Cinema Scope: Top 10 Films of 2014

[see also 2010s, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011]

1. Horse Money — Pedro Costa
2. Goodbye to Language 3D — Jean-Luc Godard
3. Li’l Quinquin — Bruno Dumont
4. Jauja — Lisandro Alonso
5. Phoenix — Christian Petzold
6. Inherent Vice — Paul Thomas Anderson
7. The Kindergarten Teacher — Nadav Lapid
8. Maidan — Sergei Loznitsa
9. Journey to the West — Tsai Ming-liang
10. From What Is Before — Lav Diaz

Michael Sicinski: Top 12 Films of 2014 (limited to “poll-eligible” films)

[see also The 30 Best Avant-Garde Feature Films of the Decade, Top 30 Experimental Films of 2018, Top 50 Films of 2018, Top 25 Films of 2017, Top 10 Films of 2016, Top 10 Films of 2013, Top 12 Films of 2012]

1. Two Days, One Night — Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
2. The Strange Little Cat — Ramon Zürcher
3. Stranger by the Lake — Alain Guiraudie
4. Closed Curtain — Kambuzia Partovi and Jafar Panahi
5. Actress — Robert Greene
6. The Story of My Death — Albert Serra
7. Snowpiercer — Bong Joon-ho
8. Charlie Victor Romeo — Karlyn Michelson, Patrick Daniels, Robert Berger
9. Only Lovers Left Alive — Jim Jarmusch
10. What Now? Remind Me — Joaquim Pinto
11. Stray Dogs — Tsai Ming-liang
12. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear — Denis Côté

Karina Longworth: 16 Favorite Movies of 2014 (as posted on Twitter in this series of tweets: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

[see also 2018, 2017, 2012, 2011]

• We Are the Best! — Lukas Moodysson
• The Immigrant — James Gray
• Beyond the Lights — Gina Prince-Bythewood
• Listen Up Philip — Alex Ross Perry
• Under the Skin — Jonathan Glazer
• Force Majeure — Ruben Östlund
• Stranger by the Lake — Alain Guiraudie
• Inherent Vice — Paul Thomas Anderson
• Bird People — Pascale Ferran
• Tales of the Grim Sleeper — Nick Broomfield
• Love is Strange — Ira Sachs
• Laggies — Lynn Shelton
• The One I Love — Charlie McDowell
• Only Lovers Left Alive — Jim Jarmusch
• Snowpiercer — Bong Joon-ho
• Edge of Tomorrow — Doug Liman

Ty Burr: 28 Best Movies of 2014, as published by The Boston Globe

[see also 2010s, 2012, 2011]

1. Boyhood — Richard Linklater
2. The Immigrant — James Gray
3. American Sniper — Clint Eastwood
4. Citizenfour — Laura Poitras
5. Whiplash — Damien Chazelle
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel — Wes Anderson
7. Mr. Turner — Mike Leigh
8. Inherent Vice — Paul Thomas Anderson
9. MANAKAMANA — Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez
10. Birdman — Alejandro G. Iñárritu
11. Life Itself — Steve James
12. Two Days, One Night — Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
13. Dear White People — Justin Simien
14. Under the Skin — Jonathan Glazer
15. Locke — Steven Knight

Honorable Mention

• The Babadook — Jennifer Kent
• Blue Ruin — Jeremy Saulnier
• Edge of Tomorrow — Doug Liman
• Foxcatcher — Bennett Miller
• The Homesman — Tommy Lee Jones
• Ida — Pawel Pawlikowski
• Listen Up Philip — Alex Ross Perry
• Love is Strange — Ira Sachs
• Nymphomaniac: Vol. 1 and 2 — Lars von Trier
• Only Lovers Left Alive — Jim Jarmusch
• Snowpiercer — Bong Joon-ho
• We Are the Best! — Lukas Moodysson

Alison Willmore: 14 Greatest Movies of 2014, as published by BuzzFeed

[see also 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015]

1. Under the Skin — Jonathan Glazer
2. Two Days, One Night — Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel — Wes Anderson
4. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya — Isao Takahata
5. Birdman — Alejandro G. Iñárritu
6. Inherent Vice — Paul Thomas Anderson
7. Whiplash — Damien Chazelle
8. Guardians of the Galaxy — James Gunn
9. Ida — Pawel Pawlikowski
10. Selma — Ava DuVernay
11. Nightcrawler — Dan Gilroy
12. Love is Strange — Ira Sachs
13. Foxcatcher — Bennett Miller
14. The Babadook — Jennifer Kent

