//

Slant’s Top 25 Films of 2014

See below for a list of the films that just missed making it onto our list of the best films of 2014, followed by our contributors’ individual ballots.

Listen Up Philip

From Clayton Dillard’s introduction to Slant Magazine’s Top 25 Films of 2014: ” In a year when The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game offer a most banal and repressive sort of historical biopic treatment for their respective subjects (and are being largely celebrated nonetheless), it becomes ever more important to draw lines in the cinematic sand to understand what we talk about when we talk about movies. Art historian Michael Fried once wrote of the burgeoning war between theater and modernist painting, and in many ways, contemporary filmmaking is rife with similarly antagonistic, fiery battles.” Click here to read the feature and see if your favorite films of the year made our list. And see below for a list of the films that just missed making it onto our list, followed by our contributors’ individual ballots. Happy reading.

26. Citizenfour
27. A Summer’s Tale
28. Winter Sleep
29. Night Moves
30. The Babadook
31. Tales of the Grim Sleeper
32. Love Is Strange
33. Fifi Howls from Happiness
34. Land Ho!
35. Gone Girl
36. Lucy
37. We Are the Best!
38. What Now? Remind Me
39. Life of Riley
40. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
41. Cheap Thrills
42. John Wick
43. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear
44. The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga
45. The Guest
46. Archipelago
47. See You Next Tuesday
48. It Felt Like Love
49. Young and Beautiful
50. The Homesman

Ela Bittencourt
1. Archipelago
2. Under the Skin
3. Stray Dogs
4. The Strange Little Cat
5. Exhibition
6. Rich Hill
7. Winter Sleep
8. Stop the Pounding Heart
9. Starred Up
10. Ida

Honorable Mention: Actress, Birdman, Force Majeure, Life of Riley, National Gallery, Nymphomaniac, Only Lovers Left Alive, See You Next Tuesday, Unrelated, and Wetlands

Chuck Bowen
1. Mr. Turner
2. The Immigrant
3. Cheap Thrills
4. Inherent Vice
5. Life of Riley
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel
7. Low Down
8. Stranger by the Lake
9. National Gallery
10. Under the skin

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: Closed Curtain, Goodbye to Language, Jimmy P., John Wick, Land Ho!, Leviathan, Night Moves, A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness, Starred Up, and Tales of the Grim Sleeper

Chris Cabin
1. Inherent Vice
2. Goodbye to Language
3. Closed Curtain
4. National Gallery
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Boyhood
7. The Last of the Unjust
8. Under the Skin
9. The Immigrant
10. Gone Girl

Honorable Mention: American Sniper, Jimmy P., Life Itself, Life of Riley, Listen Up Philip, Thou Wast Mild & Lovely, Story of My Death, Stranger by the Lake, Stray Dogs, and Two Days, One Night

Jesse Cataldo
1. Under the Skin
2. Goodbye to Language
3. The Immigrant
4. Story of My Death
5. Listen Up Philip
6. The Strange Little Cat
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. Closed Curtain
9. Dear White People
10. Winter Sleep

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: The Babadook, The Homesman, Inherent Vice, Level Five, The Naked Room, Nightcrawler, Stranger by the Lake, Stray Dogs, A Summer’s Tale, and The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga

Diego Costa
1. Stranger by the Lake
2. Level Five
3. Ida
4. Child’s Pose
5. What Now? Remind Me
6. The Naked Room
7. Fifi Howls from Happiness
8. Young and Beautiful
9. A Summer’s Tale
10. Starred Up

Honorable Mention: The Babadook, Boyhood, Closed Curtain, Force Majeure, The King of Escape, National Gallery, Omar, Stop the Pounding Heart, Two Days, One Night, and The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga

David Lee Dallas
1. Only Lovers Left Alive
2. The Immigrant
3. Boyhood
4. Two Days, One Night
5. Under the Skin
6. The Congress
7. Stranger by the Lake
8. Force Majeure
9. Young & Beautiful
10. Memphis

Honorable Mention: Beyond the Lights, Birdman, Enemy, Ida, Mr. Turner, Norte, the End of History, See You Next Tuesday, A Summer’s Tale, Vic + Flo Saw a Bear, and Winter Sleep

Abhimanyu Das
1. Only Lovers Left Alive
2. Under the Skin
3. Boyhood
4. Two Days, One Night
5. Force Majeure
6. Inherent Vice
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. Listen Up Philip
9. Gone Girl
10. Love Is Strange

Honorable Mention: The Babadook, Citizenfour, The Congress, Goodbye to Language, The Immigrant, John Wick, Locke, Lucy, Nightcrawler, and Starred Up

Clayton Dillard
1. Stray Dogs
2. Under the Skin
3. Tales of the Grim Sleeper
4. Story of My Death
5. The Guest
6. Stranger by the Lake
7. Fifi Howls from Happiness
8. John Wick
9. Manakamana
10. Inherent Vice

Honorable Mention: The Babadook, Flamenco Flamenco, Goodbye to Language, The Naked Room, Norte, the End of History, Only Lovers Left Alive, A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness, Starred Up, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, and What Now? Remind Me

Kenji Fujishima
1. National Gallery
2. Level Five
3. A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness
4. The Immigrant
5. Two Days, One Night
6. Boyhood
7. Manakamana
8. Norte, the End of History
9. Himizu
10. Love Is Strange

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: The Babadook, Closed Curtain, Dear White People, The Lego Movie, Listen Up Philip, Lucy, Nymphomaniac, Stray Dogs, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, and Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

Ed Gonzalez
1. Under the Skin
2. Stranger by the Lake
3. The Immigrant
4. Mr. Turner
5. The Naked Room
6. Only Lovers Left Alive
7. We Are the Best!
8. A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness
9. Land Ho!
10. Lucy

