Oy!, this tiresome refrain: “it’s a weak year for the awards race…” “looks like slim pickings for the Oscars this season…” How about consider this: If a weak year for Oscar movies is all people can extract from all the stunningly brilliant films we all saw in 2014, then maybe there’s something seriously ill with the whole concept of “Oscar-friendly.” Sasha wrote something a couple of days ago that I truly adore: Trying to cater to the taste of Academy members “tends to be like the special meal you have to prepare separately for people who come to the party and can only eat one thing.” That was something Sasha told an elderly Oscar voter who had written her directly to scold her. Among the many fingers he wagged in Sasha’s face, was his stubborn assertion that expanding the Best Picture to more than 5 nominees had “opened the door to mediocrity.” Before any of you mooks nod in agreement, take a minute to let that sink in. Yes, this guy seriously believes that World Cinema doesn’t produce more than 5 movies each year that rise above mediocrity. Any of us can demolish his ignorant belief with dozens of titles. I can do it within the narrow range of movies in English. If this this guy with his Oscar ballot is looking to get schooled, here’s my personal bitchslap slapdown.
How can anyone who truly loves movies look at this list of 50 films I threw together and come away saying “It’s been a weak year”?
(my) Top 50 movies of 2014 (in English)
- Appropriate Behavior
- Babadook
- Belle
- Beyond the Lights
- Birdman
- Blue Ruin
- Boyhood
- Calvary
- Capt America: Winter Soldier
- Coherence
- The Congress
- Dawn of the Apes
- Dear White People
- The Drop
- Edge of Tomorrow
- Foxcatcher
- Fury
- The Guest
- Godzilla
- Gone Girl
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- The Homesman
- The Imitation Game
- The Immigrant
- Inherent Vice
- Interstellar
- John Wick
- Listen Up Philip
- Locke
- Love Is Strange
- Lucy
- Maps to the Stars
- A Most Violent Year
- A Most Wanted Man
- Mr Turner
- Nightcrawler
- Night Moves
- Nymphomaniac
- Obvious Child
- Only Lovers Left Alive
- Pride
- Selma
- ’71
- Snowpiercer
- Starred Up
- Still Alice
- The Theory of Everything
- Under the Skin
- Whiplash
- Wild
(yes, just look at all the “mediocrity,” you lazy-ass Oscar voter. Calling yourself an expert arbiter of movie excellence just because you found your way onto a movie set 45 years ago. I’ve seen your IMDb profile. Not one single movie you ever worked on in your entire mediocre career can match the least of any of the movies on this list. And yet, you get to tell us what qualifies as the “Best” of the year (in your estimation) for the past 40 years and for the next 40 years hence? Ha!)
Sorry, just had to get this out of my system. Trying to feel less infuriated this year and not doing a very good job of it.
For sure, not every title on my list will please everyone. (I’m steeling myself for the backlash for laying Godzilla right next to Gone Girl — but that’s how the alphabet works!)
I invite all of you to make your own lists. I’m eager to be told what I forgot and to see what I overlooked. Please give us some lists of the best international films too. Or lists of the 20 Best French Films of 2014… or Top 10 Gay-Themed Films of 2014… or Tiop 10 International Crime Thrillers of 2014 — (yes! please!) — or any kind of list you like that best expresses your love of movie movies, regardless of whether those movies even intend to be Oscar-friendly.
==
Two more things I’d like to add to this post. First, in our never-ending quest to make sense of the preferential ballot, Claudiu Dobre is gathering some data to run the numbers on the BP nominees. He would like for as many people as possible to submit your simple ranking of the 8 BP nominees. For example, my ranking looks like this:
1. Boyhood
2. Selma
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. The Imitation Game
5. The Theory of Everything
6. Birdman
7. Whiplash
8. something else, I forget… American Safari?
Please take a minute to put the BP movies in any order you like, so Claudiu can have plenty of data to crunch.
Second, another really neat project comes from our friend Benutty:
“If anyone is interested, I created a survey to nominate & eventually vote for Best of the Decade (So Far). I’m running it with friends & social media connections and would love any or all of you to make picks as well. It might serve as a nice diversion from the current race conversation and encourages you to think about placing films in a larger context than just their year. Not only do the AD threads encourage fantastic debates, but it’s a place of great diversity.”
Eligibility for films 2010 through 2014. [Here’s the link to enter your favorite films]
So, this is a 3-part post.
1. Rank the Best Picture nominees so Claudiu has a good sample size to do his preferential ballot project.
2. Nominate your favorite films of the past 5 years so Benutty can collect enough titles to create a great poll of the Best Films of the Half-Decade.
3. Then I invite you to make a list of any sort and any length to show that crotchety Oscar voter all the brilliant films he’s missing. The more sprawling and all-embracing, the better.
(and 4. Please don’t give me too much shit for enjoying the hell out of Godzilla)
![2025 Oscars: Can a Late-Breaker Still Win Best Picture? [POLL]](https://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/gladiator-350x250.jpg)
William Hill still have Birdman as the favorite, exact same odds as before the BAFTA’s (and I know they took it into account, as they took down the Oscars after the BAFTA’s for a while, as they do, to re-evaluate the odds; it’s probably because they had Boyhood as a big favorite to win the BAFTA for BP/BD) – 1.67 Birdman, 2.20 Boyhood (which I guess is 4/6 and 6/5, for those who are more used to decimal). Which is actually even slightly better for Boyhood than the average (the average odds at the most important sites would be about 1.62/2.27).
This would mean roughly 57% chances for Birdman and 43% for Boyhood, which are numbers I very much agree with at this point in the race.
Sorry I couldn’t count your vote, NIXXX92! But, as you can see, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome either.
And, interestingly enough, you TOO have Whiplash 1st and Birdman 2nd, the combination that decided things in Birdman’s favor… 🙂
Okay…….continuing my list. I know Claudiu that this will not be included in the ballot, but anyway
26) Ram Leela (2013)
27) Guzaarish (2011)
28) Highway (2014)
29) Mardaani (2014)
30) Madras Cafe (2013)
31) English Vinglish (2013)
Will add more as they come to mind 🙂
Really enjoying the interactivity of this post. Here’s my ranking of the Best Picture nominees Claudiu.
1.Whiplash
2.Birdman
3.American Sniper
4.The Grand Budapest Hotel
5.Selma
6.Boyhood
7.The Imitation Game
8.The Theory Of Everything
🙂 I meant got it *now*, of course…
Thanks! 🙂 Got it know – will know for next time!
Claudiu, I sent you an email explaining the code for font format
you almost had it right . instead of brackets [ use matching pairs of these <
Here are the results for my 4th annual Best Picture Preferential Ballot Simulation, with votes collected from IMDb, Awards Daily and Twitter. Many thanks to all of the people who voted (55 at Awards Daily, 55 at IMDb and 13 on Twitter) for providing me with by far the largest number of ballots (123) I’ve ever worked with for any of these simulations! And a special “Thank you!” to Ryan Adams here at Awards Daily, who helped immensely in getting as many people as possible to contribute their ballots at both Awards Daily and on Twitter, thus having a decisive contribution to making the simulation significantly more relevant!… Below are the results and notes on the round-by-round scores.
The votes were (mostly) collected here:
Awards Daily – http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/02/weak-year-for-oscar-movies-who-cares-its-been-a-stupendous-years-for-movie-movies/#comment-4266854
IMDb – http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000005/flat/240087346?p=11
Twitter – https://twitter.com/filmystic/status/565018677515268096
It must be noted that Awards Daily went very clearly for Boyhood, whereas IMDb went for Birdman, though perhaps not as clearly, as far as 1st round 1st place votes are concerned. But, since there are 55 votes from each of the two sites, I don’t think there’s necessarily a bias problem.
I repeat the previous years’ results:
2011 The Social Network
2012 – not held –
2013 Zero Dark Thirty
2014 Her
***
This was EASILY the most interesting such simulation I’ve ever run, and the second-closest race (perhaps a natural result of the higher number of people voting, and the surprising divergence between Awards Daily, which is mostly behind Boyhood, and IMDb, which is mostly behind Birdman). Yes, even more interesting than last year, when Her and Gravity were neck-and-neck throughout, and Gravity recovered a 2-point disadvantage at the end to tie Her 33-33, but still lost due to having been 1st on only 18 ballots initially, to Her’s 19…
As you can see below, this year it was even crazier – Boyhood had a 42-33 advantage over Birdman after round 1, with Whiplash 3rd on 22. Boyhood kept its advantage throughout all of the next rounds, and even increased it to 13 (!) points ahead of Birdman before the last round (54 Boyhood, 41 Birdman), when Whiplash (3rd, with 28 votes) was eliminated… but, incredibly, of the 28 ballots redistributed from Whiplash’s stack, no fewer than 21 (!!!) went to Birdman, which was just enough to get it over the line and give it the win over Boyhood, 62 to 61!… I don’t know about anyone who’s reading this, but I, for one, was pretty stunned to see this happen – I’ve never seen anything even remotely like it since I started running these simulations, back in 2011.
By the way, even at Awards Daily, which is far more Boyhood-oriented (I expect the site’s Oscar simulation to reflect this and give Boyhood the win), more of Whiplash’s votes went to Birdman (6) than Boyhood (5). As did those on twitter (2-0). At IMDb it was particularly brutal, 13-2.
