Mandel Maven's Nest Reel Life: Flick Pix
Nora Lee Mandel is a member of New York Film Critics Online. Her reviews are counted in the Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter:
Complete Index to Nora Lee Mandel's Movie Reviews
My reviews have appeared on: Film-Forward; FF2 Media; Lilith, FilmFestivalTraveler; and, Alliance of Women Film Journalists and for Jewish film festivals. Shorter versions of my older reviews are at IMDb's comments, where non-English-language films are listed by their native titles.
TV Recommendations
As of mid-2014, I am marking my own stricter application than others to fiction features of the Bechdel-Wallace Test
Originally suggested by Allison Bechdel, as inspired by her friend Liz Wallace (so her name was added to the symbol as of 2016), in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985 to note a film that features (1) at least two named female characters; (2) who talk to each other; (3) about something besides a man. Symbol first designed by the Swedish chapter of Women in Film and Television; thanks to The Hot Pink Pen for the updated image. But my own criteria consider a substantive interaction about substance and gender for when a film features more than female relationships.
My Best Films of 2021
My Best Films of 2020
My Best Films of 2019
My Best Films of 2018
My Best Films of 2017
My Best Films of 2016
My Best Films of 2015
My Best Films of 2014
My Best Films of 2013
My Best Films of 2012
My Best Films of 2011
My Best Films of 2010
My Best Films of 2009
My Best Films of 2008
My Best Films of 2007
My Best Films of 2006
My Best Films of 2005
My Best Films of 2004
My Best Films of 2003
My Best Films of 2002
My Best Films of 2001
Reviews by Nora Lee Mandel in my idiosyncratic categories of how I think of of flicks:
CHICK FLICKS
IMPACT OF 9/11 ON NYC THROUGH MOVIES
IMAGES OF DENTISTS AND PREVENTIVE TOOTH CARE IN MOVIES (carrying on the work of Dr. Irwin D. Mandel z”l)
JEWISH WOMEN IN (and missing from) THE FLICKS
MASTERPIECE THEATER: MOVIES AS MEDICINE
For the MIDDLE-AGED AT HEART: HURRAH FOR GROWN-UPS!
For the MUSIC (and/or the dancing)
NEW YORK NEW YORK: IT'S A HELLUVA TOWN
NOIR NIGHT OUT
OGLING TEENS AND '20SOMETHINGS
POPCORN EATERS
ROMEO AND JULIET (and friends) ACROSS THE ETHNIC DIVIDE
SCI-FI and FANTASY from A DISTAFF POV
And then there's RUSSELL CROWE (with commentary on the actor)
Friends don't let friends watch bad movies! -- John Ridley
It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons. -- Pierre Rissient
Mothers of America/let your kids go to the movies! -- Frank O’Hara, Ave Maria
MY BEST FILMS of 2021 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Night of the Kings (La nuit des rois) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Minari
200 Meters (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings/ in 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Never Gonna Snow Again (Sniegu juz nigdy nie bedzie) (Kino Lorber)
Atlantis (Kudos to writer/director/cinematographer Valentyn Vasyanovych) (preview courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Kudos to Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield) (HBO Max)
Limbo (preview courtesy of Focus Features)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (Kudos to Welket Bungué) (preview courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Luzzo (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ Kino Lorber release)
Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Broken Keys (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
The White Tiger (Netflix)
The Mauritanian (preview courtesy of STX Entertainment)
The Father (preview courtesy of Sony Classics)
The Sign Painter (Pilsēta pie upes) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Final Set (Cinquième set) (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Big Hit (Un Triomphe) (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Looking For A Lady With Fangs and A Moustache (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release Abramorama)
BEST FEMALE POV
Fiction
Beginning (Dasatskisi) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Nomadland (Kudos to Frances McDormand and cinematography by Joshua James Richards) (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Herself (Kudos to star/co-writer Clare Dunne) (Amazon)
Buladó (Coming of Age Division) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Identifying Features (Sin señas particulares) (seen courtesy of Kino Lorber at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Two of Us (Deux) (Kudos to Barbara Sukowa) (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) (Kudos to Nina Hoss) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
And Tomorrow The Entire World (Und morgen die ganze Welt) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Tove (streamed with 2021 Nordic Women in Film/
Juno Films)
Land (Kudos to star/director Robin Wright, cinematographer Bobby Bukowski, and score) (preview courtesy of Focus Features)
Hope (Håp) (Kudos to Andrea Bræin Hovig) (preview courtesy of KimStim)
My Zoe (Kudos to writer/director/star Julie Delpy) (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment and Museum of Moving Image)
And Breathe Normally (Andið eðlilega) (Netflix) (with 2021 Nordic Women in Film)
Kuessipan ("to you" in the Innu language) (seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival /streamed in virtual cinema)
Spring Blossom (Seize printemps) (Kudos to writer/director/star Suzanne Lindon) (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center courtesy of KimStim Films)
Bipolar (只是一次偶然的旅行) (Kudos to the editing) (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
We’re All Going To The World’s Fair (Coming of Age) (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Gull (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Documentary
A Woman's Work: The NFL's Cheerleader Problem (PBS’s Independent Lens) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Her Socialist Smile (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (seen courtesy of director John Gianvito and Grasshopper Film)
Framing Britney (The New York Times Presents on FX/Hulu)
