People, they love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical ILX 2014 Film Poll Thread - Voting closes Friday, Feb. 21st at Midnight EST.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nC95NXEQruQ/maxresdefault.jpg

After last year's mild controversy there are no rules as to what is eligible, just keep in mind if it's a 40 year old movie you've just seen for the first time, it probably won't get much traction, and if it's a festival film to be released in 2015, then it's unlikely anyone but a select few would see it until later this year. But whatever you feel, have at it.

Each ballot can be up to 25 votes, all weighted, with normal rules applying. Please don't submit a ballot with less than 5 films.

Please send ballots to ilx2014filmpoll @ g ma il. com

No nominations so no official list for copying and pasting, so please use English names of foreign titles.

Voting closes at midnight on Friday, Feb 21st at Midnight EST. Rollout will hopefully begin the day after the Oscars. Sorry for the slightly shorter period, but the week after isn't great for me plus the Oscars are earlier than I thought they'd be - and I don't feel there is any reason to stretch the 2014 Film Year more than a few days beyond that bloody ceremony. So rep for your favs and rep hard.

Just want to remind everyone, there is nearly no dialogue in Stray Dogs, so it's definitely not 'talky'! The people want cabbage-eating! You know you do.

Just up on Netflix too.

there is literally zero dialogue in Shaun The Sheep :D

Will bear that in mind for next year's poll

:x

xx-post: Yeah, but does he eat cabbage?

good work guk

We'll show the Oscars crowd where its at.

When we award Boyhood #1 and Birdman #4.

Lav Diaz a dark horse

Nah. Too much votesplitting between Norte, From What is Before and Storm Children.

haha I doubt that

I intend to vote for only two of them.

i'm sure The Interview, Frank and other facepalmers will "place"

ILE's huge, inchoate Lav Diaz cult.

i voted for the 8 movies i saw this year. pretty sure not a single one grossed under a hundred mil.

^trolly troll troll, so i'm boycotting

Can I just post my list here?

When we award Boyhood #1 and Birdman #4.

― Eric H., Monday, February 9, 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lav Diaz a dark horse

― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Monday, February 9, 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's the spirit.

voted

that's awfully quick, forks, and you better havce seen Fifi.

i only saw like 6 films this year so i voted for them

― Mordy , Friday, February 28, 2014 2:05 PM (11 months

Hmmm, same "I'm a dick" post 2 years running.

the post is just accurate, and my voting strategy consistent

as carefully selected as your political ideas

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

voted

i voted for "frank" but its down low so dont worry morbz

fifi is on my too-see list yet; if it demolishes me, I will update.

Starter cheat sheets

http://www.filmcomment.com/entry/20-best-films-of-2014

http://www.indiewire.com/survey/indiewire-2014-year-end-critics-poll/best-film/

Thought the point was that we were trying to make a list that was distinctive.

there is no point

Friendly reminder: vote for TOUCH OF SIN, cuz if you don't live in LA or NY, you probably didn't see it in 2013. and if you haven't seen it yet, it's on Netflix instant.

By that rationale, don't vote for The Immigrant til next year?

Move to better cities.

My #1 among debut US releases would easily be A Summer Tale, but I wouldn't vote for something I saw in 1998.

xp no, vote for the fuck you want. like i'm gonna vote for hard to be a god this year, too. and next year maybe. and raiders is still a good movie, righ?

it's a madhouse

A MADHOUSE!!!!

Touch of Sin was on the list last year, right? I saw it in 2014 as well - and it was def one of the best newish films I saw that year - but I don't think I'll vote for something that has already placed once?

Will people vote for Hard to be a God this year or the next? I'm up for both, it's all 2013 for me anyway.

It showed nowhere in the USA til 2015.

