Youth Novels: BOYHOOD Tops the 2014 CAST Awards

From the drunken arguments of pub nights here in Toronto, a bit of a circle of film-lovers has been formed. We call it CAST: Cinema Appreciation Society of Toronto. Spoiler alert – You’ll probably be hearing that acronym a lot more this year, so get used to it.

For the fourth year running now, members of CAST have thrown their lots in and chosen what they believe to be the best film of the year, and things actually turned into a bit of a nail-biter where choosing a top dog was concerned.

In the end, like many other critics groups, we turned our eyes to BOYHOOD…but right behind it? Wes Anderson’s GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL.

A podcast on the matter will be dropping in the near future, but in the meantime, here’s how the vote shook down, including lists of individual voters’ top tens below…

1. Boyhood (138 points, 19 mentions, 7.3 average/vote, 7 first place votes) – Sarah
Gopaul, Emily Reid, Ariel Fisher, Eric Marchen, Sean Kelly, Matt Brown, Ulkar
Alakbarova
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (136, 21, 6.5, 6) – James McNally, Philip Hamilton,
Ian Stuart, Bob Turnbull, Heidi Zarse, Don Marks
3. Whiplash (93, 14, 8.33, 2) – Lindsay Ragone, Leora Heilbronn
4. Nightcrawler (88, 15, 5.9, 0)
5. Under the Skin (76, 10, 7.6, 3) – Kirk Haviland, Kurt Halfyard, Paolo Kagaoan
6. Birdman (76, 10, 7.6, 1) – Corey Pierce
7. Gone Girl (74, 14, 5.3, 1) – Addison Wylie
8. Mommy (60, 8, 7.5, 4) – Norm McGlashan, Courtney Small, Greg from
TOFilmFest, Donna from TOFilmFest
9. Inherent Vice (52, 10, 5.2, 0)
10. Force Majeure (47, 11, 4.3, 1) – Richard Iwasa
11. The LEGO Movie (43, 8, 5.4, 2) – Stefan Ellison, Sky Wylie
12. Wild (41, 7, 5.9, 1) – Anne T. Donahue
13. Horse Money (34, 4, 8.5, 2) – Christopher Heron, David Davidson
14. Interstellar (32, 4, 8.0, 1) – Marko Orlic
15. Enemy (32, 5, 6.4, 0)
16. Snowpiercer (29, 6, 4.8, 0)
17. Only Lovers Left Alive (28, 6, 4.7, 0)
18. The Overnighters (27, 7, 3.9, 0)
19. Mr. Turner (25, 4, 6.3, 0)
20. Citizenfour (25, 5, 5.0, 0)
21. Leviathan (23, 4, 5.8, 0)
22. Foxcatcher (23, 4, 5.8, 0)
23. What We Do In The Shadows (22, 4, 5.5, 1) – Less Lee Moore
24. Dear White People (21, 3, 7.0, 0)
25. The Immigrant (21, 4, 5.3, 0)
26. Winter Sleep (21, 4, 5.3, 0)
27. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (20, 4, 5.0, 0)28. The Look of Silence (19, 2, 9.5, 1) – Amir Soltani
29. Calvary (19, 3, 6.3, 1) – Dave Voigt
30. Phoenix (18, 3, 6.0, 1) – Matt Hoffman
31. Goodbye to Language 3D (17, 2, 8.5, 1) – Blake Williams
32. Obvious Child (17, 3, 5.7, 0)
33. Nymphomaniac (15, 4, 3.8, 0)
34. The Imitation Game (15, 5, 3.0, 0)
35. Godzilla (14, 2, 7.0, 0)
