classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

John J. Puccio reviews A Day at the Races (1937)

Donald J. Levit reviews Zatoichi, the Fugitive (1963)

Dennis Schwartz reviews The Bounty Hunter (1954)

Nathan Shumate reviews The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970)

Anton Bitel reviews Hausu (1977)

John Nesbit reviews Kanchenjungha (1962) and Late Bloomer (2004)

Sean Axmaker reviews Paris, Texas (1984) and Rome, Open City and Rosellini's War Trilogy (1945, 1946-1948), and offers a critical overview on the career of Wim Wenders

Phil Hall reviews Georgia O'Keeffe (1977)

Ed Howard reviews 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987)

Dan Jardine reviews Man With a Movie Camera (1928) and Ordet (1955)

Bill Weber reviews Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy (1946-1948)

Roderick Heath reviews Lady Snowblood (Shurayukihime) (1973)

Marilyn Ferdinand reviews God's Little Acre (1958)

Cole Smithey reviews Un Chien Andalou (1929)

Glenn Erickson reviews The Master Race (1944), The Music Man (1962), and The Crowded Sky (1960)

Christopher Long reviews Paris, Texas (1984)

Michael E. Grost reviews 99 River Street (1953) and San Quentin (1946)

Steven D. Greydanus reviews Rome, Open City (1945)

TV update

TV shows and DVDs our members are reviewing:

Rob Vaux reviews Caprica, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and Human Target

Cynthia Fuchs reviews 24: Season 8 Premiere and Human Target: Series Premier, Life Unexpected: Series Premiere, and Girls on the Wall

Paul Mavis reviews Dying Room Only, Edge of Darkness: The Complete BBC Series, Pie in the Sky: Series 2, The Evelyn Waugh Collection, Hitler's Bodyguard, and A Mind to Kill: Series 1

international update

What our members outside North America are watching:

U.K.
Anton Bitel reviews Adoration and Breathless

Uruguay
Enrique Buchichio reviews Up in the Air and Invictus (reviews in Spanish)

Brazil
Pablo Villaça reviews Zombieland, Invictus, Astro Boy, Up in the Air, and Where the Wild Things Are (reviews in Portuguese)

OFCS member Marilyn Ferdinand to cohost fundraising blogathon for film preservation

OFCS member Marilyn Ferdinand, whose work appears at Ferdy on Films, etc., will cohost a fundraising blogathon to support the film preservation efforts of the National Film Preservation Foundation. For more information about the blogathon -- which will run from February 14-21, 2010 -- including how you can participate or donate, see Ferdy on Films, etc.: For the Love of Movies and the blogathon’s Facebook page, which features daily posts from the NFPF.

Ferdinand says:

There is a dedicated blogathon "donate" link on the FB page, and we will be asking all participants to include the link at the end of their posts. The donations go straight to NFPF; the hosts won't be touching a cent. There is also a blogspot page that has banners and a commercial that can be posted on any site that wants them.

NFPF has also made available 4 DVD box sets that they will give to winners of a random drawing of donors (that's why there's a dedicated donation link for the blogathon). You'll see that on the left rail of the FB page.

For an example of the NFPF’s work, see their recent Australian repatriation project [alert: link goes to a PDF].

The OFCS wishes Ferdinand the best of luck with the blogathon.

Essay Question: Do critics do anything nowadays except give out awards? What is the purpose of a film critic in today's entertainment industry?

OFCS members ponder the question (suggested by member Phil Hall):

“Do critics do anything nowadays except give out awards? What is the purpose of a film critic in today's entertainment industry?”

Answers after the jump.

Survey Says: OFCS members predict the Oscar Best Director nominations

With the countdown to the Oscar nominations in full swing, OFCS members have been predicting, all through January, the nominations in four major categories. This week, our final prognostications: Best Director.

(Note that we're not picking the directors we think are the best of the year, but which filmmakers we believe AMPAS will honor with nominations. The winners of the 2009 OFCS Awards are here.)

The OFCS prediction for the 5 Best Director nominees, in alphabetical order, are:

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (37 votes)
James Cameron, Avatar (36 votes)
Lee Daniels, Precious (15 votes)
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air (32 votes)
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds (34 votes)

Results were calculated on a simple vote basis of one point per vote. With 39 members participating in the poll, Kathryn Bigelow was, by a nose, the director considered most likely to receive a nomination, so we’ll go out on a limb and predict that Bigelow will, in fact, win the Oscar for Best Director of 2009 for her film The Hurt Locker.

Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, February 2, and winners at the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 7.

criticism news roundup

Irin Carmon at Jezebel declares, “Roger Ebert Doesn’t Give A Shit, And I Love Him For It,” and praises how the new openness in the critic’s writing means “we've gotten the chance to know Ebert a little better, unleashed on every topic in film and beyond, full of righteous anger and thoughtfulness alike — and freaking hilarious.”

Leah Sandals at unedit my heart asks “A Plague of Bloggers? Really?” and pushes back against a detractor of online film criticism: “[A]ny argument that posits ‘bloggers’ vs ‘critics’ seems kind of old and tired, and frankly I’m surprised to see it even being tossed out as a helpful dividing line in 2010.”

classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

John J. Puccio reviews Boogie Nights (1997) and The Music Man (1962)

Nathan Shumate reviews Mountain of the Cannibal God (1978)

Dennis Schwartz reviews The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Henry Stewart reviews Bride of the Monster (1955)

Dan Jardine reviews The Killing (1956)

Roderick Heath reviews Sky West and Crooked (aka Gypsy Girl, 1966)

Marilyn Ferdinand reviews The First Legion (1951)

Ed Howard reviews For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Sean Axmaker review Streamers, Kingdom of the Spiders, and the Seventies film of Chantal Akerman (1983/1977/1970s) and Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and The Bourne Trilogy (1997/1999/2000s)

Cole Smithey reviews The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Glenn Erickson reviews The Unsuspected (1947) and Lost Boundaries (1949)

Christopher Long reviews Chantal Akerman in the Seventies: Eclipse Series 19 (1970s) and Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy (1946-1948)

Mike Bracken reviews The Yakuza (1974)

David Cornelius reviews Casino Royale (1954)

TV update

TV shows and DVDs our members are reviewing:

Rob Vaux reviews the Sanctuary season finale

David Johnson reviews the 24 season premiere (continues here)

Paul Mavis reviews British cult spy series Callan

international update

What our members outside North America are watching:

Spain
Malabesta reviews Up in the Air (review in Spanish)

2009 top 10s from OFCS members: part 4

Dan Lybarger, KC Active: “The Best and Worst Film of 2009”

Dave Cornelius, eFilmCritic: “The Best Films of 2009”

Tyler Foster, The Following Preview: “Top 10 of 2009”

Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com: “The Best of 2009”

MaryAnn Johanson, FlickFilosopher.com: “Top 10 Movies of 2009: The Whys and Wherefores”

Steven Greydanus, Decent Films Guide: “2009: The Year in Reviews”

Anders Wotzke, Cut Print Review: “The Best and Worst Films of 2009”

A.J. Hakari, Review Express: “Top Ten & Worst Five of 2009”

Mark R. Leeper: “My Top Ten Films of 2009”

Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures: “The 10 Best Films of 2009” and “The 10 Worst Films of 2009”

Essay Question: Should critics let nonrelated issues influence how we review a film?

OFCS members ponder the question (suggested by member Susan Granger):

“Will Mel Gibson’s overt and confessed anti-Semitism affect your review of his upcoming film, Edge of Darkness? Does the fact that the film contains no Jewish themes affect your answer? Ultimately, can a critic can truly separate an artist from his professed prejudices and moral values? Should we let nonrelated issues influence how we review a film? Is it even possible to avoid such biases?”

Answers after the jump.

Survey Says: OFCS members predict the Oscar Best Actor nominations

With the countdown to the Oscar nominations in full swing, OFCS will predict, all through January, the nominations in four major categories. This week: Best Actor.

(Note that we're not picking the performances we think are the best of the year, but which films we believe AMPAS will honor with nominations. The winners of the 2009 OFCS Awards are here.)

The OFCS prediction for the 5 Best Actor nominees, in alphabetical order, are:

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart (38 votes)
George Clooney, Up in the Air (39 votes)
Colin Firth, A Single Man (26 votes)
Morgan Freeman, Invictus (26 votes)
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker (29 votes)

Results were calculated on a simple vote basis of one point per vote. With 39 members participating in the poll, George Clooney was, by a nose, the actor considered most likely to receive a nomination, so we’ll go out on a limb and predict that Clooney will, in fact, win the Oscar for Best Actor of 2009 for his performance in Up in the Air.

Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, February 2, and winners at the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 7.

criticism news roundup

Bennett Marcus at New York’s blog Vulture discovers that director James Toback’s is planning “revenge on nasty film critics.”

