The Critics' Lists and Awards for 2013 Movies Thread - PRESENTED BY WILL FORTE

[Pop Trash]

Indie Spirit noms just announced (good shit but let the haterade begin):

http://www.indiewire.com/article/2014-spirit-award-nomination-being-announced-in-progress

[Pop Trash]

Cahiers du cinema's top films of 2013:

http://www.vodkaster.com/Listes-de-films/Top-2013-Cahiers-du-cinema

Guess Lincoln is 2013 for Francais.

[Ezee E]

Indie Spirit voters saw 7-10 movies apparently.

[Spinal]

Too early!

[Winston*]

Indie darling Matthew McConaughey.

[baby doll]

Hamburgers. Sausage. Telephone Booth.

[Pop Trash]

Sight and Sound:

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/polls-surveys/annual-round-ups/best-films-2013

Kicking myself for not seeing The Act of Killing in the theater when I had the chance.

[Boner M]

Wish I liked A Touch of Sin and Upstream Color more. Norte, the End of History is amazing.

More interested in the individual ballots.

[eternity]

I suppose I just don't "get" both Gravity and Blue Is the Warmest Color. I really didn't find anything special about either of them.

[Boner M]

I think critics are cutting Gravity a lot of slack for what it represents in the context of the Blockbuster.

[Pop Trash]

I think critics are cutting Gravity a lot of slack for what it represents in the context of the Blockbuster.

On a formal level, I can't think of anything with more fluid camera work outside of experimental films (?) I suppose. The fact that it seems to break free of any visual axis point makes it rather remarkable. That said, I'm a bit perplexed by some of the praise for it (cf. Kristen Thompson writing it's better than 2001, wut?)

[Bandy Greensacks]

Did none of them see A Field in England or Bastards? Strange not to see either of them mentioned even once.

[Boner M]

I struggled with A Field in England, and I really liked Wheatley's first three films. Personal opinion aside, it's been pretty divisive among most people I follow.

I thought Bastards was excellent, but it's also proved divisive even among Denis fans. Michael Koresky wrote a nice piece about his mixed feelings on it (http://blog.sundancenow.com/weekly-columns/here-now-then-2013) (also re: The Act of Killing and The Butler). I have reservations regarding the film's content, particular whether it earns its nihilism, but as a piece of filmmaking it's stunning enough to warrant best-of-year consideration.

Actually, it's time to update my own list.

[Boner M]

On a formal level, I can't think of anything with more fluid camera work outside of experimental films (?) I suppose. The fact that it seems to break free of any visual axis point makes it rather remarkable. That said, I'm a bit perplexed by some of the praise for it (cf. Kristen Thompson writing it's better than 2001, wut?)
Mostly I just don't trust any film that unites the opinions of Cinemascore voters, Sight & Sound, my mom, AICN fanboy types and Cahiers du freaking Cinema.

[Winston*]

I liked A Field of England quite a bit - more than Kill List, not as much as Sightseers. Weird movie. Probably wouldn't be in a top 10 of mine though.

[Spinal]

It's OK to like movies without worrying about who else is liking them too.

[Boner M]

It's OK to like movies without worrying about who else is liking them too.
I was kidding re: Gravity.

[Bandy Greensacks]

It's OK to like movies without worrying about who else is liking them too.
LIES

[Raiders]

It's OK to like movies without worrying about who else is liking them too.

True... imagine how active and awesome that forum would be?

[Spinal]

I was kidding re: Gravity.

I'm just sticking up for your mom.

[Watashi]

I'm just sticking up for your mom.

I'm also sticking it up for Boner's mom.

[Boner M]

:sad:

[Spinal]

If we need a page of posts to go in a time capsule to let future generations know what Match Cut was all about, this one might serve as a good representation.

