2009 Online Film Critics Society Award nominees

OFCS members will submit their final votes over the next few days, and winners will be announced on January 6, 2010.

BEST PICTURE
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow (-) The Hurt Locker
Neill Blomkamp (-) District 9
James Cameron (-) Avatar
Joel & Ethan Coen (-) A Serious Man
Quentin Tarantino (-) Inglourious Basterds

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges (-) Crazy Heart
Sharlto Copley (-) District 9
George Clooney (-) Up in the Air
Joaquin Phoenix (-) Two Lovers
Jeremy Renner (-) The Hurt Locker

BEST ACTRESS
Mélanie Laurent (-) Inglourious Basterds
Carey Mulligan (-) An Education
Gabourey Sidibe (-) Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Meryl Streep (-) Julie & Julia
Tilda Swinton (-) Julia

Survey Says: OFCS members choose their most anticipated comic book movie of 2010

As we enter the new movie year, OFCS members were asked to choose which of the ten movies based upon comic books scheduled for release in 2010 they’re most looking forward to.

By a wide margin, Iron Man 2 came out on top.

Results were calculated on a simple vote basis: of the 43 members who participated in the poll, 21 voted for Iron Man 2.

Other ranking titles:

Kick-Ass (7 votes)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World (6 votes)
The Green Hornet (3 votes)
Priest (2 votes)
The Losers (1 vote)

Titles that received no votes: Dead of Night, Jax of Heart, Jonah Hex, and Red.

Three members also picked “none.” “None of these sound particularly appealing,” one anonymous member said. Two other members -- who also chose to remain anonymous -- expressed disgust with Hollywood’s penchant for comic-book movies:

criticism news roundup

Stephen Saito at IFC runs down the most memorable critical dustups of 2009, with a look at “some of the most thought-provoking film writing of the year [which] hasn't been done on film at all, but on how film writing is changing, where film journalists begin to consider themselves as film activists and critics engage in discussions that don't end with the final period of their reviews.”

David Berry at Vue Weekly offers a critics guide to critics, wherein he examines “the thought process behind art criticism.”

Anna Robinson at Alt Film Guide notes the controversy over how the London Film Critics treat Irish talent.

classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

A.J. Hakari reviews Army of Darkness (1992), Cabaret (1972), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), A Christmas Story (1983), Dracula (1931 Spanish version), Sex & Fury (1973), and Samurai Spy (1965)

John J. Puccio reviews A Walk in the Sun (1945) and The Canterville Ghost (1944)

Glenn Erickson reviews The Next Voice You Hear... (1950)

Rich Cline reviews The Queen of Spades (1949)

Dan Jardine reviews African Queen (1951), Maltese Falcon (1941), and It's a Wonderful Life (1941)

Dennis Schwartz reviews Radio Days (1987)

Michael E. Grost reviews Great Day in the Morning (1956)

Roderick Heath reviews Black Christmas (1974)

Steve Biodrowski reviews Scrooge (1951)

international update

What our members outside North America are watching:

U.K.
Rich Cline reviews Nowhere Boy and Dogging: A Love Story

Australia
Anders Wotzke reviews The Lovely Bones, Nowhere Boy, and The French Kissers

Greece
Joseph Proimakis reviews Little Nicholas (Le Petit Nicolas) and The Hedgehog (reviews in Greek)

Survey Says: OFCS members choose their favorite Christmas movies

With the winter holiday season upon us again, OFCS members considered the great Christmas movies of cinema history, and have chosen their five favorites.

By a wide margin, It’s a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra’s 1946 classic, came out on top.

Results were tabulated on a weighed-score basis: a vote for favorite received five points; a vote for second favorite received four points; third favorite, three points; fourth favorite, two points; and fifth favorite, one point. It’s a Wonderful Life was ranked in one of the top five positions by 26 members, and received a cumulative score of 104 points.

The rest of the top five:

A Christmas Story (67 points; ranked by 18 members)
Die Hard (65 points; ranked by 18 members)
Bad Santa (38 points; ranked by 12 members)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (34 points; ranked by 11 members)

Other films with significant rankings:

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (31 points; ranked by 12 members)
Love Actually (28 points; ranked by 10 members)
Scrooge (1951) (27 points; ranked by 7 members)
Gremlins (26 points; ranked by 10 members)
Home Alone (26 points; ranked by 9 members)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947) (22 points; ranked by 9 members)
Edward Scissorhands (18 points; ranked by 6 members)
The Polar Express (17 points; ranked by 6 members)
Elf (15 points; ranked by 7 members)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005) (15 points; ranked by 5 members)
Black Christmas (1974) (14 points; ranked by 5 members)
Scrooged (13 points; ranked by 9 members)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (12 points; ranked by 3 members)
White Christmas (11 points; ranked by 4 members)

criticism news roundup

New York Times critic Manohla Dargis rails against the endemic sexism of Hollywood, and discusses some of the issues that crop up for female film critics.

