The Author's Best 10 Movies of 2014

(Click on the orange colored title to read the author's review of the film)

1.  Leviathan (2014) dir.  Andrei  Zvyagintsev (Russia) Golden Peacock award winner for best film at the International Film Festival of India, Goa, Best Screenplay award at the Cannes film festival, Golden Globe winner for the Best Foreign Film, Critics Award at the Sao Paulo film festival, Best film (ARRI-Osram) award at the Munich film festival, Best film at London film festival, Best film at Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Best Cinematography award at the Seville European film festival.
2. Foreign Body (2014) dir. Krzysztof Zanussi (Poland)
3. Still the Water (2014) dir. Naomi Kawase (Japan) Best actress award at the Sakhalin film festival
4. Winter Sleep (2014) dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey) Golden Palm award for best film and FIPRESCI prize at the Cannes film festival
5. Wild Tales (2014) dir. Damian Szifrón (Argentina) Audience award at the San Sebastian film festival, Audience award at the Sao Paulo film festival, Audience award at the Sarajevo film festival, Audience award at the Oslo  Films of the South film festival, and a staggering tally of 15 national film awards from Argentina
6. Locke (2013) dir. Steven Knight (UK) Best editor award at the European film awards
7. Two Days, One Night (2014) dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Belgium/France/Italy) Best film at the Sidney film festival.
8. Whiplash (2014) dir. Damien Chazelle (USA) Won 3 Oscars--Best Supporting Actor (J K Simmons), Best Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. Best new director award at the Valladolid film festival, Golden Globe winner for the Best Supporting Actor (J K Simmons), BAFTA awards for Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing, and Best Sound. Grand Special Prize at the Deauville film festival, Grand Jury Prize and Audience award at the Sundance film festival, Audience award at Mill Valley film festival, People’s choice award at the Calgary film festival
9. CR No. 89 (2013) dir. Sudevan (India) Six regional film awards of India including best film from Kerala state.
10. Stations of the Cross (2014) dir. Dietrich Bruegermann (Germany),

Honorable films:  Coming Home (2014) dir. Yimou Zhang (China), Calvary (2014) dir. John Michael McDonagh (Ireland), and Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) dir. Olivier Assayas (France/Switzerland)
Difret  (2014) dir. Zeresenay Mehari (Ethiopia) was originally on my top 10 but evidence of the film plagiarizing from a documentary film made earlier has subsequently surfaced.