Purple Sea (Das Purpurmeer) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021German Documentary Showcase)
A Portrait in Red (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Ecstasy (Êxtase) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Delphine's Prayers (Les Prières De Delphine) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
The Witches of the Orient (Les Sorcières De L’orient) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight/ theatrical release at Film Forum)
Night Shot (Visión Nocturna) (Kudos to filmmaker Carolina Moscoso) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
”Four Portraits by Paige Taul”: 10.28.30; 7-7-94; It makes me wanna; and It’s a condition (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
For Paradise (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Still Processing (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Radiograph Of A Family (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Preparations To Be Together For An Unkown Period Of Time (Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétre) (preview courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
14 Days, 12 Nights (14 Jours, 12 Nuits) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Scales (Sayidat Al Bahr) (Allegorical Division) (Variance Films)
Agnes Joy (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Tahara (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Slalom (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Ema (seen courtesy of Music Box Films and MUBI)
El Planeta (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ theatrical release by Utopia)
Short Vacation (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Bebia, à mon seul désir (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Stop-Zemlia (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ theatrical release by Altered Innocence)
Moon (Selene), 66 Questions (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Documentary
Duty Free (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Ahead of the Curve (streamed at 2021 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES
Here We Are (Hine Anachnu) (Kudos to writer Dana Idisis and cast) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Circus of Life (Zindagi Tamash) (Kudos to writer Nirmal Bano and cast) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Cowboys (at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Lucky One (2019) (streamed with 2021 Nordic Women in Film)
Grandfather (Tote/Abuelo) (documentary) (streamed courtesy of 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
I Carry You With Me (Te Llevo Conmigo) (Kudos to cinematographer Juan Pablo Ramírez and editor Enat Sidi) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ at 2020 and replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Should the Wind Drop (Si le vent tombe) (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Calm After The Storm (Como El Cielo Despues De Llover) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Between Dog And Wolf (Entre perro y lobo) (docu-fiction) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Panquiaco (docu-fiction) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Taming The Garden (documentary) (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
BEST ROMANCES
Little Fish (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Leona (preview at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum and shown at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
The Killing of Two Lovers (Kudos to Clayne Crawford) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Undine (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/
IFC Films release)
I Am Afraid to Forget Your Face (short) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Heaven Reaches Down to Earth (short) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
À l’abordage! (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Crossing (Flukten over grensens) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Pebbles (Koozhangal) (Kudos to landscape cinematography) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Surviving You, Always (short) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Better Days (Shaonian de ni) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Masel Tov Cocktail (short) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Ibrahim (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Giants Being Lonely (Boo sexism) (preview courtesy of Metrograph)
One in a Thousand (Las mil y una) (Kudos to legible subtitles) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Blizzard of Souls (Dveselu putenis) (Kudos to cinematography) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Crisis (preview courtesy of Quiver)
Khorfakkan (streamed courtesy of NYU Abu Dhabi Institute)
BEST NEO-NOIRS
Azor (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Runners-Up: NEO NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Rage (Kudos to score/sound design) (courtesy of Gravitas Ventures)
Ghosts (Los fantasmas) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Waikiki (at Mother Tongue Film Festival/ Seattle International Film Festival)
BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC
La Llorona (Kudos to sound design and Gaby Moreno’s version of traditional title song) (courtesy of Shudder)
A Machine To Live In (hybrid doc-fiction) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Apples (Mila) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
The Disciple (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (coming to Netflix)
The Cantor’s Last Cantata (short) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
STTLMNT Laura Ortman (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Perfect Fifths (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Tiny Tim: King For A Day (Kudos to the animation) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival) (Theatrical release via Juno Films)
Forbidden Strings (documentary) (streamed courtesy of 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Best Summer Ever (Kudos to cast and crew) (streamed at 2021 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Don't Rush (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
