Saturday, February 28, 2015

Best Films Overall of 2014

Nominations have been announced for the 2014 Cosmique Movie Awards, and the nominees for the Best Overall awards are below.

The Best Overall awards recognize films in a variety of general and technical categories regardless of genre -- everything from Best Film of 2014 to Favorite Guilty Pleasure.

Best Film of 2014


  • Birdman
  • Boyhood
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • The Imitation Game
  • Nightcrawler
  • Selma


Best Director of a 2014 Film


  • Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • David Fincher - Gone Girl
  • Dan Gilroy - Nightcrawler
  • Alejandro G. Iñárritu - Birdman
  • Richard Linklater - Boyhood
  • Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game


Best Script of a 2014 Film


  • Birdman
  • Gone Girl
  • The Imitation Game
  • Nightcrawler
  • The Skeleton Twins
  • Whiplash


Best Cinematography, Set Design or Art Direction for a 2014 Film


  • Birdman
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • Interstellar
  • Into the Woods
  • Maleficent
  • Snowpiercer


Best Costume Design or Make-Up for a 2014 Film


  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Into the Woods
  • Maleficent
  • Snowpiercer


Best Visual Effects for a 2014 Film


  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  • Edge of Tomorrow
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Interstellar
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past


Best Use of (Gratuitous?) Nudity 


  • Birdman
  • Gone Girl
  • Neighbors
  • That Awkward Moment
  • Under the Skin
  • Willow Creek


Favorite Cinematic Guilty Pleasure


  • Divergent
  • Dumb and Dumber To
  • Life After Beth
  • The Maze Runner
  • Neighbors
  • 22 Jump Street


Best Cinematic Performances of 2014

Nominations are in for the the 2014 Cosmique Movie Awards, and here are the nominees for the Best Performances of 2014.

Our awards range from the traditional to the irreverent, from Best Lead Actor to Best Female Villain and Sexiest Ensemble. Our top nominees have some overlap with the Oscars -- but here in particular, our voters showed their independence.

If you want to help select the final winners, you can vote online for each award. Ballots must be completed no later than midnight on Friday, March 20, 2015.

Best Lead Actress of 2014


  • Jennifer Aniston - Cake
  • Jessica Chastain - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
  • Essie Davis - The Babadook
  • Scarlett Johansson - Under the Skin
  • Julianne Moore - Still Alice
  • Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl


Best Lead Actor of 2014


  • Ben Affleck - Gone Girl
  • Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game
  • Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler
  • Michael Keaton - Birdman
  • Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
  • Miles Teller - Whiplash


Best Supporting Actress of 2014


  • Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
  • Anna Kendrick - Into the Woods
  • Rene Russo - Nightcrawler
  • Emma Stone - Birdman
  • Meryl Streep - Into the Woods
  • Naomi Watts - Birdman


Best Supporting Actor of 2014


  • Neil Patrick Harris - Gone Girl
  • Ethan Hawke - Boyhood
  • Ian McKellen - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Edward Norton - Birdman
  • Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
  • J.K. Simmons - Whiplash


Best Young Actress of 2014


  • Lilla Crawford - Into the Woods
  • Elle Fanning - Maleficent
  • Mackenzie Foy - Interstellar
  • Lorelei Linklater - Boyhood
  • Chloë Grace Moretz - If I Stay
  • Quvenzhané Wallis - Annie


Best Young Actor of 2014


  • Emjay Anthony - Chef
  • Ellar Coltrane - Boyhood
  • Daniel Huttlestone - Into the Woods
  • Jaeden Lieberher - St. Vincent
  • Charlie Tehan - Love Is Strange
  • Noah Wiseman - The Babadook


Best Ensemble Cast of a 2014 Film


  • Birdman
  • Boyhood
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • The Imitation Game
  • Into the Woods


Sexist Ensemble Cast of a 2014 Film


  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
  • Neighbors
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past


Favorite 2014 Male Heroic Character


  • Chris Evans - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Andrew Garfield - The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • Ian McKellen - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Evan Peters - X-Men: Days of Future Past
  • Aaron Swartz - The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
  • Brenton Thwaites - The Giver