36. Stranger By The Lake (14, 3, 4.7, 0)
37. Locke (13, 2, 6.5, 0)
38. Clouds of Sils Maria (13, 3, 4.3, 0)
39. Frank (12, 2, 6.0, 0)
40. Ida (12, 2, 6.0, 0)
41. The Tribe (12, 3, 4.0, 0)
42. Li’l Quinquin (11, 2, 5.5, 1) – Moen Mohamed
43. 20,000 Days on Earth (11, 2, 5.5, 0)
44. Life Itself (11, 2, 5.5, 0)
45. The Editor (11, 2, 5.5, 0)
46. The Voices (11, 2, 5.5, 0)
47. Selma (10, 1, 10.0, 1) – Ryan McNeil
48. We Are The Best! (10, 3, 3.3, 0)
49. Guardians of the Galaxy (10, 3, 3.3, 0)
INDIVIDUAL BALLOTS
Donna from TOFilmFest (TOFilmFest.com) @TOFilmFest
1. Mommy (10)
2. Whiplash (9)
3. The Dark Horse (8)
4. Cut Snake (7)
5. The Voices (6)
6. Charlie’s Country (5)
7. Teen Lust (4)
8. Alleluia (3)
9. The Little Death (2)
10. Breathe (1)
Greg from TOFilmFest (TOFilmFest.com) @TOFilmFest
1. Mommy (10)
2. Whiplash (9)
3. Pasolini (8)
4. The Tribe (7)
5. They Have Escaped (6)
6. The Voices (5)
7. The Little Death (4)8. Sand Dollars (3)
9. Breathe (2)
10. Force Majeure (1)
Ulkar Alakbarova (moviemovesme.com) @AlakbarovaUlkar
1. Boyhood (10)
2. Foxcatcher (9)
3. Wild (8)
4. Still Alice (7)
5. Maps to the Stars (6)
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel (5)
7. The Immigrant (4)
8. The Congress (3)
9. The Imitation Game (2)
10. Unbroken (1)
Matt Brown (mamo.ca) @tederick
1. Boyhood (10)
2. Gone Girl (9)
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel (8)
4. Enemy (7)
5. Big Hero 6 (6)
6. Snowpiercer (5)
7. Still the Water (4)
8. Force Majeure (3)
9. Guardians of the Galaxy (2)
10. NO VOTE (1)
Anne. T. Donahue @annetdonahue
1. Wild (10)
2. The Skeleton Twins (9)
3. The Riot Club (8)
4. Birdman (7)
5. Obvious Child (6)
6. Gone Girl (5)
7. X Men: Days of Future Past (4)
8. Whiplash (3)
9. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2)
10. The LEGO Movie (1)
Stefan Ellison (thescenemagazine.ca) @MisterCoat
1. The LEGO Movie (10)2. Men, Women and Children (9)
3. Big Eyes (8)
4. Birdman (7)
5. Begin Again (6)
6. Godzilla (5)
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel (4)
8. The Imitation Game (3)
9. Citizenfour (2)
10. Gone Girl (1)
Ariel Fisher (rowthree.com, soundonsight.com) @afis8
1. Boyhood (10)
2. Whiplash (9)
3. Shrew’s Nest (8)
4. Dear White People (7)
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel (6)
6. Life Itself (5)
7. Snowpiercer (4)
8. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (3)
9. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2)
10. The Babadook (1)
Sarah Gopaul (digitaljournal.com) @SarahGopaul
1. Boyhood (10)
2. Birdman (9)
3. The Boxtrolls (8)
4. Gone Girl (7)
5. Oculus (6)
6. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (5)
7. Whiplash (4)
8. The Imitation Game (3)
9. The LEGO Movie (2)
10. The Theory of Everything (1)

