The 2015 Muriel Awards

2015 muriel awards

Hey, everyone. Once again, I was lucky enough to be a member of the voting body of The Muriel Awards, an annual poll of bloggers and critics in which we honor our favorite films, filmmakers and cinematic moments from the past year. Here’s what my ballot looked like for films released in the calendar year of 2015:

Best Feature-Length Film
1. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
2. The Duke of Burgundy
3. Anomalisa
4. Hard to Be a God
5. In Jackson Heights
6. Son of Saul
7. The Second Mother
8. Carol
9. Horse Money
10. Tangerine

Best Lead Performance, Male
1. David Thewlis, Anomalisa
2. Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
3. Leonid Yarmolnik, Hard to Be a God
4. Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul
5. Ventura, Horse Money

Best Lead Performance, Female
1. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
2. Sidse Babett Knudsen, The Duke of Burgundy
3. Regina Case, The Second Mother
4. Laia Costa, Victoria
5. Cate Blanchett, Carol

Best Supporting Performance, Male
1. Tom Noonan, Anomalisa
2. Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
3. Walt Goggins, The Hateful Eight
4. Tom Hardy, Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Frederick Lau, Victoria

Best Supporting Performance, Female
1. Rooney Mara, Carol
2. Chiara D’Anna, The Duke of Burgundy
3. Mya Taylor, Tangerine
4. Jessica Chastain, Crimson Peak
5. Daisy Ridley, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Direction
1. Aleksei German, Hard to Be a God
2. Roy Andersson, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
3. Peter Strickland, The Duke of Burgundy
4. Sebastian Schipper, Victoria
5. Todd Haynes, Carol

Best Screenplay (original or adapted)
1. Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa
2. Peter Strickland, The Duke of Burgundy
3. Roy Andersson, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
4. Anna Muylaert, The Second Mother
5. Phyllis Nagy, Carol

Best Cinematography
1. Vladimir Ilin/Yuriy Klimenko, Hard to Be a God
2. Edward Lachman, Carol
3. Mark Lee Ping-Bin, The Assassin
4. Nicholas D. Knowland, The Duke of Burgundy
5. Leonardo Simoes, Horse Money

Best Editing
1. Alexandra Strauss, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
2. Garret Elkins, Anomalisa
3. Matyas Fekete, The Duke of Burgundy
4. Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Ching-Song Liao, The Assassin

Best Music (original, adapted, or compiled)
1. Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
2. Carter Burwell, Carol
3. Faris Badwan/Rachel Zeffira, The Duke of Burgundy
4. Viktor Lebedev, Hard to Be a God
5. Carter Burwell, Anomalisa

Best Documentary
1. In Jackson Heights
2. Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
3. Salad Days

Best Cinematic Moment
1. Limping Lotta, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
2. The birthday cake in The Duke of Burgundy
3. Don Rumata smears his face with tar, Hard to Be a God
4. Poem at assembly, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
5. When Lourenco Mutarelli proposes in The Second Mother
6. The old woman in the hospital gown in It Follows
7. The mask splitting in two in The Assassin
8. The dust storm in Mad Max: Fury Road
9. Sitting in the laundromat in Tangerine
10. Lisa’s voice changing in Anomalisa

Best Cinematic Breakthrough
1. Aleksei German for Hard to Be a God
2. The animation team of Anomalisa
3. Sean Baker for Tangerine
4. Peter Strickland for The Duke of Burgundy
5. Thomas E. Sanders and Brandt Gordon for the art direction in Crimson Peak

Best Body of Work
1. Jennifer Jason Leigh
2. Tom Hardy
3. Alicia Vikander
4. Michael Fassbender
5. Oscar Isaac

Best Ensemble Performance
1. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
2. Hard to Be a God
3. Spotlight
4. Victoria
5. Two Step

10th Anniversary Award, Best Feature Film 2005
1. Grizzly Man
2. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
3. Caché
4. Junebug
5. The Proposition

25th Anniversary Award, Best Feature Film 1990
1. Goodfellas
2. The Match Factory Girl
3. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
4. Close-Up
5. Days of Being Wild

50th Anniversary Award, Best Feature Film 1965
1. Chimes at Midnight
2. The Saragossa Manuscript
3. Repulsion
4. The Loves of a Blonde
5. The Ipcress File

I also contributed a few pieces of writing to the round-up of awards:
An appreciation of A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.
How much I love Jennifer Jason Leigh.
My notes on Mya Taylor and Sidse Babett Knudsen, among contributions from others.

– Cole

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