2014 Muriel Awards: Best Body of Work

In each of the last two years, the winner in this category has been the same - Matthew McConaughey. But this year, the actor formerly known as Wooderson has decided to give some other people a chance (the fact that True Detective doesn't qualify here had something to do with that) and the results were rather more, well, feminine. As you'll soon see, this was a close race, and I think any of our top three finishers would have been worthy recipients of this award.

Third place:

Scarlett Johansson [actor – Under the Skin, Lucy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier] (142 points / 23 votes)

Second place:

Tilda Swinton [actor – Snowpiercer, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Zero Theorem] (146 points / 23 votes)

And the Muriel Award goes to...

2014 Muriel Awards: Best Music

Technically, the name of this category is "Best Music (Original, Adapted, or Compiled). The reason for this is to distinguish it from more traditional movie-music awards which typically honor only original scores. In the past, we've honored both original scores and adaptations/compilations of existing music. The idea is to recognize movies that use music particularly well. I think you'll agree that this year's winner fits the bill.

Third place:

Only Lovers Left Alive [music by Jozef van Wissem and SQÜRL] (101 points / 18 votes)

Second place:

Inherent Vice [score composed by Jonny Greenwood] (138 points / 22 votes)

And the Muriel Award goes to...

2014 Muriel Awards: 50th Anniversary Award for the Best Film of 1964

Once again, here's a category in which the winner was more or less a foregone conclusion. I mean, if you know anything about the Muriels, you had to see this coming. After all, when we teamed up with our Skandies pals to vote for the greatest films ever back in 2012, three of this director's films ended up in our top 20.

Still, if nothing else, this category's results really drove home what a great year 1964 was for movies. I mean, look at some of the giants we've got listed among our favorites. Talk about your Murderer's Row. And for a movie to dominate this category in spite of that... well, it's gotta be pretty darned awesome. Definitely a worthy addition to the Muriels Hall of Fame, that's for sure.

Anyway...

Third place:

A Hard Day's Night! (dir. Richard Lester) [105 points / 18 votes]

Second place:

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (dir. Jacques Demy) [148 points / 24 votes]

And the Muriel Award goes to...

2014 Muriel Awards: Best Cinematic Breakthrough

To be perfectly frank, I've always found the Breakthrough category sort of hit and miss. Maybe it's because the definition of what really constitutes a cinematic breakthrough is pretty amorphous, but there have been times when I've found the winners in this category sort of unsatisfying.

But this year's different. Our top three finishers are all filmmakers on the make who've each announced themselves to the moviegoing public in diverse and interesting ways. And speaking of diverse, look at #1 and #2. At a time when there are plenty of think pieces about the relatively small number of female and African-American directors, I'm proud that we've decided to show particular love to two people who've bucked the trend. Now if only we could find more Muriels voters of the XX persuasion...

Third place:

Damien Chazelle – director, Whiplash [49 points / 8 votes]

Second place:

Ava DuVernay – director, Selma [106 points / 16 votes]

And the Muriel Award goes to...

2014 Muriel Awards: Best Supporting Performance, Female

In the past, this has usually been a pretty competitive category most years. Not this year. You can probably guess who won- indeed, this year's winner received the most votes of any winner outside of the anniversary categories. However, our voters stumped for some interesting choices among the runners-up. And really, it's hard to argue with who won, I'd say.

Third place:

Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer [128 points / 22 votes]

Second place:

Elisabeth Moss, Listen Up Philip [154 points / 22 votes]

And the Muriel Award goes to...

2014 Muriel Awards: Best Supporting Performance, Male

And so we kick off another year of Muriels madness, folks. Sadly, Steve won't be joining us this year, as he's been busy with family business and other goings-on. However, we'll do our best to make him proud. On that note, we kick it off like as usually do, with the Muriel for Best Supporting Actor.

Third place:

Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice [155 points / 23 votes]

Second place:

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood [166 points / 26 votes]

And the first Muriel Award of 2014 goes to...

