Mandel Maven's Nest Reel Life: Flick Pix





Nora Lee Mandel is a member of New York Film Critics Online and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Her reviews are counted in the Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter:
Complete IndexTo Nora Lee Mandel's Movie Reviews

Since August 2006, edited versions of most of my reviews of documentaries/indie/foreign films are at film-forward and, since 2012, festival overviews at FilmFestivalTraveler. Shorter versions of my older reviews are at IMDb's comments, where non-English-language films are listed by their native tiles.


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
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

A movie is shown in a movie theater, and I like to sit there and see it. That’s how it’s supposed to be. -- Roger Ebert, Newsweek, 5/15/2011


MY BEST FILMS of 2014 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
The Great Flood (briefly reviewed at 2012 Silent Films/Live Music) (My additional notes.)

MY BEST FILMS of 2013 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
About 111 Girls (Darbare 111 Dokhtar) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Modest Reception (Paziraie Sadeh) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Dormant Beauty (Bella addormentata) (previewed at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to score by Giuliano Taviani and CarmeloTravi)
Lore
No (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Jiseul (kudos to the cinematography and score) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Place Beyond The Pines (kudos to Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and writer/director Derek Cianfrance)
Renoir (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
Mold (Küf) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Shine Of The Day (Der Glanz des Tages) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Harmony Lessons (Uroki Garmonii) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Computer Chess
Fruitvale Station (kudos to writer/director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan)
Jimmy P: Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Selfish Giant (kudos to writer/director Clio Barnard, Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas and Sean Gilder)

Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Aliyah (also briefly reviewed at 2013 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Cutoff Man (Menatek Ha-maim) (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Outside Satan (Hors Satan)(previewed at Anthology Film Archives
Southwest (Sudoeste) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA)
The Pirogue
Three Worlds (Trois Mondes) (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Blue Caprice (kudos to the score) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Starbuck (seen at MoMA's 2012 Canadian Front) -- like a fiction version of the documentary Donor Unknown (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival) (remade in Hollywood as Delivery Man)
It Was The Son (È stato il figlio) (previewed at 2013 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the cinematography)
In The Fog (V tumane)
The Hunt (Jagten) (kudos to Mads Mikkelsen)
You Will Be My Son (Tu Seras Mon Fils)
Nebraska (kudos to Bruce Dern and June Squibb, Bob Nelson’s script, Phedon Papamichael’s cinematography and Mark Orton’s score) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Touch Of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (despite the kowtowing to Beijing PC-ness)
In The Name Of. . . (W imie...) (kudos to Andrzej Chyra)
Aftermath (Pokłosie) (kudos to Maciej Stuhr and Ireneusz Czop) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Three Exercises of Interpretation: The Cat is On the Chair, The Mouse is Under the Table, and The Monkey is On the Branch (Trois exercices d’interprétation): (previewed in Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Under The Same Sun (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Inheritance (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman) Arabani (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
The Past (Le passé) (kudos to Bérénice Bejo and Tahar Rahim)
Saving Mr. Banks
Mud
American Hustle

Runners-Up: BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Lee Daniels' The Butler
Burning Bush (Hořicí Keř) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (in the Czech Republic it was a TV mini-series)
The Immigrant (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (So, nu: my commentary on the missing Jewish women.) (kudos to Marion Cotillard, cinematographer Darius Khondji, and production design, especially at Ellis Island)
12 Years A Slave (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Fifth Estate (not so way-back division)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (kudos to Idris Elba and Naomie Harris)

BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
The Baytown Outlaws (kudos to Clayne Crawford and Travis Fimmel)
Gangster Squad (kudos to art, scenic, costume, and sound design)
Motorway (Che sau) (kudos to the music) (previewed at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Berlin File (Be-reul-lin)
A Hijacking (Kapringen) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (see it with The Project, briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival) (I preferred over Captain Phillips)
Stampede (a short film from Croatia by Cyril Amon Schäubli as tense as Bourne in a train station) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Big Bad Wolves (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Northwest (Nordvest) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival) (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shadow Dancer (kudos to Andrea Riseborough) (My additional notes.)
Drug War (Du zhan)
The Grandmaster (Yi dai zong shi) (U.S. version) (kudos to the martial arts choreography and cinematography)
Prisoners
Lone Survivor (kudos to director Peter Berg)
Gravity (3D)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite uncredible plots
The East
The Prey (La proie)
The Attack (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Closed Circuit

BEST NEO-NOIRS
Death For Sale (kudos to the cinematography) (previewed in 2013 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Nairobi Half Life (previewed in 2013 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Single Shot (kudos to Sam Rockwell and score by Atli Örvarsson)

Runners-Up: BEST NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Mobius (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mystery (previewed at 2013 New York Asian Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Child of God (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

BEST SCI FI/FANTASY
The Wall (Die Wand) (kudos to Martina Gedeck and the scenery)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (kudos to the action and hints of romance)

Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Blancanieves (kudos to cinematography and music) (previewed at 2012 Spanish Cinema Now at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the black-and-white cinematography)
Byzantium (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
World War Z
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Interval (L’Intervallo) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to Francesca Riso)
Blackbird (seen at MoMA's 2013 Canadian Front) (kudos to Connor Jessup and writer/director Jason Buxton)
Before My Heart Falls (Avant Que Mon Coeur Bascule) (seen at MoMA's 2013 Canadian Front)
The Rocket (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
What Richard Did (kudos to Jack Reynor) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
The Spectacular Now (despite more upbeat ending than the book)
Club Sándwich (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Gimme The Loot (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Molly Maxwell (seen at MoMA's 2013 Canadian Front)
The We and The I (My additional notes.)
La Playa DC (Seen at The African Diaspora International Film Festival

BEST ROMANCES
Warm Bodies (Sci-Fi Division) (kudos to Nicholas Hoult)
Refrain (Rengaine) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Before Midnight (40somethings Division) (kudos to Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy)
Much Ado About Nothing (a la Joss Whedon and friends)
Fill the Void (Lemale et ha'halal) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Hadas Yaron and Yiftach Klein) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (kudos to Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck)
Omar (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Real (Riaru: Kanzen Naru Kubinagaryû No Hi) (Sci-Fi Division) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Blue Is The Warmest Color (La Vie d’Adèle -Chapitre 1 and 2) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Adèle Exarchopoulos)
Her (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to writer/director Spike Jonze, Joaquin Phoenix, voice of Scarlett Johansson, score by Arcade Fire, KK Barrett’s production design)
The Pin (kudos to actors Milda Gecaite and Grisha Pasternak, writer/director Naomi Jaye and score/sound design) (previewed at The Anne Frank Center USA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Nights With Theodore (Les Nuits avec Theodore) (previewed at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Laurence Anyways (seen at MoMA's 2013 Canadian Front) (kudos to Melvil Poupaud and Suzanne Clément)
Upstream Color (Sci-Fi Division) (kudos to Shane Carruth)
Every Blessed Day (Tutti i santi giorni) (previewed at 2013 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Floating Skyscrapers (Plynace wiezowce) (briefly reviewed in LGBT Cinema at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Alì Blue Eyes (Alì ha gli occhi azzurri) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Don Jon
Only Lovers Left Alive (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the music, production design, and cinematography by Yorick LeSaux)
Out In The Dark (Alata) (Dhalam) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Charlie Countryman

Runner-Up Guilty Pleasure Douglas Sirk Tribute Division: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Labor Day (kudos to Kate Winslett and I’ve been a fan of Josh Brolin as sexy since Young Riders)
Twice Born (Venuto al mondo)

BEST BROMANCES
The Kings of Summer
Prince Avalanche
The Motel Life (kudos to Jason Falkner’s guitar)

Runners-Up: BEST BROMANCES I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Kill Your Darlings (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Out of the Furnace

BEST FEMALE POV
War Witch (Rebelle) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Girl (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Future Weather (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Lady in Paris (Une Estonienne À Paris) (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Augustine (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Thérèse Desqueyroux (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Eden (My additional notes.)
Towheads (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
S#x/Six Acts (Shesh peamim) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Jîn (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Ginger & Rosa
Hannah Arendt (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Bling Ring
Tall As The Baobab Tree (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
In A World. . . (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Our Children (À Perdre La Raison) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Émilie Dequenne)
Afternoon Delight (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
The Patience Stone (Syngué Sabour) (Background at Director Talk’s interview) (kudos to Golshifteh Farahani)
Adore (Two Women) (kudos to Robin Penn and Naomi Watts)
Wadjda
Gloria (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Paulina García)
Camille Claudel 1915 (kudos to Juliette Binoche)
Sunlight Jr. (kudos to Naomi Watts and writer/director Laurie Collyer)
Everyday (thanks to William Wolf’s Movie Preview Class) (kudos to Shirley Henderson)

Runners-Up: BEST FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Exhibition (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Abuse Of Weakness (Abus De Faiblesse) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
My Name Is Hmmm… (Je M’appelle Hmmm…) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Enough Said
Go For Sisters (kudos to LisaGay Hamilton, Yolonda Ross and Edward James Olmos)

BEST SATIRES
The Color Of The Chameleon (Tsvetat na hameleona) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Fresh Meat (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Helter Skelter (Herutâ sukerutâ) (previewed at 2013 New York Asian Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center/Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film of Japan Society)
The World’s End (kudos to Simon Pegg)
What’s in A Name (Le Prénom)

Runners-up: Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing DOCS Despite Nonsense:
The Parade (Parada) (Best Gay Serbian Comedy with a Serious Point Division) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA) (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Battle Of Pussy Willow Creek (My additional notes.)
In the House (Dans la maison) (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
Cabaret Berlin: The Wild Scene (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Max Raabe in Israel (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Fantastic World of Juan Orol (El Fantástico mundo de Juan Orol) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA)
China Concerto (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
The Sapphires (My additional notes.)
When The Song Dies (short) (briefly reviewed in Shout Out for Quiet Documentaries at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival)
A Band Called Death (My additional note.)
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (kudos to Farhan Akhtar and music by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa) (My additional notes.)
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Inside Llewyn Davis (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Oscar Isaac and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
The Ballad of the Weeping Spring (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Let’s Dance! (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Hava Nagila (The Movie) (also briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (My additional notes.)
Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey (My additional notes.) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Flex Is Kings (categorizing as dance-like) (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
The Broken Circle Breakdown (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
The History Of Future Folk
20 Feet From Stardom (My additional notes.)
Dancing in Jaffa (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival and at Part 2 Truth & Friction of the 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Mistaken for Strangers (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Enzo Avitabile Music Life (seen at 2012 Doc NYC Festival)
CBGB (just for the inaccurate fun of it) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Sweet Dreams

BEST REELABILITIES: Presentation of Disabilities in Film (giving credit for appropriating the term without attending/seeing these at the NY Disabilities Film Festival)
Summer of Giacomo (L'estate di Giacomo) (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
Matthew’s Laws (De Regels van Matthijs) (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
Run and Jump (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Please Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)

BEST ANIMATION
The Day Of The Crows (Le Jour des Corneilles) (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Suicide Shop (Le magasin des suicides) (in 3D) (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Painting (Le Tableau) (previewed at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Approved For Adoption (Couleur De Peau: Miel) (a mixed-media docu-drama)
Frozen (kudos to Disney’s somewhat most feminist, what with writer/co-director Jennifer Lee, songs co-written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and 2 princesses, voices of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel)

Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
From Up on Poppy Hill (English-language version) (courtesy of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
56 Up (My additional notes.)
Numbered (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Pablo’s Winter (El Invierno de Pablo (kudos to the cinematography) (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
Canícula (kudos to the cinematography, sound design, and music) (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
The Act Of Killing (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (briefly reviewed at 2013 Death & Politics at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
No Place On Earth (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Kill Team (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Oxyana (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Let The Fire Burn (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Sandy Storyline (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Big Men (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Powerless (briefly reviewed in Shout Out for Quiet Documentaries at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Reporting on The Times: The New York Times and The Holocaust (short film) (briefly reviewed in Shout Out for Quiet Documentaries at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Call Me Kuchu (briefly reviewed at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center ) (See with God Loves Uganda for background.)
99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film (briefly reviewed at 2013 Economics & the 24th Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Fatal Assistance (briefly reviewed at 2013 Economics & the 24th Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Born This Way (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
In The Shadow Of The Sun (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Salma (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Camp 14 – Total Control Zone (briefly reviewed at 2013 Death & Politics at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Manakamana (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Last Of The Unjust (Le Dernier Des Injustes) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Square (Al Midan) (kudos to director Jehane Noujaim) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
The Empire Project (seen at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Herb & Dorothy 50x50 (the sequel to Herb & Dorothy)
Golden Slumbers (Le Sommeil d’Or) (previewed at Anthology Film Archives
The Garden of Eden (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)

DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
The Gatekeepers (Shom'ray Ha'saf) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (Check out Judy Gelman Myers’s interview with the director.)
Sofia’s Last Ambulance (Poslednata lineika na Sofia) (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
Downeast (briefly reviewed in Documentaries at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle
Bidder 70 (briefly reviewed at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
Raw Herring (Hollandse Nieuwe (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
The New Black (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Camera/Woman (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Going Up The Stairs (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Rafea: Solar Mama (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional note.)
An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story (briefly reviewed at 2013 Death & Politics at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
In God We Trust (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Zipper: Coney Island’s Last Wild Ride
Tim’s Vermeer (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
After Tiller (My additional note.)
Dove’s Cry (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)

Runners-Up: BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
The Art of Spiegelman (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Life? Or Theatre? (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Oma and Bella (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (previewed at 2012 Doc NYC Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Life In Stills (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Tzvetanka (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
No Man’s Land (Terra de Ninguém) (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
Documentarian (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
Once I Entered a Garden (Nichnasti pa'am lagan) (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight)
We Went to War (seen at MoMA’s 2013 Documentary Fortnight) (recommended only because these VietNam War vets’ experiences echo my colleague’s Gerald Wright)
Journal de France (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Anton’s Right Here (L Anton tut ryadom) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Our Nixon (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Kiss The Water (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
The Trials Of Muhammed Ali (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Lenny Cooke (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
BIG JOY: The Adventures of James Broughton (briefly reviewed in LGBT Cinema at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Alias Ruby Blades (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Bending Steel (briefly reviewed in Shout Out for Quiet Documentaries at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Aasinki: The Story Of Arctic Cowboys (briefly reviewed in Shout Out for Quiet Documentaries at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Stories We Tell (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Iceberg Slim: Portrait Of A Pimp (briefly reviewed at 2012 Doc NYC Festival)
Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Unknown Known (previewed at 2013 Doc NYC Festival)
Finding Vivian Maier (previewed at 2013 Doc NYC Festival)
When I Walk

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Teenage (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival and in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013)
More Than Honey (My additional notes.)
Kisses To The Children (Filia eis ta pedia/Φιλιά εις τα παιδιά) (seen at American Sephardi Federation) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Dirty Wars (with the book)
Pandora’s Promise
Israel: A Home Movie (Kakh Ra'nu)
Deepsouth (briefly reviewed at 2013 Economics & the 24th Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
My Afghanistan – Life In The Forbidden Zone (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Undocumented (briefly reviewed at 2013 Death & Politics at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Blackfish (My additional note.)
The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology (briefly reviewed at 2012 Doc NYC Festival)
Levitated Mass (previewed at 2013 Doc NYC Festival)
Sweet Dreams
Apples of the Golan (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Fading Valley (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival)
Good Garbage (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival)

BEST for the SCENERY:
Leviathan (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
To The Wonder
Kon Tiki
Museum Hours
All Is Lost (kudos to score by Alex Ebert and sound design) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza)

BEST for the CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Stoker
Springbreakers

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Heaven’s Gate (director's cut new DCP restoration)
Voyage to Italy (Viaggio in Italia) (DCP)
Kol Nidre and The Yellow Ticket (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Far From Vietnam (Loin du Vietnam) (previewed in Cinema of Resistance at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Northern Lights
Lola (new restoration in Film Forum's Jacques Demy)
The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians (Profetul, aurul si Ardelenii) (previewed in Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)

And thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of: Ten in A Close-Up Of Abbas Kiarostami at Film Society of Lincoln Center; Guelwaar and TGV in 2013 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center; To Be Twenty In The Aures (Avoir 20 ans dans les Aurès) and West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves Of Liberty (West Indies ou les nègres marrons de la liberté) in Cinema of Resistance at Film Society of Lincoln Center.

NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
Hopper Drawing at the Whitney Museum of American Art (kudos to the drawings displayed along side MoMA’s New York Movie: “I go to the movies for a week or more. I go on a regular movie binge.”)
Art Spiegelman's Co-Mix: A Retrospective at The Jewish Museum, which includes The Art of Spiegelman, as Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of The Museum, seen at Lincoln Center (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

MY BEST FILMS of 2012 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da) (My additional note.) (kudos to cinematographer Gökhan Tiryaki)
Footnote (Hearat Shulayim) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (So now I see why my second cousin in the Talmud Department at the Hebrew University Jerusalem doesn’t deign to participate in our Mandel-Brody Family History Project) (kudos to score by Amit Poznansky)
In Darkness (W Ciemnosci) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Stopped on Track (Halt auf Freier Strecke) (seen at MoMA's Kino! 2012: New Films from Germany)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (kudos to director/co-writer/co-scorer Benh Zeitlin, stars Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry, cinematographer Ben Richardson, editors Crockett Doob & Affonso Gonçalves)
Dirty Hearts (Corações Sujos) (seen in 2012 Premiere Brazil! series at MoMA)
Bwakaw (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Eddie Garcia)
Amour (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva)
Argo

Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Toll Booth (Gise Memuru) (seen in 2012 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Restoration (Boker tov adon Fidelman) (kudos to Sasson Gabai) (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Amnesty (Amnistia) (seen in 2012 Global Lens series at MoMA)
38 Witnesses (38 Témoins) (previewed at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Les Neiges Du Kilimandjaro) (previewed at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Omar Killed Me (Omar m’a tuer) (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Minister (L’exercice de l’État) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Found Memories (Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Neighboring Sounds (O som ao redor) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Relentless (previewed at 2012 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Post Mortem (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Saviors In The Night (Unter Bauern) (on p. 16) (also briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (Thanks to Judy Gelman Myers for background on the director.)
Beyond the Hill (Tepenin Ardi) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to the scenery)
A Better Life (Une Vie Meilleure) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Kaddish for a Friend (Kaddisch für einen Freund) (seen at MoMA's Kino! 2012: New Films from Germany)
Polisse (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Monster’s Club (previewed at 2012 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film of Japan Society)
Cosmopolis
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet (Vous n'avez encore rien vu) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Beyond The Hills (Dupa dealuri) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
On The Road (kudos to Garrett Hedlund)
Tabu (missed it at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to hunky Carloto Cotta and the black-and-white cinematography)

BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Miss Bala (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Raid: Redemption (Serbuan maut) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Rat King (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sleepless Night (Nuit Blanche) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Tomer Sisley and cinematographer Tom Stern)
Skyfall (kudos to Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench, and the editing)
End of Watch (kudos to Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, editing, and cinematographer Roman Vasyanov)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite uncredible plots
Man on a Ledge
Haywire
Lockout
Lawless (kudos to Nick Cave—and the Bootleggers—songs and score)

Runners-Up: BEST EDITED ACTION/CHASE SCENES I enjoyed despite uncredible plots
Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate (Long men fei jia) (in IMAX/3D) (kudos to the fight choreography, costumes, storm effects, and percussion)
The Bourne Legacy

BEST SCI FI/FANTASY
Doomsday Book (previewed at 2012 New York Asian Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Looper
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (kudos to the ensemble, effects, and the NZ scenery)

Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (for the cinematography and the special effects)
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Amazing Spider-Man (in IMAX 3D) (kudos to Andrew Garfield)
Cloud Atlas (kudos to cinematography, Jim Broadbent and Tom Hanks)
Blancanieves (kudos to cinematography and music) (previewed at 2012 Spanish Cinema Now at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the black-and-white cinematography
Sound of My Voice (kudos to Brit Marling)

BEST VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS
Qarantina (Quarantine) (seen in 2012 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Bullhead (Rundskop) (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down) (kudos to Matthias Schoenaerts)
Michael (the violence is unseen)
Compliance (psychological violence a la Zimbardo/Milgram experiments) (kudos to Ann Dowd)
How to Steal 2 Million (previewed at 2012 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Bastard (seen at MoMA's Kino! 2012: New Films from Germany)
The Good Neighbor (Unter Nachbarn) (seen at MoMA's Kino! 2012: New Films from Germany)
Easy Money (Snabba Cash)
Talaash (Search) (kudos to Aamir Khan)

Runners-Up: BEST VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Headhunters (Hodejegerne)
Outrage Beyond (Autoreiji: Biyondo) (previewed in Midnight Movies at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the score byKeiichi Suzuki)

MOST MORALLY DUBIOUS HEROES based on real people
For the sanctimonious violence: For Greater Glory
For myopia on well-to-do European tourists in the tsunami: The Impossible

BEST ROMANCES
Las Acacias (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Now, Forager (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Trishna (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
Chicken With Plums (Poulet Aux Prunes) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mahler on the Couch (Mahler auf der Couch) (briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (kudos to Barbara Romaner)
Extraterrestrial (Extraterrestre) (previewed at 2011 Spanish Cinema Now at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Ruby Sparks (kudos to Zoe Kazan)
Hello I Must Be Going (kudos to Melanie Lynskey)
Wuthering Heights (kudos to the moors)
Anna Karenina (kudos to the music, costumes, production design, and choreography)
Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best (kudos to writer/director/star/songwriter Ryan O’Nan)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Here (Best Scenery too)
Yossi (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Your Sister’s Sister (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
Take This Waltz (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Hysteria (previewed at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Tonight You’re Mine (My additional notes.)
Touch
Celeste and Jesse Forever (kudos to writer/star/executive producer Rashida Jones)
Sleepwalk With Me
A Royal Affair (En kongelig affære) (Because I’d give up a kingdom for Mads Mikkelsen.)
Goon (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

Runners- Up BEST SCI-FI-(ish) ROMANCES (non-action division)
Perfect Sense
Safety Not Guaranteed

BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Prize (El Premio) (seen in 2012 Global Lens series at MoMA)
The Moth Diaries
The Kid With A Bike (Le gamin au vélo) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Turn Me On, Goddamit (Få meg på, for faen!) (kudos to director/novel adapter Jannicke Systad Jacobsen) (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Breathing (Atmen) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Death of a Superhero (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Moonrise Kingdom

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Boy
I Wish (Kiseki)
Sister (L'enfant d'en haut) (My additional note.)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

BEST FEMINIST POV
Where Do We Go Now? (Et Maintenant On Va Où?) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Goodbye (Bé omid é didar) (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Black Butterflies (kudos to Carice van Houten) (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lollipop Monster (seen at MoMA's Kino! 2012: New Films from Germany)
Room 514 (Heder 514) (previewed at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Araf (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Starlet (kudos to Dree Hemingway and Besedka Johnson)
Zero Dark Thirty (kudos to Jessica Chastain)

Runners-Up: BEST ACTRESSES DESPITE NOT IN ALL THAT FEMINIST MOVIES
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (kudos to the scenes of India)
Meryl Streep in Hope Springs
Helen Mirren in Hitchcock
Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Smashed
Melissa Leo in Francine

BEST REELABILITIES: Presentation of Disabilities in Film (giving credit for appropriating the term without attending/seeing these at the NY Disabilities Film Festival)
The Flood (Mabul) (kudos to Ronit Elkabetz and Michael Moshonov) (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Mourning (Soog) (seen in 2012 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Romeo Eleven (Roméo onze) (seen at MoMA's 2012 Canadian Front)
Planet of Snail (briefly reviewed in Documentaries at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sessions (kudos to John Hawkes) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os) (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down) (kudos to Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts) (My additional note.)
Silver Linings Playbook (kudos to Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, and cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi)

BEST THEY DON’T MAKE MOVIES LIKE THAT ANY MORE
The Well-Digger’s Daughter (La Fille Du Puisatier) (previewed at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE I Recommend Despite my gripes
Smugglers’ Songs (Les Chants De Mandrin) (but there were no repeating rifles in 1755) (previewed at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Xingu (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lincoln (kudos to Sally Field)
La Rafle (The Round Up) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (Thanks to Judy Gelman Myers for background on the fireman.)