[baby doll]

I think critics are cutting Gravity a lot of slack for what it represents in the context of the Blockbuster.But what's their excuse for liking La Grande bellezza? (British eccentricity?) I'm ninety percent sure this is going to be one of those movies like American Beauty that ten years from now people will look back on and think, "What the fuck were we on?" I'm tempted to describe it as a kind of geriatric Catcher in the Rye that aligns the viewer with an aged, impeccably dressed Holden Caulfield-type while he scoffs at phonies, implicitly flattering the viewer for being hip enough to recognize that idiot performance artists are phonies--except that J.D. Salinger was actually a good writer, whereas Sorrentino is plainly a hack director. There's razzmatazz (Fellini, Bertolucci, Tarantino), and then there's taking shotgun approach to coverage in order to conceal that you don't really what you're doing. If this is Jonathan Romney's idea of "cinematic euphoria," I think it's about time he retires as his brain's started turning into mush from watching so many shit commercial movies.

[baby doll]

On a formal level, I can't think of anything with more fluid camera work outside of experimental films (?) I suppose. The fact that it seems to break free of any visual axis point makes it rather remarkable. That said, I'm a bit perplexed by some of the praise for it (cf. Kristen Thompson writing it's better than 2001, wut?)Thompson likened its 360 degree vertical pans to Michael Snow's La Région centrale, which was also an influence on Gaspar Noé's Irréversible, but in both those movies up and down are still relevant concepts. So on that level, it's definitely an innovative film, but then there are lots of innovative films that aren't particularly great movies (putting aside how racist The Birth of a Nation is, I couldn't always tell the characters apart, even on my third viewing).

[Pop Trash]

Well I still like American Beauty. I don't give a pho.

[ledfloyd]

Well I still like American Beauty. I don't give a pho.
Now I'm hungry.

[Pop Trash]

"I'm shocked that John Waters loved Spring Breakers" said no one ever.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/john-waters-top-films-of-2013-spring-breakers-is-1

[Russ]

"I'm shocked that John Waters loved Spring Breakers" said no one ever.
Did you mean for that to come off as dismissive? 'Cause that came off as dismissive.

[Irish]

I'm ninety percent sure this is going to be one of those movies like American Beauty that ten years from now people will look back on and think, "What the fuck were we on?"

While it wasn't the point of your post, I'm fighting the urge to stick up for American Beauty a little bit.

[baby doll]

While it wasn't the point of your post, I'm fighting the urge to stick up for American Beauty a little bit.Go for it.

[Irish]

Go for it.

Not sure I have the energy :lol:

I think the movie is dated, but not in a bad way. Not in a way that makes it unwatchable. It reminds me of films like Holiday, Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House, and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. All movies that deal with bourgeois problems and are so much "of their time" they seem quaint and naive now.

Peck in "Suit" and Spacey in "Beauty" become, in some sense, laughable figures with their moneyed ennui. But then if we smirk at them, we also have to realize that we have an advantage that they do not. We can see the looming tragedies of Vietnam and 9/11 that they, stuck in time, cannot. Nobody cares now about Peck's advertising job or that Benning matched her gloves to her gardening shears. These seem like small and petty concerns because the world changed, and violently. But then that will always happen. It's why these kind of movies date as they do.

I think there are elements to it -- Mena Suvari, the roses, that plastic bag, those notes on the soundtrack -- that got played and parodied so much that people just got sick of it all. They begun to resent the source material (similar to the way people resented "bullet time" effects from The Matrix). Which I can understand, but that doesn't have anything to do with the original movie.

I think the movie was released in the middle of the Age of Snark(TM), when it pointedly wasn't cool to acknowledge that anything, at any time, effected you as an audience member. But nobody will ever convince me that they weren't quietly and secretly moved by that plastic bag floating on the breeze. And I mean the first time they saw it, removed from the the larger cultural context of award shows and "Family Guy" parodies. That they didn't connect to that moment. That they didn't understand what Wes Bently was talking about.

The movie takes pains to say something true. To point out that there's beauty in the ordinary. We've gotten that kind of thing out of Europe before, and hell the Japanese have a whole aesthetic built around it (wabisabi). But, wow. It's rare in American film, especially a mainstream one.

So yeah. I can rattle off the criticisms of it just as easily as anyone else (it's awkward and a little too eager in places), but I think given distance and time, people will come back and give this movie a fair shake. It says too much about Clinton-era America, and people in general, to be casually tossed aside.

