Best Movies of the Year – 1999 to 2015

2015

1. Tangerine (dir. Sean Baker)
2. Carol (dir. Todd Haynes)
3. Tom at the Farm (dir. Xavier Dolan)
4. The Duke of Burgundy (dir. ‎Peter Strickland)
5. Sicario (dir. Denis Villeneuve)
6. Inside Out (dirs. Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen)
7. Chi-raq (dir. Spike Lee)
8. Bridge of Spies (dir. Steven Spielberg)
9. Creed (dir. Ryan Coogler)
10. Magic Mike XXL (dir. Gregory Jacobs)
Honorable Mentions: Spotlight (dirs. Tom McCarthy) | Room (dir. Lenny Abrahamson) | Kingsman: The Secret Service (dir. Matthew Vaughn)

2014

1. Force Majeure (dir. Ruben Östlund)
2. Nymphomaniac (dir. Lars Von Trier)
3. Boyhood (dir. Richard Linklater)
4. Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (dir. ‎Alejandro González Iñárritu)
5. The Dance of Reality (dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky)
6. A Most Violent Year (dir. J.C. Chandor)
7. Foxcatcher (dir. Bennet Miller)
8. Joe (dir. David Gordon Green)
9. Selma (dir. Ava DuVernay)
10. The Guest (dir. Adam Wingard)
Honorable Mentions: John Wick (dirs. David Leitch, Chad Stahelski) | How to Train Your Dragon 2 (dir. Dean DeBlois) | Captain America: The Winter Soldier (dirs. Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)

2013

1. Her (dir. Spike Jonze)
2. The Wolf of Wall Street (dir. Martin Scorsese)
3. The Act of Killing (dir. Jeffrey Oppenheimer)
4. Mud (dir. Jeff Nichols)
5. Short Term 12 (dir. Destin Cretton)
6. Inside Llewyn Davis (dirs. Joel & Ethan Coen)
7. Beyond the Hills (dir. Crisitan Mungiu)
8. Before Midnight (dir. Richard Linklater)
9. Captain Phillips (dir. Paul Greengrass)
10. Laurence Anyways (dir. Xavier Dolan)
Honorable Mentions: Much Ado About Nothing (dir. Joss Whedon) | Nebraska (dir. Alexander Payne) | At Any Price (dir. Ramin Bahrani) | The Butler (dir. Lee Daniels) | Frozen (dirs. Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee) | Gravity (dir. Alfonso Cuaron)

2012

1. Beasts of the Southern Wild (dir. Benh Zeitlin)
2. Zero Dark Thirty (dir. Kathryn Bigelow)
3. Killer Joe (dir. William Friedkin)
4. The Master (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
5. Argo (dir. Ben Affleck)
6. Amour (dir. Michel Hanake)
7. Lincoln (dir. Steven Spielberg)
8. The Deep Blue Sea (dir. Terence Davies)
9. Bernie (dir. Richard Linklater)
10. Alps (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

Honorable Mentions
The Avengers (dir. Joss Whedon) | Cabin in the Woods (dir. Drew Goddard) |  Compliance (dir. Craig Zobel) | Cosmopolis (dir. David Cronenberg) | Django Unchained (dir. Quentin Tarantino) | Magic Mike (dir. Steven Soderbergh) | Moonrise Kingdom (dir. Wes Anderson) | The Paperboy (dir. Lee Daniels) | Silver Linings Playbook (dir. David O. Russel) | Skyfall (dir. Sam Mendes)

2011

1. Hugo (dir. Martin Scorsese)
2.  A Separation (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
3. Drive (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)
4. Weekend (dir. Andrew Haigh)
5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
6. Moneyball (dir. Bennet Miller)
7. Young Adult (dir. Jason Reitman)
8. Take Shelter (dir. Jeff Nichols)
9. Midnight in Paris (dir. Woody Allen)
10. The Artist (dir. Michel Hazanavicius)

Honorable Mentions
The Descendants (dir. Alexander Payne) | Bridesmaids (dir. Paul Feig) | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (dir. David Fincher) | Super 8 (dir. J.J. Abrams) | Margin Call (dir. J.C. Chandor) | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (dir. David Yates) | Captain America: The First Avenger (dir. Joe Johnston)

2010

1. Carlos (dir. Olivier Assayas)
2. Dogtooth (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
3. I Am Love (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
4. Toy Story 3 (dir. Lee Unkrich)
5. Restrepo (dirs. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger)
6. Winter’s Bone (dir. Debra Granik)
7. Inception (dir. Christopher Nolan)
8. The King’s Speech (dir. Tom Hooper)
9. A Prophet (dir. Jacques Audiard)
10. The Ghost Writer (dir. Roman Polanski)