BEST ACTORS better than their movies:
Clarke Peters in Red Hook Summer (plus kudos to Bruce Hornsby’s score, Judith Hill’s songs, the spirituals, and the mini-The Wire reunion)
Paul Dano in For Ellen
Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master (plus kudos to Mihai Malaimare Jr.’s cinematography and Jonny Greenwood’s score)
Denzel Washington in Flight.
Rodrigo Santoro in Heleno

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music bio-pics and documentaries):
It’s About You
Mary Lou (Tamid oto chalom) ( (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Lea and Darija (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Iraq ‘n’ Roll (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Sound Of Noise (Brzmienie Halasu) (kudos to the sound design/score)
El Gusto (briefly reviewed in Documentaries at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Once Upon A Lullabye (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Under African Skies
Marley
Les Misérables (kudos to Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit, and Daniel Huttlestone)
Beware Of Mr. Baker
Not Fade Away (My additional notes.)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Crazy Horse (only for the performances, as there’s no insight into why the French men who produce and choreograph the erotic dances prefer buttocks)
Hit So Hard: The Life and Near-Death Story of Drummer Patty Schemel (briefly reviewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Over My Dead Body (seen at MoMA's 2012 Canadian Front)
Damsels in Distress (for the musical numbers only)
Russian Winter (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Ballroom Dancer (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Searching for Sugar Man (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Becoming Traviata (La Traviata et nous) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Savoy King: Chick Webb & The Music That Changed America (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
David Bromberg: Unsung Treasure (briefly reviewed at 2012 Doc NYC Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Holy Motors -- only for the accordion band in the cathedral playing R.L. Burnside's Let My Baby Ride

BEST for the SCENERY: Feature Division:
The Kite (Patang) (kudos to celebrating the Uttarayan in Ahmedabad, India) (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hideaway
Magic Mike (of the fauna)
Last Ride (kudos to Hugo Weaving)
Farewell, My Queen (Les adieux à la reine) (for the inside look at the Chateau de Versailles)
Life of Pi 3D
This Must Be The Place (kudos to cinematographer Luca Bigazzi) (My additional notes.)
The Loneliest Planet (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (Based on “Expensive Trips Nowhere” by Tom Bissell: Steppe makes strong what is strong. Makes weak what is weak.) Documentary Division:
Garden in the Sea (Jardín en el Mar) (seen at 2012 DocuWeeks)
Bel Borba Aqui: Um Homem e Uma Cidade
Samsara (kudos to the score by Michael Stearns, Lisa Gerrard & Marcello De Francisci)

BEST for the SCORE
30 Beats (kudos to the blues by C. C. Adcock)
The Dark Knight Rises (by Hans Zimmer – especially resonanted as I was the only one in the AMC Loews Lincoln Square IMAX Theater)

BEST ANIMATION
Fat, Bald, Short Man (Gordo, Calvo y Bajito) (seen in 2012 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Chico & Rita (kudos to the score by Bebo Valdés) (My additional notes.)
The Rabbi’s Cat (Le chat du rabbin) (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to the animation) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Consuming Spirits (previewed at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Cat In Paris (Une Vie De Chat) (kudos to the score by Serge Besset for Pierre Drevet’s trumpet) (My additional notes.)
Asura (previewed at 2012 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film of Japan Society)
Brave in 3D (except for the songs, kudos to a Disney princess without a happy-ever-after-wedding-finale)
Rise of the Guardians (kudos to the voice actors, especially Jude Law’s “Pitch”, Alec Baldwin’s Russian “North”, Hugh Jackman’s “Easter Bunny”. My additional comments on this Tooth Fairy.)
Toys in the Attic
The Pirates: Band of Misfits (argh – no chanteys!)

Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
The Secret World Of Arrietty (because The Borrowers was a fave childhood book)
An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Arjun – The Warrior Prince (kudos to hunky heroes and the songs/score)
A Liar's Autobiography - The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman (kudos to the variety of animation styles)
ParaNorman
Frankenweenie

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
The Miners' Hymns (viewed at 2012 Silent Films/Live Music) (also briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Incessant Visions: Letters From An Architect (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
The Island President (My additional notes.) (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
This Is Not A Film (In film nist) (My additional notes.) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Aita (Father) (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
Without Gorky (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
Bully (My additional notes.) (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Flat (Ha-Dira) (also briefly reviewed in Documentaries at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (Thanks to Judy Gelman Myers for background on the director.)
Dolphin Boy (previewed at 2011 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Tahrir: Liberation Square (briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Reportero (briefly reviewed at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Drought (Cuates de Australia) (seen at 2012 DocuWeeks)
The War Of The Volcanoes (La Guerra Dei Vulcani) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Law In These Parts (Shilton Ha Chok) (My additional notes.)

DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
The Pruitt Igoe Myth: An Urban History (My additional notes.)
Dressing America: Tales From The Garment Center (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Ivan & Ivana (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
The Average of the Average (Middelfart i Gennemsnit) (seen in 3D at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
Crulic: The Path To Beyond (Crulic - drumul spre dincolo) (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to the animation)
Five Broken Cameras (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Bestiare (Bestiary) (seen at MoMA's 2012 Canadian Front (albeit not pure non-fiction) along with National Parks Project short Sirmilik
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope
Heart of Auschwitz (Le coeur d'Auschwitz) (seen at MoMA's 2012 Canadian Front (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The List (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Portrait of Wally (previewed at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Virgin, the Copts and Me (La Vierges, les Coptes et Moi) (briefly reviewed in Documentaries at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional note.)
The Revisionaries (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional note.)
The World Before Her (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional note.)
Burn (briefly reviewed in Documentaries at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Patience (After Sebald) (briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Wavumba (briefly reviewed in Documentaries at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Invisible War
The Imposter
The Queen of Versailles
The Chilean Building (El Edificio De Los Chilenos)
Central Park Five
Six Million And One (Shisha million ve'ehad) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Tchoupitoulas
Hitler’s Children

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Rouge Patrol (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
El Field (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
High Tech, Low Life (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Side by Side (previewed at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pink Ribbons, Inc. (My additional notes.)
Bitter Seeds (briefly reviewed at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Brother Number One (briefly reviewed at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Little Heaven (briefly reviewed at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Special Flight (Vol spécial) (briefly reviewed at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbours (seen in MoMA’s 2012 ContemporAsian series)
Defiant Requiem (previewed at 2012 DocuWeeks) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Girl Model
Casting By (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Three Days Till Christmas (The Last Days In The Life Of Elena And Nicolae Ceaușescu)/Trei Zile Pana La Craciun (Ultimele Zile Din Viata Elenei Si A Lui Nicolae Ceausescu) (previewed at 2012 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Chasing Ice (kudos to the scenery)
Head Games
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God (My additional notes.)

Runners-Up: BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
The Education of Auma Obama (previewed at 2012 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (previewed at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Meet the Fokkens (Ouwehoeren)
Celluloid Man (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (briefly reviewed at 2012 Doc NYC Festival)
Shepard and Dark (briefly reviewed at 2012 Doc NYC Festival)

Best of the Young-Folks-in-Competition DOCS :
Splinters (briefly reviewed in Final Roundup of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Undefeated (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
On The Mat (briefly reviewed in Documentaries at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Brooklyn Castle

Most Depressing
Documentary Division:
When The Bough Breaks (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
Feature Division:
Oslo, August 31st (previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Elena
Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai (kudos to layered 3D)

Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing DOCS Despite Nonsense:
The Finger (El Dedo) (heartwarming chuckles division) (seen in 2012 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Sunflower Hour (seen at MoMA's 2012 Canadian Front)
Jackpot (Arme Riddere) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Django Unchained (kudos to the most badass dentist hero in the movies)

Runners-up: Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing DOCS Despite Nonsense:
The Fairy (La fée)
Whole Lotta Sole (previewed at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
For A Good Time, Call…
The In-Betweeners: The Movie
Seven Psychopaths
Jeff, Who Lives at Home

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
L’Argent and A Man Escaped (Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut) in Film Forum's Bresson
Come Back, Africa (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Decasia (in new HD print) (briefly reviewed at 2012 Silent Films/Live Music) (My additional notes.)
Wings (in DCP restoration) (kudos to pre/post with sound designer Ben Burtt and William Wellman, Jr. at Film Forum)
Good Times, Wonderful Times along with Man’s Peril: The Making of Good Times, Wonderful Times (on Milestone’s DVD release of On The Bowery)
Celine and Julie Go Boating (Céline et Julie vont en bateau)
Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru)
The Tin Drum (Die Blechtromme) (of the complete director’s cut) (in new DCP restoration)
Downpour (Ragbar) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland ’65 (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Wake In Fright
Django (DCP)

And thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
My Song Goes Round The World, which I briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum); Khrustalyov, My Car! (Khrustalyov, mashinu!) in War and Remembrance: The Films of Aleksei Guerman at Lincoln Center (even though I gave up after 2 hours); Fear and Desire previewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA); Revenge Of The Snakes (Yılanların Öcü) and Secret Face (Gizli Yüz) previewed in The Space Between: A Panorama of Cinema in Turkey at Lincoln Center; Le Chat in Simone Signoret & Yves Montand Summer Programme at EYE Film Institute Netherlands; The Word (Ordet) in An Auteurist History of Film at MoMA; 30th Anniversary screening of MoMA’s preserved print of Field Diary (Yoman Sadeh) at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center; Rendez-Vous, See How They Fall (Regarde les hommes tombe) and Le Train in Film Forum's Trintignant.

NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition at EYE Film Institute Netherlands
Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist’s Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets at MoMA
Christian Marclay—The Clock - two hours so far seen at MoMA

MY BEST FILMS of 2011 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Rage (Rabia) (kudos to Gustavo Sánchez Parra)
Poetry (Shi) (kudos to Jeong-hie Yun) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Even The Rain (También La Lluvia) (previewed at 2010 Spanish Cinema Now of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Luis Tosar)
Hands Up (Les Mains En L'air) (previewed at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Top Floor, Left Wing (Dernier Étage, Gauche, Gauche) (previewed at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Of Gods and Men (Des hommes et des dieux)
The Human Resources Manager (Shlichuto Shel Hamemune Al Mashabei Enosh) (also briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (My additional note.) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Vital Signs (Les Signes vitaux) (kudos to writer/director Sophie Deraspe and the chemistry between Marie-Hélène Bellavance and Francis Ducharme) (seen at MoMA's 2011 Canadian Front)
Win Win
Limbo (previewed at The Far Side of Paradise: New Films From Norway atFilm Society of Lincoln Center)
The Day I Was Not Born (Das Lied in mir) (seen at MoMA's Kino! 2011: New Films from Germany)
Extraordinary Stories (Historias extraordinarias) (seen at MoMA's In Focus: Cinema Tropical)
A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Artist (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to writer/director Michel Hazanavicius, actors Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo, cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman, score by Ludovic Bource)

Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle (Eu Cand Vreau Sa Fluier, Fluier) (kudos to George Pistereanu)
The Way Back (My additional notes.)
Belvedere (seen in 2011 Global Lens series at MoMA)
The Light Thief (Svet-Ake) (seen at 2011 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Street Days (Quchis Dgeebi) (seen at 2011 Global Lens series at MoMA)
The Invisible Eye (La Mirada Invisible) (seen at 2011 Global Lens series at MoMA)
The Gift To Stalin (Podarok Stalinu) (My additional note.) (Also briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Outbound (Periferic) (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Incendies (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
In A Better World (Hævnen)
Korkoro (Liberté) (My additional notes.)
Screaming Man (Un homme qui crie)
The Bang Bang Club (kudos to Taylor Kitsch and cinematographer Miroslaw Baszak) (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
My Piece of the Pie (Ma part du gateau) (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Journals of Musan (Musan Il-gi) (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Blackthorne (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
United Red Army (Jitsuroku rengô sekigun: Asama sansô e no michi) (kudos to score by Jim O’Rourke)
Protector (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival, of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum, in The NH Jewish Film Buzz, at page 21) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
The Optimists (Optimisti)
Littlerock
50/50 (So, nu: my commentary on the missing Jewish women)
Carnage (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Dangerous Method (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
My Week with Marilyn (Celeste Holm was in front of me at the advance screening!)
Mad Bastards (kudos to Dean DaleyJones, songs written and performed by The Pigram Brothers and Alex Lloyd, and cinematographer Allan Collins’ view of the beautiful Kimberley scenery)
Hugo
Margaret (kudos to Anna Paquin)
In the Land of Blood and Honey (U zemlji krvi i meda)

BEST ROMANCES
Certified Copy (Copie conforme) (kudos to Juliette Binoche) (or anti-romance?) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Sidewalls (Medianeras) (previewed at 2011 Latin Beat of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Bird Of The Air

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Mumbai Diaries (Dhobi Ghat) (kudos to Prateik) (My additional note.)
Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (a documentary short companion piece would be Quadrangle)
Jane Eyre (kudos to the editing, Mia Wasikowska, cinematographer Adriano Goldman, Dario Marianelli's score)
Last Night (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Beginners (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Beautiful Boy
Bride Flight (Bruidsvlucht) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman) (My additional note.)
The Future
Mysteries of Lisbon (Mistérios de Lisboa) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Weekend

Runners-Up: BEST ANTI-ROMANCES
Shame (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

BEST VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS
Carancho
Dreileben: Beats Being Dead (Etwas Besseres als den Tod), Don’t Follow Me Around (Komm mir nicht nach), One Minute of Darkness (Eine Minute Dunkel) (briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite my gripes
The Big Picture (L’homme Qui Voulait Vivre Sa Vie) (previewed at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Texas Killing Fields (kudos to the bluesy score by Dickon Hinchliffe)

BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
How I Ended This Summer (Kak ya provyol etim letom) (previewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to Grigory Dobrygin for Break Out Hunk of the Year)
Point Blank (À bout portent) (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
VIPs (kudos to Wagner Moura) (seen at 2011 Premiere Brazil! series at MoMA)
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch (kudos to Tomer Sisley as the titular hunk so I’ll want to see him in more in the series)
Hanna (kudos to The Chemical Brothers’ score)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (kudos to Rooney Mara, score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Steven Zaillian’s script adaptation, and editing by Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I Recommend Despite my gripes
The Eagle (kudos to Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography and music by Atli Örvarsson)
Rabies (Kalevet) (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Limitless
13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku (kudos to cinematographer Nobuyasu Kita)
Attack the Block
Drive
Shaolin (kudos to the martial arts choreography)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The Double (kudos to Alex Lifeson’s guitar on the score)
Warrior (kudos to Tom Hardy but not to the melodramatic music)