[Spinal]

I think the movie was released in the middle of the Age of Snark(TM), when it pointedly wasn't cool to acknowledge that anything, at any time, effected you as an audience member. But nobody will ever convince me that they weren't quietly and secretly moved by that plastic bag floating on the breeze. And I mean the first time they saw it, removed from the the larger cultural context of award shows and "Family Guy" parodies. That they didn't connect to that moment. That they didn't understand what Wes Bently was talking about.

I guess I'm not going to convince you. But that moment was begging for parody from the start. It's ham-fisted and contrived. Other moments in that film work pretty well. But that's not one of them. At least for me.

[Grouchy]

Yeah, I've always liked American Beauty a lot (still do, although that's a good point about how 9/11 violently changed the country it was about) but the plastic bag scene is not its finest hour. It deserves all the parodies.

[Mysterious Dude]

I like the bag.

[ledfloyd]

I liked the bag, but I was 14. I thought Mallrats was the best movie ever made. I don't trust 14-year-old me as a judge of cinema.

[ThePlashyBubbler]

David Ehrlich's Top 25 Video Countdown. (http://vimeo.com/80862133)

Pretty neatly done.

[baby doll]

David Ehrlich's Top 25 Video Countdown. (http://vimeo.com/80862133)

Pretty neatly done.Eleven minutes? Can't somebody just post the list?

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Eleven minutes? Can't somebody just post the list?

Sure, but it's worth watching anyways.

25. Frances Ha
24. The World's End
23. The Broken Circle Breakdown
22. The Bling Ring
21. Pain & Gain
20. The Great Beauty
19. Blue Jasmine
18. Nebraska
17. Beyond the Hills
16. The Great Gatsby
15. Stoker
14. The Act of Killing
13. Laurence Anyways
12. The Wolf of Wall Street
11. Upstream Color
10. Post Tenebras Lux
9. Leviathan
8. A Touch of Sin
7. At Berkeley
6. Spring Breakers
5. The Grandmasters (Chinese Cut)
4. 12 Years A Slave
3. Inside Llewyn Davis
2. The Wind Rises
1. Before Midnight

[baby doll]

Sure, but it's worth watching anyways.Thanks. I'd watch it, but I got other things to do. I've seen nine of those, and it's weird to see so much awesomeness (Before Midnight, Beyond the Hills, Post Tenebras Lux) along side so much awfulness (La grande bellezza, The Great Gatsby, Laurence Anyways). Does he/she explain why they liked these movies so much or is it just clips from the films themselves?

[Watashi]

The point of the video is the editing and music, not the film choices themselves.

[Watashi]

Thanks. I'd watch it, but I got other things to do.

Like browse and post on a message board?

[baby doll]

Like browse and post on a message board?Among other things.

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Thanks. I'd watch it, but I got other things to do. I've seen nine of those, and it's weird to see so much awesomeness (Before Midnight, Beyond the Hills, Post Tenebras Lux) along side so much awfulness (La grande bellezza, The Great Gatsby, Laurence Anyways). Does he/she explain why they liked these movies so much or is it just clips from the films themselves?

There's no written blurbs, not sure if maybe he does that to accompany the video at some point. It's more along the lines of those year in review montages that crop up this time of year.

[Watashi]

NYFCC Awards:

Best Picture: American Hustle
Best Actor: Robert Redford, All Is Lost
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Foreign Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises
Best Screenplay: American Hustle
Best Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Best First Film: Fruitvale Station
Best Documentary: Stories We Tell

I still have no desire to see American Hustle.

[Boner M]

Ugh. Seriously, just ugh.

[Ezee E]

Apparently New York got out of the screening of American Hustle and said, "Wahooooooo."

[Pop Trash]

Ugh. Seriously, just ugh.

Is this reaction to American Hustle? Cuz most of their other choices I'm OK with.

[baby doll]

It looks like a bunch of middle-aged guys really, really want Jennifer Lawrence to come to their party.