Best film moment of 2014: Christoph Waltz, representing himself in court in Big Eyes,
running back and forth from the witness box. Hilarious!
Kurt Halfyard (rowthree.com, twitchfilm.com) @triflic
1. Under the Skin (10)
2. Leviathan (9)
3. Nightcrawler (8)
4. Enemy (7)
5. Snowpiercer (6)
6. The Duke of Burgundy (5)7. Only Lovers Left Alive (4)
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel (3)
9. Gone Girl (2)
10. Boyhood (1)
Philip Hamilton
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (10)
2. Mr. Turner (9)
3. Birdman (8)
4. Nightcrawler (7)
5. Winter Sleep (6)
6. Blue Ruin (5)
7. The Overnighters (4)
8. National Gallery (3)
9. Wild (2)
10. Guardians of the Galaxy (1)
Kirk Haviland (dorkshelf.com, weraddicted.com) @MovieJunkieTO
1. Under the Skin (10)
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (9)
3. What We Do In The Shadows (8)
4. Guardians of the Galaxy (7)
5. Snowpiercer (6)
6. Whiplash (5)
7. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (4)
8. Songs for Alexis (3)
9. The Imitation Game (2)
10. We Are The Best! (1)
Leora Heilbronn (ioncinema.com, blacksheepreviews.com) @leoraheilbronn
1. Whiplash (10)
2. The Raid 2: Berendal (9)
3. Inherent Vice (8)
4. Only Lovers Left Alive (7)
5. Love is Strange (6)
6. Gone Girl (5)
7. Snowpiercer (4)
8. The LEGO Movie (3)
9. Calvary (2)
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel (1)
Christopher Heron (theseventhart.org) @the7thart1. Horse Money (10)
2. Jauja (9)
3. Inherent Vice (8)
4. Goodbye to Language 3D (7)
5. The Immigrant (6)
6. Under the Skin (5)
7. The Princess of France (4)
8. Stranger By The Lake (3)
9. National Gallery (2)
10. Clouds of Sils Maria (1)
Matt Hoffman (blacksheepreviews.com, thetfs.ca) @HoffmanOnFilm
1. Phoenix (10)
2. Mommy (9)
3. Under the Skin (8)
4. Whiplash (7)
5. Foxcatcher (6)
6. Wild (5)
7. The Tribe (4)
8. Le Weekend (3)
9. Nymphomaniac (2)
10. Nightcrawler (1)
Richard Iwasa (tifftalk.blogspot.ca) @tifftalk
1. Force Majeure (10)
2. Birdman (9)
3. Clouds of Sils Maria (8)
4. Wild (7)
5. The Past (6)
6. The Imitation Game (5)
7. Boyhood (4)
8. Gone Girl (3)
9. The Last Five Years (2)
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel (1)
Paolo Kagaoan @paolocase
1. Under the Skin (10)
2. Ida (9)
3. Mr. Turner (8)
4. The Lunchbox (7)
5. Chef (6)
6. The Good Lie (5)
7. Foxcatcher (4)8. Boyhood (3)
9. The Overnighters (2)
10. Rich Hill (1)
Sean Kelly (SKonMovies.com, thetfs.ca) @SKonMovies
1. Boyhood (10)
2. The Look of Silence (9)
3. Birdman (8)
4. Locke (7)
5. The Editor (6)
6. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (5)
7. The LEGO Movie (4)
8. Alive Inside (3)
9. Mommy (2)
10. Nightcrawler (1)
Best film moment of 2014: the standing ovation at the end of the TIFF screening for The
Look of Silence.
Eric Marchen @EM6211
1. Boyhood (10)
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (9)
3. Inherent Vice (8)
4. The Overnighters (7)
5. Nightcrawler (6)
6. The LEGO Movie (5)
7. Gone Girl (4)
8. Ida (3)
9. Whiplash (2)
10. Force Majeure (1)
Best film moment of 2014: The ski chase in The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Don Marks (torontoplex.com, filmfuzzily.tumblr.com) @CaptFuzz
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (10)
2. The Wind Rises (9)
3. Interstellar (8)
4. 20,000 Days on Earth (7)
5. Stranger By The Lake (6)
6. Like Father, Like Son (5)
7. The Immigrant (4)
8. Winter Sleep (3)
9. Edge of Tomorrow (2)
10. Force Majeure (1)
Best film moment of 2014: “I Love You All,” the last scene of Frank.