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music bio-pics and documentaries):
Pina (previewed in 3D at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music bio-pics and documentaries):
Score: A Hockey Musical (seen at MoMA's 2011 Canadian Front)
Kinshasa Symphony (previewed at 2011 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Mama Africa (briefly reviewed in Final Roundup of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Rejoice And Shout) (My additional notes.)
Passione) (My additional notes.)
Golden Scars (seen at 2011 New York International Latino Film Festival)
The Music According To Antonio Carlos Jobim (A Música Segundo Tom Jobim) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Weird World Of Blowfly
Dzi Croquettes

BEST USE OF MUSIC:
Microphone (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Small Town Murder Songs (previewed at MoMA's 2011 Canadian Front) (kudos to the rootsy songs of Bruce Peninsula) (My additional notes.)
The Piano In A Factory (Gang De Qin)

BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Colors Of The Mountain (Los Colores De La Montaña)
Submarine (kudos to songs by Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys)
Terri (kudos to Jacob Wysocki, Olivia Crocicchia & Bridger Zadina and cinematographer Tobias Datum)
Tomboy (My additional note.)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Bal (Honey)
Winter In Wartime (Oorlogswinter)
Belle Épine (briefly reviewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
NEDS (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
She Monkeys (Apflickorna) (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Tree (with Marton Csokas as quite the Antipodean hunk)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (kudos to Elizabeth Olsen) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

BEST PARENTS AND CHILDREN – even with the schmaltz
A Better Life
The Way
Little Sparrows
Angels Crest (kudos to Thomas Dekker and Lynn Collins)

BEST APOCALYPSE
Vanishing On 7th Street (kudos to Detroit, production design and blues songs)
Take Shelter (kudos to Michael Shannon and cineamatographer Adam Stone)

Runners-Up: APOCALYPSES I Recommend Despite my gripes
Kaboom
Bellflower (kudos to cinematographer Joel Hodge)
Another Earth

BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
City Of Life And Death (Nanjing! Nanjing!)
The Conspirator (kudos to hair, make-up, sets, and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel)
Tales from the Golden Age (Amintiri din epoca de aur)

Runners-Up: BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE I Recommend Despite my gripes
The Conquest (La conquête)
Albert Nobbs (kudos to Janet McTeer)
War Horse (only because my favorite childhood book was Black Beauty)

BEST VILLAIN
The Devil’s Double (more that it’s 2-for-1 actor Dominic Cooper)

MOST MORALLY DUBIOUS HEROES based on a real people
For the violence: Machine Gun Preacher (let alone the rimrod tall Christian missionaries sitting in front at an advance screening who did not have the courtesy to slouch)
For the misogyny: Toast (unlike the original memoir)

BEST ALLEGORY
Deporting Prometeo (Prometeo Deportado) (seen at 2011 New York International Latino Film Festival)

Runners-Up: BEST ALLEGORY
Melancholia (kudos to cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Turin Horse (A torinói ló) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

MOST VISUAL HEAD TRIPS
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Tree of Life (kudos to cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki)
The Mill and The Cross

Runners-Up: MOST VISUAL HEAD TRIPS
Tetsuo The Bullet Man (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to cinematographer José Luis Alcaine)

BEST SCENERY:
Water for Elephants (kudos to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto)
Two Years At Sea-- even in 16 mm black & white (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

BEST for the COSTUMES:
W.E.

BEST ANIMATION
The Adventures of Tintin in 3D

Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Rango
Rio in 3D (kudos to Rodrigo Santoro for the only Brazilian sounds)
Kung Fu Panda in 3D (for visuals only)

BEST BROADS
Applause (Applaus) (kudos to Paprika Steen)
The Long Falling (Où Va La Nuit) (kudos to Yolande Moreau) (previewed at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Potiche (kudos to Catherine Deneuve) (previewed at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Copacabana (kudos to Isabelle Huppert) (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Meek's Cutoff (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Illégal (kudos to Anne Coesens)
Puzzle (Rompecabezas) (kudos to Maria Onetto)
The Hedgehog (Le Hérisson) (previewed at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Josiane Balasko)
Special Treatment (Sans queue ni tête) (kudos to Isabelle Huppert)
The Debt (kudos to Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain)
Higher Ground (kudos to Vera Farmiga)
Coriolanus (kudos to Vanessa Redgrave)
Tyrannosaur (kudos to Olivia Colman) (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Naomi (Hitpartzut X) (previewed at 2011 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (kudos to Orna Porat)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (kudos to Tilda Swinton)
Meryl Streep as The Iron Lady (no kudos to the movie)
London River (My additional note.) (kudos to Brenda Blethyn)

Runners-Up: Best Feminist Fables
Mozart's Sister (Nannerl, La Soeur De Mozart) (previewed at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Princess Of Montpensier (La Princesse De Montpensier) (previewed at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Sleeping Beauty (La Belle Endormie) (previewed at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional note.)
Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish (also briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Sleeping Beauty
Young Adult

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
The Sky Turns (El cielo gira) (2005 film in its NY theatrical premiere)/ pairs with Le Quattro Volte (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Fortune Teller (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2011 International Festival of Nonfiction Films and Media)
Karamay (all 356 minutes seen plus Q & A with director at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2011 International Festival of Nonfiction Films and Media)
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Circo (kudos to score by Calexico)
The Arbor (also briefly reviewed in Recommended Documentaries at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional note.)
Give Up Tomorrow (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Our School (Scoala Noastra) (briefly reviewed in Final Roundup of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Price of Sex (briefly reviewed at 2011 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, dedicated in memory to my activist dad) (My additional note.)
Hell and Back Again (previewed at 2011 DocuWeeks)
There Was Once…
Into the Abyss (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)

DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
Un Dia Menos (One Day Less) (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2011 International Festival of Nonfiction Films and Media)
El Ambulante (The Peddler) (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2011 International Festival of Nonfiction Films and Media)
Peace (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2011 International Festival of Nonfiction Films and Media)
El Velador (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Love During Wartime (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Impunity (briefly reviewed at 2011 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, dedicated in memory to my activist dad) (My additional notes.)
Familia (briefly reviewed at 2011 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, dedicated in memory to my activist dad)
Crime After Crime (first briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Convoys of Shame (Les Convois de la honte) (briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum
Tabloid
The Interrupters (My additional notes.) (See The Wire for the references.)
Unfinished Spaces (seen at 2011 DocuWeeks)
Mothers of Bedford (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)

Best of the Young-Folks-in-Competition DOCS :
Louder Than A Bomb (previewed at 2010 DocuWeeks) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
To Be Heard (previewed at 2010 Doc NYC Festival) (My additional notes.)

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Into Eternity (briefly reviewed in Recommended Documentaries at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Orgasm Inc.
My Perestroika (briefly reviewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
I Wish I Knew (Hai shang chuan qi) (previewed at 2011 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down)
Nostalgia For The Light (Nostalgia de la luz)
The Black Power Mix Tape 1967-1975 (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Donor Unknown (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cinema Komunisto (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (previewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Carrier (briefly reviewed in Final Roundup of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional note.)
Semper Fi: Always Faithful (briefly reviewed in Final Roundup of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
This Is My Land… Hebron (briefly reviewed at 2011 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, dedicated in memory to my activist dad) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
You Don’t Like The Truth—4 Days Inside Guantánamo (briefly reviewed at 2011 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, dedicated in memory to my activist dad)
Love Crimes Of Kabul (briefly reviewed at 2011 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, dedicated in memory to my activist dad) (My additional note.)
12 Angry Lebanese (briefly reviewed at 2011 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, dedicated in memory to my activist dad)
Project Nim (downgraded because I’m against undocumented reconstructed scenes)
The Death Of Pinochet (La Muerte De Pinochet) (previewed at 2011 LatinBeat of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for A Kool Place (downgraded because I’m against undocumented reconstructed scenes)
Iron Crows
The Mexican Suitcase (seen at 2011 DocuWeeks)
The Tiniest Place (El Lugar Mas Pequeño) (seen at 2011 DocuWeeks)
Scenes Of A Crime (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
Flat Daddy (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
Perdida (Lost in Time) (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
Ingrid Betancourt - Six Years In The Jungle (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
Standing Silent (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
Blazing The Trail: The O'Kalems In Ireland (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
In Heaven, Underground The Weissensee Jewish Cemetery (Im Himmel, unter der Erde - Der jüdische Friedhof Weißensee)
Under Fire: Journalists In Combat
Inside Hana’s Suitcase (on p. 15) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

Runners-Up: BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Red Shirley (briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Bill Cunningham New York (briefly reviewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (Context/Part 2 is Lost Bohemia previewed at 2010 Doc NYC Festival)
Tape (Jiao Dai) (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2011 International Festival of Nonfiction Films and Media)
Gnarr (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (seen at 2011 DocuWeeks)
A Bitter Taste of Freedom (seen at 2011 DocuWeeks)
Dying to do Letterman (seen at 2011 DocuWeeks)
Buck
Roger Corman’s Worldpreviewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Vito (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Lemon (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
Calvet (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
Charlotte Rampling: The Look (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, The Mad And The Beautiful (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (previewed at 2011 Doc NYC Festival)
Garbo The Spy
Khodorkovsky

Most Depressing Documentary:
Katka (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2011 International Festival of Nonfiction Films and Media)

Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing DOCS Despite Nonsense:
Cedar Rapids
Super
The Trip (kudos to Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon)
Hospitalité (Kantai) (previewed at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Midnight in Paris (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Bridesmaids (kudos to writer/actress Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy)
The Trollhunter (Trolljegeren)

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Went the Day Well?
Summer a.k.a. The Green Ray (Le Rayon Vert) (though I really only caught the green in the 6 preview minutes of Marie Rivière’s A Few Moments With Eric Rohmer (En Compagnie d'Eric Rohmer) at BAMcinématek‘s 25th anniversary celebration) (My comparative notes.)
Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle) (My comparative notes.)
A Brighter Summer Day (Gu ling jie shao nian sha ren shi jian in Film Society of Lincoln Center’s A Rational Mind: The Films Of Edward Yang
Danube Waves (Valurile Dunării) in 2011 Annual Romanian Film Festival in New York of Film Society of Lincoln Center/Romanian Cultural Institute of NY

And thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
J'Accuse in MoMA's An Auteurist History of Film; The Constant Factor (Constans) in MoMA's Krzysztof Zanussi Revisited; The Life Of Oharu (Saikaku ichidai onna) and Flowing (Nagareru) in Film Forum's 5 Japanese Divas; Mud and Soldiers (Tsuchi to heitai)), Intimidation (Aru kyohaku) and (according to my colleague Kyoko Hirano, not my first “pink film” but my first “romano porno”) The Woman with Red Hair (Akai kami no onna) in Film Society of Lincoln Center NY Film Festival’s Velvet Bullets and Steel Kisses: Celebrating the Nikkatsu Centennial; The Children Were Watching and In The Chair (really TV documentaries) in Doc NYC Festival’s Tribute To Richard Leacock.