[Henry Gale]

National Board of Review:

Best Film: HER
Best Director: Spike Jonze, HER
Best Actor: Bruce Dern, NEBRASKA
Best Actress: Emma Thompson, SAVING MR. BANKS
Best Supporting Actor: Will Forte, NEBRASKA
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, FRUITVALE STATION
Best Original Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
Best Adapted Screenplay: Terence Winter, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Best Animated Feature: THE WIND RISES
Breakthrough Performance: Michael B. Jordan, FRUITVALE STATION
Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopoulos, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
Best Directorial Debut: Ryan Coogler, FRUITVALE STATION
Best Foreign Language Film: THE PAST
Best Documentary: STORIES WE TELL
William K. Everson Film History Award: George Stevens, Jr.
Best Ensemble: PRISONERS
Spotlight Award: Career Collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: WADJDA
Creative Innovation in Filmmaking Award: GRAVITY


Top Films
(in alphabetical order)

12 YEARS A SLAVE

FRUITVALE STATION

GRAVITY

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

LONE SURVIVOR

NEBRASKA

PRISONERS

SAVING MR. BANKS

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET


Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(In Alphabetical Order)

BEYOND THE HILLS

GLORIA

THE GRANDMASTER

A HIJACKING

THE HUNT


Top 5 Documentaries
(In Alphabetical Order)

20 FEET FROM STARDOM

THE ACT OF KILLING

AFTER TILLER

CASTING BY

THE SQUARE


Top 10 Independent Films
(In Alphabetical Order)

AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

IN A WORLD…

MOTHER OF GEORGE

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

MUD

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

SHORT TERM 12

SIGHTSEERS

THE SPECTACULAR NOW

[Henry Gale]

Some really diverse, surprising and deserved recognition for a lot of stuff that hasn't been lauded or even included too much amongst other year-end awards talk.

Very happy to see Her dominate for Jonze. I get to see it tomorrow!

[Pop Trash]

Very happy to see Her dominate for Jonze. I get to see it tomorrow!

Wow didn't see THAT coming at all. NBR has a rep for being rather conservative in their taste too. Suddenly Her has a chance for a BP nom.

[Pop Trash]

Weren't there first time films worthy other than Fruitvale Station? Cuz I had some significant issues with that film.

[Henry Gale]

Wow didn't see THAT coming at all. NBR has a rep for being rather conservative in their taste too. Suddenly Her has a chance for a BP nom.

Exactly, it's totally unexpected and awesome (though I do realize I'm saying this without having seen it yet), especially when I see that the last two times a NBR winner didn't land in Oscar's Best Picture category were Gods and Monsters and Quills in 1998 and 2000. Both those exceptions were also about a decade before BP had up to ten nomination slots.

Kinda changes the race significantly as far as I see it.

[Ezee E]

Weren't there first time films worthy other than Fruitvale Station? Cuz I had some significant issues with that film.

I'm trying to think of some.

[Spinal]

I would be delighted to see MacGruber nominated for an Oscar.

[Boner M]

I would be delighted to see MacGruber nominated for an Oscar.
It was a really tall order to be asked to take him seriously in Nebraska.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z_JPUp88uN8/TnKQQaouqbI/AAAAAAAAAFU/OY2rm2PZ-WA/s400/funny-gifs-getting-angry.gif

[Derek]

It was a really tall order to be asked to take him seriously in Nebraska.

You obviously hadn't seen his previous dramatic performance of a man with serious father issues. I'm pretty sure this is why Payne cast him.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-m7mBSw-5k

[Spinal]

Man, I love Will Forte. Top 5 all-time SNL cast member as far as I'm concerned.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9US98617ZrI

[Boner M]

You obviously hadn't seen his previous dramatic performance of a man with serious father issues. I'm pretty sure this is why Payne cast him.
I thought it was for his previous performance as a salesperson.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT3iviHrhUI

[Lucky]

I'm disappointed that Before Midnight doesn't seem to be pulling traction for anything except Adapted Screenplay.

[Winston*]

I'm disappointed that Before Midnight doesn't seem to be pulling traction for anything except Adapted Screenplay.
This is now the Will Forte thread.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NVa8eEUWVI

[Henry Gale]

A lot of critic guild awards announced today, but I kept an eye on this feed as it happened, and was quite happy with most of it (in terms of what I've seen of course, with Her being my personal champ at the moment)...

