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 [...]
#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 [...]
Cinema is the last bastion of really creative and searing insults. Your wife can’t take a joke, your boss is uptight and your friends are all married. The last place you can really enjoy some great put-downs is at your local cineplex. For a complete list of films included visit Pajiba. Enjoy! *Contains adult language
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 [...]
Sports and movies have much in common. They make us laugh, cry, shout for joy, and smash things uncontrollably (this only happens at really bad movies). So, it’s only natural that they overlap in their tireless efforts to entertain the world. Thousands of movies depicting every sport imaginable have been made — good, bad, ugly, [...]
Last year was an excellent year for American cinema. A phrase rarely uttered, but entirely deserved by the year of 2007. There were at least four or five films that each could have taken Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards if released in another year. What is good for the film industry makes a [...]
Why did we watch ‘Amour?’
Short and Swede
No: Too Good at Recreating the 80s
Lawrence of Arabia: Deserving of its Place in the Sun
Top 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
