The 2014 Monsieur Oscars

Every year I hand out (invisible) awards to the movies and artists who made the biggest impression on me throughout the year. This year, I'm a little bummed at how much I lined up with conventional awards show nods. But, hey, maybe the rest of the world is finally catching up with what actually matters in art? For more of my superlative lists you can go here. Alas, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night still eludes me. 

Favourite Fiction Film

1. Hard To Be A God
2. Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari
3. Over The Garden Wall
4. Only Lovers Left Alive
5. Night Moves
6. Inherent Vice
7. Listen Up, Philip
8. Under The Skin
9. Beloved Sisters
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel
11. Selma

Favourite Non-Fiction Film

1. Actress
2. Manakamana
3. The Last of the Unjust
4. The Look of Silence
5. Maidan
6. Citizenfour
7. National Gallery
8. Natan
9. Afternoon of a Faun
10. Stray Dog

Favourite Performance By a Director

1. PT Anderson - Inherent Vice
2. Aleksei German - Hard To Be A God
3. Abel Ferrara - Pasolini
4. Rupert Wyatt - The Gambler
5. Denis Villeneuve - Enemy
6. Robert Greene - Actress
7. Dominik Graf - Beloved Sisters
8. Abderrahmane Sissako - Timbuktu
9. Mike Leigh - Mr. Turner
10. Aleksei Fedorchenko - The Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari
11. Alex Ross Perry - Listen Up Philip
12. Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher
13. Ava DuVernay - Selma
14. Gabe Ibáñez - Automata
15. Albert Serra - Story of My Death
16. Peter Greenaway - Goltzius and the Pelican Company
17. Bong Joon-Ho - Snowpiercer
18. Gina Prince-Bythewood - Beyond The Lights

Favourite Performance by a First Time Director

1. Patrick McHale - Over The Garden Wall 
2. Jennifer Kent - The Babadook
3. Ramon Zürcher - The Strange Little Cat
4. Graham Annabel & Anthony Stacci - The Boxtrolls
5. Gillian Robespierre - Obvious Child
6. Wally Pfister - Transcendence
7. Eliza Hitman - It Felt Like Love
8. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon - The Town That Dreaded Sundown
9. Trish Sie - Step Up All In
10. Gary Shore - Dracula Untold

Achievement in Cinematography

1. Dick Pope - Mr. Turner
2. Darius Khondji - Magic in the Moonlight
3. Robert Yeomans - The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Robert Elswitt - Nightcrawler / Inherent Vice
5. Mátyás Erdély - The Quiet Ones
6. Sean Price Williams - Listen Up, Philip
7. Robbie Ryan - Jimmy's Hall
8. Fabrice Aragno - Goodbye to Language
9. Michael Goi - The Town That Dreaded Sundown
10. Sofian El Fani - Timbuktu
11. Greig Fraser - Foxcatcher
12. Benoît Delhomme - The Theory of Everything/A Most Wanted Man

Favourite Screenplay

1. Jim Jarmusch - Only Lovers Left Alive
2. John Michael McDonagh - Calvary
3. David Chirchirillo & Trent Haaga - Cheap Thrills
4. Alejandro Jodorowsky - Dance of Reality
5. David Cairns - Natan
6. Hong Sang-Soo - Hill of Freedom
7. Martín Rejtman - Two Shots Fired
8. Hugo Guinness & Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. Gina Prince-Bythewood - Beyond The Lights
10. Hirokazu Kore-eda - Like Father, Like Son
11. Lars Von Trier - Nymphomaniac
12. Sophie Fillières - If You Don't, I Will

Favourite Lead Performance by an Actress

1. Camille Rutherford - Mary, Queen of Scots
2. Emmanuelle Devos - If You Don't I Will
3. Brandy Burre - Actress
4. Angelina Jolie - Maleficent
5. Jenny Slate - Obvious Child
6. Melanie Lynskey - Over The Garden Wall
7. Arielle Holmes - Heaven Knows What
8. Dorothy Atkinson - Mr. Turner
9. Elisabeth Moss - Listen Up, Philip
10. Lisa Loven Kongsli - Force Majeure
11. Charlotte Gainsbourgh - Nymphomaniac
12. Melisa Sözen - Winter Sleep
13. Elena Lyadova - Leviathan
14. Dakota Fanning - Night Moves
15. Essie Davis - The Babadook
16. Briana Evigan - Step Up All In / Paranormal Island
17. Atsuko Maeda - Seventh Code
18. Gugu Mbatha-Raw - Beyond The Lights

Favourite Lead Performance by an Actor

1. Mathieu Amalric - Venus in Fur / Blue Room / If You Don't I Will / Love Is The Perfect Crime
2. Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Ryan Reynolds - The Captive
4. Timothy Spall - Mr. Turner
5. David Oyelowo - Selma
6. Robert Pattinson - The Rover
7. David Gulpilil - Charlie's Country
8. James Caan - The Tale of Princess Kaguya
9. Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler
10. Dan Stevens - The Guest
11. Andre Benjamin - All Is By My Side
12. Chadwick Boseman - Get On Up!
13. Michael C. Hall - Cold in July
14. John Jarratt - Wolf Creek 2
15. Philip Seymour Hoffman - A Most Wanted Man
16. Joaquin Phoenix - Inherent Vice
17. Frank Grillo - The Purge: Anarchy
18. Oscar Isaac - A Most Violent Year