Los Angeles Film Critics Association:

Best Picture: TIE - "Gravity" and "Her"

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity;
runner-up: Spike Jonze, Her

Best Actor: Bruce Dern, Nebraska;
runner-up: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress: TIE - Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine, and Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Supporting Actor: TIE - James Franco, Spring Breakers (ahah yesss), and Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave;
runner-up: June Squibb, Nebraska

Best Screenplay: Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight;
runner-up: Spike Jonze, Her

Best Foreign-Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color;
runner-up: The Great Beauty

Best Feature Animation: Ernest & Celestine;
runner-up: The Wind Rises

Best Documentary: Stories We Tell;
runner-up: The Act of Killing

Best Music: T Bone Burnett, Inside Llewyn Davis;
runner-up: Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett, Her

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity;
runner-up: Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Editing: Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger, Gravity;
runner-up: Shane Carruth and David Lowery, Upstream Color

Best Production Design: K.K. Barrett, Her;
runner-up: Jess Gonchor, Inside Llewyn Davis

Douglas Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video Award: Cabinets Of Wonder: Films and a Performance by Charlotte Pryce

The NEW GENERATION prize: Megan Ellison

LEGACY OF CINEMA: Awarded to the Criterion Collection.

[dreamdead]

Thanks for posting that. Love that Carruth got notice--UC has such a hypnotic rhythm.

It's pleasing to see Hawke, Delpy, and Linklater actually win for their finely crafted work. That series remains more lived-in and fascinating in coverage than almost anything else. Just wish they'd receive notice, Delpy especially, for their performances...

[Spinal]

Ties are lame. Also lame: runner-ups.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Will Forte as Clancy T. Bachlerat Sings Songs About Model T Cars, Toddlers, Jars of Beer, and Spaceships (http://screen.yahoo.com/joseph-gordon-levitt-snl-skits/jackie-snad-clancy-bachlerat-000000881.html)

His five-to-1 sketches have given me way too many laughs.

[Ezee E]

Detroit nominated Stanley Tucci for Best Supporting Actor.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Detroit nominated Stanley Tucci for Best Supporting Actor.

On that note,

Brown Eggs stops by "Morning Prayer." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0vCqfsZLag#t=4m30s)

[dreamdead]

Slant's top 25 films here (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/feature/the-25-best-films-of-2013).

Really want to see Her, Inside Llewyan Davis, Museum Hours and Laurence Anyways...

[ledfloyd]

Slant's top 25 films here (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/feature/the-25-best-films-of-2013).

Really want to see Her, Inside Llewyan Davis, Museum Hours and Laurence Anyways...
Same. Also Viola, A Touch of Sin and At Berkeley.

[Henry Gale]

Very good list from Slant (from what I've seen and what it's compelling me to seek out), especially since it seems like most of my own current Top 10 or so is spread across the list and I really can't disagree with Her at #1.

[Derek]

Tiny Mix Tapes (http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2013-favorite-30-films-of-2013)

Leviathanwrite-up by yours truly. Typically odd list, but pretty thrilled with the top 5 (not that big of a Computer Chess, but love seeing Bujalski, or any Qrazy-despised film, garner praise) as well as many other picks.

[Boner M]

What's the rules of eligibility is that list going by? Bestiaire was a 2012 premiere & US release; Himizu a 2012 premiere w/ no US release.

(sorry)

Anyway, glad to see some recognition for The Dirties.

[baby doll]

Slant's top 25 films here (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/feature/the-25-best-films-of-2013).

Really want to see Her, Inside Llewyan Davis, Museum Hours and Laurence Anyways...I'm not a fan, but then I would hate anything so politically correct. (Curious that the writer cites Fassbinder as an influence on Dolan when his films about gay relationships were anything but.)

[baby doll]

Incidentally, while we're on the subject of year-end polls and whatnot, this year for the Matchies, wouldn't be it simpler and less time consuming if, instead of doing an Oscar-style nomination process and balloting, we just did a straight poll like the Village Voice (http://www.villagevoice.com/filmpoll/view/critics/Jonathan+Rosenbaum/2012/) and IndieWire?