Graphic novel writer and critic Jamie S. Rich talks about the current state of film criticism at the blog Talking with Tim, and specifically takes year-end listmakers to task.

A selection of the tributes to critic and filmmaker Eric Rohmer, who died last week at 89:

Glenn Kenny in the Los Angeles Times praises Rohmer as an art-house intellectual to the end, whose “work is strewn with... gorgeously felicitous touches.”

Richard Corliss in Time hails Rohmer for revolutionizing criticism, deeming him “a master painter... of fond character studies.”

The obit writers of The Washington Post call Rohmer’s films “long, philosophical conversations” that adhered to his “personal vision: to make films portraying the inner lives of characters without adding extraneous drama.”

classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

Tyler Foster reviews American Pie, American Pie 2, and American Wedding (1999/2001/2003)

Rob Gonsalves reviews Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960)

MaryAnn Johanson reviews Streamers (1983)

Nathan Shumate reviews Blonde Ice (1948)

A.J. Hakari reviews The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Dennis Schwartz reviews Reds (1981)

Sean Axmaker reviews Road House" (1948) and Husbands (1970)

Brian Orndorf reviews Ronia, The Robber's Daughter (1984) and Stunt Rock (1978)

Ed Howard reviews The Lady and the Duke (2001), The Conformist (1970), Crime Wave (1954), and El Dorado (1966)

Roderick Health reviews Fascination (1979) and Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975; director's cut 1998)

Marilyn Ferdinand reviews Rose Hobart (1936)

Amber Wilkinson reviews The Queen of Spades (1949)

Anton Bitel reviews Fright (1971) and Suspiria (1977)

Glenn Erickson reviews Split Second (1953), Goodbye Gemini (1970), and The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958)

Brian Holcomb reviews Something Evil (1972)

TV update

TV shows and DVDs our members are reviewing:

MaryAnn Johanson reviews Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Cynthia Fuchs reviews Southland

Paul Mavis reviews The Jerry Lewis Show Collection, The Steve Coogan Collection, The Donna Reed Show: Season Three, and Dallas: The Complete Twelfth Season

international update

What our members outside North America are watching:

U.K.
Rich Cline reviews OSS 117: Lost in Rio, Still Walking, and Crude

2009 top 10s from OFCS members: part 3

Erik Childress, eFilmCritic & Cinematical: “movies of 2009 wrapup” [podcast]

Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy: “2009: The Year in Movies”

Roderick Heath, Ferdy on Films, etc.: “Confessions of a Film Freak, 2009”

Rob Humanick, The Projection Booth: “2009: Year in Film (a photo-essay first draft)”

Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl: “Top Films of 2009” and “Great Moments in Mediocre Films 2009”

Marty Mapes, Movie Habit: “Top Ten of 2009”

John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews: “Best Movies of 2009”

Brian Orndorf, This is Briandom: “The Best Films of 2009” and “Orny Awards 2009”

Kim Voynar, Movie City News: “Top Ten Films of 2009”

Chris Barsanti, Filmcritic: “The Year in Film - 2009”

Essay Question: Should critics share their awards ballots?

OFCS members ponder the question:

“Should critics share their awards ballots?”

This was prompted by a post at The Scorecard Review in which Broadcast Film Critics Association member Jeff Bayer reveals his Critics’ Choice award ballot, complete with those nominees he voted for.

Answers after the jump.

Survey Says: OFCS members predict the Oscar Best Actress nominations

With the countdown to the Oscar nominations in full swing, OFCS will predict, all through January, the nominations in four major categories. This week: Best Actress.

(Note that we're not picking the performances we think are the best of the year, but which films we believe AMPAS will honor with nominations. The winners of the 2009 OFCS Awards are here.)

The OFCS prediction for the 5 Best Actress nominees, in alphabetical order, are:

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side (34 votes)
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air (18 votes)
Carey Mulligan, An Education (33 votes)
Gabby Sidibe, Precious (31 votes)
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia (42 votes)

Results were calculated on a simple vote basis of one point per vote. With 46 members participating in the poll, Meryl Streep was by far the actress considered most likely to receive a nomination, so we’ll go out on a limb and predict that Streep will, in fact, win the Oscar for Best Actress of 2009 for her performance in Julie & Julia.

Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, February 2, and winners at the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 7.

member/filmmaker Enrique Buchichio to see U.S. premiere of film

Leo’s Room (El Cuarto de Leo), the first film from OFCS member Enrique Buchichio, a director as well as a critic, will have its U.S. premiere Wednesday, January 20, at the New York’s Museum of Modern Art as part of the Global Lens 2010 series of The Global Film Initiative.