The New York Film Critics Circle gave a special award to Andrew Sarris for his contribution to film criticism.

Mark Lynch at The Wrap covers “The Last Gasp of the Film Critic,” and proposes that we “get back to writing about and promoting films [we] believe in rather than wasting column inches on a weekly reviewing routine.”

Rachel Abramowitz at The Envelope explains how review aggregators including Rotten Tomatoes can predict the Oscars.

OFCSer Erik Childress at Cinematical doesn’t like it “When Variety Gives Critics A Bad Name,” and ponders the true meaning of the term “critic-proof.”

David Hudson at The Auteurs collects the reaction from critics to the death of legendary Canadian critic Robin Wood.

classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

Phil Hall reviews Show Boat (1936), Flying Padre (1951), Hello, Dolly! (1969), and Ginevra's Story (1999)

Ed Howard reviews Dead Man (1995) and Bad Lieutenant (1992)

Mike Phillips reviews Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)

Glenn Erickson reviews Angel Baby (1961), Mission to Moscow (1943), and Gimme Shelter (1970)

Cole Smithey reviews Casablanca (1942)

John Nesbit reviews Keep Walking (1983)

Sean Axmaker reviews Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Miss Mend (1926)

Dennis Schwartz reviews The Return of Dr. X (1939)

international update

What our members outside North America are watching:

Argentina
Enrique Buchichio reviews The Secret of Her Eyes (reviews in Spanish)

Brazil
Pablo Villaça reviews Avatar and New York, I Love You (reviews in Portuguese)

Greece
Joseph Proimakis reviews Strella, Soul Kitchen, and Le Code a Change (reviews in Greek)

Essay Question: bad life lessons from 2009 movies

OFCS members ponder the question:

“What’s the worst life-lesson a movie of 2009 taught us?”

Answers after the jump.

Survey Says: OFCS members choose favorite and important CGI innovations

As we await the release of Avatar, much discussed as a groundbreaker when it comes to CGI and cinematic visual FX, OFCS members were asked to chose their favorite use of innovative CGI, as well as the one they considered most important, from a technical standpoint.

By a relatively narrow margin, Jurassic Park, with its first photorealistic CG creatures, was voted Favorite. By a slightly larger margin, Terminator 2: Judgment Day was voted Most Important, for its first realistic human movements on a CGI character as well as its first use of a personal computer to create major movie 3D effects.

Results were calculated on a simple vote basis: of the 53 members who participated in the poll, 13 voted for Jurassic Park as Favorite, and 12 for Terminator 2 as Most Important.

Other Favorites with more than 1 vote:

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, for its first use of AI for digital actors and first photorealistic motion captured character for a film (10 votes)
Toy Story, as the first CGI feature-length animation (6 votes)
Terminator 2 (6 votes)
Star Wars, for it first use of an animated 3D wireframe graphic (4 votes)
The Abyss, for its first digital 3D water effect (2 votes)
Fight Club, for its first realistic close-up of detailed facial deformation on a synthetic human (2 votes)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2 votes)
Tron, for its extensive use of 3D CGI (2 votes)

Other Most Importants with more than 1 vote:

Star Wars (8 votes)
Jurassic Park (8 votes)
Toy Story (4 votes)
The Last Starfighter, for CGI replacement of models for all spaceship shots, and its first use of integrated CGI, where the effects represent real-world objects (3 votes)
Tron (3 votes)
Titanic, first wide-release feature film with major elements rendered under the open source Linux operating system
Young Sherlock Holmes, for its first photorealistic CGI character (2 votes)

(Note: Avatar was not included in this poll.)

criticism news roundup

Andy Webb at HubPages explores the difference between “movie reviewer” and “movie critic” -- explains why he considers himself a reviewer.

Sharon Waxman at TheWrap reveals that “Laid-Off Movie Critics [Are] the New 'In' Focus Group” (though one nonparticipating critic worries about becoming “part of the merchandizing machine”)...

...and Anne Thompson on why critics being paid by marketers is a “slippery conflict of interest.”

Lynden Barber at Eyes Wired Open argues that “film critics should never give awards for editing because they're not qualified to judge.”

classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

John Puccio reviews The Green Mile (1999)

Donald Levit reviews Araya (1959) and The Spanish Earth and  The 400 Million (1937/1939)

Dennis Schwartz reviews Murder Ahoy (1964) and Several Friends (1969)

Roderick Heath reviews Venus in Furs (1969)

Rob Gonsalves reviews The Truck (1977)

MaryAnn Johanson reviews Amarcord (1973)

Essay Question: movies that embody the spirit of the 2000s

OFCS members ponder the question:

“What movie most embodies the spirit of the 2000s?”

Answers after the jump.

Survey Says: OFCS members choose their five favorite sports movies

As we await the release of the rugby-themed Invictus, OFCS members considered the great sports movies of cinema history, and have chosen their five favorites.

By a wide margin, Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese’s 1980 biopic of boxer Jake LaMotta, came out on top.