Favorite 2014 Female Heroic Character


  • Cate Blanchett - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Emily Blunt - Edge of Tomorrow
  • Anne Hathaway - Interstellar
  • Scarlett Johansson - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
  • Zoe Saldana - Guardians of the Galaxy


Best Male Villain of a 2014 Film


  • Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
  • Benedict Cumberbatch - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Dane DeHaan - The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • Peter Dinklage - X-Men: Days of Future Past
  • Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler
  • Sebastian Stan - Captain America: The Winter Soldier


Best Female Villain of a 2014 Film


  • Emily Foxler - Coherence
  • Angelina Jolie - Maleficent
  • Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
  • Meryl Streep - Into the Woods
  • Tilda Swinton - Snowpiercer
  • Kate Winslet - Divergent


Actor’s Character From a 2014 Film You Would Most Like to be Intimate With


  • Dave Franco - Neighbors
  • Andrew Garfield - The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • Dylan O'Brien - The Maze Runner
  • Chris Pratt - Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Daniel Radcliffe - Horns
  • Brenton Thwaites - Maleficent


Actress’ Character From a 2014 Film You Would Most Like to be Intimate With


  • Scarlett Johansson - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Angelina Jolie - Maleficent
  • Anna Kendrick - Into the Woods
  • Jennifer Lawrence - X-Men: Days of Future Past
  • Emma Stone - Birdman
  • Charlize Theron - A Million Ways to Die in the West


Best Films by Genre of 2014

Here are the Best Films by Genre nominations for the 2014 Cosmique Movie Awards.

This year has several new awards. Best Fantasy Film and Best Science Fiction Film remain split, like last year, and are joined by a new Best Superhero Film of 2014. In addition, we have finally split the Best Mystery, Suspense, Horror, or Thriller Films award into two separate awards for Best Mystery/Suspense Film of 2014 and Best Horror/Thriller Film of 2014.

If you wish to vote for the winners, you can submit a ballot online. Voting must be completed by Friday, March 20, 2015 by midnight.

Best Action/Adventure Film of 2014


  • Edge of Tomorrow
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • The Maze Runner
  • Need for Speed
  • Nightcrawler
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past


Best Animated Film of 2014


  • Big Hero 6
  • The Boxtrolls
  • How to Train Your Dragon 2
  • Mr. Peabody and Sherman
  • Paddington
  • Penguins of Madagascar


Best Comedic Film of 2014


  • Dear White People
  • The Double
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • The Interview
  • Obvious Child
  • St. Vincent


Best Documentary Film of 2014


  • Citizenfour
  • Finding Vivian Maier
  • The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
  • Jodorowsky's Dune
  • Life Itself
  • To Be Takei



Best Dramatic Film of 2014


  • Birdman
  • Foxcatcher
  • Gone Girl
  • The Imitation Game
  • Nightcrawler
  • Whiplash


Best Fantasy Film of 2014


  • Afflicted
  • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
  • Horns
  • Into the Woods
  • Maleficent
  • Only Lovers Left Alive


Best Historical Film of 2014


  • American Sniper
  • Foxcatcher
  • The Imitation Game
  • Rosewater
  • Selma
  • The Theory of Everything


Best Horror/Thriller Film of 2014


  • Afflicted
  • Annabelle
  • The Babadook
  • Oculus
  • Only Lovers Left Alive
  • Willow Creek


Best Musical Film of 2014


  • Frank
  • Get On Up
  • Into the Woods
  • Jersey Boys
  • Muppets Most Wanted
  • Whiplash


Best Mystery/Suspense Film of 2014


  • Blue Ruin
  • Coherence
  • Enemy
  • Gone Girl
  • Nightcrawler
  • The Signal


Best Queer Film of 2014


  • The Imitation Game
  • Lilting
  • Love Is Strange
  • Pride
  • The Skeleton Twins
  • Test


Best Science Fiction Film of 2014


  • Coherence
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  • Edge of Tomorrow
  • Interstellar
  • Snowpiercer
  • Under the Skin


Best Superhero Film of 2014


  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  • Big Hero 6
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Robocop
  • X-Men: Days of Future Past


Worst Films of 2014

The nominations are in for the 2014 Cosmique Movie Awards, and here are the nominees for the Worst of 2014.

