My Annual 15 Best Movie List, Updated

And away we go, as usual, a bit prematurely.  I haven't yet seen The Wolf of Wall Street, but find Scorcese inevitably overrated so don't expect that to make an updated list (and see very personal attack on it here).  Another I haven't seen, just out,  The Invisible Woman (Ralph Fiennes as Dickens), might very well make the final list, however. Same for the much-lauded The Act of Killing--and The Armstrong Lie. 

Inside Llewyn Davis was perfectly okay, nothing more.  Ditto for Blue is The Warmest Color.

So here's where we are now, in no particular order.   Note: The notion that this was "a great year for American movies" is hooey.  Unless your idea of consistently "great directors" are Scorcese, Coen Brothers, David Russell, Woody Allen.  Not to mention the Anderson boys, Wes and Paul Thomas.

"Short Term 12," "Blackfish," "12 Years a Slave," "Philomena," "The Attack," "Stories We Tell," "Before Midnight," "The Other Son," "Nebraska," "Place Beyond the Pines," "Wadjda," "Cutie and the Boxer," "No,"  "20 Feet from Stardom," "Fruitvale Station," "What Maisie Knew," and runner-up for my own, of course, "Following the Ninth."