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…

how to suppress women filmmakers

For those who don’t quite understand how Kathryn Bigelow is being dismissed or belittled as a filmmaker because she’s a woman… herewith a look at some of the reactions to The Hurt Locker, which closely follows the track Joanna Russ laid out in her 1983 book How to Suppress Women’s Writing [Amazon U.S.] [Amazon U.K.]. … more…

Online Film Critics Society 2009 awards nominees

Now posted over the OFCS news blog. Fun! A taste: 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 … more…

A Christmas Carol (review)

Robert Zemeckis appears to have given up making fantasies for grownups in favor of making theme-park attractions designed to do nothing more than shut the kiddies up for 90 minutes, if they can sit still for that long for the dazzling…