As always, in order to compile our Best of 2014 list, we have a vote, which gets distilled into the top 50 that’s over at the main site. Here at the Balcony, though, is where you’ll find the individual ballots from the Movie Mezzanine staff, featuring a colorful array of films, each reflective of that writer’s unique taste. What do you think? Without further ado, our ballots!
Sam Fragoso, Editor in Chief
1. Actress
2. Listen Up, Philip
3. Inherent Vice
4. Mommy
5. The Double
6. Wild Tales
7. Dear White People
8. Force Majeure
9. It Felt Like Love
10. Life Itself
11. Birdman
12. Selma
13. Boyhood
14. Under the Skin
15. The Lunchbox
Tom Clift, Co-Founder
1. Mommy
2. Gone Girl
3. Black Coal, Thin Ice
4. Two Days, One Night
5. All This Mayhem
6. The Guest
7. Under the Skin
8. What We Do in the Shadows
9. Calvary
10. The Infinite Man
11. Miss Violence
12. Wild Tales
13. Jodorowsky’s Dune
14. Obvious Child
15. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Josh Spiegel, Reviews Editor
1. Under the Skin
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Boyhood
4. Blue Ruin
5. The Babadook
6. The Immigrant
7. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
8. We Are The Best!
9. Only Lovers Left Alive
10. Actress
11. Song of the Sea
12. The Lego Movie
13. Snowpiercer
14. Two Days, One Night
15. Life Itself
Tina Hassannia, Features Editor
1. Closed Curtain
2. Under the Skin
3. Goodbye to Language
4. Force Majeure
5. The Strange Little Cat
6. Inherent Vice
7. We Are the Best!
8. Listen up Philip
9. Enemy
10. The Immigrant
11. Boyhood
12. Manakamana
13. Gone Girl
14. Birdman
15. John Wick
Kenji Fujishima, Features Editor
1. National Gallery
2. A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness
3. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
4. The Immigrant
5. Two Days, One Night
6. Boyhood
7. Manakamana
8. Norte, the End of History
9. Himizu
10. Love is Strange
11. The Babadook
12. Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
13. Closed Curtain
14. Stray Dogs
15. Listen Up Philip
Kyle Turner, Editor of The Balcony
1. Gone Girl
2. Nymphomaniac: Director’s Cut
3. Goodbye to Language 3D
4. We Are the Best!
5. Under the Skin
6. The Heart Machine
7. CITIZENFOUR
8. The Babadook
9. The Double
10. God Help the Girl
11. Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
12. Mommy
13. Love is Strange
14. The Way He Looks
15. Edge of Tomorrow
Charles Bramesco, Managing Editor
1. Boyhood
2. The Double
3. Only Lovers Left Alive
4. Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Under the Skin
6. Nymphomaniac
7. Force Majeure
8. Whiplash
9. Snowpiercer
10. Why Don’t You Play In Hell?
11. Gone Girl
12. Life Itself
13. The Babadook
14. Stray Dogs
15. The Dance of Reality
Brogan Morris, Contributor
1. Boyhood
2. Calvary
3. Blue Ruin
4. A Field in England
5. Locke
6. Birdman
7. Starred Up
8. Fury
9. A Most Wanted Man
10. Nightcrawler
11. Edge of Tomorrow
12. Gone Girl
13. The Immigrant
14. The Lego Movie
15. Under the Skin
Jake Cole, DVDs Editor
1. Goodbye to Language 3D
2. Listen Up Philip
3. Closed Curtain
4. Stray Dogs
5. The Immigrant
6. Actress
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
9. Under the Skin
10. Gone Girl
11. Belle
12. What Now? Remind Me
13. Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
14. We Are the Best
15. The Strange, Little Cat
Sean Burns, Reviewer
1. Listen Up Philip
2. Only Lovers Left Alive
3.Snowpiercer
4. Two Days, One Night
5. Under the Skin
6. Inherent Vice
7. Life Itself
8. Venus in Fur
9. The Homesman
10.Calvary
11. Edge of Tomorrow
12. Top Five
13. Night Moves
14. Love is Strange
15. John Wick
Angelo Murreda, Columnist
1. National Gallery
2. Inherent Vice
3. The Strange Little Cat
4. Gone Girl
5. Force Majeure
6. The Immigrant
7. Nymphomaniac: Vol 1.
8. Goodbye to Language
9. Mankamana
10. Edge of Tomorrow
11. John Wick
12. It Felt Like Love
13. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
14. Two Days, One Night
15. Stranger by the Lake
Tomris Laffly, Reviewer
1. Birdman
2. Selma
3. Ida
4. A Most Violent Year
5. Two Days, One Night
6. The Babadook
7. Boyhood
8. Zero Motivation
9. Gone Girl
10. Force Majeure
11. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
12. Love Is Strange
13. Only Lovers Left Alive
14. Snowpiercer
15. Wild Tales
Kevin Ketchum, Contributor
1. Interstellar
2. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
3. Under the Skin
4. Gone Girl
5. Boyhood
6. Two Days, One Night
7. Inherent Vice
8. The Immigrant
9. The Grand Budapest Hotel
10. Godzilla
11. Whiplash
12. Force Majeure
13. Only Lovers Left Alive
14. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
15. Snowpiercer
Tony Revolori and Saoirse Ronan in ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’
