. Honestly, I like how Metacritic calculates the numbers, but their refusal to incorporate a larger sample of film critics puts them behind Rotten Tomatoes in my mind.

Note: This list was compiled on the third week of December, these ratings and placements could change into January. The ranking also uses an adjusted score (that uses a weighted Bayesian formula) with a minimum of 40 reviews.

50. 94% The Dog 49

49. 94% The Dance of Reality 50

48. 93% Child's Pose 74

47. 89% Locke 169

46. 95% Particle Fever 44

45. 93% Force Majeure 99

44. 91% A Most Wanted Man 151

43. 95% Two Days, One Night 60

42. 94% Stranger by the Lake 84

41. 94% Finding Vivian Maier 86

40. 96% A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night 45

39. 96% Last Days in Vietnam 49

38. 92% Wild 143

37. 94% Pride 100

36. 93% Frank 128 reviews

35. 88% Gone Girl 249 reviews

34. 92% How to Train Your Dragon 2 159

33. 89% Captain America: The Winter Soldier 241

32. 98% Manakamana 41

31. 98% A Summer's Tale 43

30. 20,000 Days on Earth

97% rating

67 reviews

29. The Lunchbox

96% rating

94 reviews

28. Ernest & Célestine

97% rating

75 reviews

27. The Overnighters

98% rating

52 reviews

26. The Rocket

98% rating

54 reviews

25. Mr. Turner

97% rating

78 reviews

24. Birdman

93% rating

172 reviews

23. Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow

90% rating

242 reviews

22. Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me

98% rating

57 reviews

21. Love Is Strange

96% rating

104 reviews

20. Guardians of the Galaxy

90% rating

251 reviews

19. Ida

96% rating

115 reviews

18. Blue Ruin

96% rating

115 reviews

17. Citizenfour

97%  rating

102 reviews

16. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

91%  rating

243 reviews

15. The Grand Budapest Hotel

92% rating

228 reviews14. We Are the Best!

97% rating

112 reviews

13. Snowpiercer

95% rating

165 reviews

12. X-Men: Days of Future Past

92% rating

237 reviews

11. The Missing Picture

99% rating

74 reviews

10. Jodorowsky's Dune

98% rating

99 reviews

9. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

100% rating

56 reviews

8. Starred Up

99% rating

90 reviews

7. Nightcrawler

95% rating

192 reviews

6. The Babadook

98% rating

124 reviews

5. Gloria

99% rating

110 reviews

4. Whiplash

96% rating

182 reviews

3. The LEGO Movie

96%  rating

201 reviews

2. Life Itself

98% rating

166 reviews

1. Boyhood

99% rating

213 reviews