The Very Best of 2019.

SUPERLATIVES of 2019

FILM

1 DANIEL ISN’T REAL

For some an exorcism. For others, a reconciliation.

2 LA FLOR Episode II: “Watch Out”/IN FABRIC/LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 3D

Visual, narrative, and sensory pleasure, unbound. Nostalgia cannot truly be bought.

3 SYNONYMS

This is not me trying to be contrarian, but everyone who loved Uncut Gems (a film I liked a lot but that requires emergency Xanax and that I could never imagine watching a second time- though I would love an Idina Menzel spinoff) really needs to see this. Tom Mercier is the performance of the year.

4 DIANE/THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES/THE WILD PEAR TREE

The ache of time.

5 IN MY ROOM/The SARA LEE Sketch

Y’all might not know this, but one of my favorite subgenres of cinema are films that start out with a simple hook and end up forcing the viewer to confront the absolute moral truth of who they are. These do that.

6 THE LIGHTHOUSE/PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Queer desire in hermetically sealed crucibles in the midst of the primordial sea. Power and class and the cruel vicissitudes of the exterior world. But beyond all these things, the near-unbearable drama of when to share, when to hide.

7 LITTLE WOMEN/NANCY DREW AND THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE

Women proving the timelessness of women’s work; evolutions that reinforce, but never betray.

8 THE DEAD CENTER/KNIFE+HEART/KNIVES OUT/ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD/ONE CUT OF THE DEAD/TRANSIT

The pleasure of genre aspirations with deeply subverted executions.

9 ATLANTICS/LIGHT FROM LIGHT/STARFISH

Subtle touches on the surface of the hippocampus.

10 HER SMELL/THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO/PAIN AND GLORY

Long-term research experiments on the resilience of the self.

ACTRESS

Ana DE ARMAS, KNIVES OUT

AWKWAFINA, THE FAREWELL

Sofia BOUTELLA, CLIMAX

Virginia GARDNER, STARFISH

Adele HAENEL, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Marin IRELAND, LIGHT FROM LIGHT

Elisabeth MOSS, HER SMELL

Lupita NYONG’O, LITTLE MONSTERS/US

Mary Kay PLACE, DIANE

Florence PUGH, MIDSOMMAR

Charlize THERON, LONG SHOT

ACTOR

Antonio BANDERAS, PAIN AND GLORY

Shane CARRUTH, THE DEAD CENTER

Daniel CRAIG, KNIVES OUT

Taron EGERTON, ROCKETMAN

Jimmie FAILS, THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

Bill HADER, IT: CHAPTER TWO

Tom MERCIER, SYNONYMS

Eddie MURPHY, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME

Miles ROBBINS, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Franz ROGOWSKI, TRANSIT

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Toni COLLETTE, KNIVES OUT

Laura DERN, MARRIAGE STORY

Sasha LANE, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Jennifer LOPEZ, HUSTLERS

Billie LOURD, BOOKSMART

Mary Stuart MASTERSON, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Idina MENZEL, UNCUT GEMS

Fatma MOHAMED, IN FABRIC

Elisabeth MOSS, US

Anna PAQUIN, THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

Florence PUGH, LITTLE WOMEN

Margaret QUALLEY, ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD

Taylor RUSSELL, WAVES

ZHAO Shuzhen, THE FAREWELL

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Alan ALDA, MARRIAGE STORY

Willem DAFOE, THE LIGHTHOUSE

Asier EXTEANDIA, PAIN AND GLORY

Kevin HART, JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL

Martin LAWRENCE, THE BEACH BUM

Kyle McLACHLAN, GIANT LITTLE ONES

Alessandro NIVOLA, THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE

Al PACINO, THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

Brad PITT, ONCE UPONA TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD

James RANSONE, IT: CHAPTER TWO

Franz ROGOWSKI, A HIDDEN LIFE

Patrick SCHWARZENEGGER, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Kiddy SMILE, CLIMAX

