Since the Oscar season has almost officially begun with the Toronto Film Festival, Dylan has taken the time to discuss Oscar movies that have yet to come out, while I am going to take the time to talk about what we have so far.

There are ten films that get nominated for best picture, I will only give you my personal top four for what we’ve had so far this year.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: This film put serious numbers in Disney’s bank account and blew the top off of every critic in the country.

Before opening weekend, this film’s rating on Rotten Tomatoes was 98 percent; that is insane. It completely deserves it as well. This film did something similar to the Dark Knight, released in 2008, in that it took a concept that is usually goofy and turned it into something real, tangible and political. It says a lot about our society and provides the best hand to hand combat we have seen in a film in years.

The Lego Movie: Not a soul thought this would be anything more than something to be shown on cartoon network in a year or two.

I can compare this film to the Toy Story series in the way it takes these seemingly childish characters and worlds and turns them into a real message that gives the audience true lessons. It provides heavy hearted substance with hysterical laughter and brilliant visuals. This film is so much more than a child’s play-thing (pun intended).

X-Men Days of Future Past: This film gives us intriguing character depth full with twists and turns as powerful figures all try to save the world in their own way.

This is arguably James McAvoy’s best role of his career this far, as well as coins Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Mystique.

Its ending is impactful and is all due to its incredible build up and development. It’s all the more appreciated when you’ve seen all the previous films in the series.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Granted, I did not love this movie as much as other people did, or as much as I loved the others on this list, but here’s where I take my own opinion out of this article and just let the film analyst talk.

With that being said, this film is without a doubt one of the best of the year. It’s remarkable what stories can be told through apes. The main characters experience so much in their lifetimes and this film highlights what their final decisions are based on their experience. Much like X-Men and Winter Soldier, you really understand the villain; his reasoning and tend to agree with him. This film is a real heavy hitter.