(and so far, just New York i think)

Yeah, Touch of Sin placed last year or else I'd vote. Hard to Be a God found its way ~out there~ pretty early on in the year but it didn't get a theatrical US release until two weeks ago so I didn't count it.

move to better countries

yeah, i'm sure i'll stick pretty much to 2014 US releases, but it pisses me off that we all aren't on the same year yet. this seems like an oversight on technology's part. like, a field in england didn't play the US or get a region 1 DVD until 2014, but came in pretty high on the 2013 countdown. it's easily one of the best films i saw last year, but should we now count it out just because a verdict's already been rendered?

life ain't far when you kneel before a calendar

a 1934 poll would solve these issues

Touch of Sin placed last year? That was going to go in my top 5.

Yeah, first saw Touch of Sin in 2014 = eligible for my ballot

I'll vote for it - has to be in there.

If you can get enough support for it it'll turn up again. "year of impact", I think they call it.

Not to say anything, but people outside of US vote for US films with releases next year all the time, it was kinda the reason for waiting until February to make the list - to let all the oscar-pap permeate all over. Hard to be a God is a hardcore stereotypical European festival-film, why not acknowledging it's 'real' window as being the festival tour it took in 2014, even though it came out elsewhere in 2015? Like, I'll put Imitation Game on my 2014 list, even though it only came out in Denmark in 2015, because it's the epitome of oscar-pap from the 2014 season (just kidding, I'll neither see nor vote for Imitation Game in time for this list. Might be a masterpiece, don't have the time. Oh, the abyss of unknowability.)

Anyway this is just for consideration. I accept all behaviour from everyone, except voting for Boyhood.

submitted my vote. quite a few things ive not seen but n/m.

Frederik, US ROOLZ, FESTIVALS DROOL

While I'm at it, Morbs, I can add your full ballot if the one you posted here is correct. I can still only see the top 12 Letterboxd entries on mine. Maybe this computer won't let me scroll down the image for some reason.

Again huge apologies to everyone.

Also it hasn't been talked about but Actress is an amazing documentary. I didn't vote for it because I put money towards it and the director put money towards a doc I'm producing so I felt conflicted but everyone should make the effort to see it.

And finally, The Homesman is severely underrated here.

eh, shit happens, gubke. was just confuzzed.

lol, now i feel bad for bringing it up. do post the adjusted totals, though. i want to feel that i matter.

you do matter! There are a number of differences here, which might have also had to do with some other excel foul-ups.

Alright everyone, here it is. The OFFICIAL ILX 2014 TOP 40 FILM POLL.

40. Lucy (76 pts)
39. Gone Girl (77 pts)
38. Himizu (80 pts)
37. A Touch of Sin (83 pts)
36. Like Father, Like Son (84 pts)
35. A Field in England (85 pts)
34. Force Majeure (86 pts)
33. Love is Strange (90 pts)
32. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (91 pts)
31. CITIZENFOUR (97 pts)
30. Edge of Tomorrow (99 pts)
29. Snowpiercer (101 pts)
28. Borgman (103 pts)
27. The One I Love (106 pts)
26. Frank (109 pts)
25. The Babadook (110 pts)
24. The Strange Little Cat (119 pts)
23. Mr. Turner (129 pts)
21. (Tie) The LEGO Movie (134 pts)
21. (Tie) The Immigrant (134 pts)
20. Calvary (137 pts)
19. Norte, The End of History (139 pts)
18. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (140 pts)
17. National Gallery (141 pts)
16. Guardians of the Galaxy (150 pts)
15. Blue Ruin (166 pts)
14. Manakamana (172 pts)
13. Winter Sleep (183 pts)
12. Inherent Vice (185 pts)
11. Only Lovers Left Alive (189 pts)
10. Goodbye to Language 3D (190 pts)
9. Nightcrawler (194 pts)
8. Exhibition (216 pts)
7. Two Days, One Night (226 pts)
6. Stray Dogs (243 pts)
5. We Are The Best! (263 pts)
4. Stranger By The Lake (330 pts)
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel (357 pts)
2. Boyhood (363 pts)
1. Under the Skin (581 pts)

Himizu, hooray!!

Also, good to see Like Father, Like Son and Borgman.

And a Touch of Sin making it.