In any event, this is a very clear demonstration (following the even more significant confirmation of this fact coming from the PGA win) that Birdman is actually very competitive with the preferential ballot, and not nearly as divisive compared to Boyhood as many people still think. However, one must note that the BP winner has NEVER won my simulation in the years since I’ve been doing it… so this could also be a bad sign for Birdman. 🙂 BUT, it must also be said, the BP winner was never EVEN CLOSE to winning any of these before, and this year the two favorites actually went head to head. Plus, there were almost twice as many voters this time around as there ever have been before. So, in conclusion… who knows?!… One thing is even clearer, though – this thing is definitely close!
If anyone wants to check my findings, I can post the Excel file in which I ran the simulation, and which contains all of the 123 ballots taken into consideration, the names of the voters and the site they voted on. Of course, one can also check here at Awards Daily and/or on IMDb/Twitter, by following the links I’ve given, to see for themselves that everything is in order, and that the ballots have all been counted properly.
I only used the votes of those who ranked all 8, or at least 7 movies, BUT, in the case of the latter, clearly specified that they had seen the 8th, but didn’t want to include it because they hated it. Besides, I’ve done a quick scan of the votes I’ve received that didn’t qualify (which are like 5-6, tops), according to those criteria, and they’re, if my count is correct, about evenly distributed between those that have Boyhood higher and those that have Birdman higher… not to mention the 4 ballots I received AFTER I closed voting, at IMDb, which I also haven’t counted, and which all have Birdman ahead of Boyhood (not surprisingly, since IMDb is pretty clearly in the Birdman camp, like I said before)… so the result wouldn’t change anyway, were I to include everything else.
So, there you have it… Thanks again for voting, everybody! Below you will find the detailed counts and eliminations for each round.
Round 1:
Boyhood – 42
Birdman – 33
Whiplash – 22
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 11
Selma – 7
American Sniper – 4
The Imitation Game – 2 (out)
The Theory of Everything – 2 (out)
Round 2:
Boyhood – 42
Birdman – 34
Whiplash – 23
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 12
Selma – 8
American Sniper – 4 (out)
Round 3:
Boyhood – 43
Birdman – 35
Whiplash – 24
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 13
Selma – 8 (out)
Round 4:
Boyhood – 47
Birdman – 36
Whiplash – 25
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 15 (out)
Round 5:
Boyhood – 54
Birdman – 41
Whiplash – 28 (out)
Round 6:
Birdman – 62
Boyhood – 61 (out)
The results (and details) are coming…
So I can’t… OK. Good to know!
Quick test – I wanna see if I can make things bold and/or italicize them:
[b]word[/b]
[i]word[/i]
I’ll count anything that comes in until I’m done centralizing the votes. Then I run the simulation, so I can’t count any more votes after that.
OK, CB, I’ll count your vote too.
Oh my God – I can’t believe I forgot Melancholia and We Need to Talk About Kevin.
This is so fun!
And 2014 was a terribly weak year.
OSCAR NOMS:
1. Whiplash
2. Birdman
3. American Sniper
4. Theory of Everything
5. Boyhood
6. Grand Budapest Hotel
7. Selma
8. Imitation Game
2014 MOVIES
1. Whiplash
2. Gone Girl
3. Wild
4. Edge of Tomorrow
5. Foxcatcher
6. Birdman
7. Top Five
8. American Sniper
9. Nightcrawler
10. X-Men
11. Life Itself
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
LAST FIVE YEARS (in no particular order)
All is Lost, Django Unchained, Tree of Life, War Horse, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, Dallas Buyers Club, Wolf of Wall Street, Silver Linings Playbook, Midnight in Paris, Whiplash, Birdman, American Sniper, Blue is the Warmest Color, FRANCES HA
JOHN:
“My ranking of the Best Picture nominees:
1. American Sniper
2. The Imitation Game
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Whiplash
5. Selma
6. The Theory of Everything
7. Birdman
8. Boyhood, or 3 hours of fictional people’s home movies”
JOHN:
“My Oscar rankings (how my ballot would look):
1 – Birdman. Seen it several times now. Cant think more highly of it.
2 – The Imitation Game. Stellar filmmaking, excellent performances, meaningful.
3 – Selma. Towering lead performance. Emotional.
4 – Boyhood. Very good film. Brought down, for me, by substandard acting (not including Arquette or Hawke).
5 – Grand Budapest Hotel. Fun, fun, fun. Melancholy in the ed. Gorgeous, too. Very rewatchable.
6 – Whiplash. A great time in the theater. A bit overrated, though.
7 – Theory of Everything. Goodish. Great performances. A bit soft for me.
8 – American Sniper. Adequate film. Good moments. A great Cooper. I just don’t care for Chris Kyle.”
I’m gonna assume this is a two different Johns… John is a common name, and the ballots are VASTLY different… close call, but I’m going with it. Somebody should let me know if it’s somehow not possible to have the same nickname for two different people at AD, and I’ll change my decision, but I expect it is, given that there’s no registration required.
Alright, voting closed. Will run simulation and return with results as soon as possible.
Rank the 8 Best Picture nominees (and I will do a preferential simulation with all the votes within a few hours, and post the results) – you can read more about it in the second part of the article above.
Claudiu……….Voting for?
Voting closes in 3 hours, and I’ll return with the results, hopefully, within a lot less than the same amount of time after that…
My ranking:
1. Whiplash
2. Birdman
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. The Theory of Everything
5. The Imitation Game
6. Boyhood
7. Selma
8. American Sniper
My 2014 films:
1. Whiplash
2. Birdman
3. Gone Girl
4. Force Majeure
5. Snowpiercer
6. Wild Tales
7. The Grand Hotel Budapest
8. The Lego Movie
9. Nightcrawler
10. Nymphomaniac Vol.1
11. Boyhood
12. The Theory of Everything
13. Interstellar
14. The Babadook
15. Life Itself
16. Wild
17. The Imitation Game
18. Foxcatcher
19. Maps to the Stars
20. The Homesman
Bob Burns…….errrrr Slumdog? I agree……..didn’t like it either…….that was not a Bollywood film though and neither is it characteristic of Indian films. (If your comment was indeed in response to mine). If not, sorry. *Sheepish grin
showbizzie would be better spelling , I guess.
Yeah, Slumdog is arguably about kids…. at the safe remove of a UNICEF ad… on their own, no parenting needed for them to develop the skills they need to become a celebrity. But still, kids.
Kids aside, Slumdog is such an exception to my rule that the Academy steak-eaters only vote for aged testosterone…. older guy gets the girl, saves the day, bags the cash. Showbussie though.
Sorry……..iPad decided to post my comment without letting me complete my list
25) Leviathan
P.S.- There certainly will be more……..will post them soon. Also, I hope I can manage a list of movies I think we’re overrated, particular.y through the awards season.
Whoa……long lists, people. However, it is about time an Indian stepped in. Yeah, yeah…….I know Bollywood films…..ugh…..all dance and songs. However, amid all that talk, I beg of you to watch some of the films I am suggesting and open your minds up to the fact that Bollywood does in fact make stellar films, with all the song and dance. It does produce tons of films that show the craft at its best, and come on Hollywood films do not balance substance and entertainment like Bollywood films do. So ummm…..my list of a mix of both and contains films that are truly international too. Some of these films are Indian films in English and have casts consisting of Indian, European and American descent. My list:
1) Barfi (2013)
2) Lagaan (2001)
3) Margarita, With a Straw (2014)
4) Mary Kom (2014)
5) 3 Idiots (2010)
6) Haider (2014)
7) The Imitation Game (2014)
8) Birdman (2014)
9) Boyhood (2014)
10) Whiplash (2014)
11) The Lunchbox (2013)
12) Gone Girl (2014)
13) Snowpiercer (2014)
14) The Ship of Theseus
15) Dhobi Ghat
16) Queen (2014)
17) Kahaani
18) Paa
19) Lage Raho Munna Bhai
20) Munna Bhai M. B. B. S.
21) Lootera
22) Omkara
23) Liar’s Dice (2014)
24) My Name is Khan (2010)
25)
” I’m actually reserving many of those for another post: Top 10 LBGT Movies of 2014.”
I’m looking forward to that!
” (and besides, most of the very best ones are not in English this year.)”
Oops. I did read that you were only doing English films, but then forgot all about it when I went to trying to think of films I’d add. I think my brain has holes sometimes!
“thank-you al robinson, Roberto from italy, and robin wright for mentioning “begin again”. I LOVED that film”
Yeah, yeah, that one too! Forgot to mention it myself… I also liked it (didn’ LOVE it, but liked it quite a bit).
thank-you al robinson, Roberto from italy, and robin wright for mentioning “begin again”. I LOVED that film, it’s screenwriter/director j.carney, and it’s cast (knightley, ruffalo, Levine, cordon, keener, & steinfeld) so much that I saw it a second time and bought the soundtrack cd. I am REALLY rooting for “Lost Stars” to get the Oscar for best original song, and can’t wait to hear it sung at the ceremony by a.levine (altho a duet with keira would be OUTSTANDING!!!).
“But, then again, I still haven’t seen Philomena.”
Another one I really liked…
” “The Theory of Everything – Honestly, I’m still debating if I even want to see it. If there is someone who just loved it, please convince me to see it.”
I loved it, but I’m not into convincing others to do stuff, at least most of the time. So all I can say is, whether you’ll like it too, or not, I’m pretty sure it won’t be a waste of your time. 🙂
—
“How many of the 45 films have you seen that are nominated for the Academy Awards?”