Colin Stacy, Contributor
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. The LEGO Movie
3. Under The Skin
4. Inherent Vice
5. The Babadook
6. Ida
7. We Are The Best!
8. Gone Girl
9. Boyhood
10. The Strange Little Cat
11. The Immigrant
12. Snowpiercer
13. Listen Up Philip
14. Lucy
15. Birdman
Dan Schindel, Reviewer
1. Under the Skin
2. Inherent Vice
3. The Salt of the Earth
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Two Days, One Night
6. Concerning Violence
7. Blue Ruin
8. Actress
9. The Babadook
10. Listen Up Philip
11. The Overnighters
12. Citizenfour
13. Boyhood
14. Only Lovers Left Alive
15. Zero Motivation
Fernando Croce, Contributor
1. Goodbye to Language
2. Stray Dogs
3. Closed Curtain
4. Under the Skin
5. The Immigrant
6. Norte, the End of History
7. Listen Up Philip
8. Mr. Turner
9. Level Five
10. Inherent Vice
11. Stranger by the Lake
12. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
13. Two Days, One Night
14. Venus in Fur
15. Starred Up
Greg Cwik, Contributor
1. Inherent Vice
2. Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Boyhood
4. Listen Up Philip
5. Gone Girl
6. Under the Skin
7. Only Lovers Left Alive
8. Whiplash
9. Snowpiercer
10. Babadook
11. Birdman
12. Blue Ruin
13. Edge of Tomorrow
14. The Immigrant
15. Ida
Vikram Murthi, Contributor
1. Inherent Vice
2. Boyhood
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Under The Skin
5. Listen Up Philip
6. Whiplash
7. Only Lovers Left Alive
8. Two Days, One Night
9. Ida
10. The Immigrant
11. Edge of Tomorrow
12. The Double
13. Why Don’t You Play In Hell?
14. Life Itself
15. Lucy
Jesse Knight, Reviewer
1. Birdman (Or, The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2. Inherent Vice
3. They Came Together
4. Wetlands
5. We Are the Best!
6. Horns
7. Palo Alto
8. Enemy
9. The Trip to Italy
10. Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
11. Blue Ruin
12. See You Next Tuesday
13. What If?
14. The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
15. Ida
Odie Henderson, Contributor
1. Love is Strange
2. Two Days, One Night
3. Beyond the Lights
4. Selma
5. Snowpiercer
6. The Immigrant
7. The Imitation Game
8. Force Majeure
9. Muppets Most Wanted
10. Dear White People
11. Life Itself
12. Chef
13. NAS: Time is Illmatic
14. Leviathan
15. Top Five
Daniel Carlson, Contributor
1. Inherent Vice
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. The Immigrant
4. The Babadook
5. Fury
6. Bird People
7. Nightcrawler
8. They Came Together
9. The Lego Movie
10. Boyhood
11. 22 Jump Street
12. A Most Violent Year
13. A Most Wanted Man
14. Listen Up Philip
15. Jodorowsky’s Dune
Luke Goodsell, Reviewer
1. Stray Dogs
2. Goodbye to Language
3. Norte, the End of History
4. Lucy
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Under the Skin
7. Leviathan
8. We Are the Best!
9. Björk: Biophilia Live
10. Force Majeure
11. National Gallery
12. Night Moves
13. The Immigrant
14. It Felt Like Love
15. Exhibition
Charles Nash, Contributor
1. Boyhood
2. Under the Skin
3. The Babadook
4. Stranger by the Lake
5. Two Days, One Night
6. Inherent Vice
7. Only Lovers Left Alive
8. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
9. Calvary
10. Listen Up Philip
11. Snowpiercer
12. Night Moves
13. We Are the Best!
14. Force Majeure
15. Goodbye to Language
Monica Castillo, Reviewer
1. Only Lovers Left Alive
2. Two Days, One Night
3. Listen Up Philip
4. Under the Skin
5. Snowpiercer
6. The Babadook
7. We Are the Best!
8. Birdman
9. The Grand Budapest Hotel
10. Closed Curtain
11. Life Itself
12. Inherent Vice
13. Goodbye to Language
14. Honeymoon
15. The Overnighters
Noah Gittell, Contributor
1. Selma
2. Gone Girl
3. Under the Skin
4. Locke
5. Force Majuere
6. Snowpiercer
7. The Immigrant
8. Foxcatcher
9. The Boxtrolls
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel
11. Nightcrawler
12. Starred Up
13. Top Five
14. Wild
15. A Coffee in Berlin
Michal Oleszczyk, Contributor
1. Stranger By the Lake
2. The Strange, Little Cat
3. Force Majeure
4. The LEGO Movie
5. Mr. Turner
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. Lucy