Muriels Hall of Fame, Class of 2014: Wrap-Up

As always, thank you to everyone who participated. Here's the list of this year's voters:

Danny Baldwin
Josh Bell
Andrew Bemis
Christianne Benedict
Danny Bowes
Kevin Cecil
Paul Clark
Dennis Cozzalio
Philip Dyess-Nugent
Jim Emerson
James Frazier
Kenji Fujishima
Jaime Grijalba
Glenn Heath Jr.
Sam Juliano
Adam Lemke
Michael Lieberman
Craig Lindsey
Matt Lynch
Sam Mac
Jeff McMahon
Matt Noller
Melissa Starker
Andreas Stoehr
Scott von Doviak
Bryan Whitefield
Patrick Williamson
Bryce Wilson
George Wu

And in case you were wondering, here's how the voting shook out:
9 votes
Sherlock, Jr. ('24 Keaton)

8 votes
The Lady Eve ('41 Sturges)
The Night of the Hunter ('55 Laughton)
The Seven Samurai ('54 Kurosawa)
Tokyo Story ('53 Ozu)

7 votes
The 400 Blows ('59 Truffaut)
Un Chien Andalou ('29 Bunuel)
Double Indemnity ('44 Wilder)

6 votes
Breathless ('60 Godard)
Bride of Frankenstein ('35 Whale)
Duck Amuck ('53 Jones)
Rio Bravo ('59 Hawks)
The Searchers ('56 Ford)
Singin' in the Rain ('52 Donen/Kelly)

5 votes
La Dolce Vita ('60 Fellini)
The Exterminating Angel ('62 Bunuel)
The General ('27 Keaton/Bruckman)
Hiroshima Mon Amour ('59 Resnais)
His Girl Friday ('40 Hawks)
Last Year at Marienbad ('62 Resnais)
Meshes of the Afternoon ('43 Deren/Hammid)
Touch of Evil ('58 Welles)
Trouble in Paradise ('32 Lubitsch)

4 votes
The Apartment ('60 Wilder)
City Lights ('31 Chaplin)
Duck Soup ('33 McCarey)
The Maltese Falcon ('41 Huston)
Metropolis ('27 Lang)
Nosferatu ('22 Murnau)
Only Angels Have Wings ('39 Hawks)
Rashomon ('50 Kurosawa)
The Red Shoes ('48 Powell/Pressburger)
Sunset Boulevard ('50 Wilder)
Window Water Baby Moving ('59 Brakhage)

3 votes
All About Eve ('50 Mankiewicz)
L'Atalante ('34 Vigo)
L'Avventura ('60 Antonioni)
Cleo from 5 to 7 ('62 Varda)
The Earrings of Madame De... ('53 Ophuls)
Freaks ('32 Browning)
Ikiru ('51 Kurosawa)
Imitation of Life ('59 Sirk)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56 Siegel)
It's a Wonderful Life ('46 Capra)
Jules and Jim ('61 Truffaut)
The Magnificent Ambersons ('42 Welles)
Notorious ('46 Hitchcock)
Paths of Glory ('57 Kubrick)
A Star Is Born ('54 Cukor)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ('48 Huston)
Ugetsu ('53 Mizoguchi)
Unfaithfully Yours ('48 Sturges)
Wild Strawberries ('57 Bergman)
Zero for Conduct ('33 Vigo)

2 votes
The Crowd ('27 Vidor)
The Diary of a Country Priest ('50 Bresson)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ('53 Hawks)
In a Lonely Place ('50 N. Ray)
Late Spring ('49 Ozu)
M. Hulot's Holiday ('53 Tati)
Monsieur Verdoux ('47 Chaplin)
Orpheus ('49 Cocteau)
Out of the Past ('47 Tourneur)
Pather Panchali ('55 S. Ray)
Senso ('54 Visconti)
Stagecoach ('39 Ford)
The Steel Helmet ('51 Fuller)
The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums ('39 Mizoguchi)
Umberto D. ('52 De Sica)

1 vote
Fantasia ('40 Various)
Make Way For Tomorrow ('37 McCarey)
Menilmontant ('26 Kirsanoff)
Peeping Tom ('60 Powell)

See you next year!