Hello. We sometimes mention that MostlyFilm is built on a forum, and every so often that forum’s bones poke above the smooth, silky skin of the blog. Since the year 2000, we’ve voted for our favourite films released January-December in the UK, and this year we thought we would share the results with you. Why are we doing this in February? Because we give people a sensible amount of time to catch up on possible contenders and vote with consideration. So up yours, everyone who published their best of results in January.
After the jump are the results, some comments from the forum and, eh why not, the results from previous years. All of this data is compiled and collated by one dedicated forum user, nac1. We applaud his effort.
1. Moonrise Kingdom
Professional Joe Cornish lookalike Wes Anderson’s seventh film took our top spot this year, making Wes our first outright two-time winner (we also voted The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou number one in 2005, and it’s worth noting that the Coens have had a first and a tied-first).
“Loved it, completely charmed. The books, the letter montage, the soundtrack, the animal heads, the tent, everything, everything, everything. Beautiful!” – Mrs Agathon
“Something seems to have changed Anderson (maybe it was making a kids’ movie?) because the airless hyper-cleverness I associate with him is nowhere to be seen, just a simple, heartfelt tale with a huge number of engaging characters.” – JohnCooperClarke
2. The Kid with a Bike
Ah, we’ve been here already, so I shall just leave you with this:
“This film The Kid with a Bike seems to be getting a lot of love.
Peter Bradshaw reckons it’s ‘a heartfelt, boldly direct film composed in the social-realist key signature of C major’ so I guess I’ll give it a miss.” – fogger.
3. The Master
Disappointing biopic of Dr Who’s greatest nemesis.
“To a degree it’s the story of a guy who has the raging horn for quite a while, thinks he can sublimate it into religion and bromance, but ends up back doing what he likes best.” – JohnCooperClarke
“It was funny and classy and beautiful.” – veal
“Most of you are saying – it’s flawed, it’s messy, it doesn’t work. And yet you’re praising it. What precisely is raising it above it’s faults that it’s deserving of so much positive discussion?
And nope, I’ve still not seen it.” – MrsMills
4. Marvel’s Avengers Assemble
Pointlessly elongated title aside, Avengers was the blockbuster of the year.
“All in all though this is amazing fun. I absolutely loved the huge battle scene, it was just really expertly done. Ruffalo was the best thing in it by a mile and I thought the rest was really well handled.” – Hannah32
“Anyway, I laughed a lot. Joss Whedon and Iron Man in particular seem like a good fit. Agree with everybody that Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner is the standout character and performance.” – Clio
“Only watched half so far. It’s the worst film I’ve ever seen in my life.” – Hankinshaw
5. Berberian Sound Studio
Again, we’ve been here before. Just know that the thread discussing this is titled “Dangerously Aroused Goblin”.
“Max talked in his review about things standing in for other things, and I think that happens with magic and rituals and spells as well as films. That’s not to say the film has a straightforward supernatural explanation – but the idea that being close to horror might contaminate you does depend on a kind of superstition for it’s power.” – BunnyLake
6 Beasts of the Southern Wild
7 The Raid
8 Amour
9 The Artist
10 Dredd
Previous results:
2011
1= A Separation
1= True Grit
3 Melancholia
4 Meek’s Cutoff
5 The Tree of Life
2010
1 Mother
2 A Prophet
3 Winter’s Bone
4 Dogtooth
5 Still Walking
2009
1 Let the Right One In
2 The Hurt Locker
3 Synecdoche, New York
4 Inglourious Basterds
5 The White Ribbon
2008
1 No Country For Old Men
2 There Will Be Blood
3 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
4 Persepolis
5 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2007
1 Zodiac
2 The Lives of Others
3 The Science of Sleep
4 This is England
5 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2006
1 Brokeback Mountain
2 Grizzly Man
3 Hidden/Caché
4 The New World
5 Pan’s Labyrinth
2005
1 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
2 Downfall
3 2046
4 Sideways
5 Mysterious Skin
2004
1 Eternal Sunshine
2 Dogville
3 The Incredibles
4 Before Sunset
5 Lost in Translation
2003
1 City of God
2 Kill Bill Vol 1
3 Far from Heaven
4 Secretary
5 Adaptation
2002
Mulholland Dr
2001
Amelie
2000
Magnolia
Agree? Disagree? Think we have terrible taste or do we sound like your sort of people? Next year, why not join in? The forum is here, and clicking the ‘About’ link at the top will take you to the signup page. We would love to hear your views.