[Boner M]

I'd be down with that for the categories, but I'd still like to keep the 5 nominees instead of 3 (or 1, in the case of the non-acting categories).

[Boner M]

I'd prefer the formatting of the Indiewire survey (http://www.indiewire.com/survey/indiewire-2012-year-end-critics-poll/), actually - maybe add best cinematography, though?

EDIT: Might as well propose a new format here. How about this:

BEST PICTURE
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST ACTOR
BEST ACTRESS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BEST SCREENPLAY
BEST MUSIC SCORE
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST DOCUMENTARY
BEST ANIMATED FILM
BEST UNDISTRIBUTED FILM

Up to 5 nominees for each category. Any objections?

[Derek]

WHERE'S MY BEST SOUND MIXING BRAH??

[Boner M]

Best Sound Mixing
Leviathan
Leviathan
Leviathan
Leviathan
Leviathan

Winner announced late February.

[Ezee E]

We aren't gonna do Song this year.

ANy problems with that?

I'm not really understanding how the IndieWire is different then how we currently do it.

[ledfloyd]

We aren't gonna do Song this year.

ANy problems with that?

I'm not really understanding how the IndieWire is different then how we currently do it.
Fewer categories basically.

I like the idea. I'm usually winging it on costumes, makeup, art direction et al. anyway, and I'm not sure there's much merit in separating original and adapted screenplays.

[baby doll]

I'm not really understanding how the IndieWire is different then how we currently do it.I was thinking we could skip the nomination stage and have a straight vote, but I consider it a win just to have fewer categories.

[Spinal]

I'm not sure there's much merit in separating original and adapted screenplays.

I would disagree with this. I think they are two vastly different exercises.

[Pop Trash]

I would disagree with this. I think they are two vastly different exercises.

Seconded.

[baby doll]

I would disagree with this. I think they are two vastly different exercises.Yeah, but at the end of the day, who really gives a shit? I mean, it's not like any of us are going to sit down and read the works that all these movies are based on so that we can compare them with the films they inspired. Some of us got shit to do.

[Ezee E]

Bloggers are already focusing on next year now that it's all 12 Years a Slave news from here on out.

[ledfloyd]

I would disagree with this. I think they are two vastly different exercises.
But the end result is what matters, isn't it?

[Spinal]

But the end result is what matters, isn't it?

Do you also support merging male and female actors into the same category?

[Pop Trash]

http://www.filmcomment.com/entry/50-best-films-of-2013

Only surprises are Her and The Wolf of Wall Street (fc is usually all about Marty) being rather low, but that could be not enough critics were able to see them in time.

[baby doll]

Do you also support merging male and female actors into the same category?I would, absolutely, if Hollywood weren't so sexist against women.

[ledfloyd]

Do you also support merging male and female actors into the same category?
In theory, sure. However there is a pretty clear problem with that given that men are offered way more interesting roles than women, on the whole.

I don't see a bias against adapted screenplays or vice versa.

[Mysterious Dude]

Movie City News has started their tally of critics' top ten lists.

http://moviecitynews.com/2013/12/the-top-tens-of-2013-the-big-scoreboard/

[baby doll]

So apparently Americans are great at making movies and everybody else sucks, except a couple people in Western Europe.

[dreamdead]

ReverseShot's best of the year (http://reverseshot.com/article/reverse_shots_best_2013). Generally a fan of their considerations--found the top two and Frances Ha write-ups particularly well done.

[ledfloyd]

Very similar to my top ten, except I didn't care for Post Tenebras Lux at all.

Glad to see To the Wonder get #1 somewhere.

[Henry Gale]

Very similar to my top ten, except I didn't care for Post Tenebras Lux at all.

Glad to see To the Wonder get #1 somewhere.

Well if it wasn't for Her's existence, Malick would likely have my current #1, with Scorsese potentially inching ahead of him.

But even then, as good as those write-ups are, it made me realize I've only seen To the Wonder and Llewyn Davis out of their entire top ten, leaving those as the only two I could resoundingly agree with.

[dreamdead]

Glad to see To the Wonder get #1 somewhere.