Honorable Mention: Actress, Cheap Thrills, Fifi Howls from Happiness, The Guest, Memphis, Northern Light, The Rover, The Raid 2, Tales of the Grim Sleeper, and Vic + Flo Saw a Bear

Christopher Gray
1. Stranger by the Lake
2. Winter Sleep
3. Boyhood
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. The Strange Little Cat
6. National Gallery
7. The Immigrant
8. Stray Dogs
9. Goodbye to Language
10. Listen Up Philip

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: The Babadook, Butter on the Latch, Gone Girl, Jersey Boys, Lucy, Manakamana, Nightcrawler, Norte, the End of History, See You Next Tuesday, and Two Days, One Night

Wes Greene
1. Listen Up Philip
2. Under the Skin
3. Inherent Vice
4. Stranger by the Lake
5. Story of My Death
6. Boyhood
7. Dear White People
8. Force Majeure
9. Northern Light
10. Closed Curtain

Honorable Mention: Actress, Citizenfour, Enemy, Godzilla, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Immigrant, Love Is Strange, Mr. Turner, National Gallery, and Stray Dogs

Tomas Hachard
1. Only Lovers Left Alive
2. Force Majeure
3. Two Days, One Night
4. Boyhood
5. Under the Skin
6. Norte, the End of History
7. Listen Up Philip
8. We Are the Best!
9. Ida
10. It Felt Like Love

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: Closed Curtain, Dear White People, The Immigrant, In Bloom, Locke, Manakamana, Omar, A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness, Starred Up, and Stranger by the Lake

Eric Henderson
1. Stranger by the Lake
2. Under the Skin
3. Stray Dogs
4. Manakamana
5. Only Lovers Left Alive
6. Closed Curtain
7. The Strange Little Cat
8. Goodbye to Language
9. Mr. Turner
10. Level Five

Honorable Mention: The Babadook, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Godzilla, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Lego Movie, Love Is Strange, Lucy, Memphis, Nymphomaniac, and Snowpiercer

Rob Humanick
1. Mr. Turner
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Under the Skin
4. The Immigrant
5. Love Is Strange
6. The Naked Room
7. Only Lovers Left Alive
8. Citizenfour
9. Venus in Fur
10. Two Days, One Night

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: Closed Curtain, Dear White People, Force Majeure, Godzilla, Goodbye to Language, Inherent Vice, Jimmy P., John Wick, Manakamana, and Snowpiercer

Drew Hunt
1. The Immigrant
2. Citizenfour
3. Stranger by the Lake
4. Inherent Vice
5. Stray Dogs
6. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear
7. A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness
8. See You Next Tuesday
9. Gone Girl
10. Jealousy

Honorable Mention: Closed Curtain, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Homesman, Memphis, They Came Together, Under the Skin, We Are the Best!, What Now? Remind Me, Whiplash, and Wild

Carson Lund
1. Stray Dogs
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Boyhood
4. Force Majeure
5. A Summer’s Tale
6. Night Moves
7. Manakamana
8. Under the Skin
9. Two Days, One Night
10. The Homesman

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: Double Play: James Benning and Richard Linklater, Gebo and the Shadow, The Immigrant, Listen Up Philip, Norte, the End of History, Nymphomaniac, Starred Up, Stop the Pounding Heart, Stranger by the Lake, and What Now? Remind Me

Steve Macfarlane
1. The Strange Little Cat
2. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
3. Goodbye to Language
4. Manakamana
5. Citizenfour
6. The Story of My Death
7. Under the Skin
8. Inherent Vice
9. Go Down Death
10. Jimmy P.

Honorable Mention: Birdman, Force Majeure, Gone Girl, Level Five, Miss Julie, The Naked Room, Norte, the End of History, Open Windows, Selma, and Sol Lewitt

Nick McCarthy
1. Stranger by the Lake
2. Two Days, One Night
3. Under the Skin
4. It Felt Like Love
5. Wetlands
6. Force Majeure
7. Manakamana
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. Dear White People
10. The Lego Movie

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: Actress, Boyhood, Happy Christmas, Inherent Vice, Land Ho!, Night Movies, See You Next Tuesday, Soft in the Head, The Strange Little Cat, and A Summer’s Tale

Elise Nakhnikian
1. Ida
2. Norte, the End of History
3. Two Days, One Night
4. Boyhood
5. Starred Up
6. A Summer’s Tale
7. Big Men
8. The Babadook
9. Papirosen
10. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear

Honorable Mention: Citizenfour, Dear White People, Horses of God, Leviathan, Listen Up Philip, Locke, Mr. Turner, Nightcrawler, The Strange Little Cat and We Are the Best!

Nick Prigge
1. Land Ho!
2. Two Days, One Night
3. Only Lovers Left Alive
4. Night Moves
5. Ida
6. A Most Wanted Man
7. The Homesman
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. Coherence
10. Lucy

Advertisement

Honorable Mention: Birdman, Boyhood, Calvary, Force Majeure, Happy Christmas, The Immigrant, Love Is Strange, Nightcrawler, Obvious Child, and Under the Skin

Budd Wilkins
1. Inherent Vice
2. Mr. Turner
3. National Gallery
4. The Immigrant
5. Under the Skin
6. Venus in Fur
7. Stranger by the Lake
8. Tales of the Grim Sleeper
9. Night Moves
10. The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga

Honorable Mention: The Babadook, Boyhood, Citizenfour, Force Majeure, Goodbye to Language, Jodorowsky’s Dune, Listen Up Philip, The Naked Room, Nightcrawler, and Nymphomaniac

Ed Gonzalez

Ed Gonzalez is the co-founder of Slant Magazine. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.