Honorable Mentions
Exit Through the Gift Shop (dir. Banksy) | Mademoiselle Chambon (dir. Stéphane Brizé) | Waiting for Superman (dir. Davis Guggenheim) | Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (dir. Edgar Wright) | Four Lions (dir. Chris Morris) | Blue Valentine (dir. Derek Cianfrance)

2009

1. Goodbye Solo (dir. Ramin Bahrani)
2. A Serious Man (dirs. Ethan and Joel Coen)
3. Inglourious Basterds (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
4. Summer Hours (dir. Olivier Assayas)
5. The Hurt Locker (dir. Kathryn Bigelow)
6. Up in the Air (dir. Jason Reitman)
7. Up (dir. Pete Docter)
8. Sin Nombre (dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga)
9. Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (dir. Lee Daniels)
10. Alexander the Last (dir. Joe Swanberg) & Humpday (dir. Lynn Shelton)

Honorable Mentions
Sugar (dirs. Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck) |  Avatar (dir. James Cameron) | Star Trek (dir. J.J. Abrams)

2008

1. Revolutionary Road (dir. Sam Mendes)
2. Let the Right One In (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
3. Ballast (dir. Lance Hammer)
4. The Edge of Heaven (dir. Fatih Akin)
5. WALL-E (dir. Andrew Stanton)
6. Rachel Getting Married (dir. Jonathan Demme)
7. Milk (dir. Gus Van Sant)
8. Slumdog Millionaire (dir. Danny Boyle)
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (dir. David Fincher)
10. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (dir. Woody Allen)

Honorable Mention
Gran Torino (dir. Clint Eastwood)

2007

1. No Country for Old Men (Dirs. Ethan and Joel Coen)
2. I’m Not There (Dir. Todd Haynes)
3. Ratatouille (Dir. Brad Bird)
4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
(Dir. Andrew Dominik)
5. Juno (Dir. Jason Reitman)
6. There Will Be Blood (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
7. The Lives of Others (Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) &
After the Wedding
(Dir. Susanne Bier)
8. Michael Clayton (Dir. Tony Gilroy)
9. Into the Wild (Dir. Sean Penn)
10. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Dir. Ken Loach)

Honorable Mentions
Romance & Cigarettes (Dir. John Turturro) | Once (Dir. John Carney)| Black Book (Dir. Paul Verhoeven) | Lust, Caution (Dir. Ang Lee)| The King of Kong (Dir. Seth Gordon) | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Dir. David Yates) | Brand Upon the Brain (Dir. Guy Maddin) | Charlie Wilson’s War (Dir. Mike Nichols) | Zodiac (Dir. David Fincher)

2006

1. Children of Men (Dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
2. The Queen (Dir. Stephen Frears)
3. The Departed (Dir. Martin Scorsese)
4. Half Nelson (Dir. Ryan Fleck)
5. The Fountain (Dir. Darren Aronofsky)
6. Bubble (Dir. Steven Soderbergh)
8. Little Miss Sunshine (Dir. Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris)
9. A Prairie Home Companion (Dir. Robert Altman)
10. Marie Antoinette (Dir. Sophia Coppola)

Honorable Mentions:
Pan’s Labyrinth (Dir. Guillermo Del Toro) | Superman Returns (Dir. Bryan Singer) | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Dir. Larry Charles) | Inside Man (Dir. Spike Lee) | Wednesday (Dir. Justin D. Hilliard) | Letters from Iwo Jima (Dir. Clint Eastwood)

2005

1. Munich (Dir. Steven Spielberg)
2. King Kong (Dir. Peter Jackson)
3. The Constant Gardener (Dir. Fernando Meirelles)
4. Me and You and Everyone We Know (Dir. Miranda July)
5. Syriana (Dir. Stephen Gaghan)
6. Capote (Dir. Bennett Miller)
7. Batman Begins (Dir. Christopher Nolan)
8. The Squid and the Whale (Dir. Noah Baumbach)
9. Broken Flowers (Dir. Jim Jarmush)
10. Brokeback Mountain (Dir. Ang Lee)

Honorable Mentions
Land of the Dead (Dir. George A. Romero) | Facade (Dir. Brian Bedard) | Sin City (Dir. Robert Rodriguez) | The 40 Year Old Virgin (Dir. Judd Apatow) | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Dir. Mike Newell)