The New Yorker's Richard Brody also had it as a #1 tie (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2013/12/the-best-movies-of-2013-richard-brody.html). Interesting to see his antipathy for Before Midnight...

[ledfloyd]

The New Yorker's Richard Brody also had it as a #1 tie (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2013/12/the-best-movies-of-2013-richard-brody.html). Interesting to see his antipathy for Before Midnight...
Yeah, I don't get him on that one.

[Watashi]

FilmCritHulk's Top 10 List. (http://badassdigest.com/2014/01/02/hulks-top-ten-movies-of-2013/)

[Henry Gale]

FilmCritHulk's Top 10 List. (http://badassdigest.com/2014/01/02/hulks-top-ten-movies-of-2013/)

Love this so much.

[ledfloyd]

I really wish there was a way to convert his posts out of caps lock, so I could read them without getting a headache.

[Henry Gale]

DGA Nominees:

ALFONSO CUARÓN
Gravity
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
This is Mr. Cuarón’s first DGA Award nomination.

PAUL GREENGRASS
Captain Phillips
(Columbia Pictures)
This is Mr. Greengrass’s first DGA Award nomination.

STEVE McQUEEN
12 Years A Slave
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
This is Mr. McQueen’s first DGA Award nomination.

DAVID O. RUSSELL
American Hustle
(Columbia Pictures)
This is Mr. Russell’s second DGA Award nomination. He was previously nominated in this category for The Fighter in 2010.

MARTIN SCORSESE
The Wolf of Wall Street
(Paramount Pictures)

[Spinal]

STEVE McQUEEN
12 Years A Slave
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
This is Mr. McQueen’s first DGA Award nomination.

BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Mysterious Dude]

BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Armond White, is that you?

[Henry Gale]

Nothing too surprising from DGA. I would've loved to have seen Jonze or the Coens squeeze in there, but in terms of whose place they would've taken, I think Scorsese and Greengrass had career highlight showings out of the bunch and Cuaron and McQueen certainly deserved to be there too. So despite my general indifference towards Russell's American Hustle, it's a frontrunner at this point, so I don't think there was a version of this list that he wouldn't have made.

But as we've seen the last couple of years, there isn't necessarily huge crossover between DGA and the Academy's eventual five. So we'll see.

[Spinal]

Armond White, is that you?

Yeah, I haven't seen it. Looking forward to it though.

[baby doll]

As much as I think White is a terrible reviewer, I find something intensely grating about news reports on his alleged heckling that point to the film's high Tomato-meter rating and general acclaim as definitive proof of its greatness (as if that meant anything) and White's lousiness as a critic without even touching on his incomprehensible prose, zombie ideas (e.g., the death of cinephilia), moralistic scolding, right-wing paranoia, egomania, and martyr complex. He can't even convince me that gay French auteurs are wonderful (especially Demy and Téchiné) and that Obama is terrible, and those are positions I already agree with.

[Dead & Messed Up]

As much as I think White is a terrible reviewer, I find something intensely grating about news reports on his alleged heckling that point to the film's high Tomato-meter rating and general acclaim as definitive proof of its greatness (as if that meant anything) and White's lousiness as a critic without even touching on his incomprehensible prose, zombie ideas (e.g., the death of cinephilia), moralistic scolding, right-wing paranoia, egomania, and martyr complex. He can't even convince me that gay French auteurs are wonderful (especially Demy and Téchiné) and that Obama is terrible, and those are positions I already agree with.

Yep.

The news stories generally focus on the absolute easiest element to criticize. It's similar to people complaining about a review's star rating without bothering to read the damn words. There are better reasons to hate the guy.

[Lazlo]

Yep.

The news stories generally focus on the absolute easiest element to criticize. It's similar to people complaining about a review's star rating without bothering to read the damn words. There are better reasons to hate the guy.

I don't know that it's necessarily saying that the critical acclaim means the movie is of unquestionable high quality. I think it's more pointing towards how out of step White is with his colleagues on the subject. The dude is clearly an asshole for lots of reasons, but I think the coverage points more towards his contrarianism rather than the movie's quality. Most critics did like the movie, White didn't and is being vocal about it in an incredibly unprofessional manner. Talking about the movie's critical acclaim provides context for people who might not know much about the movie, which is an important part of a news story.

