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.
1. Mad Max: Fury Road George Miller, U.S.
2. Carol Todd Haynes, U.S.
3. Spotlight Tom McCarthy, U.S.
4. Inside Out Pete Docter & Ronnie del Carmen, U.S.
5. Clouds of Sils Maria Olivier Assayas, France
6. Phoenix Christian Petzold, Germany
7. Ex Machina Alex Garland, U.K.
8. Brooklyn John Crowley, U.K.
9. The Assassin Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan
10. Tangerine Sean Baker, U.S.
11. The Big Short Adam McKay, U.S.
12. Anomalisa Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, U.S.
13. Sicario Denis Villeneuve, U.S.
14. Room Lenny Abrahamson, Canada/Ireland
15. The Revenant Alejandro G. Iñárritu, U.S.
16. Son of Saul László Nemes, Hungary
17. Bridge of Spies Steven Spielberg, U.S.
18. It Follows David Robert Mitchell, U.S.
19. 45 Years Andrew Haigh, U.K.
20. Mistress America Noah Baumbach, U.S.
21. The Hateful Eight Quentin Tarantino, U.S.
22. The Look of Silence Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark/Indonesia
23. Timbuktu Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania/France
24. The Martian Ridley Scott, U.S.
25. Love & Mercy Bill Pohlad, U.S.
26. Creed Ryan Coogler, U.S.
27. The Duke of Burgundy Peter Strickland, U.K.
28. Amy Asif Kapadia, U.K.
29. Steve Jobs Danny Boyle, U.S.
30. The Diary of a Teenage Girl Marielle Heller, U.S.
31. The End of the Tour James Ponsoldt, U.S.
32. Taxi Jafar Panahi, Iran
33. Wild Tales Damián Szifron, Argentina/Spain
34. Jauja Lisandro Alonso, Argentina
35. Hard to Be a God Aleksei German, Russia
36. In Jackson Heights Frederick Wiseman, U.S.
37. What We Do in the Shadows Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi, New Zealand/U.S.
38. The Forbidden Room Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson, Canada
39. Queen of Earth Alex Ross Perry, U.S.
40. Victoria Sebastian Schipper, Germany
41. Arabian Nights Miguel Gomes, Portugal
42. Magic Mike XXL Gregory Jacobs, U.S.
43. About Elly Asghar Farhadi, Iran
44. Beasts of No Nation Cary Joji Fukunaga, U.S.
45. Experimenter Michael Almereyda, U.S.
46. Far From the Madding Crowd Thomas Vinterberg, U.K.
47. Blackhat Michael Mann, U.S.
48. Mustang Deniz Gamze Ergüven, France/Turkey/Germany
49. Chi-Raq Spike Lee, U.S.
50. Crimson Peak Guillermo del Toro, U.S.
