Best Films of 2014

Richard Linklater’s one-of-a-kind boy’s life and Jean-Luc Godard’s eye-boggling 3-D foray seemed to bring a new sense of wonderment to movies for our poll respondents, making for a commanding winner and runner-up. Thereafter, familiar faces (Jarmusch, Leigh, the Dardennes, Wes and Paul Thomas Anderson) were joined by some surprising new contestants in our annual derby: Jonathan Glazer with Under the Skin and Alain Guiraudie with Stranger by the Lake, as well as Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure and, extraordinarily, Lav Diaz’s 250-minute opus, Norte, The End of History. Nonfiction was robust and varied between Poitras–Sensory Ethnography Lab–Wiseman, and, smack in the middle of the list, The Immigrant’s arduous voyage continues. A note on the poll’s workings: over 100 North American colleagues ranked their favorites in two categories: 1) those that received theatrical runs and 2) those viewed this year but currently with no announced plans for U.S. theatrical distribution. For each ballot, a first-place choice was allotted 20 points, 19 for second, and so on.

Readers’ Poll: Readers are invited to stand up and be counted too! All entries will be automatically entered in our contest for free DVDs from the Criterion Collection. We will print the poll results in our March/April issue and publish your comments on the website. Send your ranked list of the year’s 20 best films (plus any rants, raves, and insights) with your name, address, and phone number, to fcpoll [at] filmlinc.com. Deadline: February 2, 2015. First Prize: your choice of Criterion Collection DVDs, up to $200 in value. Second Prize: up to $120. Third & Fourth Prizes: up to $80. The winners, who will be picked by random draw, can select prizes, subject to availability, from the Criterion Collection catalogue.

1. Boyhood
Richard Linklater, U.S.

2. Goodbye to Language
Jean-Luc Godard, France

3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, U.S.

4. Ida
Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland

5. Under the Skin
Jonathan Glazer, U.K.

6. Stranger by the Lake
Alain Guiraudie, France

7. CITIZENFOUR
Laura Poitras, U.S.

8. Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, U.S.

9. Inherent Vice
Paul Thomas Anderson, U.S.

10. The Immigrant
James Gray, U.S.

Don’t see your favorite here? Proceed to the Best Unreleased Films of 2014.