Best of May 2014: Top Albums, Games, Movies & TV

Highest-scoring albums this month

Includes albums with 7 or more reviews from critics. Reissues, live albums, EPs, and compilations are excluded. All scores on this page are from May 30, 2014.

Album/Artist Score Buy Album Stream Album 1 To Be Kind by Swans 88 Amazon Spotify 2 Are We There by Sharon Van Etten 87 Amazon Spotify 3 In Conflict by Owen Pallett 84 Amazon Spotify 4 A U R O R A by Ben Frost 84 Amazon Spotify 5 Nikki Nack by tUnE-yArDs 83 Amazon Spotify 6 Wine Dark Sea by Jolie Holland 83 Amazon Spotify 7 Whelm by Douglas Dare 83 Amazon Spotify 8 Seven Dials by Roddy Frame 82 Amazon   9 The Serpent & the Sphere by Agalloch 81 Amazon Spotify 10 Easy Pain by Young Widows 81 Amazon

Highest-scoring movies this month

Includes films with 7 or more reviews from critics. Theatrical re-releases are excluded.

Best wide releases Movie Genre Score Save 1 X-Men: Days of Future Past Action/Sci-fi 74 +Netflix Queue 2 Neighbors Comedy 68 +Netflix Queue 3 Godzilla Action/Sci-fi 62 +Netflix Queue 4 Maleficent Fantasy/Family 56 +Netflix Queue 5 Million Dollar Arm Drama/Sports 56 +Netflix Queue

Best limited releases Movie Genre Score Save 1 Ida Foreign/Drama 89 +Netflix Queue 2 We Are the Best! Foreign/Drama 88 +Netflix Queue 3 Stand Clear of the Closing Doors Drama 86 +Netflix Queue 4 Elena Documentary 85 +Netflix Queue 5 The Dance of Reality Foreign/Drama/Fantasy 77 +Netflix Queue

Best DVD/Blu-ray releases Movie Genre Score Buy, Rent, or Stream 1 Her Drama/Sci-fi 90 Amazon +Netflix 2 Stranger by the Lake Foreign/Drama 82 Amazon +Netflix 3 Child's Pose Foreign/Drama 77 Amazon +Netflix 4 The Great Flood Documentary 77 Amazon +Netflix 5 God Loves Uganda Documentary 77 Amazon +Netflix 6 Like Someone in Love Foreign/Drama 76 Amazon +Netflix 7 Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? Documentary 76 Amazon +Netflix 8 After Tiller Documentary 75 Amazon +Netflix 9 Still Mine Drama 72 Amazon +Netflix 10 Run & Jump Drama 72 Amazon +Netflix

Highest-scoring TV premieres this month

All shows debuting this month with reviews from at least 4 critics are eligible.

Best new shows (including movies/miniseries) Show Network Timeslot Score 1 The Normal Heart HBO (movie) 85 2 Penny Dreadful Showtime Sundays, 10p 71 3 Petals on the Wind Lifetime (movie) 64 4 Riot Fox Tuesdays, 8p 63 5 The World Wars History Channel (miniseries) 62 Best returning shows * Show Network Timeslot Score 1 Louie FX Mondays, 10p/10:30p 93 2 In The Flesh BBC America Saturdays, 11p 87 3 24: Live Another Day Fox Mondays, 9p 70 4 Maron IFC Thursdays, 10p 70 * Among shows with reviews. Generally, only certain noteworthy shows are reviewed by critics after season 1.

Highest-scoring video games this month (by platform)

Includes games with 7 or more reviews from critics. Note that this month's best iOS games are covered in a separate article. (All "Buy" links below go to Amazon.com.)

1 Transistor 84   2 MLB 14: The Show 83 Buy 3 Sportsfriends 82   4 Watch Dogs 82 Buy 5 Wolfenstein: The New Order 78 Buy	1 Super Time Force 80   2 Wolfenstein: The New Order 79 Buy 3 Watch Dogs 78 Buy 4 Titanfall: Expedition 72   5 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 52 Buy
1 Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition 86   2 Drakengard 3 61 Buy 3 Mugen Souls Z 60 Buy	1 The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 3 - In Harm's Way 82   2 Super Time Force 81
1 BattleBlock Theater 85   2 Wolfenstein: The New Order 83 Buy 3 Transistor 83   4 The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 3 - In Harm's Way 83   5 Kero Blaster 82	1 Mario Kart 8 88 Buy 2 Scram Kitty and His Buddy on Rails 80   3 Stick it to the Man! 80
1 Kirby: Triple Deluxe 80 Buy 2 Mario Golf: World Tour 78 Buy	1 Soul Sacrifice Delta 82   2 The Sly Collection 80 Buy 3 God of War Collection 75 Buy 4 Borderlands 2 65 Buy

What did you like?

Do you have any recommendations from the past month? Let us know in the comments section below.