All but 15, and I’m pretty sure that list will get down to no more than 8 by the 22nd. Hopefully fewer. ”
Claudiu, I’ll probably get myself to see The Theory of Everything sooner than later. But, then again, I still haven’t seen Philomena.
All but 15 is awesome. 🙂
Why so bitter even mocking the poor old guy’s career? There is no use arguing opinions
Not much to list to be honest lmao.
1. Nightcrawler
2. Captain America
3. Gone girl
4. X men future past
5. Dawn of the planet of the apes
6. Selma
7. Snow piercer
8. Wild
9. Theory of everything
10. Into the woods for being unique and going in wtf direction I didn’t expect
I’ve seen quite a few LGBT titles from 2014 and the best one is FREE FALL from Germany
Steve, have you seen Floating Skyscrapers? It’s just like Free Fall only not shit.
I’ve seen quite a few LGBT titles from 2014 and the best one is FREE FALL from Germany — much like STARRED-UP, though thoroughly competent, it’s got neither formal affectations or naturalistic rigor, but its main intent is -quite conventionally and properly- telling a “forbidden love story”. I should make a list nonetheless.
In the case of “crime thrillers”, I’m not some kind of expert in the genre but I always keep an eye on what Honk Kong, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, etc. are turning out, as in recent times these industries have been superb nurseries to some of the best exponents of the genre, but as far as I know nothing remarkable for the last couple of years, other than what it’s already widely known and reviewed e.g., To’s DRUG WAR. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong!
I sent my ballot on Benutty’s website, I dropped a couple of unexpected names and titles in there 🙂
Wooow… Coool!… Thanks a lot, Ryan! I only just saw this now… I’m definitely going to extend voting into tomorrow now – I had planned to maybe end it today. Good thing I have a day off tomorrow, ’cause I’m gonna need more time than usual to collect and tally the votes from everybody this year, since it looks like it’ll be more than ever… 🙂 Awesome!
Also, I guess this is the thread where I post my results. So, anyone who’s interested, return here in about 24-30 hours!…
And I salute again Benutty’s idea – I had a lot of fun building my ballot for nominations! And I’m pretty excited to see what the people select, as well…
I also salute the inclusion of Beyond the Lights and Coherence on your list! I’d add Two Days One Night (Deux jours, une nuit), Begin Again and Tangerines (Mandariinid), but the last one’s from 2013, so I can’t. 🙁
It clearly has NOT been a weak year. Only at the top, for me, a little bit, comparatively, but people love Boyhood and Selma and others probably even more than last year’s movies, and I can’t really disagree with that, so it’s clearly just me, and I’m not for a second going to pretend my opinion makes it an actual weaker year at the top. 🙂 Besides, the number of great movies, which your list clearly emphasizes, is as big as ever, if not bigger.
“and 4. Please don’t give me too much shit for enjoying the hell out of Godzilla”
Definitely not – I enjoyed it a lot too!
“Godzilla has better cinematography than Birdman. That’s a fact.”
Can’t even necessarily argue with that – I like the cinematography in Birdman, but it’s not my favorite thing about it, necessarily. Godzilla was, indeed, probably more impressive in that department.
“Claudiu, can I change my ballot?”
Sure, Roberto – I don’t see why not.
“Claudiu, I can share the simulated ballot preferential rankings if you would like.”
No, no, all in good time – I enjoy so much going through all those tables and stats when you release the results of AD’s simulation, every year! You’d spoil my fun… 🙂
“BTW, you should all vote for my film awards here: https://ifyouwantthegravy.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/my-4th-annual-awards-open-voting/”
“Finally, after you’ve done voting for JAMDENTEL’s polls, go voting for our 4th Movie Parliament awards! You can vote any number of times you want, until Oscar weekend 🙂
http://www.movieparliament.com/awards-2014”
I love this kind of stuff – many thanks, folks!
“Selma=Grand Budapest hotel (Great films)>Birdman=Boyhood ( a lot to appreciate, but didn’t click for me)> The Theory of Everything(Fine)> Whiplash=The Imitaion Game=American Sniper”
I’ll take that as: 1. Selma 2. The Grand Budapest Hotel 3. Birdman 4. Boyhood 5. The Theory of Everything 6. Whiplash 7. The Imitation Game 8. American Sniper (let me know if that’s not the right order!)
“The Theory of Everything – Honestly, I’m still debating if I even want to see it. If there is someone who just loved it, please convince me to see it.”
I loved it, but I’m not into convincing others to do stuff, at least most of the time. So all I can say is, whether you’ll like it too, or not, I’m pretty sure it won’t be a waste of your time. 🙂
“How many of the 45 films have you seen that are nominated for the Academy Awards?”
All but 15, and I’m pretty sure that list will get down to no more than 8 by the 22nd. Hopefully fewer.
I’d also add “Lilting” and “Stranger By The Lake” as films that qualified this year that really should have gotten more consideration.
It took me forever to get access to Stranger by the Lake, and I finally saw Lilting last week. I would have included more LGBT-theme movies in this Top 50, but I’m actually reserving many of those for another post: Top 10 LBGT Movies of 2014… (and besides, most of the very best ones are not in English this year.)
Oscar Ranking: Selma=Grand Budapest hotel (Great films)>Birdman=Boyhood ( a lot to appreciate, but didn’t click for me)> The Theory of Everything(Fine)> Whiplash=The Imitaion Game=American Sniper (Annoying and stupid)
Best of the Year:
Blue Ruin
Wild Tales
The Book of Life
Zero Motivation
Selma
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Black Coal, Thin Ice
The Farewell Party
Manpower
The Tribe
Wild
Tusk
What we do in the Shadows
Frank
Dear White People
Gone Girl
Guardians Of The Galaxy
Jacky in the land of Women
The Referee
Foxcatcher
Two Days,One Night
OSCAR NOMINEES:
8. The Theory of Everything
7. The Imitation Game
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Selma
4. Boyhood
3. Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
2. Whiplash
1. American Sniper
BEST MOVIES 2010-2015
1. The Artist
2. Les Miserables
3. A Separation
4. The Social Network
5. 127 Hours
6. Argo
7. Django Unchained
8. The Tree of Life
9. Black Swan
10. The Butler
11. Midnight in Paris
12. Foxcatcher
13. The Descendents
14. Searching for Sugar Man
15. Moneyball
16. Beginners
17. The Master
18. Zero Dark Thirty
19. Beasts of the Southern Wild
20. Winter’s Bone
(and 4. Please don’t give me too much shit for enjoying the hell out of Godzilla)
http://misterscandal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/I-feel-very-attacked-laganja-mister-scandal-.gif
cba making a list of the films I’ve seen this year that that cunt Academy voter hasn’t seen cos tbh it’s probably just a list of every single good film I’ve seen this past year, so I’ll just give Claudiu my Best Picture ranking:
1 – Selma
2 – The Grand Budapest Hotel
3 – Boyhood
4 – Whiplash
5 – The Imitation Game
6 – American Sniper
7 – The Theory of Everything
8 – Birdman
Needless to say, but I’m sure you guys know my words to you are submitted with respect (and appreciation 🙂 )
That’s why I feel free to write like I’m shouting, and I was, shouting.
“What would be fun somefday would be to list our guilty pleasures, completely uninhibited. Smash those preconceived molds.”
We must!
Chris, that’s right, #37 should be the Catalan film BLACK BREAD by Agusti Villaronga — unfortunately, it has never been extensively seen in America. I’d endorse it as an illegitimate grandchild of FANNY AND ALEXANDER…and everything that entails…or maybe PAN’S LABYRINTH without Pan or the Labyrinth. I think that was it — either that, von Trier, Polanski, Kiarostami, Almodovar or someone like that. I’m not in the zone anymore.
Asking for lists: You’re a man after my own heart, Ryan Adams. Loved your latest album, by the way.
Anyway…
Ranking Best Picture
1. Whiplash
2. Boyhood (by the tiniest of margins)
3. Birdman
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Selma
6. The Imitation Game
7. American Sniper
8. The Theory of Everything
Best films of 2014.
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. Birdman
8. Gone Girl
7. Snowpiercer
6. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
5. Nightcrawler
4. Mistaken for Strangers
3. The Lego Movie
2. Boyhood
1. Whiplash
Best films of the decade, so far…
25. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
24. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
23. A Separation
22. The Dark Knight Rises
21. This Is The End
20. Only God Forgives
19. Toy Story 3
18. We Need to Talk About Kevin
17. You’re Next
16. The Master
15. Fruitvale Station
14. Her
13. Nightcrawler
12. Mistaken For Strangers
11. The Lego Movie
10. Midnight in Paris
9. The Wind Rises
8. Blue Valentine
7. A Prophet
6. Boyhood
5. Whiplash
4. Beasts of the Southern Wild
3. Drive
2. Exit Through the Gift Shop
1. The Social Network
1. Boyhood
2. Whiplash
3. Selma
4. Birdman
5. The Imitation Game
6. The Theory of Everything
7. American Sniper
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Love your top 50 list Ryan! I’ve only seen 25 of your choices (some haven’t opened near me yet, and some I just missed), and agree that there’s plenty of great films to choose from this year if they just expand their horizons, as Sasha said. For me, Nightcrawler would definitely get into the top 10, and I’d also add “Lilting” and “Stranger By The Lake” as films that qualified this year that really should have gotten more consideration.