Christopher Orr: 30 Best Movies of 2014, as published by The Atlantic

[see also 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015]

1. A Most Violent Year — J.C. Chandor
2. Selma — Ava DuVernay
3. Birdman — Alejandro G. Iñárritu
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel — Wes Anderson
5. The Imitation Game — Morten Tyldum
6. Boyhood — Richard Linklater
7. Gone Girl — David Fincher
8. Ida — Pawel Pawlikowski
9. Locke — Steven Knight
10. Noah — Darren Aronofsky
11. Foxcatcher — Bennett Miller
12. Interstellar — Christopher Nolan

Honorable Mentions (Alphabetically)

• American Sniper — Clint Eastwood
• Big Hero 6 — Don Hall and Christ Williams
• Blue Ruin — Jeremy Saulnier
• Calvary — John Michael McDonagh
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier — Anthony and Joe Russo
• Edge of Tomorrow — Doug Liman
• The Hunger Games: Monckinjay – Part 1 — Francis Lawrence
• The Lego Movie — Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
• A Most Wanted Man — Anton Corbijn
• Nightcrawler — Dan Gilroy
• Obvious Child — Gillian Robespierre
• The Skeleton Twins — Craig Johnson
• Snowpiercer — Bong Joon-ho
• The Theory of Everything — James Marsh
• Top Five — Chris Rock
• Two Days, One Night — Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
• Under the Skin — Jonathan Glazer
• Whiplash — Damien Chazelle

Miriam Bale: Top 9 Films of 2014, as published by Fandor’s Keyframe blog

[see also 2010s, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012]

1. Inherent Vice — Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Maps to the Stars — David Cronenberg
3. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya — Isao Takahata
4. Gone Girl — David Fincher
5. Belle — Amma Asante
6. Goodbye to Language 3D — Jean-Luc Godard
7. Listen Up Philip — Alex Ross Perry
8. Under the Skin — Jonathan Glazer
9. Jealousy — Philippe Garrel

Darren Hughes: 10 Favorite Films of 2014 (as published at his site, Long Pauses, where he also has lists of favorite unreleased films, experimental shorts, and discoveries)

[see also 2010s, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012]

1. The Immigrant — James Gray
2. The Strange Little Cat — Ramon Zürcher
3. Jealousy — Philippe Garrel
4. What Now? Remind Me — Joaquim Pinto
5. Norte, the End of History — Lav Diaz
6. Goodbye to Language 3D — Jean-Luc Godard
7. Night Moves — Kelly Reichardt
8. Stray Dogs — Tsai Ming-liang
9. The Last of the Unjust — Claude Lanzmann
10. Closed Curtain — Kambuzia Partovi and Jafar Panahi

Steve Erickson: 20 Best Films of 2014, as published by Gay City News

[see also 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015]

1. Boyhood — Richard Linklater
2. What Now? Remind Me — Joaquim Pinto
3. Night Moves — Kelly Reichardt
4. Actress — Robert Greene
5. Stray Dogs — Tsai Ming-liang
6. The King of Escape — Alain Guiraudie
7. Goodbye to Language 3D — Jean-Luc Godard
8. The Immigrant — James Gray
9. Nightcrawler — Dan Gilroy
10. Selma — Ava DuVernay

Runners-up (alphabetically)

• The Babadook — Jennifer Kent
• Beyond the Lights — Gina Prince-Bythewood
• The Dog — Allison Berg, Frank Keraudren
• John Wick — Chad Stahelski
• The Naked Room — Nuria Ibañez
• National Gallery — Frederick Wiseman
• Two Days, One Night — Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
• Under the Skin — Jonathan Glazer
• Vic + Flo Saw a Bear — Denis Côté
• We Are Mari Pepa — Samuel Kishi Leopo

Brian Darr: 10 Best Feature Films of 2014, as published by Fandor’s Keyframe blog. See also this list of documentaries.

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013]

1. Goodbye to Language 3D — Jean-Luc Godard
2. Citizenfour — Laura Poitras
3. Interstellar — Christopher Nolan
4. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear — Denis Côté
5. The Immigrant — James Gray
6. Abuse of Weakness — Catherine Breillat
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel — Wes Anderson
8. The Dance of Reality — Alejandro Jodorowsky
9. MANAKAMANA — Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez
10. Stray Dogs — Tsai Ming-liang