MY BEST FILMS of 2010 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Gruber's Journey (Calatoria lui Gruber) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (and the comparably-themed short With a Little Patience (Türelem))
Fish Tank
In the Beginning (A l’origine) (previewed at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Prophet (Un prophète) (kudos to Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup)
Little Girl (La Pivellina) (previewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Road, Movie (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot) (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lola (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The White Meadows (Keshtzar haye sepid) (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The White Space (Lo spazio bianco) (kudos to Margherita Buy and writer/director Francesca Comencini) (previewed at 2010 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Man Who Will Come (L'Uomo che verrà) (kudos to young Greta Zuccheri Montanari) (seen at 2010 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Cow (Dou niu) (previewed at 2010 New York Asian Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Huang Bo)
Confessions (Kokuhaku) (previewed at 2010 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film of Japan Society)
The Social Network (even though Jesse Eisenberg doesn't spin his pen right) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Black Venus (Vénus noire) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Another Year (kudos to Lesley Manville) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
127 Hours (kudos to James Franco, Danny Boyle’s direction, Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography and music by A.R. Rahman)
The Fighter (kudos to Christian Bale and Melissa Leo)
Medal of Honor (Medalia de onoare) (seen at 2010 Annual Romanian Film Festival of the Romanian Cultural Institute of NY) (kudos to Victor Rebengiuc)
First of All, Felicia (Felicia, înainte de toate) (seen at 2010 Annual Romanian Film Festival of the Romanian Cultural Institute of NY) (kudos to Ozana Oancea)

Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Ajami (also briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Valentina’s Mother (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Eyes Wide Open (Einaym Pkuhot) (also briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Ocean of an Old Man (seen in 2010 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Becloud (Vaho) (seen in Global Lens series at MoMA)
Night Catches Us (Nice to see The Wire alumni reunion of Jamie Hector and Wendell Pierce) (previewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Every Day Is a Holiday (Chaque jour est une fête) (previewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
My Brothers (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Anton Chekhov's The Duel
Mother and Child (kudos to Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington and Cherry Jones)
Cyrus
The Kids Are All Right
The Balibo Conspiracy (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Honeymoons (Medeni mesec) (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
The Sicilian Girl (La Siciliana Ribelle) (kudos to Veronica D'Agostino)
Morenita (seen at 2010 New York International Latino Film Festival)
Silent Souls (Ovsyanki) (kudos to the music and landscape) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Aurora (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Strange Case of Angelica (O Estranho Caso de Angélica) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (see it with Luis Miñaro’s short 101, which I previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)
The Last Circus (Balade Triste) (previewed at 2010 Spanish Cinema Now of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The King's Speech (kudos to Colin Firth)
Biutiful (kudos to Javier Bardem)
Rabbit Hole (kudos to Nicole Kidman)

BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
North Face (Nordwand)
Rapt (previewed at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Green Zone (kudos to director Paul Greengrass, director of photography Barry Ackroyd and score by John Powell)
Clash (Bay Rong) (kudos to the tangling and tangoing of long-legged, Best Combustible Couple Johnny Tri Nguyen and Ngo Thanh Van) (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Little Big Soldier (Da bing xiao jiang) (kudos to actor/producer/writer/action director Jackie Chan and Wang Lee-hom) (previewed at 2010 New York Asian Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Mesrine: Part 1 (Mesrine, L’instinct de mort Mesrine) (nice to see Roy Dupuis!) and Part 2 (Mesrine, L’ennemi public no. 1) (previewed at 2009 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Vincent Cassel) (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down)
Lebanon (My additional notes.)
The Robber (Der Räuber) (kudos to Andreas Lust and the percussion) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Carlos (actually the 330 minute TV mini-series) (kudos to Édgar Ramírez and director Olivier Assayas)
True Grit (kudos to Roger Deakins' cinematography)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I Recommend Despite my gripes
The Warlords (Tau ming chong)
Centurion
Inception (kudos to the integral score, the movie allegory, and real and imagined scenery; boo to the guy next to me at the Regal Atlas's 4:20 pm show on 7/24/2010, in the center toward the rear, who talked on the phone and to his friend through the extended expositions)
71 Into The Fire (Pohwasogeuro ) (previewed with The Korea Society)
The Town
Unstoppable (just for the fun of it)
The American (kudos to George Clooney and cinematographer Martin Ruhe)
Vengeance (Fuk sa) (kudos to director Johnny To)

BEST INTELLECTUAL SWORDS AND SANDALS EPIC
Agora

Runners-Up: BEST INTELLECTUAL SWORDS AND SANDALS EPICS
The Blood Of Rebirth (Yomigaeri no chi) (cool visuals too) (previewed at 2010 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film of Japan Society)
Valhalla Rising (and for the scenery and manscape with a mute, one-eyed, tattooed Mads Mikkelsen)

BEST VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS
Mother (Maedo) (previewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Hye-ja Kim)
The Chaser (Chugyeogja)
Red Riding Trilogy – 1974; 1980; 1983; (kudos to the cinematography of Rob Hardy in 1974) (previewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
Terribly Happy (Frygtelig lykkelig)
The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos)
The Killer Inside Me (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Casey Affleck, cinematographer Marcel Zyskind, and the production design)
Blood and Rain (La sangre y la lluvia) (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Winter's Bone
Thursday Widows (Las viudas de los jueves) (previewed at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s 2010 Latin Beat)
Black Swan

Runners-Up: VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite my gripes
7 Days (Les 7 jours du talion) (previewed through Sundance Selects)
Snap (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Double Hour (La doppia ora) (kudos to Ksenia Rappoport and to Filippo Timi as a hunk) (previewed at 2010 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Backyard (El Traspatio) (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
A Woman, A Gun and A Noodle Shop (San qiang pai an jing qi) (kudos to the scenery and the cinematography of Zhao Xiaoding)

BEST VILLAIN
Jacki Weaver as "Grandma Smurf Cody" in Animal Kingdom (and Ben Mendelsohn is suitably creepy) (My additional notes.)

BEST FEMINIST FABLES
Lourdes (kudos to Sylvie Testud)
Be Good (Sois Sage) (briefly reviewed at 2010 Film Comment Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Bluebeard (La Barbe Bleue) (previewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Tempest (kudos to Helen Mirren as the sorceress "Prospera", Ben Whishaw as "Ariel", Djimon Hounsou as "Caliban", scenery, score and song tune setting of Shakespeare lyrics by Elliot Goldenthal – but boo to the insipid young couple) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Meek's Cutoff (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Secret Sunshine (Milyang)

Runners-Up: BEST FEMINIST FABLES:
Habana Eva (seen at 2010 New York International Latino Film Festival)
Vision (Vision - Aus dem Leben der Hildegard von Bingen)
Tiny Furniture
Made in Dagenham
Hadewijch (previewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

BEST DARK COMEDIES:
A Film with Me In It
The Man Next Door (El hombre de al lado) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Happiest Girl in the World (Cea mai fericita fata din lume) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Down Terrace (kudos to the use of traditional murder ballads) (previewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)

BEST ROMANCES
Mademoiselle Chambon (previewed at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain)
Samson and Delilah (previewed at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Barking Water (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (of course I'm Mad for Smoldering Mads Mikkelsen, but also kudos to the costumes, production design, scenery and re-enactment of the première mise en scène of The Rites of Spring)
Castaway on the Moon (Kimssi pyoryugi) (previewed at 2010 New York Asian Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Jung Jae-Yeong and Jung Rye-Won)
Carmo, Hit The Road
Blue Valentine (also best anti-romance) (kudos to Michelle Willliams and Ryan Gosling, director Derek Cianfrance, DP Andrij Pareekh and the editing)
Undertow (Contracorriente) (kudos to Cristian Mercado)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
The Yellow Handkerchief (kudos to William Hurt and Eef Barzelay's score, but it should have been filled with regional music)
Everyone Else (Alle Anderen) (briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Ondine (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lucky Life (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
some boys don't leave (short screened at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Here and There (Tamo i ovde) (briefly reviewed in Part 3 Family Ties Around The World at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Salt Of This Sea (Milh Hadha Al-Bahr) (also briefly reviewed in Part 3 Family Ties Around The World at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (My additional note.)
Jack Goes Boating

Runners-Up: BEST SIBLING RIVALRY With a Side Order of Romance
The Vicious Kind
Easier With Practice

Runners-Up: BEST ANTI-ROMANCES
Hunting & Sons (Hunting & Zn.) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)

BEST COMING OF AGERS
I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) (previewed at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Evening Dress (La robe du soir) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Girl (Flickan) (previewed at Northern Exposures: Social Change and Sexuality in Swedish Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
My Queen Karo (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Kisses (thanks for the subtitles!)
Udaan (meaning "flight", as in the song lyric about letting the bird fly)
Let Me In

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Burrowing (Man tänker sitt) (previewed at Northern Exposures: Social Change and Sexuality in Swedish Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center
The Trotsky (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (My colleague James Van Maanen followed up on my recommendation to enjoy it On Demand.)
My Brothers (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Famous and the Dead (Os famosos e os duendes da morte) (seen at 2010 Premiere Brazil! series at MoMA)
Easy A

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music bio-pics):
Gainsbourg, Je t'Aime... Moi Non Plus (Gainsbourg - Vie héroïque) (kudos to Eric Elmosnino as well as the puppets and animation) (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
sex & drugs & rock & roll (briefly reviewed in There's No Business Like the Celebrity Business at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Raavan
Bran Nue Dae (My additional notes.)
Nowhere Boy (kudos to Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff

Runners-Up: BEST MOVIE MUSICAL NUMBERS:
Guy And Madeline On A Park Bench (previewed at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)

BEST ANIMATION
Mary and Max (seen at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Secret of Kells (here's some background)
Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death (seen with 2010 Academy Award-Nominated Animated Short Films)
How to Train Your Dragon (3D) (Who knew Vikings had Scottish brogues?)
Toy Story 3
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (kudos to the Brit and Aussie voice actors, especially Helen Mirren)

Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Metropia (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
My Dog Tulip (I'm a cat person)
The Illusionist
Tangled in 3D (kudos to Donna Murphy's "Mother Knows Best")
Summer Wars (Sama Wozu) (saw the English-language version)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Old Partner (Wonangsori)
Sweetgrass (also brief preview review from 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Einsatzgruppen: The Death Brigades (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Art of the Steal (briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center, with Herb & Dorothy)
Last Train Home (previewed at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (pair it with Ghost Town (Fei cheng))
Forgotten Transports to Belarus (Zapomenuté transporty: Do Belarus): Men Who Fought) and Forgotten Transports: To Latvia (Zapomenuté transporty: Do Latvia): Family Strength (viewed at The Legacy of Shoah Film Festival)
Thieves By Law (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Babies (Bébés) (My additional notes.)
Earth Made of Glass (briefly reviewed in Recommended Documentaries of 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sons Of Perdition (briefly reviewed in Recommended Documentaries at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Budrus (also briefly reviewed in Recommended Documentaries at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
The Western Front (briefly reviewed in Recommended Documentaries at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Enemies Of The People (also briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Restrepo (My commentary on the film's poster re: 9/11.)
Mugabe and the White African (previewed at 2009 DocuWeeks)
Marwencol
Armadillo (previewed at 2010 Doc NYC Festival)
Rabbit à la Berlin (Królik po berlinsku) (previewed at MoMA’s 2010 Academy-Nominated Documentary Shorts)

DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
Human Failure (Menschliches Versagen) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Gevald! (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Off and Running (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (also briefly reviewed at Part 1 Recommendations of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
October Country
The Red Chapel (previewed at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
12th & Delaware (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Camp Victory, Afghanistan (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Supermen of Malegaon (seen at 2009 The New India series at MoMA)
Waste Land (Lixo extgraordinário) (previewed at 2010 Premiere Brazil! series at MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Holy Wars (seen at DocuWeeks)
Family Affair (seen at DocuWeeks) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
The Rati Horror Show (El Rati Horror Show) (previewed at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Latin Beat)
The Autobiography of Nikolae Ceaucescu (Autobiogrfia lui Nikolae Ceaucescu) (bit confusing for Americans not knowledgeable about Romanian history) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Catfish

Best of the Cute-Kids-in-Competition DOCS :
Boys Of Summer (seen at 2010 New York International Latino Film Festival)

Runners-Up: Best of the Cute-Kids-in-Competition DOCS :
Racing Dreams (also briefly reviewed at Part 2: The Kids Are Alright of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Whiz Kids (My additional notes.)

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
The Matilda Candidate (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2010 International Festival of Nonfiction Films)
Agrarian Utopia (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 9th International Festival of Nonfiction Films) (for background insight on the political crisis in Thailand)
Harlan: In The Shadow Of Jew Süss (Harlan - Im Schatten Von Jud Süss) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Forgotten Transports: To Poland (Zapomenuté transporty: Do Poland): The Human Spirit (viewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (My additional notes.)
Have You Heard From Johannesburg (My additional notes.)
Between the Cup and the Election (Entre la coupe et l'élection) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York African Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center and African Film Festival)
Gerrymandering (briefly reviewed in Recommended Documentaries: There's No Business Like the Celebrity Business at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Other City (briefly reviewed in Recommended Documentaries at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Casino Jack And The United States Of Money
War Don Don (The War Is Over) (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (L'enfer d'Henri-Georges Clouzot) (for film buffs)
Neshoba: The Price Of Freedom (My additional notes.)
Colony (seen at DocuWeeks)
A Film Unfinished (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Inside Job (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)

Runners-Up: BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Ahead of Time (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on Ruth Gruber.)
Ingelore (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 9th International Festival of Nonfiction Films)
Nora (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York African Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center and African Film Festival) (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 9th International Festival of Nonfiction Films)
Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar (previewed at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Joan Rivers- A Piece of Work
Pushing The Elephant (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

MOST DEPRESSING FILM OF THE YEAR:
Addicted in Afghanistan (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 2010 International Festival of Nonfiction Films)

Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing DOCS Despite Nonsense:
Soul Kitchen (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Looking for Eric
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Runners-Up: Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing DOCS Despite Nonsense:
Heartbreaker (L'arnacoeur) (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (for Dirty Dancing deeds)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

BEST SCENERY:
Cairo Time (previewed at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Moloch Tropical (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival) Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
Robinson in Ruins (too fictional to be considered a documentary) (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: BEST SCENERY
Altiplano
Red Hill
Hemingway’s Garden Of Eden

Runners-Up: MOST VISUAL HEAD TRIPS
Creation (kudos to actor Paul Bettany, production design, costumes, make-up, DP Jess Hall, and Christopher Young's score)
I Am Love (kudos to score by John Adams) (previewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Enter the Void (but I saw the U.S. release that wasn't the director's cut)

BEST COOKING
Today’s Special (My additional notes.)