Archie YATES, JOJO RABBIT

ENSEMBLE

CLIMAX

DIANE

THE FAREWELL

HER SMELL

KNIVES OUT

MARRIAGE STORY

DIRECTOR

Ari ASTER, MIDSOMMAR

BI Gan, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 3D

Claire DENIS, HIGH LIFE

Mati DIOP, ATLANTICS

Robert EGGERS, THE LIGHTHOUSE

Mike FLANAGAN, DOCTOR SLEEP

Dexter FLETCHER, ROCKETMAN

Greta GERWIG, LITTLE WOMEN

Yann GONZALEZ, KNIFE + HEART

Rian JOHNSON, KNIVES OUT

Kent JONES, DIANE

Nadav LAPID, SYNONYMS

Adam Egypt MORTIMER, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Gaspar NOE, CLIMAX

Jordan PEELE, US

Celine SCIAMMA, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Martin SCORSESE, THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

Peter STRICKLAND, IN FABRIC

SCREENPLAY:

Ari ASTER, MIDSOMMAR

BONG Joon-ho/JIN Won-han, PARASITE

Guy BUSICK/Ryan MURPHY, READY OR NOT

Brian DeLEEUW/Adam Egypt MORTIMER, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Max EGGERS/Robert EGGERS, THE LIGHTHOUSE

Mike FLANAGAN, DOCTOR SLEEP

Greta GERWIG, LITTLE WOMEN

Rian JOHNSON, KNIVES OUT

Kent JONES, DIANE

Ulrich KOHLER, IN MY ROOM

Haim LAPID/Nadav LAPID, SYNONYMS

Jordan PEELE, US

Alex Ross PERRY, HER SMELL

Steven ZAILLIAN, THE IRISHMAN: I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES

DOCUMENTARY

AMAZING GRACE

APOLLO 11

HAIL, SATAN?

HORROR NOIRE

MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN

SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

VARDA PAR AGNES

FOREIGN LANGUAGE/POLYGLOT FILM

ATLANTICS

DIAMANTINO

LA FLOR

HAGAZUSSA

KNIFE + HEART

LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 3D

LUZ

PARASITE

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

RETROSPEKT

SYNONYMS

THE WILD PEAR TREE

ANIMATED FILM

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

I LOST MY BODY

MISSING LINK

TEEN TITANS GO! VS TEEN TITANS

TOY STORY 4

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Alberto BAÑARES, STARFISH

Simon BEAUFILS, KNIFE + HEART

Jarin BLASCHKE, THE LIGHTHOUSE

Yves CAPE, ZOMBI CHILD

David CHIZALLET/DONG Jing-song/YAO Hung-i, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 3D

Paul FALTZ, LUZ

Radek LADCZUK, THE NIGHTINGALE

Yorick LE SAUX, HIGH LIFE/LITTLE WOMEN

Claire MATHON, ATLANTICS/PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

Maksymilian MILCZARCZYK, ANTRUM

Adam NEWPORT-BERRA, THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

Roman OSIN, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK

Pawel POGORZELSKI, MIDSOMMAR

Tat RADCLIFFE, QUEEN AND SLIM

Leonardo SIMÕES, VITALINA VARELA

Mike TESTIN, BLISS

Gökhan TIRYAKI, THE WILD PEAR TREE

Lyle VINCENT, DANIEL ISN’T REAL

Ari WEGNER, IN FABRIC

Sean Price WILLIAMS, HER SMELL

EDITING

Denis BEDLOW/Gaspar NOE, CLIMAX

FEKETE Matyas, IN FABRIC

Robert GREENE, HER SMELL

Alexander HAMMER/Nia IMANI/Julian KLINCEWICZ/Andrew MORROW, HOMECOMING

Todd Douglas MILLER, APOLLO 11

RESTORATION

BABYLON

A BIGGER SPLASH

CRUISING

THE FATE OF LEE KHAN

HARD TICKET TO HAWAII

THE JUNIPER TREE

NIGHT KILLER

OPERA

PAGANINI HORROR

PERFECT BLUE

REVENGE OF THE CREATURE 3D

SÁTÁNTANGÓ

THE SHINING

VICE SQUAD

ORIGINAL SCORE

CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER, IN FABRIC

m83, KNIFE + HEART

Matt MORTON, APOLLO 11

Trent REZNOR/Atticus ROSS, WAVES

COSTUME DESIGN

Kym BARRETT, US

Niharika BHASIN/Praveen RAJA, PETTA

Cypress COOK/Fatima IMAGINARIO, DIAMANTINO

April NAPIER, BOOKSMART

Leticia PALACIOS, STARFISH

uncredited, LA FLOR

PRODUCTION DESIGN

John COLLINS, NANCY DREW AND THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE

