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The top ten films of 2014, according to Jocelyn Noveck

Boyhood — This movie just pulsates with the feeling that it’s something utterly unique — something rare and exciting. It’s not just that director Richard Linklater managed to shoot it over 12 years, creating an astonishingly fluid view of a boy’s life; It’s how the film makes us FEEL. By the end, we know Mason (the sensitive Ellar Coltrane) so well, it feels wrong to leave him. Shouldn’t he be coming home with us?

Birdman — Absolutely bracing in its verve and inventiveness, Alejandro G. Inarritu’s meditation on fame, relevance and self-worth is a marvel. Michael Keaton is raw and vulnerable as an aging actor trying to exorcise his superhero past; Edward Norton is superb as a charismatic jerk. The cherry on top: Emmanuel Lubezki’s stunningly seamless camera work.

Selma — Talk about a movie that comes just when the country needs it. A beautifully restrained performance by David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr. anchors this stirring account of events surrounding the famous march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery. Director Ava DuVernay is equally adept at depicting intimate moments — like a testy Oval Office exchange between LBJ and George Wallace — as she is conveying the sweep of a historic movement.

Ida — Pawel Pawlikowski’s film is pure, austere, and powerful — exactly how one might describe its young star, Agata Trzebuchowska, who plays an orphaned novice about to take her vows when she learns she has an aunt, her only living relative. Ida’s subsequent journey, in which she explores Poland’s dark wartime past to discover both who she is and who she wants to be, is mesmerizing.

Mr. Turner — Timothy Spall studied painting, drawing, even Greek and Roman architecture — all to play the great landscape painter J.M.W. Turner. And it shows: The wonderfully gruff Spall doesn’t seem to act in this movie as much as inhabit it, messily and fully. Mike Leigh’s gorgeously detailed biopic doesn’t fall into typical formula — and the visuals do Turner proud.

The Grand Budapest Hotel — Wes Anderson, we surrender — to your whimsy and singular imagination. This movie is a visual delight; it’s also a madcap caper and, a layer deeper, a more serious look at a dying way of life in Europe. Mostly, it’s a perfect vehicle for Ralph Fiennes, as a wonderfully pompous concierge, to display his lesser-known comic skills.

Whiplash — None of us would ever want to be in a classroom with the abusively demanding jazz instructor played by J.K. Simmons — it’s hard enough to be in the movie theater. But boy, Simmons grabs the role by the throat, thrillingly. Miles Teller is excellent, too, as the driven student who accepts this abuse, all to be a jazz drummer.

The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game — Both are biopics that feel somewhat formulaic, but both feature lead performances that must be seen. Eddie Redmayne is remarkably effective as Stephen Hawking, eventually using only his eyes and a crooked smile to express what’s inside a blazing mind. Benedict Cumberbatch’s nervous energy is perfect for the role of Alan Turing, the mathematician who cracked the Germans’ Enigma code.

Foxcatcher — Grim and unrelenting but expertly rendered, this real-life tale of the Olympic wrestling Schultz brothers and benefactor John DuPont is worth seeing both for the shocking story and the acting. Steve Carell makes a striking physical transformation, but it’s his reedy voice that’ll really creep you out. Mark Ruffalo, the more nurturing brother, and Channing Tatum, the more troubled, are just as compelling.

Still Alice, Get on Up — Two more films to mention because of stellar central performances: As an early-onset Alzheimer’s patient, Julianne Moore is sensitive, warm, heartbreaking — and deserves all the awards buzz she’s getting. In Get On Up, Chadwick Boseman is truly galvanizing as James Brown — and deserves way more buzz than HE’S getting.

Text and photos: AP