Play, Pause, Repeat (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Runners-Up: Animation I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Number 7 Cherry Lane (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
One Night in Miami (at 2021 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
Dear Comrades! (Dorogie tovarishchi) (Boo to white on white subtitles) (preview courtesy of Neon and Film Forum)
Monsters (Arracht) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Memories Of My Father (El Olvido Que Seremos) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Kudos to Jasna Djuricic) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Adventures of a Mathematician (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Dara of Jasenovac (preview courtesy of 101 Studios)
Wojnarowicz: F**k YOU F*ggot F**ker (Kudos to the documentary editing) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
The Good Traitor (Vores mand i Amerika) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
All The Dead Ones (Todos os Mortos) (Boo to white on white subtitles) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
A Crime on the Bayou (documentary) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Liborio (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
BEST COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies:
French Exit (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
New Red Order (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Friends and Strangers (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Acasă, My Home (Kudos to the associated Social Project) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
My Darling Supermarket (Meu Querido Supermercado) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Assassins (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Truffle Hunters (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
‘Til Kingdom Come (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)/ see with: Kings of Capitol Hill (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Victory Day (Den’ Probedy) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
SPK Complex (SPK Komplex) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
Winter Journey (Kudos to Bruno Ganz) (docu-drama) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Who’s Afraid of Alice Miller? (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Red Orchestra (Die Rote Kapelle) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Enemies of the State (at 2020 and replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 DOC NYC Festival)
In The Same Breath (seen at 2021 MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight/ in 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center) (HBO)
Cane Fire (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight/ then streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Nemesis (Kudos to cinematography and editing) (seen at 2021 MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Inside The Red Brick Wall (seen at 2021 MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Shared Resources (Kudos to collaborators Deborah & Albert Lord) (seen at 2021 MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
When You’re Lost in the Rain (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Last Days Of Spring (La Última Primavera) (hybrid) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore (preview courtesy of Grasshopper Film/ at 2020 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (Yi zhi you dao hai shui bian lan) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
State Funeral (ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЕ ПОХОРОНЫ/Gosudarstvennyye Pokhorony) (seen at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release at Film Forum and MUBI stream)
Five Years North (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival/ theatrical release at Film Forum)
Searching For Ana Velford (Buscando Ana Velford) (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Too Long Here (Aqui Demasiado Tiempo) (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Nitrate (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Annotated Field Guide of Ulysses S. Grant (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
The Meaning of Hitler (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival/ IFC Films release)
Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street (preview courtesy of Screen Media FIlms)
We (Nous) (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Ancient Woods (Sengire) (Kudos to director Mindaugus Survila) (at 2018 DOC NYC Festival/ seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ Film Forum)
Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Kindertransports to Sweden (Dem Leben entgegen – Kindertransporte nach Schweden) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
17 Blocks (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Stray (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
Central Airport THF (Zentralflughafen THF) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
What Remains/Re-visited (Was bleibt/Šta ostaje) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
Gunda (seen courtesy of Neon/ at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bicentenario (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
On a Clear Day You Can See the Revolution from Here (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Everything That Is Forgotten In An Instant (Todo Lo Que Se Olvida En Un Instante) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
No Ordinary Man (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival) (Theatrical release via Oscilloscope)
A Demonstration (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Dark Red Forest (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Faya Dayi (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ theatrical release by Janus Films)
BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