Thanks for the extra work in correcting etc.

Who voted for beyond clueless? I loved it but thought it was 2015

well thx, you didn't have to add my full ballot but it's your thing.

Hinizu, yeah. A Touch of Sin is not a 2014 film by any stretch of the imagination.

still waiting for that Chinese release

Morbius - you don't have much of an imagination.

guilty with an explanation

(xposts) I'm not a festival person, but I saw Beyond Clueless at last spring's Hot Docs festival--assumed it had gone into limited release somewhere since then.

woot! thanks, gubke. esp happy to have been of service to the strange little cat, borgman, himizu, a touch of sin and a field in england. even if the latter two weren't actually 2013 films ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A Field opened in US in '14

(it's just that no one liked it)

you all just fail movies then

Channel 4 showed "A Field in England" on TV in 2013

there were no rules, remember

A Touch of Sin didn't get to the non-NY/LA cities until February or March of '14. I couldn't see it until this year so I considered voting for it but I'm stringent about my rules.

what was everyones problem with 'leviathan' again? i thought it was a fucking masterpiece. a lot in common with one of my own faves of the year, 'calvary'.

I think most people just got seasick or something.

ah

the leviathan was a metaphor for massive metaphors.

the problem with Leaviathan => it wasn't as good as Winter Sleep

Quite liked 3/4 of Force Majeure, and then it went on for another twenty minutes after I'd already gotten the point before adding an eye-roller of an ending. The film also contains what is probably my favourite cinematic special effect in years, if not decades.

it was amazing i thought but the ending is ambiguous & slightly annoying. i prefer to think of it as giving the father a too-easy way out - a deliberately & falsely macho redemption that mirrors how his cowardice is whitewashed & downplayed by himself and those around him, but of course it can easily be read as 'we all act selfishly sometimes!' which isn't the point the movie had been making until then

truly terrifying ski lifts

yeah the shots of the resort at night

this movie also featured the most terrifying drone attack in all cinema ever

Also, skiing is definitely the most beautifully cinematic of all sports, for me, and this was way better than Hot Dog The Movie.

the bit where he 'rescues' his wife is enough of a false redemption bit though

the bus bit definitely feels extraneous

gah idk

Agreed. Honestly expected the film to end with the whole family standing in the snow just after the "rescue."

it even faded there iirc. might as well have been return of the king. (i was projecting and i reeeeeeeally wanted to go home.) but yes, pretty, weird. that one scene in the middle with the loud music was a theater staff favorite.

this was way better than Hot Dog The Movie

Now you've gone too far.

Agreed. Honestly expected the film to end with the whole family standing in the snow just after the "rescue."

― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Wednesday, April 29, 2015 1:38 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

seriously

can anyone think of a good explanation for the ending

"Liking 3/4" of movies is my thing.

It wasn't necessary & the film might have ended better earlier but I don't see anything wrong with it aside from that? It was a good scene in a film of good scenes imo (w/o spoiling too much, i did like the feel of the final few minutes)

Also she wasn't acting selfishly, she was acting sensibly & protectively which is consistent

Anyway loved this film & look forward to voting for it in next years poll

Also yes great to see skiing in something other than a fucking bond film

yeah the very closing scene was a nicely-judged bunuel homage

very despondent despite the release

can anyone think of a good explanation for the ending

― carles the jekyll (imago), Wednesday, April 29, 2015 8:28 AM (53 minutes ago)

I haven't read any reviews so I don't know if it's been criticsplained, but it seems clear that everything after the snow avalanche was the human avalanche, everybody getting caught up in a massive release of potentially destructive energy that peters out at the end as it reaches the bottom of the hill. I liked the structure and the parallels, unsubtle as it was.

That's a good way of putting it, WilliamC. Also thought it was suggesting that the bourgeoisie have a very strong survival instinct, whatever tensions and cracks there might be in the nuclear family unit (whereas the prole bus driver is more reckless, driving into danger).

Could also be read as a tribute to the Italian Job.