2004

1. The Aviator (Dir. Martin Scorsese)
2. Million Dollar Baby (Dir. Clint Eastwood)
3. Finding Neverland (Dir. Marc Forester)
4. The Incredibles (Dir. Brad Bird)
5. Sideways (Dir. Alexander Payne)
6. Before Sunset (Dir. Richard Linklater)
7. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (Dir. Quentin Tarantino)
8. The Dreamers (Dir. Bernardo Bertolluci)
9. The Terminal (Dir. Steven Spielberg)
10. Fahrenheit 9/11 (Dir. Michael Moore)

Honorable Mentions
Hero (Dir. Yimou Zhang) | Spartan (Dir. David Mamet)

2003

1. Lost in Translation (Dir. Sophia Coppola)
2. Mystic River (Dir. Clint Eastwood)
3. Capturing the Friedmans (Dir. Andrew Jarecki)
4. American Splendor (Dirs. Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini)
5. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Dir. Peter Weir)
6. Angels in America (Dir. Mike Nichols)
7. All the Real Girls (Dir. David Gordon Green)
8. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Dir. Quentin Tarantino)
9. Whale Rider (Dir. Niki Caro)
10. The Russian Ark (Dir. Aleksandr Sokurov)

Honorable Mentions
Holes (Dir. Andrew Davis) | Matchstick Men (Dir. Ridley Scott) | X2 (Dir. Bryan Singer) | LOTR: The Return of the King (Dir. Peter Jackson) | Monster (Dir. Patty Jenkins)

2002

1. Minority Report (Dir. Steven Spielberg)
2. Y Tu Mamá También (Dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
3. Adaptation (Dir. Spike Jones)
4. Gangs of New York (Dir. Martin Scorsese)
5. Spirited Away (Dir. Hayao Miyazaki)
6. Far From Heaven (Dir. Todd Haynes)
7. Punch-Drunk Love (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
8. Insomnia (Dir. Christopher Nolan)
9. The Cat’s Meow (Dir. Peter Bogdanovich)
10. The Rookie (Dir. John Lee Hancock)

Honorable Mentions
Lilo & Stitch (Dir. Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders) | Frailty (Dir. Bill Paxton) | Signs (Dir. M. Night Shyamalan) | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Dir. Chris Columbus) | LOTR: The Two Towers (Dir. Peter Jackson)

2001

1. Moulin Rouge! (Dir. Baz Luhrmann)
2. A Beautiful Mind (Dir. Ron Howard)
3. Waking Life (Dir. Richard Linklater)
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Dir. Chris Columbus)
5. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Dir. John Cameron Mitchell)
6. Amélie (Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
7. A.I. (Dir. Steven Spielberg)
8. Ghost World (Dir. Terry Zwigoff)
9. Black Hawk Down (Dir. Ridley Scott)
10. Bridget Jones’s Diary (Dir. Sharon Maguire)

Honorable Mentions
Monsters, Inc. (Dir. Pete Docter) | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Dir. Peter Jackson)

2000

1. Almost Famous (Dir. Cameron Crowe)
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Dir. Ang Lee)
3. Traffic (Dir. Steven Soderbergh)
4. Requiem for a Dream (Dir. Darren Aronofsky)
5. Finding Forrester (Dir. Gus Van Sant)
6. Unbreakable (Dir. M. Night Shyamalan)
7. High Fidelity (Dir. Stephen Frears)
8. O Brother, Where Art Thou (Dir. Joel Coen)
9. Chuck & Buck (Dir. Miguel Arteta)
10. Gladiator (Dir. Ridley Scott)

Honorable Mentions
Billy Elliot (Dir. Stephen Daldry) | Dancer in the Dark (Dir. Lars Von Trier) | Urbania (Dir. Jon Shears)

1999

1. Fight Club (Dir. David Fincher)
2. American Beauty (Dir. Sam Mendes)
3. Magnolia (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
4. The Talented Mr. Ripley (Dir. Anthony Minghella)
5. The Sixth Sense (Dir. M. Night Shyamalan)
6. Toy Story 2 (Dir. John Lasseter)
7. Bringing Out the Dead (Dir. Martin Scorsese)
8. Eyes Wide Shut (Dir. Stanley Kubrick)
9. Man on the Moon (Dir. Milos Forman)
10. The Matrix (Dir. Larry & Andy Wachowski)

Honorable Mentions
Boys Don’t Cry (Dir. Kimberly Peirce) | The Iron Giant (Dir. Brad Bird)