my picks for tonight’s 94th Academy Awards (the Oscars for 2021-ish’s films) (winners indicated)
I correctly guessed 11 out of the 23 categories, which is exactly as well as I did last year.
Jane Campion
weekend watchlist: where to stream (almost) every Oscar nominee
In the run-up to the ceremony on Sunday, March 27th, you can watch almost every film that’s been nominated from the comfort of your sofa. Very handy if you’re participating in an Oscar pool.
AWFJ 2021 EDA Awards winners announced
And the winners are…
OFCS 2021 awards winners announced
And the winners are…
They movie review: the most important decision of their young life
Tender and contemplative, but as it meanders to its not-quite conclusion, it misses a ripe opportunity to give a stronger voice to a character the likes of which isn’t often heard.
oh, great: now women have to be sexy behind the camera, too
Yes, sexed-up images of women are used to sell absolutely everything. Yes, film is sexy. But is it supposed to be sexually appealing only to straight men?
defining the female gaze
In response to something I posted recently about “the female gaze,” I got an email from a male reader who appeared to believe that “the female gaze” refers to “movies women like to watch.” It doesn’t. Not even close. But his email got my thinking that perhaps I need to explain what “the female gaze” … more…
top 10 movies of 2009: the whys and wherefores
If you regularly check my on-the-fly ranking of new theatrical releases as I see them, then my top 10 movies of 2009 are no surprise: I shuffled a few titles around a bit last month, but the films ranked in the top 10 for 2009 haven’t changed much in months. (The 2009 ranking is here; … more…
because Thomas Edison loved a good ass-kicking
Quentin Tarantino believes violence is what makes movies good. Not just his movies: all movies, according to the London Evening Standard: In general cinema, that’s the biggest attraction. I’m a big fan of action and violence in cinema… That’s why Thomas Edison created the motion picture camera — because violence is so good. It affects … more…
Bright Star movie review: cinematic poetry
John Keats is the intruder into the story of Fanny Brawne, and if you didn’t already know that he turned out to be the renowed poet and she turned out to be ‘merely’ the young woman who loved him, and was loved by him, and inspired some of his greatest poetry, you might be forgiven for assuming that she’s the one who surely washed up legendary years later, for how the film defies the convention of lavishing its focus not on him as the de facto presumptive natural center of attention, but on her.
