Although I created this thread much later last year, December 20 is the date I created it each of the two years preceding that. So that's a thing now.
Like always though, the deadline for Ants' annual film submissions is delayed until the weekend of the Academy Awards in February so as to give users much needed time to catch up on all of the stuff they’ve been meaning to watch.
In the meantime, feel free to use this thread to discuss what you liked, what you didn’t like, what you’re most looking forward to seeing, etc.
1) Final submissions are due by
noon EST on Friday, February 20, 2015. Results will be announced before the Academy Awards broadcast on February 22, 2015.
2) Votes should be PMed to me here on Ants. Please remember to number your lists in order to simplify things.
3) Lists are
capped at 50, with
a minimum of 10 entries necessary to be scored.
4) As a general rule of thumb, a theatrical release is eligible if it was designated as a limited release in 2014. For example,
Selma doesn’t get a wide release until January 9, 2015 and
Still Alice won't be out until January 16, 2015 . For our purposes, however (and those of Oscar eligibility), a limited release in December means they count. Films that only had festival screenings and no accompanying theatrical release are not similarly eligible.
Documentary features are eligible, as are HBO Original Films (e.g. The Normal Heart). Miniseries are not.
5) Since final submissions are not due for two months, a “secret ballot” rule is almost unenforceable. I love the spirit behind it though and would ask that as the deadline gets closer, people use their best judgment and stop posting preliminary lists. We don’t want to needlessly ruin the suspense of the final results. I won’t bring this up again unless I see it being a problem in the few weeks leading up to the deadline.
As a frame of reference, here are the top 10 lists for the last five years:
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013