Cypress COOK/Bruno DUARTE, DIAMANTINO

David CRANK, KNIVES OUT

Ruth DE JONG, US

Sidney DuBOIS/Damien RONDEAU, KNIFE + HEART

Dana DUMANN, HAGAZUSSA

Fernanda GUERRERO, STARFISH

Melanie JONES, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA

Barbara LING, ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD

Paki SMITH, IN FABRIC

Henrik SVENSSON, MIDSOMMAR

UNDISTRIBUTED FILM

ARROWS OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE

CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER

LIBERTE

MAD?

MANGOSHAKE

RETROSPEKT

ROT

SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

SIBYL

Album:

1 FKA twigs/MAGDALENE

2 Carly Rae Jepsen/Dedicated

3 Mansionair

4 Tyler The Creator/IGOR

5 Celine Dion/Courage

6 Orville Peck/Pony

7 Lizzo/Cuz I Love You

8 Tan/Two by Tan

9 Frances Barber/Musik

10 m83/Knife + Heart

SONG

1 Ciara – Thinking ‘bout You

2 Lizzo & Missy Elliott – Tempo

3 Carly Rae Jepsen – Want You In My Room

4 Celine Dion – Lying Down

5 Inner City – Til We Meet Again 2019 (Inner City vs Carl Craig)

6 Paul Kennedy – Nobody’s Fool

7 Elle Fanning – Wildflowers

8 Mansionair – Alibi

9 Frances Barber and Pet Shop Boys – Ich bin Musik

10 S U R V I V E – Starcourt

11 Normani – Motivation

12 Billie Eilish – bad guy (Barry Harris Remix)

13 The Knocks – No Requests

14 Kevin McHale – Help Me Now

15 Bleachers – I Miss The Last Days of Disco

16 Aly and AJ – Church

17 Estiva – Trip

18 Bananarama – Tonight

19 Dido – Give You Up (Niko The Kid Remix)

20 Sofee – Thursday Night

TV

1 Los Espookys

2 Now Apocalypse

3 John Mulaney and The Sack Lunch Bunch

4 The Other Two/What We Do In the Shadows

5 Pose

6 Watchmen

7 I Think You Should Leave/Sherman’s Showcase

8 Russian Doll

9 A Black Lady Sketch Show

10 Fosse/Verdon

11 The Righteous Gemstones

12 Wellington Paranormal

13 The Mandalorian

14 The Terror

15 American Horror Story: 1984

16 My Favorite Shapes

17 Good Omens

18 Stranger Things

19 Too Old To Die Young

20 The Orville/Star Trek: Discovery

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE ON TV

Sandra BERNHARD/”Sometimes It Snows in April” - Pose

Bradley COOPER/Lady GAGA/”The Shallow” - The 2019 Academy Awards

“Drop It Low (for Jesus)” - Sherman’s Showcase

Billie EILISH/”bad guy” - Saturday Night Live

“Grandma’s Got a Boyfriend” - John Mulaney and The Sack Lunch Bunch

“Plain Plate of Noodles” - John Mulaney and The Sack Lunch Bunch

MJ RODRIGUEZ & George SALAZAR/”Suddenly Seymour” - The Late Late Show with James Corden

“Thursday Night” - Sherman’s Showcase

Podcasts (in alphabetical order)

Attack of the Queerwolf

Bad Gays

Bait

Homophilia

How Did This Get Made?

Keep It

Linoleum Knife

Nightmare University

Pure Cinema

Shock Waves

Tales from Beyond The Pale

The Underculture

DISAPPOINTMENTS LIST (NOTE: NOT WORST FILMS, JUST DISAPPOINTMENTS)

1 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

2 Joker

3 Les Miserables

4 I’m Just Fucking With You

5 The Dead Don’t Die

My Very own Superlatives in Film of 2014 List.