Has Sasha published the name of the Oscar voter who gave her grief? (I try to keep up, but may have missed it.) I’d love to check out that IMDB page myself! 🙂
“I’ve got TRON: LEGACY (51% RT, 49 MC) on my best of the decade!”
And not even a trace of red in your face when you say that. Good on ya, Bryce. 🙂 What would be fun somefday would be to list our guilty pleasures, completely uninhibited. Smash those preconceived molds.
I wasn’t being cutesy about expressing my surprise at liking Godzilla because I was genuinely surprised about liking Godzilla. Not my genre, been overly mouthy about that fact in the past, so it was a “learning experience” for me and I freely admit it.
Ryan, true about the cinematography (among other things) being better than Birdman. Biggest difference for me? I actually gave a shit about the characters in Godzilla. Known too many narcissistic “show people” to invest much in the other.
Oh, and Bryce, you have ANOTHER YEAR ranked twice on your decade list.
BP Rankings:
1. Boyhood
2. Whiplash
3. Selma
4. Birdman
5. The Theory of Everything
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel
7. American Sniper
8. The Imitation Game
And yes, I do realize there are some differences in the rankings. My personal favorites list is slightly different than what I would advocate for a poll.
I completely fucked up, actually. My number two animated film of the decade thus far, IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY, was left off Benutty’s poll. I feel terrible about that. Rectified on my list below.
Full list of The Best Of The Decade So Far:
1. The Social Network
2. Beasts Of The Southern Wild
3. Her
4. Black Swan
5. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
6. Boyhood
7. Hugo
8. 12 Years A Slave
9. The Act Of Killing
10. Whiplash
11. Inception
12. Toy Story 3
13. Drive
14. Holy Motors
15. The Master
16. The Wolf Of Wall Street
17. Gravity
18. Before Midnight
19. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
20. Midnight In Paris
21. It’s Such A Beautiful Day
22. The Grand Budapest Hotel
23. Mother
24. Animal Kingdom
25. Looper
26. Young Adult
27. Exit Through The Gift Shop
28. Attack The Block
29. Blue Jasmine
30. This Is The End
31. Amour
32. Warrior
33. The World’s End
34. Zero Dark Thirty
35. American Hustle
36. Inside Llewyn Davis
37. Nightcrawler
38. We Need To Talk About Kevin
39. Skyfall
40. A Separation
41. Melancholia
42. Snowpiercer
43. The Tree Of Life
44. The Cabin In The Woods
45. The Raid: Redemption
46. Fruitvale Station
47. 13 Assassins
48. The Town
49. We Are The Best!
50. The Artist
Here’s what I submitted to Benutty’s site just now. My ballot for The Best Of The Decade at the midway point:
BEST PICTURE
1. The Social Network
2. Beasts Of The Southern Wild
3. Boyhood
4. Her
5. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
6. Black Swan
7. Hugo
8. 12 Years A Slave
9. The Master
10. Holy Motors
BEST DIRECTOR
1. David Fincher – The Social Network
2. Richard Linklater – Boyhood
3. Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
4. Behn Zeitlin – Beasts Of The Southern Wild
5. Martin Scorsese – Hugo
BEST ACTRESS
1. Natalie Portman – Black Swan
2. Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
3. Essie Davis – The Babadook
4. Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
5. Kim Hye-ja – Mother
BEST ACTOR
1. Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
2. Leonardo Dicaprio – The Wolf Of Wall Street
3. Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years A Slave
4. Denis Lavant – Holy Motors
5. Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
2. Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer
3. Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years A Slave
4. Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
5. Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
2. Ben Kingsley – Hugo
3. JK Simmons – Whiplash
4. Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
5. Christian Bale – The Fighter
BEST SCREENPLAY
1. Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network
2. Spike Jonze – Her
3. Edgar Wright & Michael Bacall – Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
4. Leos Carax – Holy Motors
5. Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz & John McLaughlin – Black Swan
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. Emmanuel Lubezki – The Tree Of Life
2. Mihai Malaimare – The Master
3. Roger Deakins – Skyfall
4. Darius Khondji – The Immigrant
5. Newton Thomas Sigel – Drive
BEST FOREIGN FILM
1. Holy Motors
2. A Separation
3. We Are The Best!
4. Mother
5. Blue Is The Warmest Color
BEST ANIMATED FILM
1. Toy Story 3
2. The LEGO Movie
3. The Wind Rises
4. Paranorman
5. Rango
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER
1. Matthew McConaughey – The Lincoln Lawyer, Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike, The Paperboy, Mud, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street & Interstellar
2. Behn Zeitlin – Beasts Of The Southern Wild
3. Jennifer Kent & Essie Davis – The Babadook
4. Oscar Isaac – Drive, Inside Llewyn Davis & A Most Violent Year
5. Shailene Woodley – The Descendants & The Spectacular Now
a little too cutesy for my taste about being all “red-faced” for liking certain films like GODZILLA, NOAH, etc.
I’m being deliberately cutesy. (something that gets harder and harder with each passing day)
for me, it’s just that so many people I know whose opinions I very much respect don’t see how I can like Noah or Godzilla, so really it’s just an in-joke between me and those people.
last July, I posted a half-year survey of the first 6 months of 2104. Noah was in my top 20 on that list.
Godzilla has better cinematography than Birdman. That’s a fact.
My ranking of this year´s nominations for Best Picture:
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Boyhood
3. The Imitation Game
4. The Theory of Everything
5. Birdman
(haven´t seen Selma, American Sniper and Whiplash yet)
Top 5 of the last five years?
2014:
1. Ida
2. Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Girlhood
4. Citizenfour
5. Boyhood
2013:
1. Blue is the warmest colour
2. Frances Ha
3. Lé Passé
4. Inside Llewyn Davis
5. The Act of Killing
2012:
1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Barbara
3. Medianeras
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. Attenberg
2011:
1. The Artist
2. Le gamin au velo
3. Norwegian Wood
4. Jane Eyre
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2010:
1. The Social Network
2. The King´s Speech
3. Carlos
4. Incendies
5. Dogtooth
Bye, bye.
Ryan, I saw Frank the other week and I fell in love with it! I know it really would never gain any awards consideration but Michael Fassbender delivered one of his best screen performances. And the music…dear lord the music. “Fiddly digits, itchy britches. I love you all.”
Some of you guys — including several of my good peeps — are being a little too cutesy for my taste about being all “red-faced” for liking certain films like GODZILLA, NOAH, etc.
Now, I know you’re just playing, but heck is wrong with chu?!
I’ve got TRON: LEGACY (51% RT, 49 MC) on my best of the decade!
ok, Evan. You might force me to find 2 more movies from 2014 that I liked! 🙂
I can give you ’71. (I didn’t see it myself till right after Christmas.)
actually though, I’m not sure I can give in about Appropriate Behavior. Since this is a personal individual list, I sort of have to go by the calendar year when I see a movie with my own eyes. Appropriate Behavior premiered at Sundance 13 months ago. It was part of the packet of screeners I got from the Indie Spirit Awards (it’s already nominated this year)
(Likewise Maps to the Stars)
There are several critics on metacritic who have 12 Years a Slave and Inside Llewyn Davis on their lists of the Best of 2014. I think it’s common to let people be a bit flexible about where and when they want to place a movie in their memory.
But along with Olive Kitteridge I could add The Knick.
Or I could dip into #’s 51-60 and rescue
The One I Love
Top Five
The Skeleton Twins
Enemy
Begin Again
Get on Up
Into the Woods
Tracks
Frank
Noah… NOW SEE WHAT YOU’VE Done?! you made me admit to still liking Noah.
reputation = ruined
😐
anyway, everyone can stop trying to trick me into including American Sniper. Not gonna happen.
OSCAR MOVIES RANKED:
1. Boyhood
2. Selma
3. Birdman
4. Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Imitation Game
6. Theory of Everything
7. Whiplash
8. American Sniper
TOP 20 FILMS of the YEAR (off the top of my head):
1. Boyhood
2. Selma
3. Birdman
4. Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Nightcrawler
6. Under the Skin
7. Whiplash
8. Gone Girl
9. Inherent Vice
10. Leviathan
11. Mommy
12. Two Days, One Night
13. A Most Violent Year
14. Mr Turner
15. Obvious Child
16. Foxcatcher
17. Wild Tales
18. Dear White People
19. Miss Julie
20. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Sorry Ryan I still disagree: I found this a distinctly weak year for movies, and as I look at the list crafted above of 2014 movies, that only furthers that sense. Lots and lots of good movies to be sure! But no great movies, for me at least. Not even Boyhood goes that distance.