Paris Calligrammes (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
Terra Femme (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
”Four By Bill Morrison”: Sunken Films; Curly Takes A Bath By The Sea; Wild Girl; and The Ring (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Irmi (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Shooting the Mafia
Francesco (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
Bill Traylor Chasing Ghosts (preview courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival/ Greenwich Entertainment release)
EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
MLK/FBI (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and at 2021 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
The Reason I Jump (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
The Human Factor (preview courtesy of Sony Picture Classics/Dogwoof)
Oeconomia (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
On Broadway (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Still Life in Lodz
Rock Bottom Riser (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ Cinema Guild release)
All Light, Everywhere (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
BEST FOR THE CINEMATOGRAPHY/STYLE:
Samichay: In Search of Happiness (Samichay: En busca de la felicidad) (Kudos to cinematographer Hugo Carmona) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
”Two By Rajee Samarasinghe”: The Eyes of Summer (Gimhanaye Netra) (2020) and Imitation of Life (Jeevithaye Mayawa) (2020) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival) and “An Evening with Rajee Samarasinghe” in Modern Mondays at MoMA: Show Me Other Places (2021); everyday star (2021); The Queen of Material (2014); FOREIGN QUARTERS / 异乡居所 / YI XIANG JU SUO (2017); Misery Next Time (2021); The Spectre Watches Over Her (2016)
the past (2021); The Exile / පිටුවහලයා / Piṭuvahalayā (2018); If I Were Any Further Away I’d Be Closer to Home (2016); Untitled (2019); black widow summer set (2015) (shorts)
Madalena (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Mighty Flash (Destello Bravío) (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
BEST REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS IN NEW PRINTS especially of films I hadn’t seen before
Ellen Friedland and Curt Fissel’s Flory’s Flame: The Story of Flory Jagoda (2015) (In memoriam streamed through Museum of American Jewish History)
Edgar G. Ulmer’s The Light Ahead (Fishke der Krumer) (1939) (4K digital restoration by The National Center for Jewish Film) (premiere at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Chung Mong-hong’s The Doctor (2006) (in Non/Fiction: 20 Years of Doc Fortnight at MoMA)
Eryk Rocha’s Sunday Ball (Campo de Jogo) (2014) (in Non/Fiction: 20 Years of Doc Fortnight at MoMA)
Zhang Yimou’s To Live (1994) (with novel by Yu Huah in NEA Big Read Program through Museum of the Moving Image)
Mostafa Derkaoui's About Some Meaningless Events (De Quelques Événements Sans Signification) (1974) (2018 4K digit restoration by Filmoteca de Catalunya in Barcelona and the Atelier de l'Observatoire (Art et Recherche) of Casablanca) (seen at 2020 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ also at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Pantelis Voulgaris’s Little England (Mikra Anglia) (2014) (courtesy of Corinth Films VOD)
Arlene Bowman’s Navajo Talking Picture (1985) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Deborah Gee’s Slaying the Dragon (1988)/ with Elaine H. Kim’s Slaying the Dragon: Reloaded (2011) (seen via Women Make Movies Stands With the AAPI Community)
Christopher Harris’s Reckless Eyeballing (2004) (short) (new 2K digitization) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Anand Patwardhan & Jim Monro’s A Time To Rise (1981) (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Lisa Miller’s Country Noise (Landrauschen) (2018) (streamed courtesy of German Film Office)
Wim Wenders’s The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter) (1972) (2014 restoration by Wim Wenders Foundation) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective in MoMA)
Chantal Akerman’s The Meetings of Anna (Les Rendez-vous d'Anna) (1978) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective in MoMA)
Horace Ové’s Playing Away (1986) (Digitally remastered by British Film Institute) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective through MoMA)
Mani Kaul’s Duvidha (1973) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective in MoMA)
Humberto Solás’s Lucía (1968) (2017 restoration by Cineteca di Bologna) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective through MoMA)
Lee Chang-dong’s Peppermint Candy (1999) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective in MoMA)
Óscar Catacora’s Eternity (Wiñaypacha) (2017) (streamed at 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Sergio M. Rapu’s Eating Up Easter (Haka Puai te Kainga) (2019) (streamed at 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Martin Witz’s Gateways To New York: Othmar H. Ammann And His Bridges (2018) (streamed at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival)
David Nawrath’s Atlas (2018) (streamed courtesy of German Film Office)
NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
at Museum of the Moving Image - through 9/26/2021, with weekly screenings of 2001: A Space Odyssey (organized by DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum): Genesis and 50th Anniversary Exhibition in Queens, where it was conceived:
MY BEST FILMS of 2020 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Martin Eden (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Les Misérables
Corpus Christi (Kudos to Bartosz Bielenia)
Sorry We Missed You (preview at Film Forum)
Bad Education (HBO/ preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Homemade (collection of 17 shorts on Netflix by Covid-19 quarantined directors)
Stump the Guesser (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Foreigner (Extranjero) (short) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
All Rise (seen at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival) (Kudos to Kevin Harrison Jr.)