Well, 2014 was definitely something. It was a great year for movies and a pretty terrible one for human rights, social issues, and American decency. So I come to the annual ritual of putting a year end film summation together, and I find that it's more fun and liberating to do this thing the way I want to.

I've already voted in Indiewire's 2014 poll and for SEFCA, my Critics' Guild. I'm thinking of making my ballots for those public, just so you can see how mercurial my sense of things are in how things have changed from one list to the next.

My dream in life is to have my own awards show for film. I am just as legitimate (if not moreso) than the Golden Globes people, and I'll challenge any of them on their theory and genre background just to prove a point. But my awards show would be awesome. Winners would receive a classy statuette of a film reel and a hard drive in a tasteful yet provocative embrace, as well as a vintage bottle of Shawhan family bourbon (see above photo). I would call these awards the Andys, after my deceased paternal grandfather, whose tendency to have a couple of Manhattans and go to bed early when I would stay with him in Ohio during Junior High summers led me, through HBO and Cinemax, to discover a whole new world of film and a means by which to understand aesthetics. They could just as easily be named after my maternal grandparents, whose home my mother and I lived in for awhile, and who had a satellite dish. Once again, there was a reach that let me explore the world of film in all sorts of varieties.

I never talked about film, really, with any of those grandparents. I went to movies with them, but we never really discussed them as an art form (something that I am continuously grateful my parents and I can and do). But it is thanks to them that the cinema I take joy in spans impenetrable art trudges, trashy horror knock-offs, psychedelic freakouts, and hard-hitting melodrama. My love for them and my love for film are of a piece- an unreasonable, inexhaustible fact that defines how I aim to shape discourse with the world.

After I got long-quoted by moviecitynews.com regarding my process for assembling a Top Ten list, I had a dark moment where I reread what I wrote and thought I sounded like a crazy person. Some readers may agree. But I stand by my processes, because maybe that strikes a strong reaction (whether positive or negative) in you. What makes a critic useful is insight first and foremost, but also an ongoing act of aesthetic calibration. Growing up, the premier voice in film criticism for me was Joe Bob Briggs. But the things I like are not exactly or necessarily his. I swear by Carol Clover and Vera Dika, but their aesthetics are not absolute when it comes to mine. As you read more critics, you figure out where your interests line up and where they scatter, and the best course of action is to read more critics. Spend some time with b. ruby rich and Chas. Balun, with J. Hoberman and David Schmader, with Glenn Kenny and Nicole Brenez, with Robin Wood and Chuck Stephens. And you know what, maybe I can help with that process too. It's why I do what I do.

So let's talk about 2014 in Film. And then we'll get to the nominations for this year's Andys.

MY 'TOP TEN':

1 INHERENT VICE (Paul Thomas ANDERSON)/YOU AND THE NIGHT (Yann GONZALEZ)

A libertine hero of strong character drifts through a mysterious underworld of conspiracies, half-truths, and fantasies while attempting to set right a fissure between devoted lovers. A deeply moving pair, with Anderson's '70s Los Angeles and Gonzalez's out-of-time French netherworld both casting a haunting spell that ends not with pat resolution but a vital call to withstand moral crisis. Hazy, druggy epics about the labyrinth of the Internal with exquisite musical choices and a tactile sense- a scent, a touch on the neck- that reaches beyond the screen.

2 ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (Jim JARMUSCH)

Possibly a requiem for humanity, but a soothing and beautiful one. Care and curate both derive from the same Latin word, and it's not hard to imagine that long after the majority of humanity is gone, that Eve and Adam will remember us much more kindly than we deserved. Would that the two could have a spin-off film with Benicio Del Toro's Guardians of the Galaxy Collector- the very thrill of it.

3 THE GUEST (Adam WINGARD)

After four viewings, I more and more am thinking this lean bruiser of a flick could be the best film about post-9/11 America to come along in the past decade. 'David' wants us to be happy and safe, and valued. But corporate concerns and national security have rendered him incapable of pursuing his more altruistic and genial interests past a certain point, so it all ends in orange and green and so much red. Also, one of the best and most nuanced portraits of a High School kid who's just a bit different but not capable of giving it a name just yet. “Because you're my friend, aren't you?”

