Film Comment Readers' Poll 2013
Our ever-vigilant readers would like to make a correction: swapping the first and second slots of our Critics’ Poll, the final tally found 12 Years a Slave on top instead of Inside Llewyn Davis. Close behind was Her, newly installed at #3, while the big gambles of The Wolf of Wall Street (#8) and Captain Phillips (#19) also saw significant gains. Note: Numbers in parentheses refer to the film’s ranking in the Critics’ Poll (Jan/Feb 2014). For each ballot, a first-place choice was allotted 20 points, 19 for second, an so on. Congratulations to the winners selected randomly from this year’s poll participants to receive Criterion Collection DVDs of their choice: Donald Sjoerdsma of Chicago, IL (First Prize); Anne-Marie Miller of Berkeley, CA (Second Prize); and Eileen Flynn of Arlington, VA, and Darren Tripiciano of Auburn, NY (Third and Fourth Prizes). And many thanks to Criterion Collection for its generous donation of DVDs.
1. 12 Years a Slave Steve McQueen, U.S. (2)
2. Inside Llewyn Davis Joel & Ethan Coen, U.S. (1)
3. Her Spike Jonze, U.S. (17)
4. Gravity Alfonso Cuarón, U.S. (7)
5. Before Midnight Richard Linklater, U.S. (3)
6. Frances Ha Noah Baumbach, U.S. (9)
7. The Act of Killing Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark/Norway/U.K. (4)
8. The Wolf of Wall Street Martin Scorsese, U.S. (37)
9. Nebraska Alexander Payne, U.S. (18)
10. American Hustle David O. Russell, U.S. (19)
11. Blue Jasmine Woody Allen, U.S. (25)
12. Upstream Color Shane Carruth, U.S. (10)
13. Spring Breakers Harmony Korine, U.S. (14)
14. Blue Is the Warmest Color Abdellatif Kechiche, France/Belgium/Spain (12)
15. Computer Chess Andrew Bujalski, U.S. (8)
16. Stories We Tell Sarah Polley, Canada (16)
17. The Great Beauty Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France (24)
18. A Touch of Sin Jia Zhang-ke, China (5)
19. Captain Phillips Paul Greengrass, U.S. (50)
20. Bastards Claire Denis, France/Germany (13)
21. The World’s End Edgar Wright, U.K.
22. Museum Hours Jem Cohen, Austria/U.S. (11)
23. To the Wonder Terrence Malick, U.S. (31)
24. The Grandmaster Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong/China (20)
25. Leviathan Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, France/U.K./U.S. (6)
26. All Is Lost J.C. Chandor, U.S. (26)
27. Prisoners Denis Villeneuve, U.S.
28. Dallas Buyers Club Jean-Marc Vallee, U.S. (48)
29. Something in the Air Olivier Assayas, France (28)
30. Like Someone in Love Abbas Kiarostami, Japan/France (15)
31. Short Term 12 Destin Daniel Cretton, U.S. (47)
32. Post Tenebras Lux Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Germany/Netherlands (27)
33. Mud Jeff Nichols, U.S.
34. Fruitvale Station Ryan Coogler, U.S. (30)
35. Beyond the Hills Cristian Mungiu, Romania/France/Belgium (22)
36. No Pablo Larraín, Chile/U.S./France (23)
37. The Place Beyond the Pines Derek Cianfrance, U.S.
38. Room 237 Rodney Ascher, U.S. (33)
39. Philomena Stephen Frears, U.K.
40. The Past Asghar Farhadi, France/Italy (40)
41. Drug War Johnnie To, Hong Kong/China (43)
42. The Spectacular Now James Ponsoldt, U.S.
43. The Wind Rises Hayao Miyazaki, Japan (42)
44. The Bling Ring Sofia Coppola, U.S.
45. Much Ado About Nothing Joss Whedon, U.S. (45)
46. The Hunt Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark/Sweden
47. This Is the End Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, U.S.
48. At Berkeley Frederick Wiseman, U.S. (21)
49. Wadjda Haifaa Al Mansour, Saudi Arabia/Germany
50. Pacific Rim Guillermo del Toro, U.S.
