What up, Makita? You know the drill. It's a tentative list in progress, less for your bated-breath edification than as an aide memoire, since I am an old and forgetful man.

 

 

2014 TOP TEN (world premieres only)

 

1. Episode of the Sea (Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan, and the inhabitants of Urk, The Netherlands) [m]

 

2. Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium / France / Italy)

 

3. Sound That (Kevin Jerome Everson, U.S.) [s]

 

4. The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga (Jessica Oreck, U.S. / Poland / Russia / Ukraine)

 

5. Actress (Robert Greene, U.S.)

 

6. We Had the Experience But Missed the Meaning (Laida Lertxundi, U.S.) [s]

 

7. Shoot (Gaspar Noé, France / U.S.) [s]

 

8. Eat Your Bones (Jean-Charles Hue, France)

 

9. Jauja (Lisandro Alonso, Argentina / Denmark / France / Mexico / U.S. / Germany / Brazil)

 

10. Canopy (Ken Jacobs, U.S.) [v/s]

 

[11. Hacked Circuit (Deborah Stratman, U.S.) [s]]

 

[12. Hill of Freedom (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea) [m]]

 

[13. Journey to the West (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan / France) [m]]

 

[14. Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, France / Germany / Switzerland)]

 

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2014 TOP TEN RELEASES (poll-eligible only)

 

1. Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium / France / Italy)

 

2. The Strange Little Cat (Ramon Zürcher, Germany)

 

3. Stranger By The Lake (Alain Guiraudie, France)

 

4. Closed Curtain (Jafar Panahi and Kambozia Partovi, Iran)

 

5. Actress (Robert Greene, U.S.)

 

6. Story of My Death (Albert Serra, Spain / France)

 

7. Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho, South Korea)

 

8. Charlie Victor Romeo (Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels and Karlyn Michelson, U.S.)

 

9. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, U.K. / Germany / France / Cyprus / U.S.)

 

10. What Now? Remind Me (Joachim Pinto, Portugal)

 

11. Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan / France)

 

12. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (Denis Côté, Canada)