As we reach the end of an inspiring year for cinema, here are ten titles that stood out for me in 2012, and an explanation of why I chose each of them. Although I saw many of these at film festivals, so they may not make it to your local art house cinema, in the [...]
As with any prominent artist’s or entertainer’s passing, it gives us a chance to look back on their body of work in a way we’ve never looked at it before — as completed cannon. After the terrible news broke of director Tony Scott’s apparent suicide, we decided to do just that and compile a list [...]
It’s that time of year again when we intrepid critics whittle down the hundreds of titles we’ve seen over the last 365 days to the top 10 that made us gasp, chuckle, cringe, hope, feel and think the most. As seems to be the trend, Hollywood left us slim pickings, so the bulk of this list is [...]
The cinema: paradise, at times, but many are the sins that writers, directors, cinema owners and fellow audience members can commit to bring the whole experience swiftly down to the ground. Dante came up with nine different levels of torture in his vision of Inferno, so allow me to lead you through cinema’s lower depths, [...]
#5. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007) Lumet’s last film was also one of his best. Following a pair of troublesome brothers who plot to rob their parents’ jewelry store, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” refuses to flinch in the face of the humanity’s darkest inclinations. Lumet catalogued the basest of human urges [...]
I Am Love Luca Guadagnino’s astonishingly beautiful portrait of a woman torn between love and loyalty. A deep, layered, stylish work of cinema with all the passion and freedom of Italy’s greatest contributions to the medium. If I had numbered this list, “I Am Love” would probably be number one. Carlos The epic tale of [...]
You will not like something about this list. In your mind, undeserving inclusions and unthinkable omissions probably abound. That is as it should be. Film, for all the scholarship, expertise and pretense that surrounds it, remains, like all art, firmly subjective. Feel free to tell us what we missed, what we misplaced, or congratulate us on a [...]
The Online Film Critics Society, of which yours truly is member, released the results of a society-wide poll asking what first (debut) films are the greatest in history. Orson Welles’ masterpiece landed atop the heap — no surprise there — followed by some other predictable mainstays. Though there were some surprises. Here are the top [...]
As usual, distilling the value of a film into a short paragraph and ranking it against every other film ever released in the same genre is imperfect, subjective and quite frankly, irrational — but it sure is fun. So continuing our “TMA’s Greatest” series that began with our TMA’s 25 Greatest Sports Movies of All [...]
2009 proved to be a big year for film, both blockbuster and independent. James Cameron made a triumphant return to the cineplex with “Avatar,” and J.J. Abrams made “Star Trek” cool again, all while indie film festival attendance grew more than ever. With thousands of films released every year, lists like these can’t possibly be [...]
Why did we watch ‘Amour?’
Short and Swede
No: Too Good at Recreating the 80s
Lawrence of Arabia: Deserving of its Place in the SunTop 10 of 2012
Sound of My Voice (2012)
The Master (2012)
‘Village at the End of the World’: Help Wanted?
‘Eat Sleep Die’: Asking for a little more
From Senegal to Saudi Arabia: Girls working for change