BP ranking:
1. Whiplash
2. Boyhood
3. Birdman
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. The Theory of Everything
6. Selma
7. American Sniper
Top 10 Films of the New Decade:
1. The Tree of Life
2. The Act of Killing
3. Lincoln
4. Amour
5. Before Midnight
6. Toy Story 3
7. 12 Years a Slave
8. Django Unchained
9. Silver Linings Playbook
10. Zero Dark Thirty
My Top Twenty of 2014 (so far):
1. Whiplash
2. Boyhood
3. Nightcrawler
4. Inherent Vice
5. Under the Skin
6. Into the Woods
7. Birdman
8. Interstellar
9. The Hobbit: Thr Battle of the Five Armies
10. Snowpiercer
11. Life Itself
12. The Grand Budapest Hotel
13. The Lego Movie
14. Guardians of the Galaxy
15. Gone Girl
16. The Theory of Everything
17. Love Is Strange
18. Ida
19. Selma
20. Foxcatcher / American Sniper
Haven’t seen: The Imitation Game, Force Majeure, Beyond the Lights, The Babadook, A Most Violent Year, Leviathan
Ranking of BP nominees;
1. Boyhood
2. Birdman
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Whiplash
5. Selma
6. The Theory of Everything
7. American Sniper
8. The Imitation Game
Actual top ten list;
1. Boyhood
2. Inherent Vice
3. Under the Skin
4. Gone Girl
5. Birdman
6. Foxcatcher
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. Whiplash
9. Selma
10. Nightcrawler
Best of the decade (so far)
1. The Tree of Life (2011)
2. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
3. Boyhood (2014)
4. The Social Network (2010)
5. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
6. Inherent Vice (2014)
7. Lincoln (2012)
8. Melancholia (2011)
9. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
10. Drive (2011)
My Oscar rankings (how my ballot would look):
1 – Birdman. Seen it several times now. Cant think more highly of it.
2 – The Imitation Game. Stellar filmmaking, excellent performances, meaningful.
3 – Selma. Towering lead performance. Emotional.
4 – Boyhood. Very good film. Brought down, for me, by substandard acting (not including Arquette or Hawke).
5 – Grand Budapest Hotel. Fun, fun, fun. Melancholy in the ed. Gorgeous, too. Very rewatchable.
6 – Whiplash. A great time in the theater. A bit overrated, though.
7 – Theory of Everything. Goodish. Great performances. A bit soft for me.
8 – American Sniper. Adequate film. Good moments. A great Cooper. I just don’t care for Chris Kyle.
Many of these film are in my top 20. Others that I would have included for Best Picture would have been:
Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, and Foxcatcher. Loved them all.
I also really admired The Skeleton Twins, The Homesman, and Still Alice.
@Ryan:
“re: release dates. I guess Blue Ruin showed at a few festivals in 2013, but it wasn’t released to the general public till 2014. It’s on the Village Voice and Film Comment lists of Best of 2014.
’71 – definitely 2014 release. Nominated for a BAFTA this year. Yann Demange won Best Director at the BIFAs”
I agree that Blue Ruin is a 2014 film. That’s when it got its theatrical release. But ’71, if one goes by U.S. releases only, is a 2015 film. It comes out in the States on February 27. If you count the UK release, fine then. And Appropriate Behavior is most certainly a 2015 film. It’s first international release was January 16, 2015.
(Olive Kitteridge, come on down!)
Claudiu, can I change my ballot?
This is what it looks like now
1) Boyhood
2) Birdman
3) The Grand Budapest Hotel
4) Whiplash
5) Selma
6) The Imitation Game
7) American Sniper
8) The Theory of Everything
re: release dates. I guess Blue Ruin showed at a few festivals in 2013, but it wasn’t released to the general public till 2014. It’s on the Village Voice and Film Comment lists of Best of 2014.
’71 – definitely 2014 release. Nominated for a BAFTA this year. Yann Demange won Best Director at the BIFAs
If any of my 50 is disqualified on a technicality, I have Olive Fucking Kitteridge standing by to step into the empty slot — you do not want to mess with her, trust me.
🙂
I always say that when making a list of “the best” or “my top” there should be 2 separate lists, one for “Best movie of the year” and one for “My favorite films of the year.” Last year I felt 12 Years a Slave was the best while Her was my favorite. Another good challenge is to think of one or more films that fit “best” and “favorite” almost equally. The Social Network is definitely one, Her is another along with Tree of Life, Children of Men, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Moneyball. If I had to pick my personal favorite that happens to also be the best made film of the decade (to me) it’s The Master. It’s practically my “island movie”.
Nominees:
1. Birdman
2. Boyhood
3. Whiplash
4. Selma
5. The Imitation Game
6. The Theory of Everything
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. American Sniper
Crotchety Oscar voter HAHA.
This was my Top 10 this year. Not a weak year at all. I love all these movies. And there were many (Selma, Two Days One Night, etc.) that were just below the top 10.
Foxcatcher
Whiplash
Boyhood
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Leviathan
Wild Tales
Mommy
Under The Skin
Love is Strange
Force Majeure
So the nominees:
1. Boyhood
2. Birdman
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Whiplash
5. The Theory of Everything
6. The Imitaton Game
7. Selma
8. American Sniper
Personal 2014 Best Picture Nominees Ranked (#1. and #2. are switched depending when you ask me):
1. Boyhood
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Birdman
4. Whiplash
5. The Imitation Game
6. Selma
7. American Sniper (……no)
8. The Theory of Everything (……very much no)
My Oscar ballot would look like (for now, since I haven’t seen American Sniper yet):
1) Whiplash
2) Boyhood
3) The Grand Budapest Hotel
4) Selma
5) Birdman
6) The Theory of Everything
7) The Imitation Game
My list of films for 2014. It’s also not finalized (I shall post it in my website and in twitter in a few days, a week or so maybe):
1) A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
2) Whiplash
3) Boyhood
4) The Way He Looks
5) Nightcrawler
6) The Grand Budapest Hotel
7) Two Days, One Night
8) Timbuktu
9) Leviathan
10) Foxcatcher
11) Selma
12) Interstellar
13) Gone Girl
14) The Immigrant
15) Between Us (Entre Nós)
For the decade, in no particular order, a very loose list based on some lists. Not much thought given to this:
A Pigeon …
Whiplash
Boyhood
Gravity
Stories We Tell
Blue Is the Warmest Color
12 Years a Slave
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Lincoln
Polisse
I Am Love
Ajami
A Prophet
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Toy Story 3
The Artist
Le Havre
The Descendents
The Tree of Life
Rango
(+ anything Ghibli released in this particular window)
Is ’71 a 2014 film?
BP nominees ranking:
1. Whiplash (A+)
2. Birdman (A+)
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A)
4. Boyhood (A-)
5. The Imitation Game (B+)
6. The Theory of Everything (C+)
I haven’t seen Selma or American Sniper.
My top films of 2014 (It truly was a great year)
1. Interstellar (9.8) (This on, despite its flaws, has grown on me like no other picture in years. It’s now one of my favourites of all time. Academy is just like Jon Snow)
2. Whiplash (9.7) (Masterpiece of the year)
3. Birdman (9.6) (Best directed film in years. Probably since Black Swan)
4. The Wind Rises (9.6) (My favourite non-Pixar animated film from now)
5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (9.6) (The perfect blockbuster and an already classic film in my books)
6. Ernest and Celestine (9.5) (Precious, joyful and eternal. A tale for all the ages)
7. The Fault in Our Stars (9.5) (Sorry, but I love everything about that movie. It’s the perfect romantic and life-affirming movie)
8. X-Men Days of the Future Past (9.4)
9. Force Majeure (9.4) (What a script! It collides with everything we know about gender and family expectations, even more than the great Gone Girl)
10. The Babadook (9.4) (Best horror film of the millenium)
11. A Most Wanted Man (9.4)
12. The Grand Budapest Hotel (9.3)
13. Nigthcrawler (9.3)
14. Gone Girl (9.3)
15. Boyhood (9.2)
16. Big Hero 6 (9.1)
17. Guardians of the Galaxy (9.0)
18. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (8.8)
19. The Lego Movie (8.6)
20. Relatos Salvajes – Wild Tales (8.4)
Haven’t seen: Unbroken, Foxcatcher, Selma, American Sniper, Ida, Two Days One Night, Leviathan, Mommy or Winter Sleep yet.
I’ll come back later for my top of the 2000’s, but loving that this place of lists exists!
Greetings from Chile.
Great lists, everyone!
Here is my Oscar ballot:
1) Boyhood
2) The Grand Budapest Hotel
3) Selma
4) The Imitation Game
5) American Sniper
6) Birdman
7) Whiplash
8) The Theory of Everything
Benutty, I’ve filled your ballot. I can’t wait to see the results !
