The Village Voice Film Poll was an annual polling by The Village Voice film section of more than 100 major film critics for alternative media sources. Although the majority of the critics work for the alt-weeklies, a number are former Voice critics who now work for the mainstream media or have retired. It was compiled every year from top 10 lists, best performance lists, and votes for other categories. The poll results were printed alongside the annotated top 10 lists of J. Hoberman, Dennis Lim and Michael Atkinson.
The 1999 poll included votes for Best Film of the Decade (Safe), Best Director of the Decade (Hou Hsiao-hsien), and Best Film of the Century (Citizen Kane).100 Best Films - Village Voice - filmsite.org
In the 2009 poll, Mulholland Drive was voted the best film of the decade.
The Village Voice ceased publication altogether in August 2018. However, much like the Village Voice's own Pazz & Jop poll, the Film Poll has continued on through different publications since the newspaper ended. Film critic Mike D'Angelo has continued to survey frequent contributors of the poll for the Best Film category. The results were published in Slate in 2018 and Filmmaker in 2019 and 2020.
Winners
Best Film 1999: Being John MalkovichVillage Voice Poll and More|Current|The Criterion Collection 2000: Beau Travail 2001: Mulholland Drive 2002: Far from Heaven 2003: Lost in Translation 2004: Before Sunset 2005: A History of Violence 2006: Army of Shadows 2007: There Will Be Blood 2008: WALL-E 2009: The Hurt Locker 2010: The Social Network 2011: The Tree of Life 2012: The Master 2013: Inside Llewyn Davis 2014: Boyhood 2015: Mad Max: Fury Road 2016: Moonlight 2017: Phantom Thread 2018: First Reformed 2019: The Irishman 2020: First Cow
Best Director 1999: Mike Leigh – Topsy-Turvy 2000: Edward Yang – Yi Yi 2001: David Lynch – Mulholland Drive 2002: Todd Haynes – Far from Heaven 2003: Gus Van Sant – Elephant 2004: Richard Linklater – Before Sunset 2005: David Cronenberg – A History of Violence 2010: Olivier Assayas – Carlos 2011: Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life 2012: Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master 2013: Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave 2014: Richard Linklater – Boyhood 2015: George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road 2016: Barry Jenkins – Moonlight 2017: Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread
Best Lead Performance 1999: Hilary Swank – Boys Don't Cry 2000: Gillian Anderson – The House of Mirth 2001: Naomi Watts – Mulholland Drive 2002: Julianne Moore – Far from Heaven 2003: Bill Murray – Lost in Translation 2004: Imelda Staunton – Vera Drake 2005: Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain 2017: Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
Best Actor 2006: Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson 2007: Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood 2008: Sean Penn – Milk 2009: Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker 2010: Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network 2011: Michael Shannon – Take Shelter 2012: Joaquin Phoenix – The Master 2013: Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave 2014: Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler 2015: Géza Röhrig – Son of Saul 2016: Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
Best Actress 2006: Helen Mirren – The Queen 2007: Anamaria Marinca – 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 2008: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky 2009: Tilda Swinton – Julia 2010: Jennifer Lawrence – Winter's Bone 2011: Anna Paquin – Margaret 2012: Rachel Weisz – The Deep Blue Sea 2013: Adèle Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Colour 2014: Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night and The Immigrant 2015: Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years 2016: Isabelle Huppert – Elle
Best Supporting Performance 1999: Chloë Sevigny – Boys Don't Cry 2000: Benicio del Toro – Traffic 2001: Steve Buscemi – Ghost World 2002: Chris Cooper – Adaptation. 2003: Peter Sarsgaard – Shattered Glass 2004: Mark Wahlberg – I Heart Huckabees 2005: Maria Bello – A History of Violence 2017: Laurie Metcalf – Lady Bird
Best Supporting Actor 2006: Jackie Earle Haley – Little Children 2007: Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men 2008: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight 2009: Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds 2010: John Hawkes – Winter's Bone 2011: Albert Brooks – Drive 2012: Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike 2013: James Franco – Spring Breakers 2014: J. K. Simmons – Whiplash 2015: Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies 2016: Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Best Supporting Actress 2006: Luminița Gheorghiu – The Death of Mr. Lazarescu 2007: Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There 2008: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona 2009: Mo'Nique – Precious 2010: Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom 2011: Jeannie Berlin – Margaret 2012: Amy Adams – The Master 2013: Lupita Nyong'o – 12 Years a Slave 2014: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood 2015: Kristen Stewart – Clouds of Sils Maria 2016: Lily Gladstone – Certain Women
Best Documentary 2001: The Gleaners and I 2002: Bowling for Columbine 2003: The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara 2004: Los Angeles Plays Itself 2005: Grizzly Man 2006: Darwin's Nightmare 2007: No End in Sight 2008: Man on Wire 2009: Anvil! The Story of Anvil 2010: Exit Through the Gift Shop 2011: The Interrupters 2012: This Is Not a Film 2013: The Act of KillingVillage Voice, Indiewire and Film Comment’s Top Films of 2013: More Love for ‘Llewyn Davis,’ ’12 Years a Slave’ and ‘Before Midnight’ - IndieWire 2014: Citizenfour 2015: The Look of Silence 2016: O.J.: Made in America 2017: Faces Places
References
External links Official website Take Seven Film Poll Official List of Poll Results and Essays for 2005 with links to previous polls