Norm McGlashan (flickhunter.blogspot.ca)@flickhunter1 @Mcstay12

1. Mommy (10)
2. Under the Skin (9)
3. Force Majeure (8)
4. Calvary (7)
5. Boyhood (6)
6. In The Crosswind (5)
7. Leviathan (4)
8. What We Do In The Shadows (3)
9. The Notorious Mr. Bout (2)
10. Mr. Turner (1)
Best film moment of 2014: in Mommy when Steve is cruising down the middle of the
street on his longboard, white headphones around his neck, and he pulls apart the 1:1
screen ratio to full screen. There were audible gasps in the theatre and this was at a TIFF
press screening!!
James McNally (torontoscreenshots.com) @TOscreenshots
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (10)
2. Inherent Vice (9)
3. Actress (8)
4. Nightcrawler (7)
5. Under The Skin (6)
6. The Overnighters (5)
7. Mommy (4)
8. We Are The Best! (3)
9. Song of the Sea (2)
10. Rich Hill (1)
Ryan McNeil (thematinee.ca) @matinee_ca
1. Selma (10)
2. Boyhood (9)
3. Birdman (8)
4. Obvious Child (7)
5. Top Five (6)
6. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (5)
7. Citizenfour (4)
8. Nymphomaniac (3)
9. Rich Hill (2)
10. The Grand Budapest Hotel(1)

Moen Mohamed (ioncinema.com)

1. L’il Quinquin (10)

2. Winter Sleep (9)
3. Horse Money (8)
4. Amour Fou (7)
5. Boyhood (6)
6. Black Coal, Thin Ice (5)
7. Phoenix (4)
8. Alive (3)
9. Force Majeure (2)
10. The Tribe (1)
Best film moment of 2014: The most impressive film moment in all the films I have seen
this year is hands down the brilliantly written and superbly executed 20-minute (approx)
argument between the protagonist and his sister in Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep. The
jabs and insults, delivered most gracefully and diplomatically, make the eyes water with
discomfort.
Less Lee Moore (popshifter.com) @popshifter
1. What We Do In The Shadows (10)
2. Godzilla (9)
3. Interstellar (8)
4. It Follows (7)
5. Nightcrawler (6)
6. The Editor (5)
7. Housebound (4)
8. Cold In July (3)
9. Under The Skin (2)
10. Spring (1)
Marko Orlic (recordinglivefromsomewhere.com/) @marko_orlic
1. Interstellar (10)
2. Enemy (9)
3. Under the Skin (8)
4. The Immigrant (7)
5. Boyhood (6)
6. Inherent Vice (5)
7. Foxcatcher (4)
8. Fury (3)
9. The Sleepwalker (2)
10. Two Days, One Night (1)
Best film moments of 2014: Enemy – The ending, Interstellar – The Tesseract sequence,
Boyhood – Patricia Arquette admitting “I thought there’d be more!”, Under The Skin –
Man popping like a plastic bag