For ranking films, I use this site called SensCritique: http://www.senscritique.com/Arnaud_Trouvé/listes/all/all/titre/page-4
FYI, here are my top10 from 2010:
2010
1) Inception
2) The Social Network
3) Heartbeats (Les Amours Imaginaires)
4) Exit Through the Gift Shop
5) Black Swan
6) Essential Killing
7) Toy Story 3
8) Insidious
9) Le Nom des Gens
10) Catfish
2011
1) Declaration of War
2) The Tree of Life
3) Donoma
4) A Separation
5) Drive
6) The Kid with a Bike
7) The Skin I Live In
8) Midnight in Paris
9) Super 8
10) Cabaret Desire
2012
1) Tabu
2) Life of Pi
3) Camille Rewinds
4) Zero Dark Thirty
5) The Queen of Versailles
6) Holy Motors
7) Mars & Avril
8) Pitch Perfect
9) Les Invisibles
10) The Master
2013
1) Blue is the Warmest Color
2) Spring Breakers
3) Gravity
4) The Congress
5) The Broken Circle Breakdown
6) The Dance of Reality
7) Stranger by the Lake
8) The Missing Picture
9) About Time
10) Midnight Globe
2014
1) Under the Skin
2) Eat Your Bones
3) Mommy
4) Boyhood
5) Girlhood
6) The Salt of the Earth
7) Interstellar
8) Nymphomaniac
9) Only Lovers Left Alive
10) Foxcatcher
Finally, after you’ve done voting for JAMDENTEL’s polls, go voting for our 4th Movie Parliament awards! You can vote any number of times you want, until Oscar weekend 🙂
http://www.movieparliament.com/awards-2014
Ok, here we go…
BP List
1 – Grand Budapest Hotel
2 – Boyhood
3 – Whiplash
4 – The Theory of Everything
5 – American Sniper
6 – Selma
7 – The Imitation Game
8 – Birdman
Best of the 1/2 Decade
1. Holy Motors
2. The Social Network
3. Django Unchained
4. The Wolf of Wall Street
5. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Midnight in Paris
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. Under the Skin
9. Amour
10. Her
11. Blue is the Warmest Color
12. Gone Girl
13. The Skin I Live In
14. Gravity
15. Certified Copy
16. The Neighbouring Sounds
17. Intouchables
18. We Have a Pope
19. Nebraska
20. Mr Turner
21. You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
22. Life of Pi
23. The immigrant
24. Boyhood
25. Drive
26. Life Itself
27. Melancholia
28. Tabu
29. Jealousy
30. Hugo
31. Bridesmaids
32. Killer Joe
33. Cosmopolis
34. Rust and Bone
35. Insisde Llewin Davis
36. Bernie
37. Carnage
38. Super 8
39. The Master
40. Crazy Horse
41. Elite Squad 2
42. Looper
43. The Kid on a Bike
44. Exit Through the Gif Shop
45. Ted
46. A Touch of Sin
47. Road to Nowhere
48. Spring Breakers
49. Blue Jasmine
50. Crazy Stupid Love
Great lists from all, my oscar rankings would be:
1. Birdman
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Whiplash
4. Selma
5. American Sniper
6. Boyhood
7. The Theory of Everything
8. The Imitation Game
I’m just going to mention that 2014’s american run brought 2 likely candidates to be in my top 100 ever: “Stranger by the lake” and “The Lego Movie”. Since 2000, only a bunch of films earned a possible spot there, “Hero”, “Hairspray”, “Borat” and “The King’s Speech”, aside of “The Lord of the Rings” as a whole, not separatedly.
My ranking of the Best Picture nominees:
1. American Sniper
2. The Imitation Game
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Whiplash
5. Selma
6. The Theory of Everything
7. Birdman
8. Boyhood, or 3 hours of fictional people’s home movies
My 10 favorite this year–
1. XMen:Days of Future Past
2. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
3. American Sniper
4. The Imitation Game
5. Captain America:Winter Soldier
6. Nightcrawler
7. Cheap Thrills
8. Locke
9. Guardians of the Galaxy
10. The Sacrament
11 favorite of the Decade (sorry, I got it down to 10 for the ballot link, but…)
Captain America:The First Avenger
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Hobo with a Shogun
The Hunger Games
Inception
Lincoln
Mud
Silver Linings Playbook
True Grit
12Years a Slave
XMen:Days of Future Past
Ranking 2014 BP Nominees:
1. Birdman
2. Selma
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Boyhood
5. Whiplash
6. The Imitation Game
7. The Theory of Everything
8. American Sniper
The Ten Best Movies of the Decade So Far:
1. Margaret
2. Blue is the Warmest Color
3. The Social Network
4. Stranger by the Lake
5. The Master
6. Bridesmaids
7. Her
8. Inside Llewyn Davis
9. Gravity
10. The Great Beauty
Best Movies of 2014 (*** = was likely never considered)
1. Stranger by the Lake***
2. Birdman
3. Gabrielle***
4. Under the Skin***
5. Pride***
6. Selma
7. Le Week-End***
8. Ida (likely got stuck in the foreign ghetto)
9. The Grand Budapest Hotel
10. Land Ho!
Other worthy films that were completely forgotten: In Bloom, Blue Ruin, 22 Jump Street (don’t judge me!), Force Majeure, Love is Strange, Tracks, The Way He Looks, Night Moves, Lilting, Obvious Child
I should have added, *to add* to what Ryan is asking for.
Besides all the things that Ryan is asking for, I pose another question: How many of the 45 films have you seen that are nominated for the Academy Awards? I have seen 20 of them.
All 45:
American Sniper
Begin Again
Beyond the Lights
Big Hero 6
Birdman
Boyhood
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Citizenfour
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Finding Vivian Maier
Foxcatcher
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Gone Girl
Guardians of the Galaxy
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Ida
Inherent Vice
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Last Days in Vietnam
Leviathan
Maleficent
Mr. Turner
Nightcrawler
Selma
Song of the Sea
Still Alice
Tangerines
The Boxtrolls
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
The Imitation Game
The Judge
The Lego Movie
The Salt of the Earth
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
The Theory of Everything
Timbuktu
Two Days, One Night
Unbroken
Virunga
Whiplash
Wild
Wild Tales
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Oscar Ballot:
1. Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Boyhood
3. Imitation Game
4. Theory of Everything
5. Selma
6. Whiplash
7. Birdman
8. American Sniper
Oscar Ballot:
1. Boyhood
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. The Imitation Game
4. Whiplash
5. American Sniper
6. Birdman
7. The Theory of Everything
8. Selma
TOP 10 OF THE DECADE SO FAR
1. All Is Lost
2. The Social Network
3. Wild Tales
4. Searching For Sugar Man
5. Midnight in Paris
6. Toy Story 3
7. Lincoln
8. The Tree of Life
9. Before Midnight
10. Neighboring Sounds
BP Rankings-
1. Whiplash
2. The Imitation Game
3. Boyhood
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. American Sniper
6. Selma
7. The Theory of Everything
8. Birdman
Isn’t Blue Ruin from 2013?
Well, whatever! I’ll make my list tomorrow because I just got back from football (soccer for you)
The best movies of the last five years (or of this decade, in no particular order):
* Boyhood (2014 – Richard Linklater)
* The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 – Martin Scorsese)
* Her (2013 – Spike Jonez)
* Inception (2010 – Christopher Nolan)
* The Social Network (2010 – David Fincher)
* Zero Dark Thirty (2012 – Kathryn Bigelow)
* Selma (2014 – Ava DuVernay)
* Drive (2011 – Nicholas Winding Refn)
* 12 Years a Slave (2013 – Steve McQueen)
* Black Swan (2010 – Darren Arnofosky)
* Toy Story (2010 – Lee Unkrich)
* Gravity (2013 – Alfonso Cuaron)
* Lincoln (2012 – Steven Spielberg)
* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part II (2011 – David Yates)
* Django Unchained (2012 – Quentin Tarantino)
* Nebraska (2013 – Alexander Payne)
* Hugo (2011 – Martin Scorsese)
* Life of Pi (2012 – Ang Lee)
* The Avengers (2012 – Joss Whedon)
* Midnight in Paris (2011 – Woody Allen)
* Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010 – Edgar Wright)
* The Wind Rises (2014 – Hayao Miyazaki)
* Whiplash (2014 – Damien Chazelle)
* Moneyball (2011 – Bennett Miller)
My 20 best movies of 2014:
1. Selma
2. Boyhood
3. Birdman
4. Gone Girl
5. The Wind Rises
6. Whiplash
7. Nightcrawler
8. Wild
9. Beyond the Lights
10. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
11. Foxcatcher
12. The Grand Budapest Hotel
13. Belle
14. Interstellar
15. The Immigrant
16. The Imitation Game
17. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
18. Guardians of the Galaxy
19. Maleficent
20. Godzilla
My preferential ballot for 2014:
1. Boyhood
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Birdman
4. The Theory of Everything
5. Whiplash
6. The Imitation Game
7. Selma
8. American Sniper
I meant “it does not mean that there were not many good movies to be found.”
I could probably pick any year in the last 20 years and come up with a list as long. I look at “weak” as a relative term. Meaning, in comparison to other years, 2014 was a weak year. And I think it has been, across the board. Popcorn movies, Oscar movies, everything. Once again in *comparison* to other years. It does not mean that there were many good movies to be found.
My preferential ballot for 2014:
1. Selma
2. Whiplash
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Boyhood
5. The Imitation Game
6. The Theory of Everything
7. American Sniper
8. Birdman
Fun! I actually made my list of the 50 brdt films of the decade so far last week.
50. The Turin Horse
49. Margaret
48. Short Term 12
47. Bridesmaids
46. Her
45. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
44. Museum Hours
43. Another Year
42. Somewhere
41. Foxcatcher
40. Weekend
39. Poetry
38. Leviathan (2012)
37. Blue is the Warmest Color
36. Midnight in Paris
35. The Grand Budapest Hotel
34. Meek;s Cutoff
33. Ida
32. Carlos
31. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
30. Inherent Vice
29. The Strange Case of Angelica
28. A Dangerous Method
27. Before Midnight
26. The Act of Killing
25. The Wolf of Wall Street
24. Winter’s Bone
23. A Separation
22. The Social Network
21. Holy Motors
20. Maps to the Stars
19, Certified Copy
18. Film Socialism
17. 12 Years a Slave
16. Gone Girl
15. Enter the Void
14. Dogtooth
13. Frances Ha
12. Beasts of the Southern Wild
11. Stranger by the Lake
10. Goodbye to Language
9. Beyond the Hills
8. Spring Breakers
7. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Melancholia
5. Under the Skin
4. Tree of Life
3. Amour
2. White Material
1. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
* 3 titles are listed on imdb as 2009 because they screened at film festivals that year. However, they were not released commercially until the following year and therefore are counted. Furthermore, if a film played festivals in 2014 but didn’t open commercially in North America until 2015, it was not counted here.
