best of 2014: film

Best Picture

1. Nightcrawler
2. Boyhood
3. Snowpiercer
4. Whiplash
5. Pride
6. Birdman
7. The Babadook
8. Obvious Child
9. The Lego Movie
10. The Overnighters

Best Director

1. Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
2. Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)
3. Jennifer Kent (The Babadook)
4. Joon-ho Bong (Snowpiercer)
5. Gareth Edwards (Godzilla)
6. Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child)
7. Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
8. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)
9. Matthew Warchus (Pride)
10. Jesse Moss (The Overnighters)

Best Lead Actress

1. Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
2. Essie Davis (The Babadook)
3. Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
4. Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
5. Jenny Slate (Obvious Child)
6. Elisabeth Moss (The One I Love)
7. Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive)
8. Melanie Lynskey (Happy Christmas)
9. Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
10. Mia Wasikowska (Tracks)

Best Lead Actor

1. Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
2. Michael Keaton (Birdman)
3. Miles Teller (Whiplash)
4. Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
5. Jack O’Connell (Unbroken)
6. Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)
7. Domhnall Gleeson (Frank)
8. Jack O’Connell (Starred Up)
9. Bill Hader (The Skeleton Twins)
10. Mark Duplass (The One I Love)

Best Supporting Actress

1. Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer)
2. Rene Russo (Nightcrawler)
3. Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
4. Carrie Coon (Gone Girl)
5. Gaby Hoffmann (Obvious Child)
6. Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)
7. Rose Byrne (Neighbors)
8. Laura Dern (Wild)
9. Imelda Staunton (Pride)
10. Rima Te Wiata (Housebound)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler)
2. Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
3. Michael Fassbender (Frank)
4. Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
5. Adam Driver (This is Where I Leave You)
6. J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
7. Edward Norton (Birdman)
8. Charlie Cox (The Theory of Everything)
9. Bill Nighy (Pride)
10. Richard Armitage (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies)

Best Original Screenplay

1. Nightcrawler
2. Birdman
3. The Lego Movie
4. Pride
5. Boyhood
6. Whiplash
7. The One I Love
8. Only Lovers Left Alive
9. Housebound
10. Selma

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. The Babadook
2. Snowpiercer
3. Obvious Child
4. The Boxtrolls
5. Edge of Tomorrow
6. Wild
7. This is Where I Leave You
8. Gone Girl
9. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
10. Guardians of the Galaxy

best of 2014: tv

Best Television Series

1. The Good Wife (CBS)
2. Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
3. Parks and Recreation (CBS)
4. Game of Thrones (HBO)
5. The Goldbergs (ABC)
6. Girls (HBO)
7. Transparent (Amazon)
8. Call the Midwife (PBS)
9. The Leftovers (HBO)
10. Broad City (Comedy Central)

Best Lead Actress

1. Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
2. Wendi McLendon-Covey, The Goldbergs
3. Emmy Rossum, Shameless
4. Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
5. Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
6. Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
7. Lena Dunham, Girls
8. Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
9. Alison Tolman, Fargo
10. Ilana Glazier, Broad City

Best Lead Actor

1. Martin Freeman, Fargo
2. Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
3. Sean Giambrone, The Goldbergs
4. Adam DeVine, Workaholics
5. Justin Theroux, The Leftovers
6. David Rawle, Moone Boy
7. Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
8. Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
9. Tom Mison, Sleepy Hollow
10. Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Best Supporting Actress

1. Sarah Lancashire, Last Tango in Halifax
2. Melissa McBride, The Walking Dead
3. Ann Dowd, The Leftovers
4. Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie
5. Yael Stone, Orange is the New Black
6. Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent
7. Miranda Hart, Call the Midwife
8. Carrie Coon, The Leftovers
9. Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
10. Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

