December is that joyous (or hellish) time of the year in the world of cinema when publications of all kinds demand that their critics publish their “best films of the year” lists. Since Movie Mezzanine will not be running such a list till early January, we’re going to be updating this page with year-end roundups on a regular basis. Gathering these cinematic catalogs from around the Internet is no easy task though. So if you have a list, publication, or film critic you feel we should be including, please let us know in the comment section below.
Film Critics
David Ehrlich, Film.com
[embedvideo id=”80862133″ website=”vimeo”]Eric Kohn, IndieWire
1.) 12 Years a Slave
2.) Leviathan
3.) Before Midnight
4.) The Act of Killing
5.) Blue is the Warmest Color
6.) Museum Hours
7.) Inside Llewyn Davis
8.) Computer Chess
9.) Upstream Color
10.) Gloria
From the critics of Cahiers du Cinema
RELEASED 2013
1. Inside Llewyn Davis, Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen
2. 12 Years a Slave, Director: Steve McQueen
3. Before Midnight, Director: Richard Linklater
4. The Act of Killing, Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
5. A Touch of Sin, Director: Jia Zhang-ke
6. Leviathan, Directors: Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel
7. Gravity, Director: Alfonso Cuarón
8. Computer Chess, Director: Andrew Bujalski
9. Frances Ha, Director: Noah Baumbach
10. Upstream Color, Director: Shane Carruth
Rankings #11 – #20
11. Museum Hours, Director: Jem Cohen
12. Blue Is the Warmest Color, Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
13. Bastards, Director: Claire Denis
14. Spring Breakers, Director: Harmony Korine
15. Like Someone in Love, Director: Abbas Kiarostami
16. Stories We Tell, Director: Sarah Polley
17. Her, Director: Spike Jonze
18. Nebraska, Director: Alexander Payne
19. American Hustle, Director: David O. Russell
20. The Grandmaster, Director: Wong Kar Wai
From the critics at Film Comment.
Matt Prigge, Metro
1. To the Wonder
2. The World’s End
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
4. The Counselor
5. Something in the Air
6. Her
7. No
8. Computer Chess
9. Before Midnight
10. Sightseers
Wesley Morris, Grantland
1. 12 Years a Slave
2. The Wolf of Wall Street
3. The Act of Killing
4. Terrafirma
5. Post Tenebras Lux
6. A Touch of Sin
7. The Great Beauty
8. Gravity
9. This Is the End
10. Let the Fire Burn
Film Critic Circles
Best Picture – American Hustle
Best Director – Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay – Eric Singer & David O. Russell, American Hustle
Best Actress – Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Actor – Robert Redford, All is Lost
Best Supporting Actress – Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Supporting Actor – Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Cinematographer – Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Animated Film – The Wind Rises
Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary) – Stories We Tell
Best Foreign Film – Blue is the Warmest Color
Best First Film – Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
Best Film: Her
Best Director: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Actor: Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Best Actress: Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
Best Supporting Actor: Will Forte, Nebraska
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station
Best Original Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Adapted Screenplay: Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises
Breakthrough Performance: Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue Is The Warmest Color
Best Directorial Debut: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
Best Foreign Language Film: The Past
Best Documentary: Stories We Tell
William K. Everson Film History Award: George Stevens, Jr.
Best Ensemble: Prisoners
Spotlight Award: Career Collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Wadjda
Creative Innovation in Filmmaking Award: Gravity
Top Films
12 Years a Slave
Fruitvale Station
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Nebraska
Prisoners
Saving Mr. Banks
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The Wolf of Wall Street
Top 5 Foreign Language Films
Beyond the Hills
Gloria
The Grandmaster
A Hijacking
The Hunt
Top 5 Documentaries
20 Feet from Stardom
The Act of Killing
After Tiller
Casting By
The Square
Top 10 Independent Films
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Dallas Buyers Club
In a World…
Mother of George
Much Ado About Nothing
Mud
The Place Beyond the Pines
Short Term 12
Sightseers
The Spectacular Now
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Best Picture (TIE): Gravity and Her
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Best Actress (TIE): Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine and Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color
Best Supporting Actor (TIE): James Franco, Spring Breakers and Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay: Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight
Best Documentary/Nonfiction Film: Stories We Tell
Best Foreign Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Best Music/Score: T Bone Burnett, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Animation: Ernest & Célestine
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity
Best Editing: Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger, Gravity
Best Production Design: K.K. Barrett, Her
Douglas Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video Award: Cabinets Of Wonder: Films and a Performance by Charlotte Pryce
New Generation Award: Megan Ellison
Legacy of Cinema: Criterion Collection
A Special Citation: The creative team behind 12 Years a Slave
Boston Online Film Critics Association
Best Picture:
12 Years a Slave
Best Director:
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor:
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress:
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay: Before Midnight
Best Foreign Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Best Documentary:
The Act of Killing
Best Animated Film (TIE): The Wind Rises and Frozen
Best Cinematography:
Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Editing:
12 Years a Slave
Best Original Score: 12 Years a Slave
Best Ensemble: 12 Years a Slave
The 10 Best Films of the Year:
12 Years a Slave
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Wolf of Wall Street
Gravity
Before Midnight
The Spectacular Now
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Spring Breakers
The World’s End
Fruitvale Station
Boston Society of Film Critics
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Best Supporting Actress: June Squibb, Nebraska
Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay: Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Best Foreign-Language Film: Wadjda
Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises
Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer): Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill, Rush
Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy): Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
Best Ensemble Cast: Nebraska
Best Use of Music in a Film: Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Ensemble Cast: American Hustle
Breakthrough Performance: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color
Best Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Debut Director: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity
Best Use of Music: Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Foreign Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises
San Diego Film Critics Society
Best Film: Her
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now
Best Adapted Screenplay: Before Midnight
Best Original Screenplay: Her
Best Cinematography: To the Wonder
Best Film Editing: Captain Phillips
Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby
Best Score: Her
Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Best Foreign Language Film: Drug War
Best Ensemble Performance: American Hustle
Body of Work: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club, Mud, The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Picture: Her
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress: Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Scarlett Johansson, Her
Best Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Ensemble: American Hustle
Best Documentary: Stories We Tell
Best Breakthrough Performance: :Brie Larson, Short Term 12
African-American Film Critics’ Association
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Best Screenplay: John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Best World Cinema: Mother of George
Best Animated Film: Frozen
Best Documentary: American Promise
Best Independent Film: Fruitvale Station
Best Breakout Performance: :Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Music: Raphael Saadiq. Black Nativity
Top 10 Films of 2013
1. 12 Years a Slave
2. Lee Daniels’ The Butler
3. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
4. American Hustle
5. Gravity
6. Fruitvale Station
7. Dallas Buyers Club
8. Saving Mr. Banks
9. Out of the Furnace
10. 42
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaròn, Gravity
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Animated Film: Frozen
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Documentary: 20 Feet from Stardom
Best Foreign Language Film: The Hunt
Best Original Score: Gravity
Best Original Song: “Please Mr. Kennedy” from Inside Llewyn Davis
Kansas City Film Critics Circle
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: (tie) Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity and Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Best Supporting Actor: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: Her
Best Animated Film: (tie) Despicable Me 2 and Frozen
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Best Foreign Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
Vince Koehler Award for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Film: Her
San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: James Franco, Spring Breakers
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: American Hustle
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Film Editing: Gravity
Best Production Design: Gravity
Best Animated Film: Frozen
Best Foreign Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Marlon Riggs Award: Chris Slatton (Roxie Theater) and Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station)
Special Citation: Computer Chess
Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress: Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity
Best Film Editing: Alfonso Cuaron & Mark Sanger, Gravity
Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris, 12 Years a Slave
Best Art Direction: Andy Nicholson, Gravity
Best Visual Effects: Gravity
Best Foreign Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
Best Documentary: Blackfish
Best Animated Film: Frozen
Best Family Film: Saving Mr. Banks
Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film: Pacific Rim
Best Comedy Film: This is the End
Best Action Film: Lone Survivor
Best Score: Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave
Best Song: “Please Mr. Kennedy,” Inside Llewyn Davis
Youth in Film: Tye Sheridan, Mud
Breakout Filmmaker of the Year: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
Best DVD (Packaging, Design and Content): “Breaking Bad – The Complete Series” (Blu-Ray)
William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award: John Goodman
LVFCS Top 10 Films of 2013
1. 12 Years a Slave
2. Dallas Buyers Club
3. Gravity
4. The Wolf of Wall Street
5. American Hustle
6. Inside Llewyn Davis
7. Saving Mr. Banks
8. Nebraska
9. Her
10. Lone Survivor
BEST MOVIE ABOUT WOMEN: Philomena
RUNNER UP: Mother Of George
BEST MOVIE BY A WOMAN: Enough Said, Nicole Holofcener
RUNNER UP: Inch Allah, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
BEST WOMAN STORYTELLER [Screenwriting Award]: Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
RUNNER UP: Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said
BEST ACTRESS: Judi Dench, Philomena
RUNNER UP: Barbara Sukowa, Hannah Arendt
BEST ACTOR: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
RUNNER UP: Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
BEST YOUNG ACTRESS: Onata Aprile, What Maisie Knew
RUNNER UP: Waad Mohammed, Wadjda
BEST COMEDIC ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, The Heat
RUNNER UP: Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
BEST FOREIGN FILM BY OR ABOUT WOMEN: Wadjda
RUNNER UP: Inch Allah
BEST FEMALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE: Philomena
RUNNER UP: Girls In The Band
WORST FEMALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE: The Bling Ring
RUNNER UP: Machete Kills
BEST MALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE: 12 years A Slave, Chiwetel Ejiofor
RUNNER UP: Enough Said, James Gandolfini
WORST MALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE: Only God Forgives
RUNNER UP: Out Of The Furnace
BEST THEATRICALLY UNRELEASED MOVIE BY OR ABOUT WOMEN: Hellen Mirren in Phil Spector
RUNNER UP: Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
BEST EQUALITY OF THE SEXES: Before Midnight
RUNNER UP: Enough Said
BEST ANIMATED FEMALES: Frozen
RUNNER UP: The Croods
BEST FAMILY FILM: The Wind Rises
RUNNER UP: Black Nativity
Women’s Work/Best Ensemble: Ginger & Rosa
RUNNER UP TIE: Winnie Mandela and August: Osage County
SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
EMMA THOMPSON: For her eclecticism in switching from period films to fantasy genre, to contemporary settings, and embodying all kinds of women with raw and pure interpretations.