If you wish to help determine the "winner" of these three awards, you can vote online, but ballots must be completed by March 20, 2015.

Most Overrated Film of 2014


  • The Fault in Our Stars
  • Godzilla
  • The Interview
  • Joe
  • The Lego Movie
  • Lucy


Worst Film of 2014


  • The Congress
  • The Guest
  • The Interview
  • Lucy
  • Winter's Tale
  • The Zero Theorem


Worst Performance of 2014


  • Nicolas Cage - Joe
  • Scarlett Johansson - Lucy
  • Melissa McCarthy - Tammy
  • Adam Sandler - Blended
  • Dan Stevens - The Guest
  • Shailene Woodley - White Bird in a Blizzard


Friday, February 6, 2015

It's so overwhelming!

Quick tips for casting nominations for the 2014 Cosmique Movie Awards


Nominations for the 2014 Cosmique Movie Awards are due in a week. We know, we know, it's so overwhelming to vote in the nomination round. Many voters get stumped trying to think of their top favorites for the year. It's so much easier to choose from small list for the final round -- like the difference between a blue book essay test versus a scan-tron.

So here are some suggestions for how we approach the nomination ballot ourselves.

(Confused? Check our more about who we are and an FAQ about the nomination process.)

First, what did you see?

It may be helpful to first try to narrow down what you saw. We have a two page list of eligible 2014 films in PDF format, but if you have Excel, we think that the Excel List of Eligible 2014 Films may be easier to work with. 

With the Excel list, you can place an "X" in the "Rating" column and then use filters to only show the films you've actually seen. Or if it's helpful, you can put in a numeric rating (using any scale you'd like) and then use filters to not show the blanks. You can also add any notes next to certain films if you wish as a reminder of particular nominations you wish to consider it for.

Note that the eligibility list may not be exhaustive. We create the list by starting with the films that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences say are eligible for the year's Oscars, which they limit to films that were released for at least seven consecutive days in a Los Angeles theater. We then supplement with other films that miss the AMPAS' strict criteria but which we still think should be included, which sometimes also includes movies that only hit the film festival circuit before being released on DVD. Sometimes that may even include 2013 films that simply weren't accessible to most Cosmo voters until 2014. Because of this, if there are films that aren't on our official list that you nevertheless think should count as a 2014 film, please comment below or email us to confirm its eligibility, or vote for it and take your chances.

Second, the ballot

We've found that the MS Word Nomination Ballot may be easier to use than the online ballot. With the MS Word Ballot, you can keep it open and work on it a little at a time, taking breaks as needed and then coming back to it when you can. 

For each award, we've provided a brief explanation of its scope. We've also provided a list of potential nominees getting buzz. In some cases, these are films and people who have been nominated for similar awards at other film awards, or were on pundits' lists of possible nominees. For genre awards, many were based on IMDB's ratings for each genre. For Lifetime Achievements, all previous nominees not yet inducted were included, along with others high on the American Film Institute's Top 100 List or other industry lists. And for many awards, we added a few of our own ideas, too. 

But remember, you are not bound by the list of buzzworthy ideas. Feel free to nominate any film you think is eligible and worthy.

Our recommendation is to download the MS Word ballot if you have MS Office. Make a quick pass, writing in some quick nominations that you're sure about. Then make another pass, reading through the Buzzworthy list for each award to get additional ideas.  

Remember, you don't have to fill in all five slots per award if you can't think of enough you think are worthy. You can even skip entire awards if you don't care for the genre or can't think of any appropriate nominees.

Of course, if you don't have Microsoft Office, you can always use the online ballot.

Submit your ballot by Friday, February 13, 2015 at midnight

Whether you vote online or with the MS Word ballot, be sure to submit it before midnight PST on Friday, February 13, 2015

If you've already submitted a ballot but want to change something, you can either resubmit your ballot with the change (we will only use the most recent submission), or you can email us and explain to us what you'd like to change.

More questions? Check out our nomination FAQ, and if that doesn't help, post a question below or email us.

Good luck! And thank you!