Best of 2015

Best Film

1. Carol (Haynes)

2. Arabian Nights: Vol. 1-3 (Gomes)

3. The Look of Silence (Oppenheimer)

4. Mad Max: Fury Road (Miller)

5. It Follows (Mitchell)

6. Victoria (Schipper)

7. Timbuktu (Sissako)

8. When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism (Porumboiu)

9. Spotlight (McCarthy)

10. Ex Machina (Garland)

11. Shaun the Sheep (Burton/Starzak)

12. Girlhood (Sciamma)

Honorable Mentions: 45 Years (Haigh), Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Elkabetz/Elkabetz), Mistress America (Baumbach), Junun (Anderson)

Best Unreleased Film

1. What's the Time in Your World? (Yazdanian)

2. 316 (Haghani)

3. The Treasure (Porumboiu)

4. The Club (Larraín)

5. I Want to Be a King (Ganji)
6. Much Loved (Ayouch)

Best Director 

1. Miguel Gomes (Arabian Nights)

2. David Robert Mitchell (It Follows)

3. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

4. Todd Haynes (Carol)

5. Jessica Hausner (Amour Fou)

6. Sebastian Schipper (Victoria)

Best Screenplay

1. When Evening Falls on Bucharest or Metabolism

2. Carol

3. 45 Years 

4. Spotlight

5. Clouds of Sils Maria
6. Wild Canaries

Best of 2014

Best Film

1. The Strange Little Cat (Ramon Zurcher)

2. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)

3. Closed Curtain (Jafar Panahi, Kambozia Partovi)
4. Force Majeure (Ruben Ostlund)

5. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson)

6. A Most Wanted Man (Anton Corbijn)

7. Citizenfour (Laura Poitras)

8. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson)

9. Manakamana (Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez)

10. The Homesman (Tommy Lee Jones)

Honorable Mentions: Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt), Listen Up Philip (Alex Ross Perry)

Best Unreleased Film

1. The Look of Silence

2. Timbuktu

3. Silvered Water: A Syria Self Portrait

4. Girlhood

5. Black Coal, Thin Ice
Honorable Mention: Fish and Cat 

Best Director

1. Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin)
2. Anton Corbijn (A Most Wanted Man)
3. Ruben Ostlund (Force Majeure)
4. Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
5. Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Honorable Mention: Dave Mackenzie (Starred Up)

2010 in Film: My Top Dozen Favourite Films

Honourable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
Animal Kingdom, Certified Copy, Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl, Exit through the Gift Shop, Four Lions, The Ghost Writer, Inception, The Kids Are All Right

12. Blue Valentine (Dir. Derek Cianfrance, U.S.)

11. Black Swan (Dir. Darren Aronofsky, U.S.)

10. The Hunter (Dir. Rafi Pitts; Iran, Germany)

9. Incendies (Denis Villeneuve, Canada)

8. Everyone Else (Dir. Maren Ade, Germany)

7. Toy Story 3 (Dir. Lee Unkrich, U.S.)

6. The Fighter (Dir. David O. Russell, U.S.)

5. White Material (Dir. Claire Denis; France, Cameroon)

4. Carlos (Dir. Olivier Assayas; France, Germany)

3. The Social Network (Dir. David Fincher, U.S.)

2. The Illusionist (Dir. Sylvain Chomet; France, UK)

1. Dogtooth (Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece)

Other entries in my year-end reviews:
Performances, Writing, Editing, Cinematography, Directing

2010 in Film: Performances, Screenplays, Cinematography, Editing and Directing

Best Performances of the Year

Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Juliette Binoche (Certified Copy)
Lars Eidinger and Birgit Minichmayr (Everyone Else)
Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield (The Social Network)
Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Emma Stone (Easy A)

Best Screenplays of the Year
Maren Ade (Everyone Else) and Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne, and Joey Curtis (Blue Valentine)
Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3)
Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth)
Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