Global Lens, now in its seventh year, opens at MOMA and other locations in New York before embarking on a yearlong tour of more than thirty-five cities across the United States and Canada. The 2010 program includes films from Algeria, China, India, Iran, Mexico, Peru, Serbia, South Africa, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

Leo’s Room, Uruguay’s entry in the series, had its world premiere last September at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, and has been on the road since then, participating in the official selection of film festivals including Biarritz (France), Havana (Cuba), and Marrakech (Morocco). Following its U.S. premiere in New York, Leo’s Room will be screened next March at the Miami International Film Festival.

(more information on the film, Global Lens, and Global Film Initiative)

(detailed information on Leo’s Room screening dates)

criticism news roundup

Lisa Schwarzbaum at EW reveals the advice movie critics give to friends when we're not on duty, and sums it up: “I know the value of when to let go of my brilliant argument that Invictus is square and lazy filmmaking, and instead let the cousin who’s a big Matt Damon fan know that she’ll like him as a rugby player.”

Mick LaSalle at SGFate instructs us in “Movie Reviewing 101” and notes that “one of the mistakes movie critics often make is to start reviews by comparing a new movie to other movies.”

Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture calls out Variety ex-editor Peter Bart on his disdain for critics, who has been “zinging critics for their top-10 list choices.”

classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

John J. Puccio reviews The Green Berets (1968), Buck Rogers (1939), and Magnolia (1999)

Donald Levit reviews Alphaville (1965)

Steven D. Greydanus reviews The Reluctant Saint (1962)

Nathan Shumate reviews The Werewolf Reborn! (1998)

Phil Hall reviews The Great Mr. Handel (1942) and Chariots of the Gods (1970)

Dennis Schwartz reviews Period of Adjustment (1962)

Cole Smithey reviews Cabiria (1914)

Glenn Erickson reviews It's a Great Life, Sally and Golden Dawn (1929/1930)

Robert Roten reviews The Commancheros (1961) and Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Marilyn Ferdinand reviews Cinerama Adventure (2002)

Tim Brayton reviews 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)

international update

What our members outside North America are watching:

U.K.
Anton Bitel reviews Exam and Mugabe and the White African

Rich Cline reviews Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Mugabe and the White African, Exam, Treeless Mountain, and Fireball

Brazil
Pablo Villaça reviews Lula, o Filho do Brasil, Caro Francis, and Sherlock Holmes (reviews in Portuguese)

Essay Question: best films of 2000-2009

OFCS members ponder the question:

“What are the best films of the decade 2000-2009?”

Answers after the jump.

2009 top 10s from OFCS members: part 2

Nick Schager, Slant: “Best of 2009”

Felix Gonzalez, Jr., The Darker Rooms of Our Souls: “The Best Films of 2009”

Dan Jardine, Cinemania: “Counting down: My top ten films of 2009”

Josh Ralske, AllMovie: “Best of 2009”

Laura Clifford, Reelingreviews.com: “Reeling’s Top 10 of 2009”

Bill Gibron, PopMatters: “The 10 Best Films of 2009”

William Goss, eFilmCritic.com: “The Films of 2009: Frames of Mind”

LVJeff, Window to the Movies: “2009 Hindsight”

Joe Lozito, Big Picture Big Sound: “High Five Best Films of 2009”

Survey Says: OFCS members predict the Oscar Best Picture nominations

With the countdown to the Oscar nominations in full swing, OFCS will predict, all through January, the nominations in four major categories. This week: Best Picture.

(Note that we're not picking the films we think are the best of the year, but which films we believe AMPAS will honor with nominations. The winners of the 2009 OFCS Awards are here.)

The OFCS prediction for the 10 Best Picture nominees, in alphabetical order, are:

Avatar (38 votes)
The Blind Side (18 votes)
An Education (26 votes)
The Hurt Locker (41 votes)
Inglourious Basterds (38 votes)
Invictus (26 votes)
Precious (34 votes)
A Serious Man (30 votes)
Up (36 votes)
Up in the Air (43 votes)

Results were calculated on a simple vote basis of one point per vote. And because 43 members participated in the poll, and only Up in the Air was chosen by all as a likely nominee, we’ll go out on a limb and predict that Up in the Air will, in fact, win the Oscar for Best Picture of 2009.

Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, February 2, and winners at the Oscar ceremony on Sunday, March 7.

OFCS 2009 Awards -- now with video!

Part 1:

‘Hurt Locker’ named Best Picture of 2009 by Online Film Critics Society

The Hurt Locker, the intense war drama about explosives experts in Iraq, took top honors in the 13th annual Online Film Critics Society Awards, winning Best Picture against fellow nominees Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, Up, and Up in the Air.

The film also won in the categories of Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow), Best Actor (Jeremy Renner), and Best Editing (Chris Innis and Bob Murawski).

Another film matched The Hurt Locker’s four awards: Inglourious Basterds, with nods for Best Actress (Melanie Laurent), Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz), Best Original Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino), and Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson).

Anvil!: The Story of Anvil was named Best Documentary, with Up as Best Animated Feature and The White Ribbon as Best Picture Not in the English Language.

The complete winners of the 2009 OFCS Awards:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Best Actress: Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay: Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on a book by Roald Dahl
Best Documentary: Anvil!: The Story of Anvil
Best Picture Not in the English Language: The White Ribbon
Best Animated Feature: Up
Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds
Best Score: Michael Giacchino, Up
Best Editing: Chris Innis and Bob Murawski, The Hurt Locker

(the complete list of the nominees)

2009 top 10s from OFCS members: part 1

Kevin LaForest, Montreal Film Journal: “2009: To Pandora and Back Again”

Betty Jo Tucker, ReelTalk: “Best and Worst Movies of 2009”

Henry Stewart, The L Magazine: “Best (and worst) Films of 2009” and “Top 20 Movies of the Decade”

Brian Juergens, CampBlood: “Ten Best (and Three Worst) horror flicks of 2009”

Mark Harris, About.com: Horror: “Top 10 Horror Movies of 2009 (Wide Release)” and “Top 20 Horror Movies of 2009 (Limited Release/DVD)”

Mike McGranaghan, The Aisle Seat: “The Best Films of 2009”

Dustin Putman: “The Year in Review: 2009’s Best and Worst”

James Wegg: “Best of 2009”

Joseph Proimakis, Quiet Earth: top 5 of 2009

criticism news roundup

David Chen wonders whether film criticism really is a dying art, and decides that “fragmentation is not death.”

David Kronke at Variety asks “Can critics push Oscar?”, and examines the films of 2009 that have been helped by critical love.

OFCSer Erik Childress runs down the quote whores of 2009, and despairs that “the rise of the quote whores and anonymous fanboy bloggers has gone ruefully under-reported.”

RTE News announces the death of Irish Times film critic Michael Dwyer, whom director Neil Jordan praised as someone who brought a “totally different energy” to criticism.

classics update

Classic films our members are watching:

Brian Holcomb reviews Cruising (1980)

John J. Puccio reviews The Boy with Green Hair (1948)

Mike Phillips reviews Town Without Pity (1961) and Bootleg Film (1999)

Kevin Laforest reviews Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Glenn Erickson reviews Remember the Night (1940) and Untamed Youth (1957)

Dan Jardine reviews Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1964/1965/1966), Amarcord (1973), and Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Sean Axmaker looks at the classic “DVD Discoveries and Rediscoveries of 2009” and the classic “Ten DVD Releases That Made 2009 Great”

Roderick Heath reviews Cleopatra (1963)

Dennis Schwartz reviews Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour (1931) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

Cole Smithey reviews Salo (1975)

A.J. Hakari reviews Female Yakuza Tale (1973), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)

Marilyn Ferdinand reviews Gosford Park (2001)

Michael E. Grost reviews Rio Bravo (1959) and Great Day in the Morning (1956)

Gabe reviews Pickpocket (1959)

international update

What our members outside North America are watching:

U.K.
Rich Cline reviews I'm Gonna Explode

Greece
Joseph Proimakis reviews Les Herbes Folles and J'ai Tue ma Mere (reviews in Greek)

OFCS members to discuss top films of 2009

OFCS members and ReelTalk contributors Betty Jo Tucker, John P. McCarthy, and A.J. Hakari will discuss the top films of 2009 on a BlogTalkRadio show on Tuesday, January 5, at 4 pm Eastern/1 pm Pacific. During the live show, listeners are invited to call in and to participate in a chat. An archived segment will also be available.

Go to ReelTalk for more info, including how to listen and how to call in.

Essay Question: favorite movies of 2009

OFCS members ponder the question:

“What’s your favorite movie of 2009, and why?”

Answers after the jump.