Best of 2014 - My Awards

I am back with my "Best of 2014" awards post to acknowledge excellence of the films in various categories. I had posted my top 20 list here. Note that the nominees are all ranked.

Best Film:

1. Boyhood *WINNER*
2. Under the Skin
3. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
4. Two Days, One Night
5. Whiplash
6. Birdman
7. Foxcatcher
8. Olive Kitteridge
9. The Immigrant
10. Leviathan

Best of 2014 - My Top 20

Another film-year came to an end. 2014 was very good for films, every year is in its own way. Sure it didn't reach the heights of 2013 but it sure had enough surprises and significant works to say that it wasn't a complete waste. Richard Linklater's Boyhood was met with the kind of response no film in my lifetime has ever received and I am all for it. Birdman won the Academy Award, Cannes gave their best film to Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Winter Sleep. The mostly sung films came out earlier the year. As usual, many of the films we were all dying to watch came out in that precious slot between the end of fall festivals and the beginning of new year because awards season counts more. It's all business my friends. From American Sniper controversy (lol what controversy?) to Selma's inevitable glory, from films about aliens to one about a psychopath, different topics and themes were tackled. Films about a boy's coming of age struggles, a woman's journey to save her job, a woman's journey to find out what it's really like to be a woman... to a woman battling the darkest of emotions.... people trying to survive a country, a particular time in a country, a particular mindset in a country.... many of the films this year were about human beings trying to survive the various struggles of life. The theme of this year was life in all its forms. This was also a year where we saw some truly unorthodox but refreshing 'biopics'... and of course some typically bland ones. Interesting experimentation in storytelling, be it a 12 year-long production or life-long portrayal of a women's sexual journey... comedies, tragedies, horror, action, science fiction, fiction-celebrated-as-truth, truth-slammed-as-fiction... oh what a year.