Best Supporting Actor

1. Jeremy Allen White, Shameless
2. Adam Driver, Girls
3. Troy Gentile, The Goldbergs
4. Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation
5. George Blagden, Vikings
6. Raul Castillo, Looking
7. Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation
8. Ian O’Reilly, Moone Boy
9. Taran Killam, Saturday Night Live
10. Nick Kroll, The League

top 10 best television series of 2013

1. Arrested Development (Netflix)

2. Parks and Recreation (NBC)

3. The Good Wife (CBS)

4. Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

5. Girls (HBO)

6. Call the Midwife (PBS)

7. Game of Thrones (HBO)

8. Downton Abbey (PBS)

9. Sherlock (PBS)

10. Workaholics (Comedy Central)

top 10 best lead actors (TV) of 2013

1. Adam DeVine, Workaholics (Comedy Central)

2. Joel Kinnaman, The Killing (AMC)

3. Kevin Spacey, House of Cards (Netflix)

4. Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation (NBC)

5. Blake Anderson, Workaholics (Comedy Central)

6. Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom (HBO)

7. Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)

8. Lucas Neff, Raising Hope (FOX)

9. Hugh Dancy, Hannibal (NBC)

10. Anders Holm, Workaholics (Comedy Central)

top 10 best lead actresses (TV) of 2013

1. Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)

2. Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)

3. Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

4. Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black (BBC America)

5. Lena Dunham, Girls (HBO)

6. Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)

7. Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)

8. Laura Dern, Enlightened (HBO)

9. Olivia Colman, Broadchurch (BBC America)

10. Emmy Rossum, Shameless (Showtime)

top 10 best supporting actors (TV) of 2013

1. Tony Hale, Arrested Development (Netflix)

2. David Cross, Arrested Development (Netflix)

3. Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation (NBC)

4. Jeffrey Tambor, Arrested Development (Netflix)

5. Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation (NBC)

6. Corey Stoll, House of Cards (Netflix)

7. Adam Pally, Happy Endings (ABC)

8. George Blagden, Vikings (History)

9. Nick Kroll, The League (FXX)

10. Ryan Kwanten, True Blood (HBO)

top 10 best supporting actresses (TV) of 2013

1. Jessica Walter, Arrested Development (Netflix)

2. Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)

3. Sarah Lancashire, Last Tango in Halifax (PBS)

4. Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation (NBC)

5. Bryony Hannah, Call the Midwife (PBS)

6. Christina Hendricks, Mad Men (AMC)

7. Michelle Hurst, Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

8. Alia Shawkat, Arrested Development (Netflix)

9. Jess Weixler, The Good Wife (CBS)

10. Jillian Bell, Workaholics (Comedy Central)

best of 2012: the original scores

And this is where we leave it. Time to stop living in the past, I suppose, and move on to a bright new 2013. This is the last, and one of my personal favorite, category to recap for my best of 2012 series. For such a bum year in a lot of respects, there were plentiful innovative and wonderful scores to be had, and here are my tops:

1. Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

2. Jonny Greenwood, The Master

3. Heather McIntosh, Compliance

4. Michael Giacchino, John Carter

5. Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina

6. Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas

7. Jon Brion, ParaNorman

8. Marc Streitenfeld, Prometheus

9. Henry Jackman, Wreck-It Ralph

10. Fernando Velazquez, The Impossible

best of 2012: the adapted screenplays

The other side of the writing spectrum is up next. Here’s to the adapters! We’ll venture over to music next, and then the best of 2012/LCT film awards celebration will be closed.

1. Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

2. Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

3. Leslye Headland, Bachelorette

4. David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

5. Chris Terrio, Argo

6. Tony Kushner, Lincoln

7. Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

8. Zak Penn & Joss Whedon, The Avengers

9. John Logan, Neal Purvis & Robert Wade, Skyfall

10. Michael Bacall & Jonah Hill, 21 Jump Street

best of 2012: the original screenplays

We’re getting closer to the end, folks. I’ll be wrapping up my best films of 2012 features with the writing and score categories. And let’s be real – these are often the most fun to discuss merits-wise, as well as the most impressive in many cases. Here are the originals:

1. Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon, The Cabin in the Woods

2. Craig Zobel, Compliance

3. Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master

4. Rian Johnson, Looper

5. Robbie Pickering, Natural Selection

6. Rashida Jones & Will McCormack, Celeste and Jesse Forever

7. Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty

8. Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom

9. Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

10. Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths