It’s always a weird process for me, picking a Top Whatever list. Basically, I take a list of all the films released in the year in question from Box Office Mojo. 685 titles this year (though some number, probably around 20 are re-releases). Then I go through and asterisk any film that I fell hard for at the time. The process ends up eliminating a bunch of films I really respect and like, but which just didn’t have that extra zing for me. Conversely, it means that the short list ends up with a lot of films that feel a bit embarrassing in the context of Best of The Year. (The Interview or Laggies in, much of the award season out.)

Then there is the festival problem. I would probably include It Follows on my list and Clouds of Sils Maria would be right at the top. But neither film has been released yet. So… they wait.

My short list is forty-three films long with domestic box office ranging from $192 million to $16,000. Nineteen of the films are from major studios or their Dependents. Only five are primarily in a language other than English. Eleven are docs. Seventeen grossed less than a million dollars. Twelve grossed more than $10 million.

Only three of the Academy’s doc shortlist of 15 are on my Best Of list. One of them isn’t actually on Box Office Mojo, but since The Academy now requires a theatrical in NY or LA in the year of qualification and it’s on the shortlist, I am including it. (It’s Tales of the Grim Sleeper, btw.) As I noted before, I really like and respect pretty much every shortlist doc this year. But this list is personal and not intellectualized. I really liked these docs. And that standard is different.

This was the least agonizing cut to 10 I recall ever having. Part of me feels like I could switch out a different bunch of films for much of my Top Ten. But when I get down to it, I think these 10 are actually my favorites… today… for now… even though I find some of the “runners up” indispensable and would be crushed if they went away.

Getting to it…

THE RUNNERS UP

22 Jump Street – Lord & Miller are young masters of absurdist comedy and in many ways, this sequel was better than the original, both more self-aware and less concerned about the original source material.

Belle – I was shocked to have loved this film. It grew on me and grew on me and grew on me. Beautifully restrained piece that managed to be driven by race, but never losing sight of the individual.

Blue Ruin – One of those great indie pleasures. You never know what is coming next.

The Dog – The real story behind Dog Day Afternoon, the documentary is not the smoothest piece of filmmaking ever, but it is endlessly fascinating and is about a lot more than the story in the film. This guy was a groundbreaker and the film reminds us all that history happens over a long period of time with individuals taking risks.

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me – Love Elaine Stritch. The walking embodiment of “a great broad.” This film is the perfect companion piece to her one-woman show, onstage/offstage.

The Fault in our Stars – Tears. This film was much better than it deserved to be. The Love Story of this era. It is just too good to be denied. Shailene Woodley deserved more serious Oscar consideration.

Finding Vivian Maier – A mystery story that leads to a glorious treasure trove of art and an artist who did the work for the work’s sake. Essential film.

For No Good Reason – I love Ralph Steadman’s work. He is one of those guys you just want to hang out with and laugh and drink and cause trouble. He is a genius as an artist and a satirist. And the film is beautifully made.

Force Majeure – A weird little Euro-flick that continues to linger at the back of my head. What will you do when the avalanche comes?

Foxcatcher – Bennett Miller is a master. He knows what he wants. Dan Futterman and Max Frye knew how to build the infrastructure. And the actors are all sublime in their work here. Powerful and demanding.

Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me – Just such a great story… such commitment by the filmmakers, who start on a whim and end up chasing Campbell around the country for 105 concerts as he wades deeper into dementia. How can a film about something so sad be so inspiring?

Ida – An elegant piece of art. Painful, but beautiful. In many ways, unlike anything else on this era.

The Interview – Yes, the film can’t seem to get its head out of its ass/dicks/tits/fluids/gasses. But I had a really great time with a film that was so completely irreverent about what scares so many so much. The old saw about Hitler being loved by his mom and his dog comes to life as Kim Jong-Un is just another guy with a bad relationship with his overbearing dad and just wants to be free to sing Katy Perry songs in the shower. James Franco walks the line between moron and idiot and loveable TV star with aplomb. It’s Abbot & Costello Meet The Dictator. That’s a bingo for me.

Ivory Tower – Absolutely essential doc for anyone contemplating the state of education in 2014 and beyond. Andrew Rossi, who did a really fine job being embedded with David Carr and other at the New York Times, does something even greater here, whether there are so many possible stories that can be told. The film is both expansive and firmly constructed.

Laggies – I didn’t see this one at Sundance, where it got a lukewarm response. But when I finally caught up with it at TIFF, I loved it, I must say. Sam Rockwell is always terrific and is here. But I thought Keira Knightley playing against the type she is always given was a revelation. And Chloë Moretz, who is now in that awkward age between kid actor and sexually precocious teen, delivered another excellent performance, along with Clouds of Sils Maria. I was disappointed that reviews out of Sundance seemed to turn down the heat on this one. A real pleasure.

