Great Movies
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Short Films in Focus: David and Bud
This month's Short Films in Focus highlights two shorts directed by Zach Woods.
This month's Short Films in Focus highlights two shorts directed by Zach Woods.
On two dozen of our favorite performances of 2021.
A feature on some of the best representations of female friendship in movie history.
The show is not particularly interested in story. It’s content to let Hahn fill each beat, no matter how empty, knowing that if all else fails, there’s plenty of enjoyment to be had in watching someone who likes to watch.
A piece on progress in who gets to tell stories reflected in films like Can You Forgive Me?, Late Night, The Souvenir, Revenge, and more.
Sarah Knight Adamson reports from Santa Monica, CA on the winners and speeches at last weekend's Critics' Choice Awards.
A look back at some of our favorite conversations from the past year, with both stars and filmmakers.
An interview with Nicole Holofcener about her new movie "The Land of Steady Habits," which played at the Toronto International Film Festival and arrives to Netflix on Friday.
A recap of the films that played at this year’s Telluride Film Festival, including First Man, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Boy Erased and more.
The 20 films world premiering at the Toronto Film Festival that you can expect to find covered here over the next week, among many others.
First impressions of the new Amazon pilots, including "One Mississippi" and "Good Girls Revolt."
Sheila writes: The Sundance Film Festival of 2014 is over, and it's been thrilling to keep up with the dispatches and reviews coming out of Park City, Utah. So many films, so little time! The Rogerebert.com correspondents Sam Fragoso and Simon Abrams have been filing reviews at a breathtaking speed. We have a roundup of all of their coverage on Rogerebert.com. Please do check it out! And for those who enjoy parodies, the video below has been making the rounds of film sites so I thought I would share it. The humor site Funny or Die has put together a fake trailer filled with "Sundance Film Cliches", all in one place.
The Oscars race has hit a holiday lull. It's a good time to pause and take stock of nominations.
Critic Inkoo Kang deems "The Wind Rises" disgraceful; critic Amy Nicholson deems "Saving Mr. Banks" a spoonful of lies; the prison memoir by an African American has been discovered; real 2013 heroines of film; an academy taxonomy.
Marie writes: Much beloved and a never ending source of amusement, Simon's Cat is a popular animated cartoon series by the British animator Simon Tofield featuring a hungry house cat who uses increasingly heavy-handed tactics to get its owner to feed it. Hand-drawn using an A4-size Wacom Intuos 3 pen and tablet, Simon has revealed that his four cats - called Teddy, Hugh, Jess and Maisie - provide inspiration for the series, with Hugh being the primary inspiration. And there's now a new short titled "Suitcase". To view the complete collection to date, visit Simon's Cat at YouTube.
This is the last of my lists of the best films of 2010, and the hardest to name. Call it the Best Art Films. I can't precisely define an Art Film, but I knew I was seeing one when I saw these. I could also call them Adult Films, if that term hadn't been devalued by the porn industry. These are films based on the close observation of behavior. They are not mechanical constructions of infinitesimal thrills. They depend on intelligence and empathy to be appreciated.
They also require acting of a precision not necessary in many mass entertainments. They require directors with a clear idea of complex purposes. They require subtleties of lighting and sound that create a self-contained world. Most of all, they require sympathy. The directors care for their characters, and ask us to see them as individuals, not genre emblems. That requires us to see ourselves as individual viewers, not "audience members." That can be an intimate experience. I found it in these titles, which for one reason or another weren't on my earlier lists. Maybe next year I'll just come up with one alphabetical list of all the year's best films, and call it "The Best Films of 2011, A to Z."
