2014 Muriel Awards: 10th Anniversary Award for the Best Film of 2004

For some reason, I've had a soft spot for this particular category ever since we've started doing these anniversary awards. I think it's because while the 50th and 25th Anniversary Awards feel like they belong resolutely to the past, 10 years doesn't seem like that long ago to me. I can still pinpoint with relative certainty where I saw all three of our nominees shown below, and I even know that I saw at least one, and perhaps even two, of them with one or more current Muriels voter (hi, Kevin!). And yet at the same time, so much has changed in the past decade. I saw nearly 200 new releases in 2004, mostly in theatres, plus no doubt hundreds more classics and favorites, both on the big screen and at home. This past year? Not so much. But then, I also got married and found myself becoming part of a family in the intervening years, so it definitely hasn't been a bad trade.

Also, way to go one other person who voted for Lucile Hadzihalilovic's Innocence.

Moving on.

Third place:

Sideways [directed by Alexander Payne] (81 points / 13 votes)

Second place:

Before Sunset [directed by Richard Linklater] (143 points / 21 votes)

And the Muriel Award goes to...

2014 Muriel Awards: Best Ensemble Performance

Of all the ways the Muriels are better than the Oscars, one of them is that the Oscars don't have an ensemble performance category. So much of the success of a movie rides on its cast- not merely its stars who might get love in the individual performance categories, but the folks who round out the smaller roles, the ones who might get high billing but lend texture to a film in the best cases and distract from the storyline in the worst. Of course, it would be a challenge for the Oscars to recognize entire casts, what with having to give awards to every performer of note and the resulting sharp increase in statuettes that would require.

In our case, not presenting actual awards to our winners, or even necessarily notifying them of their wins (although allegedly Lars von Trier's assistant informed him of Antichrist's win for Best Cinematography back in 2010, which is sort of mind-boggling). But anyway... man, that intro just got away from me, didn't it? The perils of having to post this at the last minute, I suppose.

But enough of my yakkin'. Let's boogie.

Third place:

Boyhood (136 points / 20 votes)

Second place:

Inherent Vice (169 votes / 28 votes)

And the Muriel Award goes to...

2014 Muriel Awards: Best Editing

Before I announce today's winner, I'd like to take this opportunity to give a shout-out to all of this year's voters, particularly those who were able to contribute written pieces for the cause. One of the great pleasures of working with the Muriels over the years has been interacting with many talented people who are knowledgeable and passionate about cinema. While I've lost some of my desire to write about movies (though not for the movies themselves), I'm sort of taken aback by how much I have left to learn about movies compared to some other folks out there. I offer my most sincere thanks to every one of you, and to everyone else who cares for the Muriels.

Third place:

The Grand Budapest Hotel [editor: Barney Pilling] (99 points / 18 votes)

Second place:

Whiplash [editor: Tom Cross] (110 points / 17 votes)

And the Muriel Award goes to...

2014 Muriel Awards: 25th Anniversary Award for the Best Film of 1989

Once again, our anniversary award voting yields a runaway winner. In fact, this category's champion actually got more points than its 1964 counterpart, believe it or not. Still, a wide-ranging batch of nominated movies. I never imagined our #4 would place so high, and I love that both Haroun Farocki's Images of the World and the Inscription of War and Road House got multiple votes.

Third place:

The Killer [directed by John Woo] (112 points / 20 votes)

Second place:

Crimes and Misdemeanors [directed by Woody Allen] (140.5 points / 22 votes)

And the Muriel Award goes to...

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...