Lists!! YAY!! I LOVE lists!!! 🙂 🙂
I think Claudiu already has my ranking of the Best Picture nominees, but I’ll rank them here also.
1. Boyhood
2. Birdman
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. American Sniper
5. Selma
6. The Imitation Game
*Whiplash – Won’t get to see until February 24. Pissed off I have to wait until after the Oscars!
*The Theory of Everything – Honestly, I’m still debating if I even want to see it. If there is someone who just loved it, please convince me to see it.
My 5 ***** Classics of the 2010s:
Black Swan – 2010
Inception – 2010
The Social Network – 2010
True Grit – 2010
Drive – 2011
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – 2011
Argo – 2012
Django Unchained – 2012
Life of Pi – 2012
Zero Dark Thirty – 2012
12 Years a Slave – 2013
Gravity – 2013
Inside Llewyn Davis – 2013
Rush – 2013
The Wolf of Wall Street – 2013
Birdman – 2014
Boyhood – 2014
Gone Girl – 2014
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 2014
*My favorite of the decade is The Social Networ. Dare I say it’s Citizen Kane for the new millennium.
For those crotchety Oscar voters who are clueless. You missed Gone Girl, Edge of Tomorrow, and Fury.
Ryan, I really enjoyed Godzilla as well.
Someone is gonna have to disabuse me of the notion that this is a “list thread” because that’s what it looks like to me! And since a fellow reader already beat me to the punch, here’s my…
Top 50 of the Decade: So Far.
1. THE TREE OF LIFE, Terrence Malick (2011)
2. AMOUR, Michael Haneke (2012)
3. MARGARET, Kenneth Lonergan (2011)
4. TABU, Miguel Gomes (2012)
5. A SEPARATION, Asghar Farhadi (2011)
6. I AM LOVE, Luca Guadagnino (2010)
7. GRAVITY, Alfonso Cuaron (2013)
8. BOYHOOD, Richard Linklater (2014)
9. IN THE FAMILY, Patrick Wang (2011)
10. DRIVE, Nicolas Winding Refn (2011)
11. THE SOCIAL NETWORK, David Fincher (2010)
12. LEVIATHAN, Andrey Zvyavintzev (2014)
13. MOONRISE KINGDOM, Wes Anderson (2012)
14. THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, Martin Scorsese (2013)
15. THE MASTER, Paul Thomas Anderson (2012)
16. CLOUD ATLAS, Andy & Lana Wachowski (2012)
17. IHERENT VICE, Paul Thomas Anderson
18. IDA, Pawel Pawlikowski
19. SPRING BREAKERS, Harmony Korine (2013)
20. SHAME, Steve McQueen (2011)
21. TRON: LEGACY, Joseph Kosinski (2010)
22. NEIGHBORING SOUNDS, Kleber Mendonça Filho (2012)
23. THE WIND RISES, Hayao Miyasaki (2013)
24. ANOTHER YEAR, Mike Leigh (2010)
25. ELENA, Andrey Zvyagintsev (2011)
26. LOURDES, Jessica Hausner (2010)
27. SELMA, Ava DuVernay (2014)
28. HER, Spike Jonze (2013)
29. A DANGEROUS METHOD, David Cronenberg (2011)
30. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, Joel & Ethan Coen (2013)
31. BLACK SWAN, Darren Aronofsky (2010)
32. NO, Pablo Larrain (2012)
33. THE TRIBE, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky (2014)
34. MONEYBALL, Bennett Miller (2011)
35. TAKE SHELTER, Jeff Nichols (2011)
36. THE GREAT BEAUTY, Paolo Sorrentino (2013)
37. ANOTHER YEAR, Mike Leigh (2010)
38. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, Wes Anderson
39. THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, Stephen Chbosky (2012)
40. BEFORE MIDNIGHT, Richard Linklater (2013)
41. ANIMAL KINGDOM, David Michod (2010)
42. I SAW THE DEVIL, Kim Jee-woon (2010)
43. EDEN, Mia Hansen-Love (2014)
44. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, Joe Johnston (2011)
45. THE COUNSELOR, Ridley Scott (2013)
46. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, Edgar Wright (2010)
47. OSLO, AUGUST 31ST, Joaquim Trier (2012)
48. UNDER THE SKIN, Johnathan Glazer (2014)
49. DJANGO UNCHAINED, Quentin Tarantino (2012)
50. MUD, Jeff Nichols (2013)
Here, I’ll just list all the 2010-present films I gave at least a 90 to on Criticker (I didn’t start using Criticker until mid-2011, so a lot of major films before that point aren’t rated):
Inception, Melancholia, 12 Years a Slave, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Seven Psychopaths, The Sunset Limited, Dear White People, The Deep Blue Sea, Django Unchained, The Master, Spring Breakers, The Ambassador, Bernie, The Dance of Reality, Enter the Void, Nymphomaniac Vol. 1, A Touch of Sin, and True Grit.
And that’s the very tip of the iceberg.
BTW, you should all vote for my film awards here: https://ifyouwantthegravy.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/my-4th-annual-awards-open-voting/
My nominations are fairly idiosyncratic, so feel free to write in your own picks!
1. Boyhood
2. Selma
3. Grand Budapest
4. Imitation Game
5. Theory of Everything
6. American Sniper
7. Whiplash
∞. Birdman
Claudiu, I can share the simulated ballot preferential rankings if you would like.
Okay, then. BP nominees in preferential order
1. Selma
2. Boyhood
3. Birdman
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Whiplash
6. The Theory of Everything
7. The Imitation Game
8. American Sniper
Ryan, great stuff.
I have been banging on that “good year for film” drum for so long. In spite of much resistance to this notion. Argues with friends, family, and colleagues. Got mad at them. Disowned a brother. But I stuck to my guns. I have done all you have asked of me here too. Though the Benutty project may take some time. For now, my Oscar preferentialism:
1. Boyhood
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Selma
4. Birdman
5. Whiplash
6. The Imitation Game
7. The Theory of Everything
8. American Sniper
And now here is my TOP 50 of 2014 (as seen on my site which I won’t shamefully plug here). I had a moment of madness, and started with an “A” movie. “I don’t know who taught you how to alphabetize!” (Diner):
A Most Violent Year
The Babadook
Begin Again
Belle
Big Eyes
Big Hero 6
Birdman
Boyhood
Calvary
Citizenfour
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Double
Edge of Tomorrow
Farewell to Language
Finding Vivian Maier
Force Majeure
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy
God Help the Girl
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Ida
The Imitation Game
The Immigrant
Inherent Vice
Interstellar
The Lego Movie
Leviathan
Life Itself
Listen Up Philip
Locke
Lucy
Maps to the Stars
Mr. Turner
Nightcrawler
Obvious Child
The One I Love
Only Lovers Left Alive
Palo Alto
Selma
The Skeleton Twins
Snowpiercer
The Theory of Everything
Tracks
Two Days, One Night
Under the Skin
Whiplash
Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
Wild
Well, I’d already done my assignment for Claudiu and Benutty, so here’s my very limited list for 2015. I throw in docs, FFL, the whole shiteroo. It’s in alpha-order because I haven’t seen enough to make any declarations yet:
• Boyhood
• Capt America: Winter Soldier (didn’t see that one coming)
• CitizenFour
• The Congress
• Dawn of the Apes
• Force Majeure
• Godzilla (OK, maybe I need medication)
• Gone Girl
• Goodbye to Language
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• The Immigrant
• Inherent Vice
• Leviathan
• Locke
• Maps to the Stars
• Mommy
• A Most Violent Year
• Mr Turner
• Only Lovers Left Alive
• The Overnighters
• Selma
• Starred Up
• Timbuktu
• Virunga
So a note to the crochety AMAPAS voter from the crochety non-voter. Get off your ass and see some films because if you bore me with your Oscar nominations again next year like you have this year, I’m done with ya. All of the above are damn good films from a wide spectrum of genres. Surely they should have been better represented in this year’s race.
Alright, I’ll make a list. Random order.