8. Nympho()maniac
9. Beyond the Lights
10. The Immigrant
Snowpiercer
12. Under the Skin
13. Wild
14. Noah
15. Neighbors
Colin Biggs, The Balcony Staffer
1. Nightcrawler
2. A Most Violent Year
3. Interstellar
4. Gone Girl
5. Calvary
6. Boyhood
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. Whiplash
9. Selma
10. Only Lovers Left Alive
11. The Babadook
12. Under the Skin
13. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
14. Birdman
15. The Drop
Julia Alexander, The Balcony Staffer
1. Mommy
2. John Wick
3. Boyhood
4. We Are the Best!
5. Citizenfour
6. Gone Girl
7. Omar
8. The Lego Movie
9. Only Lovers Left Alive
10. Listen Up Philip
11. Nymph()maniac
12. The Babadook
13. Palo Alto
14. Starred Up
15. Cheap Thrills
Max Covill, The Balcony Staffer
1. Whiplash
2. Boyhood
3. Selma
4. Only Lovers Left Alive
5. Theory of Everything
6. Two Days One Night
7. Gone Girl
8. Under the Skin
9. A Most Violent Year
10. Birdman
11. Wild
12. Babadook
13. Chef
14. Inherent Vice
15. Beyond the Lights
Adam Hofbauer, Contributor
1. Actress
2. Why Don’t you Play in Hell?
3. Maps to the Stars
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
5. Ida
6. We Are The Best
7. Under the Skin
8. Listen Up Phillip
9. Coherence
10. Noah
11. The Double
12. Edge of Tomorrow
13. Stray Dogs
14. Hide Your Smiling Faces
15. Omar
Steven Boone, Contributor
1. We Are the Best!
2. Boyhood
3. Mr. Turner
4. My Name is Salt
5. Out in the Night
6. Dance of Reality
7. Two Days, One Night
8. Only Lovers Left Alive
9. The Grand Budapest Hotel
10. Inherent Vice
11. Birdman
12. Interstellar
13. Nightcrawler
14. Evolution of a Criminal
15. Walking Under Water
Anna Tatarska, Reviewer
1. Boyhood
2. Force Majeure
3. Under the Skin
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Stranger by the Lake
6. Only Lovers Left Alive
7. Guardians of the Galaxy
8. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
9. Obvious Child
10.Whiplash
11.Listen Up Philip
12. The Tribe
13. Mommy
14. Nightcrawler
15. Ida
Andrew Crump, Reviewer
1. Calvary
2. Selma
3. The Babadook
4. Inherent Vice
5. Under the Skin
6. Snowpiercer
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. Dear White People
9. Boyhood
10. Song of the Sea
11. Two Days, One Night
12. A Girl Walks Home Along At Night
13. Belle
14. Life Itself
15. Guardians of the Galaxy
Jake Mulligan, Reviewer
1. Inherent Vice
2. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
3. Two Days, One Night
4. Listen Up Philip
5. Snowpiercer
6. Boyhood
7. Nymph()maniac
8. The Immigrant
9. The Grand Budapest Hotel
10. Abuse of Weakness
11. Under the Skin
12. Force Majeure
13. Lucy
14. Closed Curtain
15. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2
Russell Hainline, Contributor
1. Boyhood
2. Inherent Vice
3. Selma
4. Under the Skin
5. Nightcrawler
6. The Babadook
7. Coherence
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. The Trip to Italy
10. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
11. The Lego Movie
12. Whiplash
13. The Double
14. Beyond the Lights
15. Dear White People
Ty Landis, Contributor
1. Under the Skin
2. Two Days, One Night
3. The Immigrant
4. Goodbye to Language
5. Boyhood
6. Actress
7. The Homesman
8. Jealousy
9. Listen Up Philip
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel
11. Force Majeure
12. Starred Up
13. Edge of Tomorrow
14. Lucy
15. John Wick
Forrest Cardamenis, Contributor
1. Closed Curtain
2. The Immigrant
3. Only Lovers Left Alive
4. Two Days, One Night
5. Goodbye to Language
6. Manakamana
7. Stray Dogs
8. Gone Girl
9. The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears
10. The Missing Picture
11. Birdman
12. Under The Skin
13. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
14. The Double
15. What Now? Remind Me/Life of Riley
Dylan Griffin, The Balcony Staffer
1. Nightcrawler
2. Blue Ruin
3. The Raid 2
4. Under the Skin
5. Snowpiercer
6. The Double
7. Godzilla
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. The Rover
10. Gone Girl
11. Birdman
12. The Guest
13. Foxcatcher
14. Starry Eyes
15. The Babadook