[Watashi]

I think yelling out "Boo!" and "Kiss my ass" to a director onstage whether it be Steve McQueen or Dennis Dugan is completely unprofessional. It doesn't matter how acclaimed the film is.

For someone who thinks no film critic should be under 30 years old, White acts like he's 12.

[Ezee E]

GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS:
Best Drama: 12 Years a Slave
Best Comedy: American Hustle
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Best Actor (Drama): Chiwetel Ejiofor
Best Actress (Drama): Cate Blanchett
Best Actor (Comedy): Leonardo DiCaprio
Best Actress (Comedy): Amy Adams
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence
Best Screenplay: American Hustle
Best Score: Gravity
Best Foreign Film: The Great Beauty
Best Animated Feature: Frozen
Best Song: The U2 one

[Ivan Drago]

Has anyone else here seen The Great Beauty? Despite an almost hokey moment near the end, its visuals and soundtrack are fantastic, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. That being said, was anyone else surprised it won last night? I ask because I liked Blue Is The Warmest Color a lot more, and that was my pick to win.

[Raiders]

I think yelling out "Boo!" and "Kiss my ass" to a director onstage whether it be Steve McQueen or Dennis Dugan is completely unprofessional. It doesn't matter how acclaimed the film is.

For someone who thinks no film critic should be under 30 years old, White acts like he's 12.

Speaking of all this though, David Chen at /filmcast interviewed White (who is a frequent contributor) back a few days ago after it happened and White denied it in an entirely unconvincing manner, playing the semantics game and acting the martyr yet again.

http://slashfilm.com/filmcast/?p=894 (http://slashfilm.com/filmcast/?p=894)

It's a fascinating interview though. Listening to a clearly smart, educated man talk in circles and vague "truths" is captivating to me. The extent to which he is truly, 100% serious is always something that remains a mystery to me.

[Dukefrukem]

Ugh. Nothing bugs me more when the host or contributors don't mute their freakin mic when other people are talking....

But yeh, White is a fucking troll.

[baby doll]

Has anyone else here seen The Great Beauty? Despite an almost hokey moment near the end, its visuals and soundtrack are fantastic, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. That being said, was anyone else surprised it won last night? I ask because I liked Blue Is The Warmest Color a lot more, and that was my pick to win.Which hokey moment are you talking about: The lame digs at female performance artists and female writers, both satiric straw women the movie erects merely so that Jep can demolish them? Or his fan telling him that he must've really been in love when he wrote his only novel? Or crying at the funeral to demonstrate his spiritual rebirth? Or indeed the whole "hooker with a heart of gold" subplot which feels like something out of '90s Woody Allen more than '60s Fellini (much less Nights of Cabiria)? Or the scene where the girlfriend's widower and his frumpty Eastern European lady friend in the apartment full of tacky furniture are posited as the model of marital bliss? Or the aged saint telling him she only eats roots because "Roots are important"? Or did you just mean "the great beauty" of the title (which supposedly inspired him to write this great novel) turning out to be his girlfriend flashing her tits at him in the late '60s?

[Ivan Drago]

Or the aged saint telling him she only eats roots because "Roots are important"?

The saint, definitely. But despite that, I still liked the film.

From the looks of your post, I can tell you didn't.

[baby doll]

The saint, definitely. But despite that, I still liked the film.

From the looks of your post, I can tell you didn't.Nope. The whole thing struck me as facile, phony, and pandering. But I'm glad you liked it.

[dreamdead]

Oscar nominees (http://cdn.media.oscar.abc.com/media/2014/pdf/2014/nominees.pdf?v2). Pleased for Sally Hawkins and the Grandmasters cinematography nominations most of all.

Sad that the Coens and Linklater films are largely absent.

[Ezee E]

Have any critics said, "Philomena is philonemanal!" Because I want to see that on an ad.

[Henry Gale]

Oh sorry dreamdead, didn't see you already starting discussion here. Started a new thread for it, which I guess can make a smoother transition from nominations stuff to commentary about the actual show in the coming month or so.