Run This Town (preview courtesy of Oscilloscope Films)
Red Moon Tide (Lúa vermella) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Chun Jiang Shui Nuan) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Pacified (Pacificado) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Gets Good Light (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Notes, Imprints (On Love): Part I (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Exile (Exil) (streamed courtesy of German Film Office)
News of the World
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Another Round (Druk) (Kudos to Mads Mikkelsen) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Sound of Metal (Kudos to Riz Ahmed)
A Sun (Yangguang puzhao) (Netflix)
Tigertail (Netflix)
Monsoon (VOD)
Nafi's Father (Baamum Nafi) (at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
BEST FEMALE POV
My coverage of 2020 Tribeca Film Festival
Fiction
Invisible Life (A Vida Invisível) (Kudos to co-writers Murilo Hauser & Inés Bortagaray & director Karim Aïnouz, and cinematographer Hélène Louvart)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu) (Kudos to cinematography and writer/director Céline Sciamma) (capsule review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Seberg (Kudos to Kristen Stewart)
Proxima (Kudos to Eva Green) (preview at 2020 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Kudos to Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, writer/director Eliza Hittman, cinematographer Hélène Louvart, and Planned Parenthood)
Rocks (Coming of Age Division) (seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival)
Red Fields (Mamy) (Music Division) (seen at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Pause (Pafsi) (Kudos to Stella Fyrogeni) (Always on Sunday of Hellenic Film Society USA with NY Women in Film & Television at Museum of the Moving Image)
Ankebût (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
The Tiger Who Came to Tea (animated short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cru-Raw (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Grey Zone (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shadows (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tapes (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Toto (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Vera (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lucky Grandma (Kudos to Tsai Chin and the music) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Radioactive (Kudos to Rosamund Pike) (Amazon)
Miss Juneteenth (Kudos to writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples and star Nicole Beharie) (VOD)
Song Without A Name (Canción sin nombre) (Kudos to actress Pamela Mendoza, music by Pauchi Sasaki, and cinemographer Inti Briones) (seen courtesy of Film Movement)
Point and Line to Plane (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Promising Young Woman (Kudos to writer/director Emerald Fennell and Carey Mulligan)
Saint Frances (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope)
Premature (Young Black Romance Division) (seen courtesy of IFC Films)
The Forty-Year Old Version (Kudos to Radha Blank) (Netflix)
Cuties (Mignonnes) (Netflix)
Ammonite (seen courtesy of Neon)
Documentary
Woman Make Film: A New Road Movie through Cinema (docu-series seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight/ then shown on TCM in Fall)
Sunless Shadows (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Welcome To The Jungle (trilogy of shorts) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
That Which Does Not Kill (Sans Frapper) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Delphine and Carole (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Personhood (premiered at 2019 DOC NYC Festival/ seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival)
Feminism is a browser (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Video Blues (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
In Her Boots (animation) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
I Dream of Vietnam (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
City Dreamers (Rêveuses de villes) (U.S. Premiere at 2019 ADFF NY/ seen streamed at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Yours in Sisterhood (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
Girl from God’s Country (2015) (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
Jacinta (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Through The Night (previewed at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ also shown at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The State of Texas vs. Melissa (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Call Your Mother (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Picture A Scientist (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Blood and Glory (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Charlotte Perriand, Pioneer In The Art Of Living (seen at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival at NeoConnect)
#Anne Frank – Parallel Stories (on Netflix)
My Mexican Bretzel (documentary/fiction hybrid) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Correspondence (Correspondencia) (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Extractions (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Plastic House (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
See You in My Dreams (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)