ACTING AND ACTIVISM AWARD
CHARLIZE THERON: For her work for The Global Fund, and for starting the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which educates young people about HIV/AIDS
COURAGE IN FILMMAKING: LAURA POITRAS For bringing the Edward Snowden NSA revelations to light, driven into exile in Germany for doing so, and currently making a documentary about it.
*ADRIENNE SHELLY AWARD: [For a film that most passionately opposes violence against women]: Augustine
RUNNER UP: Lovelace
*JOSEPHINE BAKER AWARD: [For best expressing the woman of color experience in America]: 12 Years A Slave
RUNNER UP: Go for Sisters
*KAREN MORLEY AWARD [For best exemplifying a woman’s place in history or society, and a courageous search for identity]: Winnie Mandela
RUNNER UP: Wadjda
COURAGE IN ACTING [Taking on unconventional roles that radically redefine the images of women on screen]: Soko, Augustine
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN AWARD [Performance by a woman whose exceptional impact on the film dramatically, socially or historically, has been ignored]: Sandra Bullock, Gravity
BEST DOCUMENTARY BY OR ABOUT WOMEN: Stories We Tell
RUNNER UP: Girls In The Band
BEST SCREEN COUPLE: Before Midnight, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke
BEST SONG: “Would You Bleed For Love,” Jennifer Hudson, Winnie Mandela
MOMMIE DEAREST WORST SCREEN MOM OF THE YEAR AWARD: Kristin Scott Thomas, Only God Forgives
Toronto Film Critics Association
BEST PICTURE: Inside Llewyn Davis
Runners-up: Her, 12 Years a Slave
BEST ACTOR: Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Runners-up: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave; Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Runners-up: Julie Delpy, Before Midnight; Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Runners-up: Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave; James Franco, Spring Breakers
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Runners-up: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave; June Squibb, Nebraska
BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Runners-up: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis; Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
BEST SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED OR ORIGINAL: Spike Jonze, Her
Runners-up: Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
BEST FIRST FEATURE: Neighboring Sounds, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
Runners-up: Fruitvale Station, directed by Ryan Coogler; In a World …, directed by Lake Bell
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: The Wind Rises
Runners-up: The Croods, Frozen
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: A Touch of Sin
Runners-up: Blue Is the Warmest Color, The Hunt
BMO ALLAN KING DOCUMENTARY AWARD: The Act of Killing
Runners-up: Leviathan, Tim’s Vermeer
ROGERS BEST CANADIAN FILM AWARD FINALISTS
The Dirties, Gabrielle, Watermark
Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: Her
Best Editing: Gravity
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises
Best Film Not in the English Language: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Special Awards:
Best Sound Design and Best Visual Effects to Gravity
To Roger Ebert, for inspiring so many of our members
Top Ten films Without a U.S. Release:
Closed Curtain
Gloria
Like Father, Like Son
Our Sunhi
R100
The Rocket
Stranger By the Lake
We Are the Best!
Le Weekend
Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
Best Film: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director (Female or Male): Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay, Original: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Screenplay, Adapted: John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Best Documentary: Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley
Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Ensemble Cast: American Hustle
Best Editing: Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger, Gravity
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity
Best Film Music or Score: T-Bone Burnett, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best Non-English-Language Film: The Hunt (Jagten), Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark)
EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS
These awards honor WOMEN only.
Best Woman Director: Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said
Best Woman Screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said
Kick Ass Award For Best Female Action Star: Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Best Animated Female: Anna (Kristen Bell), Frozen
Best Breakthrough Performance: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years A Slave
Actress Defying Age and Ageism: Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Best Picture
12 Years a Slave
Best Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actor
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Best Director
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
Best Adapted Screenplay
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay
Spike Jonze – Her
Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki – Gravity
Best Visual Effects
Gravity
Best Art Direction/Production Design
The Great Gatsby
Best Foreign Language
Blue is the Warmest Color
Best Animated Film
Frozen
Best Documentary
The Act of Killing
Pauline Kael Breakout Award
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
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If you have a list that you feel should be included on this post, please link us to it in the comment section below.