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Stray Dog (Nora inu)
Interrogation (Przesluchanie); The Beads of One Rosary (Paciorki jednego rózanca); A Woman Alone (Kobieta samotna); and Top Dog (Wodzirej) at Film Society of Lincoln Center's "Storm Warnings: Resistance and Reflection in Polish Cinema" series in the Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe Festival
The Law (La Loi) (seen at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Prowler
Close-Up (Nema-ye Nazdik)
World on a Wire (Welt am Draht) (seen at MoMA)
Metropolis
Nightfall
I Was Born, But. . . (Otona no miru ehon - Umarete wa mita keredo)
On The Bowery/The Perfect Team: The Making Of On The Bowery
Pale Flower (Kawaita hana) (briefly reviewed with Silence (Chinmoku) as part of Elegant Elegies: The Films of Masahiro Shinoda along with Fernando de Fuentes’ Mexican Revolution Trilogy: Prisoner 13 (El prisionero trece), My Buddy Mendoza (El Compadre Mendoza) and Let’s Go with Pancho Villa (Vamanos con Pancho Villa) at 2010 New York Film Festival Masterworks of the Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Nuremberg (previewed at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)

Thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
One Wonderful Sunday (Subarashiki nichiyobi); Ikiru; I Live In Fear (Ikimono no kiroku), Dodes’Ka-Den, and Dersu Ozala at Kurasawa Centennial at Film Forum; The Girl with Hyacinths (Flicka och hyacinter) and One Summer of Happiness (Hon dansade en sommar) at Northern Exposures: Social Change and Sexuality in Swedish Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center; Sound and Fury (De bruit et de fureur) and Victor (Victor... pendant qu'il est trop tard) in ND/NF Classics: In the French Style of 2010 New Directors/New Films at Film Society of Lincoln Center; The Sign of Leo (Le Signe du lion) at The Sign of Rohmer retrospective at Film Society of Lincoln Center

MY BEST FILMS of 2009 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
California Dreamin (endless) (Nesfarsit)
A Woman in Berlin (Anonyma – Eine Frau in Berlin) (briefly reviewed at 2009 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center (kudos to director/adapter Max Färberböck and actors Nina Hoss and Yevgeni Sidikhin)
Séraphine (also briefly reviewed at 2009 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Yolande Moreau)
The Girl on the Train (La Fille du RER)(previewed at 2009 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Hunger (kudos to co-writer/director Steve McQueen)
The Maid (La Nana) (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
In The Loop (briefly reviewed in Part 1 Recommendations at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Departures (Okuribito) (briefly reviewed in Part 1 Recommendations at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Still Walking (Aruitemo Aruitemo) (also briefly reviewed in Part 1 Recommendations at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and in best of year - scroll down)
About Elly (Darbareye Elly) (briefly reviewed in Part 1 Recommendations at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pandora’s Box (Pandoranin Kutusu) (briefly reviewed in Part 3 Family Ties Around The World at 2009Tribeca Film Festival)
Il Divo (kudos to Toni Servillo, the editing and the score by Teho Teardo)
The Hurt Locker (kudos to Jeremy Renner and director Kathryn Bigelow)
Inglourious Basterds (kudos to writer/director QT, cinematographer Robert Richardson, production designer David Wasco, editor Sally Menke, costumes and art design, and actor Christoph Waltz) (for historical background on Nazi films see Harlan: In The Shadow Of Jew Süss (Harlan - Im Schatten Von Jud Süss))
The Messenger (kudos to co-writer (with Alessandro Camon)/director Oren Moverman, cinematographer Bobby Bukowski and actors Ben Foster and Samantha Morton)
A Serious Man (kudos to actor Michael Stuhlbarg, cinematographer Roger Deakins and score by Carter Burwell) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Sun (Solntse)
Big Fan (kudos to writer/director Robert Siegel and Patton Oswalt)
Up in the Air (kudos to Jason Reitman's adaptation of a mediocre book)

Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Silent Light (Stellet licht)
Empty Nest (El nido vacío) (previewed and briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Incendiary (kudos to Michelle Williams and the score by Barrington Pheloung and Shigeru Umebayashi) (see Impact of 9/11 on Literature for discussion of the book it is based on)
Katyn
Gomorra (see with the documentary Biùtiful Cauntri, previewed at 2009 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Two Lovers
Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons Eviga Ögonblick)
12
Tokyo Sonata
Amreeka (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Autumn (Sonbahar) (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center>/MoMA)
Parque via (briefly reviewed at 38th New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo di ferragosto) (previewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA
Shaking Tokyo (Joon-ho Bong's concluding segment of Tokyo!, despite similarities to the TV series October Road)
Good Bye Solo
The Song of Sparrows (Avaze gonjeshk-ha)
Sugar
North (Nord) (briefly reviewed at Part 1 Recommendations of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Swimsuit Issue (Allt flyter) (briefly reviewed at Part 1 Recommendations of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival) (see with the real-life version Men Who Swim)
A Matter of Size (Sipur Gadol) (briefly reviewed at Part 1 Recommendations of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival) (pair it with Gordos, previewed at 2009 Spanish Cinema Now at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Vegas: Based on a True Story (briefly reviewed at Part 3 Family Ties Around The World of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Queen To Play (Joueuse) (briefly reviewed in Part 3 Family Ties Around The World at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
My Dear Enemy (Meotjin haru) (briefly reviewed in Part 3 Family Ties Around The World at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Original (briefly reviewed in Part 3 Family Ties Around The World at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Eclipse (previewed at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Summer Hours (L'heure d'été)
Kabei: Our Mother
Firaaq (seen in The New India at MoMA)
24 City (Er shi si cheng ji) (The opening section of The Germans’ Factory (La fabbrica dei tedeschi) is strikingly similar, as briefly reviewed at 2009 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Vanished Empire (Ischeznuvshaya imperiya)
Lion's Den (Leonera) (kudos to Martina Gusman) (FYI that's the Paraguay flag at the end)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Der Baader Meinhof Komplex)
The Necessities Of Life (Ce Qu'il Faut Pour Vivre/Inuujjutiksaq)
Police, Adjective (Poliţist. Adj.)
Getting Home (Luo ye gui gen) (seen in 2009 Global Lens series at MoMA)
The Photograph (Luo ye gui gen) (seen in 2009 Global Lens series at MoMA)

BEST ROMANCES
Medicine for Melancholy
Unmade Beds (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to the songs and soundtrack)
The Exploding Girl (seen at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
I'm Gonna Explode (Voy a explotar)

Runners-Up: Romances I Recommend Despite My Gripes
My Last Five Girlfriends (seen at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival))
Seven Minutes in Heaven (Sheva Dakot Be’gan Eden) (briefly reviewed at Part 3: Family Ties Around the World, of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, and briefly reviewed in The NH Jewish Film Buzz, at page 21)
Adventureland
(500) Days Of Summer (kudos to the song selections)
Paper Heart
Bright Star
Jaffa (briefly reviewed at 2009 Other Israel Film Festival in New York) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)

Runners-Up: Best Romance in the Parallel Universe/Alternative Reality Division
Uncertainty

BEST SIBLING RIVALRY With a Side Order of Romance
Beeswax

BEST BROMANCE
Humpday

BEST VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS
Just Another Love Story (Kærlighed på film)
Revanche
Flame & Citron (Flammen & Citronen)

Runners-Up: VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite my gripes
House Of The Devil -- until the last 10 minutes (seen at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Fear Me Not (Deb Du Frygter) (seen at 8th Tribeca Film Festival)
Brave Men (Galantuomini) briefly reviewed at 2009 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Hierro (previewed at 2009 Spanish Cinema Now at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Armored (but no femme fatale)

BEST COMING OF AGERS
Max Minsky and Me (Max Minsky und ich) (briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Apprentice (L’apprenti) (previewed at 2009 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Stella (briefly reviewed at 2009 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Treeless Mountain (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Entre Nos (briefly reviewed in Part 2: The Kids Are Alright at 2009Tribeca Film Festival)
Dare

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS:
Paris 36 (Faubourg 36) (briefly reviewed at 14th Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Tom Stern's cinematography and Clovis Cornillac as a contemporary Jean Gabin)
Copy of Coralie (La Copie de Coralie) (previewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA (Nicolas Engel's wonderfully romantic 22 minute short with Philippe Poirier's musique concrete score that uses office machines as accompaniment for workers' unexpected song spiels)
Every Little Step (so it’s a documentary)
Soul Power (previewed at Tribeca Film Festival)) (so it’s a concert film)
Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story (so it’s a documentary - seen at DocuWeeks)
Passing Strange (so it’s filmed performance)
Ne Change Rien (so it’s a documentary - briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Fados
Soundtrack for a Revolution (previewed at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
Luck by Chance (seen in The New India at MoMA)
Rock Prophecies (so it’s a documentary - seen at DocuWeeks)
Nine (because I can't stop humming "Cinema Italiano")

Best Use of Songs on Soundtrack:
Easy Virtue for new-- "When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going"-- and period-recreated songs by Marius De Vries
Away We Go for old and new Alexi Murdoch songs
Crazy Heart for T.Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton songs

BEST SCORE
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (by Mark Isham, and his selection of the few songs, including Sonny Terry, but BOO that no N'Orlins musicians involved)
(Untitled) (for David Lang and his cleverness in satirizing his own Bang on the Can)
Skin (for Hélène Muddiman’s incorporation of African instruments and vocals) (My additional notes.)

BEST ANIMATION
Coraline
Up (except for the dog pilots)
Ponyo
Fantastic Mr. Fox

Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
$9.99 (also briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (So, nu: my commentary on the missing Jewish women.)
9 (visuals yeah, story eh)
A Town Called Panic (a bit silly)
Avatar (for the 3D visuals only)
The Princess and the Frog (Randy Newman's music is weak and not bluesy, N'Orlins-style enuf.)

BEST ACTIONERS
Star Trek (kudos to Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, Michael Giacchino's score, Leonard Nimoy, and the funny use of classic lines)
District 9

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS I Recommend Despite my gripes
The Mugger (El Asaltante) (briefly reviewed at 10th Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center (kudos to Arturo Goetz and cinematographer Cobi Migliora)
Newsmakers (Goryachie novosti) (briefly reviewed at Part 1 Recommendations of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)) (Russian remake of Breaking News (Dai si gein))
Sin Nombre (I upped my impression after seeing the documentaries Oblivion and the even more abject Garapa, to understand the push, and the reality in Which Way Home, the latter two briefly reviewed in Part 2: The Kids Are Alright at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)

Better ACTION STARS than their movies:
Sam Worthington in Terminator Salvation (hey, I'm one of the few who dug his Macbeth).

BEST SCI-FI (NON-ACTION DIVISION)
Home (also briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Moon (previewed at 8th Tribeca Film Festival)

BEST FEMINIST FABLES
The White Ribbon (Das weisse band) (previewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Bluebeard (La Barbe Bleue) (previewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Whip It

BEST WOMEN AS GROWN-UPS:
Hiam Abbass in Lemon Tree (Etz Limon) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Tilda Swinton in Julia
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Runners-Up: BEST WOMEN AS GROWN-UPS
Helen Mirren in Last Station (but more than a bit over-the-top)
Imelda Staunton in Taking Woodstock

BEST INGÉNUES
Paweł Szajda in Sweet Rush (Tatarak) (American actor making his Polish film debut) (briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Carey Mulligan in An Education

BEST VILLAINS
Mo'Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

BEST OLD FOLKS
Hal Holbrook in That Evening Sun

BEST COSTUMES
Chéri
Coco Before Chanel (Coco Avant Chanel)
Young Victoria
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

BEST FILMS INFLUENCED BY AMBROSE BIERCE's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge:
The Escapist (kudos to Benjamin Wallfisch's score and Theo Green's sound design)
Katalin Varga (seen at 2009 Annual Romanian Film Festival of the Romanian Cultural Institute of NY))

Runner-Up
Deadline (17 minute short seen at Tribeca Film Festival))

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Mr. Rakowski (briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Forgotten Transports: To Estonia (Zapomenuté transporty: Do Estonska): Women's Friendship(briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Our Disappeared (Nuestros desaparecidos) (briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (See more background from its PBS broadcast)
Must Read After My Death
The Beaches of Agnès (Les Plages d’Agnès) (also briefly reviewed at 14th Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Cove (also briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
P-Star Rising (briefly reviewed at Part 2: The Kids Are Alright of 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
My Neighbor, My Killer (reviewed at 2009 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Afghan Star (previewed at Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (plus the sad follow-up Silencing the Song: An Afghan Fallen Star)
Sweet Crude (seen at DocuWeeks)
Loot

DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
Camp Girls (briefly reviewed at 18th New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Young Freud in Gaza (Unge Freud i Gaza) (briefly reviewed at 18th New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Paradise (briefly reviewed at 10th Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center (more essay than doc)
Anvil! The Story Of Anvil (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi (briefly reviewed at Part 1 Recommendations of 8th Tribeca Film Festival)
Only When I Dance (briefly reviewed at Part 1 Recommendations of 8th Tribeca Film Festival)
Team Qatar (briefly reviewed at Part 2: The Kids Are Alright of 8th Tribeca Film Festival) (But I'm pro-biased because it's about a debate team.)
Yasukuni (seen on VJ Day. For a neutral view of traditional Japanese military craft see Secrets of the Samurai Sword from PBS's Nova, and a bemused view of soul storage in Cold Souls - briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Good Hair
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (Reporter i et lukket land)

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Being Jewish in France (Comme un Juif en France) (briefly reviewed at 18th New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Every Mother Should Know (Teda Kol Em Ivriya) (briefly reviewed at 18th New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Unmistaken Child
Food, Inc. (it forgets that some additives are health-promoting and could use a bit more cynicism about buying "organic" in the supermarket)
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story Of Ozploitation!
Garbage Dreams (seen at DocuWeeks)
The Sari Soldiers (seen at DocuWeeks)
Kimjongilia (minus the dancers) (seen at DocuWeeks)
2009 Other Israel Film Festival in New York- Arab Labor, Badal, ID Blues (Part 3 - Between Two Cities and Part 4 - Integration and Confrontation), The Invisible, Sayed Kashua–Forever Scared, SAZ–The Palestinian Rapper for Change, Voices from El Sayed, Zahara (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
My Daughter the Terrorist (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 8th International Festival of Nonfiction Films)

Runners-Up: BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
A Road to Mecca: The Journey of Muhammad Asad (Der Weg nach Mekka - Die Reise des Muhammad Asad) (briefly reviewed at 18th New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Neither Memory nor Magic (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 8th International Festival of Nonfiction Films)
Carmen & Geoffrey (emendations coming after 9/13/2009)
Herb & Dorothy
Yes Madam, Sir! (seen at DocuWeeks)
The English Surgeon
Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)

MOST VISUAL HEAD TRIPS
The Limits of Control (kudos to DP Christopher Doyle and the score)
Tetro (kudos to DP Mihai Malaimare, Jr. and Osvaldo Golijov's score)
Red Cliff (Chi bi) (kudos to DPs Lu Yue and Zhang Li, costumes by Tim Yip, art and production design)
Where the Wild Things Are (kudos to James Gandolfini's voicing, Karen O's leit motif with song "Hide Away", and the Jim Henson Creature Shop)
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (despite the sentimentality, kudos to Tom Waits as The Devil and Christopher Plummer as Immortal)

Runners-Up: MOST VISUAL HEAD TRIPS
Public Enemies (kudos to costumes, DP Dante Spinotti, and Elliot Goldenthal's score, even with several borrowings from other films)

WORST SUBTITLES:
Cargo 200 (Gruz 200)

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Golem with Tom Nazziola's musical score performed live by The BQE Project at the World Financial Center
Night in the City
Leon Morin, Priest (Léon Morin, prêtre)
David Golder (seen with new English subtitles at MoMA's Julien Duvivier retrospective)
Falsch (seen at Film Society of Lincoln Center's Beyond L’Enfant: The Complete Dardenne Brothers retrospective)
Le combat dans l'île
Rage by Pasolini (La Rabbia di Pasolini ) (briefly reviewed at 47th New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Pyaasa (The Thirsty One) (briefly reviewed at 47th New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Le Amiche at MoMA's 7th International Festival of Film Preservation
The Red Shoes

Thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
C.R.A.Z.Y. (seen at MoMA's Canadian Front); Correction (Diorthosi) (seen at The Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce's 3rd New York Greek Film Festival); In a Lonely Place (new 35 mm print) and They Live By Night in a double feature with Knock On Any Door (seen with all the guys at Film Forum’s Nick Ray retrospective).

MY BEST FILMS of 2008 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Beaufort
Still Life (Sanxia haoren)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile) (despite subtitles in British slang)
Lost in Beijing (Ping guo)
The Grocer’s Son (Le Fils de l’épicier) (previewed at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (Viva Nicolas Cazalé)
Megane (Glasses) (seen at New Directors/New Films at Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher)
Shotgun Stories (kudos to writer/director Jeff Nichols and his musician brother Ben, DP Adam Stone and Michael Shannon)
The Secret of the Grain (La graine et le mulet) (kudos to actors Habib Boufares and Hafsia Herzi, and writer/director Abdellatif Kechiche) (scroll down for my capsule review) (previewed at Tribeca Film Festival))
Strangers (seen at Tribeca Film Festival))
Edge of Heaven (Auf der anderen seite)
Kabluey (kudos to writer/director/star Scott Prendergast)
Boy A (kudos to Andrew Garfield and Katie Lyons)
The Galilee Eskimos (Eskimosim ba Galil) (seen at Israel Film Festival)
The Wrestler (kudos to Mickey Rourke, Darren Aronofsky’s directing, cinematography of Maryse Alberti, make-up, editing, Clint Mansell's haunting leit motif, and Bruce Springsteen’s closing song)

Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
A Secret (Un Secret) (previewed at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s NY Jewish Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Let’s Dance! (Faut que ça danse!) (seen at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Paris (seen at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
La Zona (The Zone) (seen at New Directors/New Films at Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Visitor
Battle For Haditha (kudos to actor/former marine Elliot Ruiz, but needs to be seen with PBS’s non-fiction Frontline episodes Bad Voodoo’s War and Rules of Engagement, as well as Full Battle Rattle)
Sangre de Mi Sangre (Padre Nuestro)
Take Out
Estômago: A Gastronomic Story (previewed at MoMA’s Premiere Brazil!) (kudos to Giovanni Venosta’s score)
The Pope's Toilet (El Baño el Papa) (previewed at Lincoln Center’s Latin Beat)
August Evening
I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále)
A Thousand Years Of Good Prayers
Rachel Getting Married (kudos to Anne Hathaway and Declan Quinn’s cinematography)
A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël)
Milk (kudos to Sean Penn and ensemble)
The Class (Entre les murs) (My additional notes.)

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS:
Planet B-Boy (so it’s a dancing documentary)
A Story of the Red Hills (Lal Pahare'r Katha) (seen at Tribeca Film Festival)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Jodhaa Akbar (kudos to the elephants, drums, dervishes, palaces and costumes as worn by the most beautiful-humans-on-the-planet Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan)
Young@Heart (so it’s a singing documentary)
Playing for Change: Peace Through Music (hey – first there was the songwriter before there was the performer) (seen at Tribeca Film Festival)
Soul Men
Were The World Mine

BEST ANIMATION
Fear(s) of the Dark (Peur(s) du noir) (previewed at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Sita Sings the Blues (seen at Tribeca Film Festival))
Wall-E
Azur and Asmar: The Princes’ Quest (kudos to Gabriel Yared’s music) (seen at New York International Children's Film Festival)
The Tale of Despereaux

Runners-Up: (ANIMATED MOVIES that amused or touched me despite my gripes)
Kung Fu Panda (kudos to opening dream sequence and Dustin Hoffman’s voicing)
The Year of the Fish
Bolt 3D

BEST VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS
In Bruges
London to Brighton
Jar City (Mýrin)
Love, Pain & Vice Versa (Amor, Dolor y Viceversa) (seen at Tribeca Film Festival)
Stuck

Runners-Up: VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite my gripes
Fermat's Room (La Habitación de Fermat) (previewed at Tribeca Film Festival)
Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne)
Mad Detective (Sun taam) (kudos to the The Lady From Shanghai tribute)
Timecrimes (Los Cronocrímenes) (previewed at Spanish Cinema Now at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
King of the Hill (El rey de la montaña) (seen at Spanish Cinema Now at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the score by David Crespo and cinematography of José David Montero)
What Doesn t Kill You (kudos to Mark Ruffalo)

BEST COMING OF AGERS
XXY (previewed at New Directors/New Films at Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Paranoid Park (kudos to DP Christopher Doyle)
Water Lilies (Naissance Des Pieuvres) (previewed at New Directors/New Films at Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) (previewed at Tribeca Film Festival)
The Pool
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (kudos to Kat Dennings and Ari Graynor)
Slumdog Millionaire (kudos to Danny Boyle’s direction, editing, Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography and music by A.R. Rahman)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite my gripes
Somers Town (seen at Tribeca Film Festival)
The Tracey Fragments (I seem to be the only who remembers that the 1964/5 NYC World's Fair movies used the multiple images technique before Woodstock, 24, etc.)
Son of Rambow
Reprise
The Wackness (kudos to Olivia Thirlby) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Nights and Weekends (kudos to co-writer/co-director/co-star Greta Gerwig) (though I have to admit that I missed the year’s other mumblecore romance In Search of a Midnight Kiss)

BEST ACTIONERS
The Bank Job
The Dark Knight- IMAX (kudos to Heath Ledger and the cavities-rocking sound design)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS I Recommend Despite my gripes
Cloverfield
Iron Man (kudos to Tom Morello’s guitar on the soundtrack)
The Incredible Hulk
Blindness (kudos to directing, cinematography and editing, not the heavy-handed metaphors)
Miracle at St. Anna (best subtitles of the year)
Defiance (kudos to Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (The History Channel produced the short, complementary The Bielski Brothers with family and survivors' interviews.) (For more context see Forgotten Transports to Belarus (Zapomenuté transporty: Do Belarus): Men Who Fought)

BEST VILLAINS
Mark Strong in Body of Lies (his Savile Row tailor and hair stylist should have gotten listed rather than Russell’s and Leo’s)
Tom Wilkinson in RocknRolla (and Mark Strong isn’t bad as a baddie here too)
Meryl Streep in Doubt (though I think priest abuse survivors wouldn’t really see her as a villain)
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon

BEST FEMINIST FABLES
Vivere (To live! kudos to Hannelore Elsner & writer/director Angelina Maccarone)
Irina Palm (kudos to Marianne Faithfull)
Flight Of The Red Balloon (Le Voyage Du Ballon Rouge) (kudos to Juliette Binoche)
Alexandra (kudos to Galina Vishnevskaya and writer/director Alexander Sokurov)

Runners-Up: FEMINIST FABLES I Recommend Despite my gripes
Nana (kudos to Mika Nakashima and Ryuhei Matsuda)
Boarding Gate (kudos to Asia Argento channeling Aeon Flux)
Never Forever (kudos to Vera Farmiga and her “f**king blue eyes”)
Four Minutes (Vier Minuten)
Beauty in Trouble (Kráska v nesnázích) (kudos to Anna Geislerová and born-to-play-a-vampire Jirí Schmitzer)
Belgium, Moscow (Aanrijding in Moscou) (kudos to Barbara Sarafian) (Moscow is a small Belgian town district of Ghent is why they're speaking Dutch or Flemish)

Runners-Up: FEMINIST FABLES (JUST FOR ROMANCE'S SAKE)
My Blueberry Nights (I sure would like to know where I can eat at the Edward Hopper-esque outer borough diner where Jude Law is working.)

FEMALE-FOCUSED GENRE OF THE YEAR: Single Mothers Driven to Desperation Near the Canadian Border:
Best: Frozen River (kudos to Melissa Leo) (previewed at New Directors/New Films at Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)

Runners Up:
Turn the River
Snow Angels (the book took place in PA, but the movie is vaguely Canadian, as it was filmed in Nova Scotia)
Stone Angel (kudos to Ellen Burstyn)
And then there was: Sleepwalking

BEST FILM INFLUENCED BY AMBROSE BIERCE's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge:
Yella

BEST BEST FRIENDS FOREVER OF THE YEAR:
Christine Baranski and Julie Walters in the resistance-is-futile Mamma Mia!

Favorite Mother Line
Mad Money: Won’t your kids notice if you run away? Nah, they never call anyway.

