The Village Voice Film Poll is 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 is compiled every year from top ten lists, best performance lists, and votes for other categories. The poll results are printed alongside the annotated top ten 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)
In the 2009 poll, Mulholland Dr. was voted the best film of the decade.
Winners:
Best Film:
- 1999 - Being John Malkovich
- 2000 - Beau travail
- 2001 - Mulholland Dr.
- 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
Best Lead Performance:
- 1999 - Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry
- 2000 - Gillian Anderson - The House of Mirth
- 2001 - Naomi Watts - Mulholland Dr.
- 2002 - Julianne Moore - Far from Heaven
- 2003 - Bill Murray - Lost in Translation
- 2004 - Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
- 2005 - Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
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
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
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 ♥ Huckabees
- 2005 - Maria Bello - A History of Violence
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
Best Supporting Actress:
- 2006 - Luminiţa 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
Famous quotes containing the words village, voice, film and/or poll:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Lap me in soft Lydian airs,
Married to immortal verse,
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—John Milton (1608–1674)
“The obvious parallels between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz have frequently been noted: in both there is the orphan hero who is raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle and yearns to escape to adventure. Obi-wan Kenobi resembles the Wizard; the loyal, plucky little robot R2D2 is Toto; C3PO is the Tin Man; and Chewbacca is the Cowardly Lion. Darth Vader replaces the Wicked Witch: this is a patriarchy rather than a matriarchy.”
—Andrew Gordon, U.S. educator, critic. “The Inescapable Family in American Science Fiction and Fantasy Films,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Summer 1992)
“If Rosa Parks had taken a poll before she sat down in that bus in Montgomery, she’d still be standing.”
—Mary Frances Berry (b. 1938)