Both Force Majeure and Play are a bit too long, so I can understand wanting to excise the tonally very different last sequence of FM, but if I was going to be prune anything it would be some of the stuff with the other couple, which felt more schematic to me.

Anyone besides the one person who apparently voted for it in this poll see The Way He Looks? I'm still beaming from watching it an hour later.

have now seen 'boyhood' and 'actress' and def rate both - boyhood would be somewhere top-3, actress is prob like 7th-8th

my ballot

The Newburgh Sting
Palo Alto
Finding Vivian Maier
Adult World
The One I Love
Land Ho!
Blue Ruin
The Humbling
Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart
Life Itself
Happy Christmas
Inherent Vice
Bansky Does New York
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Young and Beautiful
Watermark
Jodorowsky's Dune
Birdman

― johnny crunch, Wednesday, February 25, 2015 2:10 PM (3 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Netflix Instant Watch update for 2014 nominees here (and a few others I'd either recommend or are interested in):

Goodbye to Language - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Goodbye_to_Language/80013603
Child's Pose: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70270821
Manakamana: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80010744
Like Father Like Son: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70275749
The One I Love: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70299863
Watermark: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70293817
Stranger by the Lake: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70285670
The Overnighters: http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The_Overnighters/70299292
Keep on Keepin’ On - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Keep-on-Keepin-On/80011709
The Babadook - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70300205
Blue Ruin: http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/70278931
Bird People - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Bird_People/80008461
Gideon's Army: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70267832
Finding Fela: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70299905
Particle Fever: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70296323
We are the Best! : http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70293818
The Unknown Known: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70292939
Exhibition: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70296526
Gloria: http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Gloria/70270790
Test: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70288488
Vic and Flo Saw a Bear - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70270792
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/A_Girl_Walks_Home_Alone_at_Night/70301280
Beyond the Lights - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Beyond-the-Lights/70295409
Life Itself - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Life-Itself/70299909
Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Through-a-Lens-Darkly-Black-Photographers-and-the-Emergence-of-a-People
Stop at Nothing: Lance Armstrong - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Stop_at_Nothing_The_Lance_Armstrong_Story/80007215
Ida: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70293721
Memphis: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70301276
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70274594
Frank: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70299856
Evolution of a Criminal: http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Evolution_of_a_Criminal/80011623
Actress - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80011247
Nightcrawler - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Nightcrawler/70295182
The Guest - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Guest/70300664
Happy Valley - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Happy-Valley/70299907
Late Phases Night of the Lone Wolf - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Late-Phases-Night-of-the-Lone-Wolf/70306659
Point and Shoot - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Point-and-Shoot/80011862
The Homesman - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Homesman/70266680
Winter Sleep - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Winter-Sleep/80013562

Force Majeure: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80007252
The Blue Room - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Blue-Room/80014128
Noah - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Noah/70295061
Maidan - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Maidan/80013473
The Missing Picture: http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/70285668?
Miele: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70285698
Venus in Fur: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70275370
Violette: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70293814
The Last of the Unjust: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70285696
The Double: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70293645
Virunga: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80009431
The Immigrant: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70275521
The Retrieval: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70272892
Oculus: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70293316
13 Sins : http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70291114
Big Bad Wolves: http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70274589
Stray Dogs - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70293821
Joe - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70293723
Last Hijack - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80014767
Fifi Howls from Happiness - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80011705
Abuse of Weakness - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70292975
Dormant Beauty - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70257739
All This Mayhem - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/All_This_Mayhem/80022983
Lilting - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Lilting/70299831
Housebound - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Housebound/80013767?
In Bloom - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/In_Bloom/70271702
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/70293425
ilo ilo - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/70285672
Parallels - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80025727
all this mayhem - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80022983
Norte End of History - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70285700
It Felt Like Love - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70268905
Nymphomaniac - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/80017030
Robocop - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/RoboCop/70289948
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness - http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The_Kingdom_of_Dreams_and_Madness/80025391
Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70305215
Back Issues - http://www.netflix.com/Movie/80022451