Readers opted to make love and war this year: Mad Max: Fury Road and Carol finished neck and neck at #1 and #2 in our annual poll. Reflecting truly omnivorous tastes, a wide variety of films occupied the top 10, from Spotlight to Phoenix to Anomalisa to The Assassin to Brooklyn to Tangerine. The Revenant was this year’s latecomer favorite that our Critics’ Poll (Jan/Feb 2016) omitted, but also placing and striking nerves were The Big Short, Ex Machina, and Sicario. For each ballot, a first-place choice was allotted 20 points, 19 for second, and so on. Congratulations to the winners selected randomly from poll participants to receive Criterion Collection DVDs of their choice! Their names will be announced shortly on filmcomment.com. Many thanks to The Criterion Collection for its generous donation of the prizes.

Mad Max

1. Mad Max: Fury Road George Miller, U.S.

Carol Todd Haynes Rooney Mara

2. Carol Todd Haynes, U.S.

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3. Spotlight Tom McCarthy, U.S.

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4. Inside Out Pete Docter & Ronnie del Carmen, U.S.

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5. Clouds of Sils Maria Olivier Assayas, France

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6. Phoenix Christian Petzold, Germany

Ex Machina

7. Ex Machina Alex Garland, U.K.

Brooklyn Saorsie Ronan

8. Brooklyn John Crowley, U.K.

The Assassin Hou Hsiao-hsien

9. The Assassin Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan

Tangerine

10. Tangerine Sean Baker, U.S.

The Big Short movie

11. The Big Short Adam McKay, U.S.

Anomalisa

12. Anomalisa Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, U.S.

Sicario

13. Sicario Denis Villeneuve, U.S.

Room

14. Room Lenny Abrahamson, Canada/Ireland

The Revenant

15. The Revenant Alejandro G. Iñárritu, U.S.

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16. Son of Saul László Nemes, Hungary

bridge of spies

17. Bridge of Spies Steven Spielberg, U.S.

it follows

18. It Follows David Robert Mitchell, U.S.

45 Years Charlotte Rampling

19. 45 Years Andrew Haigh, U.K.

mistress america

20. Mistress America Noah Baumbach, U.S.

The Hateful Eight

21. The Hateful Eight Quentin Tarantino, U.S.

The Look of Silence best of 2015

22. The Look of Silence Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark/Indonesia

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23. Timbuktu Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania/France

The Martian

24. The Martian Ridley Scott, U.S.

Love & Mercy Bill Pohlad

25. Love & Mercy Bill Pohlad, U.S.

Creed Michael B. Jordan

26. Creed Ryan Coogler, U.S.

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27. The Duke of Burgundy Peter Strickland, U.K.

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28. Amy Asif Kapadia, U.K.

Steve Jobs Fassbender

29. Steve Jobs Danny Boyle, U.S.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

30. The Diary of a Teenage Girl Marielle Heller, U.S.

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31. The End of the Tour James Ponsoldt, U.S.

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32. Taxi Jafar Panahi, Iran

Wild Tales

33. Wild Tales Damián Szifron, Argentina/Spain

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34. Jauja Lisandro Alonso, Argentina

Hard to be a God best of 2015

35. Hard to Be a God Aleksei German, Russia

In Jackson Heights

36. In Jackson Heights Frederick Wiseman, U.S.

What we Do in the Shadows

37. What We Do in the Shadows Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi, New Zealand/U.S.

The Forbidden Room Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson

38. The Forbidden Room Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson, Canada

Queen of Earth

39. Queen of Earth Alex Ross Perry, U.S.

Victoria

40. Victoria Sebastian Schipper, Germany

Arabian Nights

41. Arabian Nights Miguel Gomes, Portugal

Magic Mike XXL Gregory Jacobs

42. Magic Mike XXL Gregory Jacobs, U.S.

about-elly

43. About Elly Asghar Farhadi, Iran

Beasts of No Nation Cary Joji Fukunaga

44. Beasts of No Nation Cary Joji Fukunaga, U.S.

Experimenter

45. Experimenter Michael Almereyda, U.S.

Far From the Madding Crowd

46. Far From the Madding Crowd Thomas Vinterberg, U.K.

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47. Blackhat Michael Mann, U.S.

Mustang

48. Mustang Deniz Gamze Ergüven, France/Turkey/Germany

Chi-Raq Spike Lee

49. Chi-Raq Spike Lee, U.S.

Crimson Peak

50. Crimson Peak Guillermo del Toro, U.S.