Results were tabulated on a weighed-score basis: a vote for favorite received five points; a vote for second favorite received four points; third favorite, three points; fourth favorite, two points; and fifth favorite, one point. Raging Bull was ranked in one of the top five positions by 25 members, and received a cumulative score of 89 points.

The rest of the top five:

Bull Durham (48 points; ranked by 15 members)
Hoop Dreams (47 points; ranked by 13 members)
Rocky (46 points; ranked by 13 members)
Field of Dreams (46 points; ranked by 12 members)

Other films with significant rankings:

The Bad News Bears (1976) (26 points; ranked by 6 members)
The Hustler (26 points; ranked by 8 members)
Eight Men Out (18 points; ranked by 8 members)
Hoosiers (18 points; ranked by 6 members)
Jerry Maguire (15 points; ranked by 6 members)
Caddyshack (14 points; ranked by 5 members)
The Natural (13 points; ranked by 4 members)
Rudy (13 points; ranked by 4 members)
Slap Shot (13 points; ranked by 4 members)
Best in Show (12 points; ranked by 5 members)
Breaking Away (11 points; ranked by 7 members)
The Freshman (1925) (10 points; ranked by 3 members)

(Note: Invictus was not included in this poll.)

criticism news roundup

Stuart McGurk at the Guardian on explains why he loves the world's worst film critic: Fiore Mastracci, who’s “so dreadful he's bordering on genius.”

Matt Zoller Seitz at IFC.com explains why he believes that David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson are the best critics of the 00s.

Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture laments the departure of Leah Rozen as People’s resident film critic, “one of the only reasons to read the magazine.”

John Kenneth Muir at his self-named blog contends that “The Death of the Movie Critic is Greatly Exaggerated,” because while anyone can be a critic, “not just anyone can be a good critic.”

Norman Lebrecht at the Sydney Morning Herald discusses “the changing role of the critic in the 21st century,” and why “there has never been a greater need in democratic society for strong, independent arts criticism.”

classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

Amber Wilkinson reviews Robinson's Place (Du Cote De Robinson) (1963) and Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes (Le père Noël a les yeux bleus) (1966)

William Goss reviews Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) and Purple Rain and Stunt Rock (1984/1978)

international update

What our members outside North America are watching:

U.K.
Anton Bitel reviews The Box and Planet 51
Rich Cline reviews Cracks and The Descent: Part 2

Brazil
Pablo Villaça reviews Paranormal Activity, Julie & Julia, Let the Right One In, Police, Adjective, and New Moon (all reviews in Portuguese)

Essay Question: rules for critics

OFCS members ponder the question:

“What’s the primary rule you follow as a film critic?”

Answers after the jump.

Survey Says: OFCS members choose their five favorite Disney/Disney-Pixar films

By a wide margin, the members of the Online Film Critics Society have voted WALL-E, the 2008 Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature, their favorite Disney/Disney-Pixar film since the Disney renaissance began in 1989 with The Little Mermaid.

OFCS members ranked their top five Disney/Disney-Pixar films of the past 20 years, and the results were tabulated on a weighed-score basis: a vote for favorite received five points; a vote for second favorite received four points; third favorite, three points; fourth favorite, two points; and fifth favorite, one point. WALL-E was ranked in one of the top five positions by 45 members, and received a cumulative score of 173 points. The rest of the top five:

The Incredibles (106 points; ranked by 34 members)
Beauty and the Beast (90 points; ranked by 27 members)
Up (87 points; ranked by 32 members)
Toy Story (86 points; ranked by 34 members)

Other films ranked:

Monsters, Inc. (74 points, ranked by 25 members)
Ratatouille (71 points, ranked by 23 members)
Finding Nemo (62 points, ranked by 20 members)
Toy Story 2 (59 points, ranked by 22 members)
The Lion King (48 points, ranked by 17 members)
The Little Mermaid (45 points, ranked by 17 members)
Aladdin (23 points, ranked by 11 members)
Lilo & Stitch (19 points, ranked by 7 members)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (18 points, ranked by 5 members)
A Bug's Life (16 points, ranked by 7 members)
Fantasia 2000 (14 points, ranked by 4 members)
Dinosaur (14 points, ranked by 3 members)
Pocahontas (12 points, ranked by 4 members)
Mulan (12 points, ranked by 4 members)
The Emperor's New Groove (11 points, ranked by 4 members)
Treasure Planet (8 points, ranked by 2 members)
Cars (8 points, ranked by 3 members)
Bolt (8 points, ranked by 5 members)
Brother Bear (7 points, ranked by 3 members)
Meet the Robinsons (7 points, ranked by 3 members)
Hercules (6 points, ranked by 2 members)
Tarzan (6 points, ranked by 3 members)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (6 points, ranked by 2 members)
The Rescuers Down Under (4 points, ranked by 1 member)
Home on the Range (4 points, ranked by 1 member)
Chicken Little (3 points, ranked by 1 member)

(Note: Because The Princess and the Frog has not yet been viewed by most OFCS members, it was not included in this poll.)