Unless you're making "Koyaanisqatsi" or something, film is nothing without the people on screen: even the most egregious piece of CGI porn needs to cut to an engaging human who can sell the reality of the unreality exploding behind them every so often, or it simply won't work. Think of your favorite moments from movies in any genre, and more often than not, they're likely to be scenes, or even shots, that sing because of the actors or actresses in front of the camera as much as the filmmakers behind it.
So far in our look back at the best of 2014 in cinema, we've looked at some of the actors who made breakthrough turns in the last twelve months, but for the first time, we also wanted to broaden the field, and pick out the very best performances, from veterans, newcomers, and everything between. So as part of our ongoing year-end coverage, below you'll find the 21 best performances of 2014, along with four movies honored as an ensemble, mainly because we found it...
