It was a year when more movies opened than during any other year in memory. A year when the big Hollywood studios cast their lot with franchises, formulas, sequels, and movies marketed for narrow demographic groups--focusing so much on "product" instead of original work that they seemed likely to be shut out of the Oscars, as they were essentially shut out of the Golden Globes. A year when independent and foreign films showed extraordinary vitality. A wonderful year, that is, for moviegoers who chose carefully, and a mediocre year for those took their chances at the multiplex.

Continue reading →

Q. While watching the most recent trailer for "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," I immediately recognized the music as the excellent score from "Requiem for a Dream." I am familiar with the practice of recycling music for trailers--I can't count the number of times I have heard the score from "Aliens"--but why bother, with a sequel to a hugely successful movie with a ready-made score? If it was slapped on for time's sake, I might understand, but the version I heard on the

Continue reading →

TORONTO--At the end of the 27th Toronto Film Festival, six films in six paragraphs, alphabetically:

Continue reading →