Favourite Supporting Performance by an Actress

1. Radha Mitchell - Bird People
2. Pamela Flores - The Dance of Reality
3. Katie Boland - Gerontophilia
4. Misty Upham - Jimmy P.
5. Eva Green - 302
6. Uma Thurman - Nymphomaniac
7. Reese Witherspoon - Inherent Vice
8. Krysten Ritter - Listen Up, Philip
9. Sara Paxton - Cheap Thrills
10. Elle Fanning - Maleficent / The Boxtrolls
11. Nina Hoss - A Most Wanted Man
12. Grace Gummer - The Homesman

Favourite Supporting Performance by an Actor

1. Jonathan Pryce - Listen Up, Philip
2. Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
3. Stacy Keach - If I Stay
4. Ronnie Gene Blevins - Joe
5. Shia Lebeouf - Fury
6. Jean-Claude Van Damme - Enemies Closer
7. Rupert Friend - Starred Up
8. Josh Brolin - Inherent Vice
9. Riz Ahmed - Nightcrawler
10. Don Johnson - Cold In July
11. Gene Jones - The Sacrament
12. Ben Kingsley - The Boxtrolls
13. Dave Bautista - Guardians of the Galaxy
14. Chris Isaak - Over The Garden Wall
15. Edward Hogg - Mary, Queen of Scots
16. William Hurt - Days and Nights
17. Hugh Bonneville - Monuments Men

Favourite Duet Performances

1. Denis Levant & Lee Kang Sheng - Journey to the West 
2. Tallie Medel & Jordan Clifford - Joy Kevin
3. Harry Treadaway & Rose Leslie - Honeymoon
4. JK Simmons & Miles Teller - Whiplash
5. Niels Arestrup & Andre Dussolier - Diplomacy
6. Zoe Kazan & Daniel Radcliffe - What If
7. Kristen Wiig & Bill Hader - The Skeleton Twins
8. Nicolas Cage & Anton Yelchin - Dying of the Light
9. Liam Gillick & Viv Albertine - Exhibition
10. Paul Eenhorn & Earl Lynn Nelson - Land Ho!
11. Agata Kulesza & Agata Trzebuchowska - Ida
12. Tilda Swinton & Tom Hiddleston - Only Lovers Left Alive

Favourite Debut Performances

1. Cecep Arif Rahman - The Raid 2
2. Armando Espitia & Andrea Vergara - Heli
3. Collin Dean - Over The Garden Wall
4. Giulia Salerno - Misunderstood
5. Maria Alexandra Lungu - The Wonders
6. Gina Piersanti & Giovanna Salimeni - It Felt Like Love
7. Liv LeMoyne, Mira Grosin & Mira Barkhammar - We Are The Best!

Favourite Performance by an Ensemble

1. We Are The Best!
2. Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari
3. Hard To Be A God
4. Beloved Sisters
5. The Homesman
6. Timbuktu
7. Inherent Vice
8. Mr. Turner
9. Listen Up, Philip
10. Like Father, Like Son
11. Selma
12. Leviathan

Favourite Original Score

1. Jeff Grace - Cold in July / Night Moves
2. Steve Moore - The Guest
3. Hans Zimmer - Interstellar
4. Rob Simonsen - Foxcatcher
5. Alexandre Desplat - The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Micah Levi - Under The Skin
7. Danny Elfman - The Unknown Known
8. Amin Bouhafa - Timbuktu
9. Sven Rossenbach & Florian van Volxem - Beloved Sisters
10. Alberto Iglesias - Two Faces of January
11. Howard Shore - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
12. Jonny Greenwood - Inherent Vice

Achievement in Art Direction

1. The Boxtrolls
2. Mr. Turner
3. The Dance of Reality
4. The Tale of Princess Kaguya
5. The Strange Colour Of Your Body's Tears
6. Automata
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel
8. Zero Theorem
9. Maleficent
10. Timbuktu
11. The Double
12. Goltzius and the Pelican Company

Achievement in Production Design

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. The Double
3. Snowpiercer
4. The Quiet Ones
5. The Boxtrolls
6. Beloved Sisters
7. Hard To Be A God
8. Inherent Vice
9. Mr. Turner
10. Foxcatcher
11. Beyond the Lights

Achievement in Visual Effects

1. Viy
2. Godzilla
3. Edge of Tomorrow
4. Noah
5. Goodbye to Language
6. Birdman
7. Interstellar
8. Automata
9. WolfCop
10. Birdman

Achievement in Costume Design

1. Dracula Untold
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past
3. Hard To Be A God
4. Step Up All In
5. Maleficent
6. The Homesman
7. Mary, Queen of Scots
8. Mr. Turner
9. Inherent Vice
10. Timbuktu
11. The Grand Budapest Hotel
12. Beloved Sisters

Achievement in Sound Design

1. The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears
2. Hard To Be A God
3. Night Moves
4. Under The Skin
5. The Babadook
6. Exhibition
7. Godzilla
8. Afternoon of a Faun
9. Edge of Tomorrow
10. Cheap Thrills
11. Wolfcop

Special Award for creator of a TV series that beat film at its own game for a beautiful second:

Steven Soderbergh for The Knick