4 GONE GIRL (David FINCHER)

A glorious, Verhoevian rollercoaster for misanthropes. Watching this movie in a drive in was the kind of surreally comic madness that makes life worth living, and I treasure each of its fucked up turns. I've been a Fincher supporter since Alien3, even when the studio cut of that film was the only extant version. He's doing his thing, and the mirror is the method.

5 THE BOOK OF LIFE (Jorge GUTIEREZ)/THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY'S TEARS (Helene CATTET/Bruno FORZANI)

Meticulous design taken to opposite extremes. The Book of Life's overwhelming character design is reflective of how much effort went into creating these characters on the page as well, with remarkable awareness of gender issues and the interplay of friendships and families. So much color, so much joy, and provocative and joyful cosmology! Cattet and Forzani continue to explore the serrate edge of stylized hommage, with their psilocybin love letter to the baroque insanities of Italian gialli eschewing nuance and character, instead diving into near-complete abstraction of psychosexual terror. I would love to introduce the two Belgians to Gutierez- I think if they blended their strengths they could make something that no one has ever seen before.

6 ABUSE OF WEAKNESS (Catherine BREILLAT)/CHEAP THRILLS (E.L. KATZ)/VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR (Denis COTE)

To call these films inspirational dramas could be considered misleading, but each involves the circumstances of overcoming very specific adversities. It is that specificity that keeps these achievements from being seen on the level of sports stories and traditional biopics, and it's a damned shame. Each is completely honest, and defiantly true to its characters. No allegiance to form or expectation. No coddling of alpha male fantasies or shoring up tired old white legacies.

7 WE ARE THE BEST! (Lukas MOODYSSON)

I have a tradition of giving a copy of Ul de Rico's The Rainbow Goblins as a gift when friends have children. I shall add this film to that tradition, to be given on the twelfth birthday.

8 THE BABADOOK (Jennifer KENT)/THE DANCE OF REALITY (Alejandro JODOROWSKY)/NOAH (Darren ARONOFSKY)/OCULUS (Mike FLANAGAN)

There were no better portraits of family in crisis than these. Brutal and uncompromising, with the slightest bits of hope serving as hard-won victories.

9 THE IMMIGRANT (James GRAY)/THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA (TAKAHATA Isao)/UNDER THE SKIN (Jonathan GLAZER)

The Other enters a previously closed system, with a driving curiosity and her own goals for finding a place in the throng of humanity. But the graciousness and cruelties of others render this impossible, as plans collapse and chaos rises. The system remains closed. Memory fades. And darkness eventually falls on the face of the Earth.

10 THE HOMESMAN (Tommy Lee JONES)/A MOST VIOLENT YEAR (J.C. CHANDOR)

What makes a person noble? Or a crook? It's always some form of inexorable exterior force that gets into the soul and clarifies who someone really is. But here, in these films, it's all about the process. Some would call this pair cold and distant, but that's merely because they aren't interested in engaging the viewer's usual signifiers for personal evolution. Jones' hallucinatory Western and Chandor's deliberate and measured crime drama are interested in the way that women define the spaces around them, and how they are in turn defined. There is a pragmatism that flourishes under immense stress, yielding unconventional strength, and an unwillingness to put up with traditional forms of bullshit.

A few others I deem worthy of love, in alphabetical order:

THE AMAZING CATFISH

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

DEAR WHITE PEOPLE

THE LEGO MOVIE

LUCY

MALEFICENT

NYMPH()MANIAC

STRANGER BY THE LAKE

WHY DON'T YOU PLAY IN HELL?

So here are the nominees for the 2015 Andys. I will announce the winners at some point between the Golden Globes and the Oscars. But seriously, look at these nominees and tell me my awards show wouldn't be more interesting?

