2014 Oscar Nominations Wish List
I say this every year, but it deserves repeating: quality has got nothing to do with the Oscars. Sure, the Academy is a large voting body, but each member has his or her own biases—just like film critics do—and for every member who thinks The Wolf of Wall Street is the best movie of 2013 […]
The Best Movies of 2013
Outstanding. That’s the simplest but most appropriate way to sum up the year in movies that was 2013. Outstanding. A more interesting way would be to discuss the year in movie themes. The American dream, in one way or another, was a noticeable theme in seven of my top ten movies movies this year. It […]
The Best Documentaries of 2013
It’s been said plenty—by myself and more than a few others—but 2013 has to be one of the very best years documentary filmmaking has ever seen. It’s a sentiment I seem to come back to year after year, to be honest. Part of that is me discovering the form, but I don’t think it’s an […]
2013 Movies You Should Watch Right Now
December is top-10 list month, which means most bloggers and journos will be spending the next few weeks catching up with some of the year’s smaller titles that are now available on DVD and streaming outlets. I’ve highlighted 20 movies that are worth your time and attention. 5…on Netflix Instant Three great docs and two […]
Dirty Wars Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Dirty Wars is a devastating experience. It’s a film that chews up your hopeful, idealistic illusions regarding American leadership, spits them out, and leaves a cruise-missile-sized hole in your heart for good measure. Drone strikes and extra-covert military operations (including those that occur in nation-states we aren’t formally at war with) have […]
2014 Oscar Predictions: Animated and Documentary Features
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. Today, I unveil more new categories to add to my 2014 Oscar predictions list—2014 Best Animated Feature and 2014 Best Documentary Feature. Both categories have had great, great, GREAT years over the last half-decade, and while 2013 […]
Sundance 2013: Ten More Titles
Yesterday, I listed ten films worth watching for that played in the snowy confines of Park City, Utah, during this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Today, I’m doing precisely the same thing. Part two of my Sundance wrap-up: Austenland Sony Pictures Classics is distributing what’s likely one of the festival’s biggest commercial plays. Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jerusha […]