Corey Pierce (www.rowthree.com/category/podcast/ostl/) @coreypierceart
1. Birdman (10)
2. Whiplash (9)
3. Nightcrawler (8)
4. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (7)
5. Only Lovers Left Alive (6)
6. X-Men: Days of Future Past (5)
7. Gone Girl (4)
8. Top Five (3)
9. An Honest Liar (2)
10. Alan Partridge (1)
Best film moment of 2014: “You can say that again…” – They Came Together
Lindsay Ragone @lindsayragone
1. Whiplash (10)
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (9)
3. Pride (8)
4. Only Lovers Left Alive (7)
5. Gone Girl (6)
6. The F Word (5)
7. Obvious Child (4)
8. Red Army (3)
9. Into The Woods (2)
10. Boyhood (1)
Emily Reid (christiepitsff.com) @ChristiePitsFF
1. Boyhood (10)
2. Force Majeure (9)
3. Citizenfour (8)
4. Leviathan (7)
5. Two Days, One Night (6)
6. Mommy (5)
7. Nightcrawler (4)
8. Whiplash (3)
9. The Overnighters (2)
10. ‘71 (1)
Courtney Small (cinemaaxis.com) @SmallMind
1. Mommy (10)
2. Boyhood (9)
3. The Overnighters (8)
4. Nightcrawler (7)5. Dear White People (6)
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel (5)
7. Force Majeure (4)
8. Leviathan (3)
9. Gone Girl (2)
10. What We Do In The Shadows (1)
Amir Soltani @amiresque
1. The Look of Silence (10)
2. The Strange Little Cat (9)
3. Under the Skin (8)
4. Closed Curtain (7)
5. Force Majeure (6)
6. Timbuktu (5)
7. The Grand Budapest Hotel (4)
8. A Most Wanted Man (3)
9. Citizenfour (2)
10. Inherent Vice (1)
Ian Stuart
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (10)
2. Birdman (9)
3. Nightcrawler (8)
4. Mr. Turner (7)
5. Inherent Vice (6)
6. Whiplash (5)
7. Clouds of Sils Maria (4)
8. Winter Sleep (3)
9. Force Majeure (2)
10. Only Lovers Left Alive (1)
Bob Turnbull (eternalsunshineofthelogicalmind.blogspot.ca) @thelogicalmind
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (10)
2. Gone Girl (9)
3. Whiplash (8)
4. Nightcrawler (7)
5. Interstellar (6)
6. Boyhood (5)
7. 20,000 Days on Earth (4)
8. Blue Ruin (3)
9. Enemy (2)
10. Inherent Vice (1)Best film moment of 2014: my scene of the year has to be from A Pigeon Sat On A
Branch Reflecting On Existence:
Nothing made me happier all year than watching the bar scene (set in 1943) with
owner/bartender Limping Lotte crooning her sales pitch (to the tune of “Glory, Glory,
Hallelujah”) to her customers about buying dollar shots. The military men in attendance
sing back (using the same tune) that they would like a drink but have no money and so
what are they to do? Lotte smilingly sings back in response that all she requires is a kiss
if they are willing…And they are indeed willing…It’s such a wonderful depiction of how
humans can interact, can be kind to each other and can create these moments of wonder
that I grinned like an idiot throughout it.
Dave Voigt (dorkshelf.com, examiner.com/Canada, weraddicted.com, intheseats.ca)
@PopCulturePoet
1. Calvary (10)
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel (9)
3. Dear White People (8)
4. Gone Girl (7)
5. Locke (6)
6. The Babadook (5)
7. Inherent Vice (4)
8. Only Lovers Left Alive (3)
9. Wild (2)
10. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (1)
Best film moments of 2014: The last 15 minutes of Whiplash, the dramatic silence in
Interstellar, the trashy twists and turns of Gone Girl and the noises coming out from the
shadows in The Babadook remind us all that movies can still put us on the edge of our
seats at any given moment.
Blake Williams @astrostic
1. Goodbye to Language 3D (10)
2. Boyhood (9)
3. Journey to the West (8)
4. Manakamana (7)
5. Horse Money (6)
6. Stranger By The Lake (5)
7. Phoenix (4)
8. National Gallery (3)
9. Nymphomaniac (2)
10. L’il Quinquin (1)
Addison Wylie (wyliewrites.com) @AddisonWylie
1. Gone Girl (10)2. The Selfish Giant (9)
3. The LEGO Movie (8)
4. Borgman (7)
5. Life Itself (6)
6. The Final Member (5)
7. AKP: Job 27 (4)
8. Frank (3)
9. Nightcrawler (2)
10. The Overnighters (1)
Best film moment of 2014: “I Love You All,” the final song from Frank.
Sky Wylie @skybaby5
1. The LEGO Movie (10)
2. Frank (9)
3. Nightcrawler (8)
4. The One I Love (7)
5. St. Vincent (6)
6. Wish I Was Here (5)
7. Alive Inside (4)
8. The Sacrament (3)
9. Coherence (2)
10. Happy Christmas (1)
Best film moment of 2014: “Spaceship!” – The LEGO Movie.
Heidi Zarse @pwnny
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (10)
2. Boyhood (9)
3. Nightcrawler (8)
4. Enemy (7)
5. We Are The Best! (6)
6. Jodorowsky’s Dune (5)
7. Snowpiercer (4)
8. Edge of Tomorrow (3)
9. Inherent Vice (2)
10. Birdman (1)