BEST ACTOR:

Vicenç Altaió (Story of my Death)

Jesse Eisenberg (Night Moves)

Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Joaquin Phoenix (The Immigrant, Inherent Vice)

Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of The Apes)

Dan Stevens (The Guest)

BEST ACTRESS:

Essie Davis (The Babadook)

Scarlett Johansson (Under the Skin)

Carla Juri (Wetlands)

Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)

Pierette Robitaille (Vic + Flo Saw a Bear)

Hilary Swank (The Homesman)

Robin Wright (The Congress)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler)

Albert Brooks (A Most Violent Year)

Gene Jones (The Sacrament)

Nicolas Maury (You and The Night)

Brendan Meyer (The Guest)

Edward Norton (Birdman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)

Hong Chau (Inherent Vice)

Carrie Coon (Gone Girl)

Rosario Dawson (Top Five)

Uma Thurman (Nymphomaniac)

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

Citizenfour

The Go-Go Boys

Happy Valley

Harmontown

Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait

Tim's Vermeer

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

The Amazing Catfish

The Guest

The Immigrant

Inherent Vice

The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears

Under The Skin

TOP 13 DIRECTORS (in Alphabetical order):

Darren Aronofsky (Noah)

Catherine Breillat (Abuse of Weakness)

Denis Cote (Vic + Flo saw a Bear)

David Fincher (Gone Girl)

Jonathan Glazer (Under The Skin)

Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake)

James Gray (The Immigrant)

James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy)

Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive)

Alejandro Jodorowsky (The Dance of Reality)

Takahata Isao (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya)

Lars von Trier (Nymphomaniac)

Ramon Zenker (The Strange Little Cat)

I tried and tried and tried to get hierarchical about this category, but I can't. In a just world, I could give each of them a tasteful statuette and a vintage bottle of the family bourbon. So let's just say that if I am ever tried in cinematic court, I hope these fine filmmakers are the jury (and alternate) who decide my fate.

BEST EDITING:

Bird People

Edge of Tomorrow

The Guest

Night Moves

Oculus

The Strange Little Cat

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

Jeff Grace (Cold in July)

Mica Levi (Under the Skin)

m83 (You and The Night)

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Gone Girl)

Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Cheap Thrills

Coherence

Dear White People

Test

Why Don't You Play In Hell?

You and The Night

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Cold in July

Guardians of the Galaxy

Inherent Vice

Muppets Most Wanted

Oculus

We Are The Best!

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Incompresa

Inherent Vice

Lucy

Nymphomaniac

You and The Night

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

As Above So Below

The Babadook

The Dance of Reality

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Guardians of The Galaxy

The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

Devil's Due

Godzilla

Guardians of The Galaxy

The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies

Interstellar

Noah

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

Big Hero 6

The Book of Life

The Congress

How To Train Your Dragon 2

The Lego Movie

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

BEST 3D:

Dawn of The Planet of The Apes

Deepsea Challenge

Exodus: Gods and Kings

The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies

Nurse

Step Up All In

WORST FILMS OF 2014

1) Sabotage

2) 7500

3) The Adventures of Hercules

4) Ouija

5) Need for Speed

6) Annabelle

7) Congratulations!

8) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

9) Almost Human

10) Jauja

A few other haterations...

Dracula Untold wasn't very good, but it was definitely better than I expected (namely an excellent CG disintegration and unfiltered Sarah Gadon). Birdman and Whiplash both had some great performances and definite amped-up macho energy, but I didn't much enjoy either of them. Whiplash is the kind of movie that will let sociopathic assholes think they're helping people by being horrible, and Birdman is the most incoherent film I've seen since The Dark Knight Rises. What exactly is Birdman about, really? It deals with masculine crisis, sure, and it's about trying to make a stand for art, sort of, and it may all be the timelooped ramblings of an action star who has lost his mind. But there's no there there, barring a great Edward Norton turn that riffs off his poison reputation. Also, The Imitation Game is pretty insidious- designed to impress contemporary viewers with Alan Turing's achievements while completely underplaying the fact that he was persecuted and hounded to suicide by the government he helped save from the Nazis because of his homosexuality. As with Whiplash and Birdman, the acting is great, the films are handsomely made, and you feel empty and icky when they're over.