Guardians of the Galaxy

Sorry, Star-Lord. Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ was just passed by ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay’ as the highest grossing film of 2014. And, making that feat all the more impressive: ‘Mockingjay’ reached that mark in just 62 days, without the help of 3D or IMAX.

The post-credits scene for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ featured a rather unexpected comic book character, which inspired fan speculation over whether or not this particular character would make another appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While we won’t see him on the big screen again anytime soon, he is getting his very own comic book sequel to help explain how he ended up in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’

It’s that time of the year, when pop culture websites and critics publish their annual Best Of lists and we heap praise on the best and most beloved movies and TV shows of the year. But what about the average moviegoer and TV-viewer? That’s where Facebook comes in. The social media site has released their top 10 movies and top 10 TV shows of the year, based on the most discussed titled of 2014. While some are fairly obvious, the lists might surprise you and inspire you to contemplate the overlap between what’s popular and what’s actually good.

Trailers are a huge part of the fabric of movies. They play before every film shown in theaters, and on every movie website around the world. They’re commercials, obviously, but they’re also more than that; miniature works of art that utilize the core elements of cinema—image, sound, music, action, editing—at their most pure and refined. And today at ScreenCrush we’re celebrating movie trailers by saluting the best sneak previews of 2014.

Though New York Comic Con 2014 kicked off this past Thursday, October 9, the high-profile panels and festivities bring out more intense fans, and that means more cosplayers. For those of you who can't attend the four-day-long nerd fest, check out our NYCC cosplay photo gallery and see what you've been missing.

Have a laugh and try to put last night's Patriots debacle out of your mind.

There actually was a new film released this week. It's called 'The Identical' and it's a Christian-themed fable about what would have happened if Elvis Presley's stillborn twin brother had survived. Well, for reasons that should be obvious after reading that sentence, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' held onto the number one spot this weekend while 'The Identical' opened outside of the top 10, never to be heard from again.

A few weeks ago, this column was skeptical that Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' could reach $300 million. Now, it seems impossible that it won't. Thanks to ecstatic word of mouth, killer marketing and only one genuinely successful box office challenger (that would be 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'), Marvel's oddball space opera has managed to spend three of the past four weekends at the number one spot at the box office, giving it enough momentum to officially become the highest grossing film of 2014.

Marvel Studios and the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man transformed Robert Downey Jr. from a has-been into one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, so it's not surprising that he'll sing their praises outside the context of the movies he stars in. However, he recently took it a big step further, declaring 'Guardians of the Galaxy' to be the best Marvel movie yet. Yep, even the ones that he's not in.

Because it's been one of the grimmest weeks in recent memory, let's all take a deep breath and enjoy the best scene from 'Guardians of the Galaxy.