Only lovers left alive
Snowpiercer
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Obvious Child
The Skeleton Twins
Inherent Vice
Boyhood
Force Majeure
Interstellar
Nightcrawler
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Whiplash
Mommy
Mr. Turner
Foxcatcher
Nymphomaniac
Gone Girl
Selma
Under The Skin
Joe
Locke
Enemy
Maps to the Stars
Calvary
Blue Ruin
The Babadook
Two Days, One Night
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
The Lego Movie
Begin Again
St. Vincent
The Imitation Game
The way he looks
Citizenfour
Salt of the Earth
Ida
Winter sleep
Cake
Still Alice
Wild
The wonders
Frank
Norte, the end of history
The rover
The immigrant
Pride
Fury
The maze runner
Stranger by the lake
I’m sure I’m forgetting some this is the best my memory allows me at the moment…
[This is an updated version of my own list I posted a few weeks ago. Like Ryan says, an unruly year of cinematic riches and my proposition to examine the decade so far — at this midpoint — still stands]
2014
The Essentials [ranked in order of future significance]
1. BOYHOOD, Richard Linklater
2. LEVIATHAN, Andrey Zvyavintzev
3. INHERENT VICE, Paul Thomas Anderson
4. IDA, Pawel Pawlikowski
5. SELMA, Ava DuVernay
6. THE TRIBE, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
7. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, Wes Anderson
8. EDEN, Mia Hansen-Love
9. WILD TALES, Damian Szifron
10. UNDER THE SKIN, Jonathan Glazer
11. FORCE MAJEURE, Ruben Ostlund
12. GODZILLA, Gareth Edwards
13. MAPS TO THE STARS, David Cronenberg
14. SAINT LAURENT, Bertrand Bonello
15. GONE GIRL, David Fincher
16. THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA, Isao Takahata
17. GIRLHOOD, Celine Sciamma
18. STARRED-UP, David McKenzie
19. WHIPLASH, Damien Chazelle
20. STRAY DOGS, Tsai Ming-Liang
21. JAUJA, Lisandro Alosonso
22. MR. TURNER, Mike Leigh
23. FURY, David Ayer
24. WE ARE THE BEST!, Lukas Moodysson
25. IT FELT LIKE LOVE, Eliza Hittman
26. SNOWPIERCER, Bong Joon-ho
27. THE MAZE RUNNER, Wes Ball
28. TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT, Jean Pierre & Luc Dardenne
29. FREE FALL, Stephan Lacant
30. INTERSTELLAR, Christopher Nolan
31. BEYOND THE LIGHTS, Gina Prince-Bythewood
32. NIGHTCRAWLER, Dan Gilroy
33. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, Jim Jarmusch
34. ABUSE OF WEAKNESS, Catherine Breillat
35. THE RIOT CLUB, Lone Scherfig
36. NIGHT MOVES, Kelly Reichardt
37. NYMPHOMANIAC, Lars von Trier
38. THE HOMESMAN, Tommy Lee Jones
39. LOVE IS STRANGE, Ira Sachs
40. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, Bryan Singer
41. TIMBUKTU, Abderrahmane Sissako
42. JOHN WICK, Chad Stahelski
43. MOMMY, Xavier Dolan
44. THE DROP, Michael R. Roskam
45. ENEMY, Denis Villeneuve
46. NOAH, Darren Aronofsky
47. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, Dean Deblois
48. LOCKE, Steven Knight
49. A MOST WANTED MAN, Anton Corbijn
50. NEIGHBORS, Nicholas Stoller
51. HIDE YOUR SMILING FACES, Daniel Patrick Carbone
52. ’71, Yann Demange
53. THE GUEST, Adam Wingard
54. DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, Justin Simien
55. PALO ALTO, Gia Coppola
56. EASTERN BOYS, Robin Campillo
57. THE IMMIGRANT, James Gray
58. JOE, David Gordon Green
59. EDGE OF TOMORROW, Doug Liman
60. THE DANCE OF REALITY, Alejandro Jodorowsky
61. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, Anthony & Joe Russo
62. A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, J.C. Chandor
63. THE BABADOOK, Jennifer Kent
64. WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL?, Siono Son
65. THE ROVER, David Michod
66. THE DOUBLE, Richard Ayodae
Overlooked Gems and Honorable Mentions: STILL ALICE, HELLION, GRAND PIANO, BLUE RUIN, BAD WORDS, OCULUS, COLD IN JULY, FERIADO, THE SACRAMENT, ROSEWATER, EXODUS: GODS & KINGS, CALVARY, JAMIE MARKS IS DEAD, MUPPETS MOST WANTED, HORNS, BIRDMAN, THE SIGNAL, BELLE, THE LEGO MOVIE, WHAT IF, LOW DOWN, FRANK, CHILD’S POSE, SABOTAGE, SPACE STATION 76, THE GOOD LIE, LILTING, WILLOW CREEK, PRIDE, TRACKS, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY: HIM AND HER, DOS DISPAROS, THE BOXTROLLS, X+Y, THE PRINCESS OF FRANCE, LUCY, THE SKELETON TWINS, FOXCATCHER, YOUNG ONES, GOD HELP THE GIRL, MALEFICENT, THE ONE I LOVE, THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, COHERENCE, LE WEEK-END, 22 JUMP STREET, THE RETRIEVAL, CHEAP THRILLS.
Personal Disappointments: THE RAID 2, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, THE IMITATION GAME, THE BETTER ANGELS, WINTER SLEEP, THE GAMBLER, THE HUNGER GAMES – MOCKINGJAY PART I, KILL THE MESSENGER.
Not Nearly As Bad As You’ve Heard: POMPEII, 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE, VAMPIRE ACADEMY, THE RAILWAY MAN, THEY CAME TOGETHER, SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR, ADDCITED, DRAFT DAY, TAMMY, THE GIVER.
Most Disreputable Guilty Pleasure: ENDLESS LOVE.
Major Blind Spots: WILD, LABOR DAY, PHOENIX, THE MONUMENTS MEN, CHEF, ST. VINCENT, BEGIN AGAIN, WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE, PADDINGTON, TOP FIVE, MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT, TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER
Top 10 Non-2014 Best First-Time Viewings
1. BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ, Rainer Werner Fassbinder (’80)
2. SANDRA, Luchino Visconti, (’65)
3. THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES, Sergei Parajanov (’68)
4. FLOWERS FROM SHANGAI, Hou Hsiao-Hsien (’98)
5. PERFORMANCE, Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg (’70)
6. THE CROWD, King Vidor (’28)
7. MIKEY AND NICKY, Elaine May (’76)
8. LOURDES, Jessica Hausner (’10)
9. JOURNEY TO ITALY Roberto Rossellini (’54)
10. MY FATHER’S GLORY and MY MOTHER’S CASTLE, Yves Robert (’90)
Top 10 [redacted for negativity and excessive subjectivity] of the Year [suggested edit: “movies that made me the most unhappy”?]
1. GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE, Jean-Luc Godard
2. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, Marc Webb
3. JELOUSY, Philippe Garrel
4. OBVIOUS CHILD, Gillian Robespierre
5. LET’S BE COPS, Luke Greenfield
6. I, ORIGINS, Mike Cahill
7. TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, Michael Bay
8. WISH I WAS HERE, Zach Braff
9. YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL, Francois Ozon
10. BURNING BLUE, D.M.W. Greer
**Made My Designations in 2013: GLORIA, THE CONGRESS; LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON; THE WIND RISES, ERNEST & CELESTINE, JODOROWKY’S DUNE, NORTE THE END OF HISTORY.
Beautiful sentiments, Ryan! I gather a list is in order? You know me — pass.
1. The Raid 2
2. Selma
3. Snowpiercer
4. Lucy
5. Noah
6. Earth to Echo
7. As Above, So Below
8. Grand Budapest Hotel
9. Gone Girl
10. Godzilla
– Watermelons
BP rankings:
1. Boyhood
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Whiplash
4. Selma
5. The Imitation Game
6. Birdman
7. American Sniper
8. The Theory of Everything
Best of the decade:
25. MAGIC MIKE (2012) | Directed by Steven Soderbergh
24. KABOOM (2011) | Directed by Gregg Araki
23. BOYHOOD (2014) | Directed by Richard Linklater
22. GONE GIRL (2014) | Directed by David Fincher
21. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011) | Directed by Woody Allen
20. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011) | Directed by Lynne Ramsey
19. SOMEWHERE (2010) | DIrected by Sofia Coppola
18. THE DESCENDANTS (2011) | Directed by Alexander Payne
17. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (2010) | Directed by Banksy
16. NIGHTCRAWLER (2014) | Directed by Dan Gilroy
15. BLUE VALENTINE (2010) | Directed by Derek Cianfrance
14. MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012) | Directed by Wes Anderson
13. THE GUEST (2014) | Directed by Adam Wingard
12. FAIR GAME (2010) | Directed by Doug Liman
11. LIFE IN A DAY (2011) | Directed by Kevin MacDonald
10. THEY CAME TOGETHER (2014) | Directed by David Wain
9. MAGIC MAGIC (2013) | Directed by Sebastian Silva
8. FRANCES HA (2013) | Directed by Noah Baumbach
7. SHORT TERM 12 (2013) | Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
6. KILLER JOE (2012) | Directed by William Friedkin
5. THE TREE OF LIFE (2011) | Directed by Terrence Malick
4. DETENTION (2012) | Directed by Joseph Kahn
3. THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010) | Directed by David Fincher
2. SPRING BREAKERS (2013) | Directed by Harmony Korine
1. YOUNG ADULT (2011) | Directed by Jason Reitman
Great movies from 2014 not nominated for Best Picture:
– They Came Together
– The Guest
– Nightcrawler
– Gone Girl
– Citizenfour
– White Bird in a Blizzard
– Night Moves
– Palo Alto
– Only Lovers Life Alive
– Calvary
– Frank
– Fury
– The Lego Movie
– Still Alice
– Bad Words
– Inherent Vice
– Alan Partridge
– Dear White People
– Edge of Tomorrow
– John Wick
– Veronica Mars
– Cheap Thrills
– The Raid 2
– What If?
– The Trip to Italy
– Top Five
– Life Partners
– The One I Love
– The Congress
– Blue Ruin
– Obvious Child
– Listen Up Philip
Oh that was your list, I didn’t see the brackets…
I loved Godzilla too!
Additions I’d make to your list, Ryan:
MOVIES IN ENGLISH
The Rover
The Imitation Game
Guardians of the Galaxy
Joe
Frank
The Maze Runner
The Skeleton Twins
MOVIES IN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH
Mommy
Force Majeure
Human Capital
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Winter Sleep
Norte, The end of History
Stranger by the lake
The way he looks