Leviathan – Very Russian, but much more accessible than Andrey Zvyagintsev’s other films. Powerful work. Like Ida, hard to explain… but impossible to forget.

Life itself – Ebert. Steve James. Chaz. The film is a part of my personal history and at the same time, completely leaps over the part of Ebert history of which I was a part. So it felt a bit partially told for me. So many of us miss Roger. So glad this film exists.

Lucy – Luc Besson makes kitsch of the highest level. Lucy is so outrageous, but so fun and, really, smart. Scarlett Johansson is finally coming into her own and even though this role is broad, she grounds it quite brilliantly.

The Lunchbox – A beautiful, slow-moving love story… love of yourself, love of life, love of others.

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles – It’s interesting watching this film because it feels at once so familiar and “been there, done that” and absolutely fresh at the same time. It puts Welles into much clearer perspective for those of us who didn’t live through the story (aka, under 70).

Mr. Turner – A beautiful, rich, grumpy piece about getting old and kicking Father Time in the balls while you go about your business of being a genius. Amazing work by Mike Leigh, Dick Pope, and acting treasure Timothy Spall.

National Gallery – Frederick Wiseman takes us somewhere we’ve never been with patience and insight… again.

Snowpiercer – This is one that was very close to the Top 10. Just a fun, stupid time with some glorious subtext and one of Tilda Swinton’s most memorable characterizations.

Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon – Who knew that Mike Meyers had the patience to make a great doc? But he started with a great subject.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya – What may be animation master Isao Takahata’s final work, he tells a classic Asian tale and does it with an unbelievably simple elegance. One of those great examples of the spirit of a film stripping the viewer of the familiar and getting right to the heart.

Tales of The Grim Sleeper – Nick Broomfield is as singular a documentarian as Errol Morris, Werner Herzog or Fredrick Wiseman. His perspective is always a part of the film. And here, as before, you start in a place where you think it all must be obvious and it gets murkier and murkier.

The Unknown Known – Errol Morris meets Donald Rumsfeld. One of the best comedies of the year. One of the best horror movies too. Only pales in comparison to Morris’ other work in the same range… but not by much… and nothing less than essential to understanding (and being confused by) recent American history.

Tim’s Vermeer – In many ways, the film is a magic trick. Could be a perfect double feature with Finding Vivian Meyer, as both walk the line of art and intellectual pursuit. Come to think of it, you could add National Gallery and For No Good Reason and really, the Stritch and Campbell documentaries to this film festival as well. All these films understand the magic of what comes out in the end while also appreciating that there is real work involved.

Top Five – Laughed my ass off. Racist, sexist, sentimental, ruthless… smart film.

Two Days, One Night – The Dardennes are amongst the great humanist directors. Kelly Reichardt may be the American equivalent at the moment, though Jill Soloway’s “Transparent” puts her right there, albeit a bit more comically than either of the other examples. Anyway… the brothers examine the intimate choices we all make about what is important and who is important to us. And they have Marion Cotillard by their side on this one, delivering nothing less than absolute truth.

Under the Skin – Scarlett Johansson’s other remarkable work this year. She just goes for it relentlessly. And Jonathan Glazer, freeing himself of attempting conventional film storytelling, offers up a film that is felt much more so than it is thought. Could become the Eraserhead of this generation.

Whiplash – It’s simple. Clean. Efficient. And deadly entertaining. Damien Chazelle is coming. And no one is going to stop him. He could go arty. He could go mainstream. He’ll figure it out. But it’s rare to see a new filmmaker who clearly has the skills developing as both an artist and as a pure commercial director. Great start. Waiting for what’s next.

Young and Beautiful – I love Ozon’s work. And this film, which pissed a lot of women off at Cannes two years ago, is a masterpiece in my opinion. I am not fool enough to think I know what goes on in the mind of a young woman… any woman, really. But the question of what happens in the mind and heart of a budding stunning beauty… the understanding of power that reaches beyond the glory of youth, to intoxicate men of any age, fascinates me. I do not see this as a film about all women. I think that’s silly. But the choices, sensible and wildly otherwise, of this young woman were fascinating and instructive. I think that much of the anger was about presumptions of what the male gaze means when the center of the film is so gorgeous and so available and so seemingly untouched by the choice of being a prostitute for a time in her life. But objectification is real… and so is what happens in the midst of it, to the sides of it, under it, and over it. I think all of that is worthy of art.

Part II: My Top 10…

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