Best Cinematography of the Year
Thimios Bakatakis (Dogtooth)
Roger Deakins (True Grit)
Yorick Le Saux (I Am Love)
Martin Ruhe (The American)

Best Editing of the Year
Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall (The Social Network)
Chris King, Tom Fulford (Exit Through the Gift Shop)
Lee Smith (Inception)

Best Directing of the Year
Olivier Assayas (Carlos)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth)
David O. Russell (The Fighter)

Best of 2009: Part III

20- Where the Wild Things are

19- (500) Days of Summer

18- An Education

17- The Secret in their Eyes

16- Bright Star

15- Fantastic Mr. Fox

14- Avatar

13- A Serious Man

12- Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

11- Sugar

10- Moon

9- Fish Tank

8- The Hurt Locker

7- Up in the Air

6- The Messenger

5- The White Ribbon

4- Inglourious Basterds

3- Mary and Max

2- A Prophet

Top Pick
1- About Elly

Best of 2009: Part II

Original Screenplay

Runners-up: The Messenger (Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman), Sugar (Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck), A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen)

Finalists:
5- A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit)
4- The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)
3- About Elly (Asghar Farhadi)
2- Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)

Top Pick:
1- Mary and Max (Adam Elliot)

Adapted Screenplay

Finalists: 
5- Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Geoffrey Fletcher)
4- An Education (Nick Hornby)
3- Fantastic Mr. Fox (Noah Baumbach, Wes Anderson)
Top Pick:

Tie!
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner)
In the Loop (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, Ian Martin)

Editing

Runners-up: Up in the Air (Dana Glauberman), The Cove (Geoffrey Richman)

Finalists:
5- Avatar (James Cameron, Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua)
4- Inglourious Basterds (Sally Menke)
3- A Prophet (Juliette Welfing)
2- About Elly (Haydeh Safi Yari)

Top Pick:
1- The Hurt Locker (Chris Innis, Bob Murawski)

Director

Runners-up: James Cameron (Avatar), Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank), Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon)

Finalists:

5- Adam Elliot (Mary and Max)

4- Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

3- Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)

2- Jacques Audiard (A Prophet)

Top Pick:

1- Asghar Farhadi (About Elly)

Best of 2009: Part I

Supporting Actress

Runners-up: Susanne Lothar and Leonie Benesch (The White Ribbon), Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds)

Finalists:
5- Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds)
4- Marion Cotillard (Nine)
3- Samantha Morton (The Messenger)
2- Taraneh Alidoosti (About Elly)

Top Pick:
Mo’Nique (Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire)

Supporting Actor

Runners-up: Peiman Moadi (About Elly), Paul Schneider (Bright Star), Niels Arestrup (A Prophet)

Finalists:

5- Peter Capaldi (In the Loop)

4- Alfred Molina (An Education)

3- Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)

2- Saber Abar (About Elly)

Top Pick:

1- Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Actress

Runners-up: Katie Jarvis (Fish Tank), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist), Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces)

Finalists:

5- Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)

4- Tilda Swinton (Julia)

3- Golshifteh Farahani (About Elly)

2- Carey Mulligan (An Education)

Top Pick:

1- Abbie Cornish (Bright Star)

Actor

Just missed my final list: Colin Firth (A Single Man), Robin Williams (World’s Greatest Dad), Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man), Shahab Hosseini (About Elly), Joaquin Phoenix (Two Lovers)

Finalists:

5- Ben Foster (The Messenger)

4- George Clooney (Up in the Air)

3- Jeff Bridges (Crazy H­eart)

2- Tahar Rahim (A Prophet)

Top Pick:

1- Sam Rockwell (Moon)

Ensemble Cast

Runners-up:

A Prophet, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, Up in the Air, The Hurt Locker,

Finalists:

5- An Education

4- The Messenger

3- Inglourious Basterds

2- The White Ribbon

1- About Elly