MOST VISUAL HEAD TRIPS
Mister Lonely
The Fall (including looking at Lee Pace)
Synecdoche (kudos to make-up/hair and production design)
Australia (kudos to matte scenery, costumes and production design)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (kudos to make-up, production design, CG and score)

Runners-Up: MOST VISUAL HEAD TRIPS
Speed Racer
Changeling (kudos to the cinematography of Tom Stern, costumes and production design)

BEST SCENERY:
Up The Yangtze
Before the Rains
Mongol

Runners-Up: BEST SCENERY
Brideshead Revisited (what I could stay awake to see)
Appaloosa (kudos to Dean Semler’s cinematography that kept me from laughing at the script, but Most Egoistical Song over the credits)

BEST COSTUMES
The Duchess

Runner-Up: BEST COSTUMES
Australia

BEST SONG:
In Rodanthe written and sung by Emmylou Harris
Dark Streets, the soundtrack songs and the score with B.B. King's guitar (My additional note.)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
The Hebrew Lesson (Ha’Ulpan) (previewed at NY Jewish Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Murder of a Hatmaker (Assassinat d'une modiste) (seen at NY Jewish Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Trouble the Water (previewed at New Directors/New Films at Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Brothers in Arms (seen at NY African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Algeria, Unspoken Stories (Algérie, histoires à ne pas dire) (seen at Tribeca Film Festival)
To See If I’m Smiling (Lir’ot Im Ani Mehayechet) (seen at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) (previewed at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (Gran Torino is sort of the Hollywood take)
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*: The Side Effects of Being American
My Winnipeg
The Order Of Myths
Man on Wire
The Forgotten Woman - the non-fiction counterpart to Water (seen at DocuWeek)
Waltz With Bashir (Valse im Bashir) (also a Best Animation) (previewed at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s NY Film Festival)
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains

DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
American Teen (see it with Nimrod Nation)
War Child (missed it at Tribeca Film Festival where the subject’s musical performances won it the Audience Award, caught it in preview at DocuWeek)

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Chicago 10
Moving Midway (previewed at New Directors/New Films at Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (to also mark the bicentennial of the abolition of the slave trade is the related Traces Of The Trade: A Story from the Deep North that I previewed at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center before it went straight to PBS)
Cuba: An African Odyssey (seen at NY African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical) (This is the missing link between the two parts of Che.)
Standard Operating Procedure (but needs to be seen with several other related docs)
Encounters at the End of the World (kudos to Herzog’s narration)
Pray The Devil Back To Hell (bravo to score by Blake Lleyh of The Wire and vocalizations by Angélique Kidjo) (missed it with the heroines in their colorful native garb at Tribeca Film Festival, previewed it at DocuWeek) Then see what is in effect Part 2: Iron Ladies Of Liberia)
Yodok Stories (seen at DocuWeek) (See Return to the Border as a useful supplement.)
Children of the Sun (seen at Israel Film Festival)
2008 Other Israel Film Festival in New York- Desert Brides, The Boys From Lebanon, ID Blues (Part 1 - My Blood is Red Like Yours and Part 2 - Land of the Negev), Heart Of Jenin, Lady Kul El Arab (shown on PBS's Wide Angle as Contestant No. 2) (emendations coming after 5/7/2009) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)

Runners-Up: BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Trumbo
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (though, technically, I saw it first on HBO)
Never Apologize: A Personal Visit With Lindsay Anderson (seen at Lindsay Anderson: Revolutionary Romantic at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Fire Under the Snow (missed it at Tribeca Film Festival, caught it at DocuWeek instead of watching the Olympics)
An Unlikely Weapon: The Eddie Adams Story (previewed at DocuWeek)
Anita O’Day: The Life Of A Jazz Singer

Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing DOCS Despite My Gripes about their offenses or nonsense:
Priceless (Hors de prix)
Pineapple Express
Tropic Thunder (minus Tom Cruise's caricature)

Runners-Up: COMIC RELIEFS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Burn After Reading
Loins of Punjab Presents
Zack and Miri Make a Porno

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
It Always Rains On Sunday) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Fanny and Alexander (the uncut 312 minutes)
I Don’t Hear the Guitar Anymore (J'entends plus la guitare)
Mickey One (seen at MoMA’s Jazz Scores)
Stuff and Dough (Marfa si banii)
Warsaw Bridge (Pont de Varsòvia) (previewed at MoMA)
Circus Performers (Saltimbancii) (seen at the Gene Siskel Film Center’s Romanian Cinema Rising)
Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior)
The Exiles
The Human Condition (Ningen no joken): Part 1 - No Greater Love; Part 2 – Road to Eternity; Part 3 – A Soldier’s Prayer (yes, all 10 hours as part of the Film Forum’s Nakadai retrospective)
Delwende (Get Up and Walk) (seen at MoMA) which made an ironic match across time and continents about women as scapegoat witches with the beautiful new 35 mm print of Day of Wrath (Vredens dag)
Lola Montès (colorfully restored)
Ashes of Time (Dung che sai duk) (Redux)
Mishima (new 35 mm print with restored scene and Japanese narration)

Thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
Last Year in Marienbad (L’Année dernière à Marienbad); S.O.B.; Thirst (Atash); Or (My Treasure) and Kaddim Wind: Moroccan Chronicles (Ruah Kaddim – Chronika Marokait) at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Israel at 60; Black River (Kuroi kawa) (much more worth my time than the melodrama Immortal Love (Eien no hito) even in a new print) as part of the Film Forum’s Nakadai retrospective; Macario and Night Falls (La Noche avanza) at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Wounded Pride, Simmering Passion: Roberto Gavaldón retrospective; Killer’s Kiss (outdoors at the Elevated Acre); Amarcard in a new 35mm restoration; What Happened to Santiago (Lo que le pasó a Santiago) at Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Latin Beat; new 35 mm print of The Catch (Shiiku) and Boy (Shonen) at the In the Realm of Oshima Sidebar of Film Society of Lincoln Center’s NY Film Fest; the documentary L'aimee with La Vie des Morts, all 144 minutes in a wavering sound print of La Sentinelle, all 178 minutes in a scratchy print (with British subtitles that translated Colette as Dickens) of My Sex Life... Or How I Got Into An Argument (Comment je me suis disputé... ma vie sexuelle), at Every Minute, Four Ideas: The Films of Arnaud Desplechin series at the IFC Center; Un Flic (A Cop) (with The Sicilian Clan in a new 35 mm print of the cartoon-sounding English version in an old-fashioned double-feature for Delon fans of all persuasions), Quai Des Orfèvres (double-featured with Pépé Le Moko), the full nerve-shaking 2½ hours of Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur); and a new 35mm Scope print of Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez sur le pianiste) in the Film Forum’s French Crime Wave; and Contempt (Le Mépris) (me and all those young straight Bardot-appreciating men who found their way to an art house). But I should have continued the Film Forum’s Godard retrospective by seeing Vivre sa vie instead of their new print of 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle).
Is it OK here to salute revivals I didn’t see in a theater? So kudos to the excellent, well-moderated TCM’s Asian Images in Film Festival, as part of its Race & Hollywood series, where I saw Samuel Fuller’s Crimson Kimono (and others were also available On Demand).

MOST ILLEGIBLE SUBTITLES:
The Lovers (Les Amants) (shown in thanks-for-revival-anyway)
Live And Become (Va, Vis Et Deviens) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)

MY BEST FILMS of 2007 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) -- view it with its non-fiction counterpart The Decomposition of the Soul (La Décomposition de l'âme)
Zodiac
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (scroll down for my capsule review)
Black Book (Zwartboek) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Offside
Red Road
Away From Her (kudos to Julie Christie and use of Neil Young songs)
Jindabyne
A Mighty Heart
Two Days in Paris (see the doc Forever for another view of the Père-Lachaise cemetery)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (kudos to cinematographer Roger Deakins and Casey Affleck)
Lars and the Real Girl
American Gangster (not original but kudos to cinematographer Harris Savides, production and costume design, editing, NY/NJ locations, the clash of titans casting and director Ridley Scott for channeling Scorsese through Spike Lee)
No Country for Old Men (kudos for ensemble casting, cinematographer Roger Deakins and consistent thematic revisioning of the scenic, violent western)
I’m Not There (kudos for ensemble casting, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, cinematographer Edward Lachman, editor Jay Rabinowitz, use of Dylan songs actual, covered and in dialogue, production design and director Todd Haynes)
Dan in Real Life (kudos to the Sondra Lerche songs)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le papillon) (kudos to cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and editor Juliette Welfling – oh, we’re supposed to confuse the women, according to director Julian Schnabel)

Runners-Up: (Movies I Recommend Despite my gripes)
My Mexican Shiva (Morirse está en Hebreo) (previewed at the NY Jewish Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Italian (Italianetz)
Regular Lovers (Les Amants réguliers) (but most illegible subtitles of the year)
Grbavica: The Land Of My Dreams
Breach
Taste of Tea (Cha no aji)
After The Wedding (Efter Brylluppet) (I’m mad for Mads Mikkelsen!)
Into the Wild (kudos to the scenery and Vedder songs)
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Love and Honor (Bushi no ichibun)
Grace Is Gone (best of the Iraq-war-related features of the year)
There Will Be Blood (kudos to Daniel Day Lewis, Jonny Greenwood’s score, Paul Thomas Anderson’s direction and Robert Elswit’s cinematography)

BEST ROMANCES
Quiet City

BEST DOCUMENTARIES
2 Or 3 Things I Know About Him (2 oder 3 Dinge, die ich von ihm weiß) (The Unknown Soldier (Der Unbekannte Soldat) is a good take on the context.)
Into Great Silence (Die Große Stille) (Don’t chomp on your popcorn!)
The Cats of Mirikitani
Third Monday in October (as seen at Tribeca Film Festival))
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Helvetica (in tribute to my dad’s oldest friend, the late book designer Philip Grushkin who would have loved this movie that brought back what it was like to hear him talk about typography)
Steal A Pencil For Me (emendations coming after 5/9/2008)
Protagonist (It’s the missing link in explaining men’s behavior in the informative Nanking (emendations coming after 6/12/2008)) (and Terror’s Advocate, though for the last it also helps to see Days of Glory (Indigènes) and Battle of Algiers, among other films, for context.)

Runners-Up (DOCS I Recommend Despite my gripes):
The Case Of The Grinning Cat (Chats perchés)
Deep Water (Don’t read any spoilers!)

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS I learned from despite gaps and/or flaws):
No End In Sight
Sicko
The Rape of Europa
Banished (a follow-up to Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America by Elliot Jaspin)
Taxi to the Dark Side (see in conjunction with Ghosts of Abu Ghraib and The Prisoner Or: How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair)

BEST VIOLENT NOIRS
Eastern Promises
Michael Clayton (even though it’s a lot like Damages)
Gone Baby Gone (kudos to cinematographer John Toll, Amy Ryan and Casey Affleck, and the extras casting)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (if the House of Atreus lived in NY)

BEST GROWING-UP
Bridge to Terabithia
Ping Pong (loved the Springsteen references!)
In Between Days
Rocket Science (kudos to high school debate accurately portrayed)
Blame It On Fidel (La Faute à Fidel) (scroll down for my capsule review)
Juno (kudos to Ellen Page and Kimya Dawson songs)

Runners-Up: (Coming-of-Agers I Recommend Despite my gripes)
Whole New Thing
Gracie (kudos to using Bruce’s “Growing Up” in a NJ movie) (Chak De! India is a fun, field hockey in India take on the same theme.)

BEST FEMINIST FABLES
L’Iceberg
Year of the Dog
Live-In Maid (Cama adentro)

Runners-Up: (FEMINIST FABLES I Recommend Despite my gripes)
Waitress
The Jane Austen Book Club

BEST UN-FEMINIST FABLE
Enchanted (kudos to Amy Adams)

BEST SATIRES
Grindhouse
Hot Fuzz
12:08 – East of Bucharest (A fost sau n-a fost?)
Shoot ‘Em Up
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (kudos to Jenna Fischer and the songs by Dan Bern and Mike Viola, right through beyond the closing credits)

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS:
U-Carmen (U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha)
Once
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (kudos to Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, director Tim Burton, cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and the production design from the opening credits)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS I enjoyed despite my gripes:
Across the Universe (kudos to the visuals, Beatles’ covers and Jim Sturgess)

BEST SCORE:
In the Pit (En el hoyo) (the musique concrète of Leonardo Heiblum)
Black Snake Moan (and the blues selections)
Choking Man (by Nico Muhly)

Runners-Up: Musical elements I enjoyed despite my other gripes:
Things We Lost in the Fire (only the theme and guitar by Gustavo Santaolalla)
Love in the Time of Cholera (only for Shakira’s original songs)
Southland Tales (for the use of Moby songs)
August Rush (only for Kaki King’s guitar work)
The Great Debaters (for the blues by Alvin Youngblood Hart and Sharon Jones)
Honeydipper (for the old blues and new, old-style songs by Mason Daring)

BEST ACTIONERS
Election (Hak se wui)/Triad Election (Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai) (and similar Johnny To-gangsters channeling something wicked this way comes Down Under in Macbeth)
28 Weeks Later
1408
The Bourne Ultimatum (kudos to director Paul Greengrass)

Runners-Up: (ACTIONERS I Recommend Despite my gripes)
3:10 To Yuma (kudos to Bale, Crowe and Foster)
The Mist (though it is lot like the much smaller budget Right at Your Door)
I Am Legend (Kudos to the first 2/3 and Will Smith)

BEST NON-WESTERN CONVENTIONS NARRATIVES
Syndromes and a Century (Sang sattawat)
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (Hei yan quan)
Ten Canoes
Half Moon (Niwemang) (kudos to the magic realism imagery)

'BAD BOYZ' BREAK OUT PERFORMANCES: (incomplete list)
Denis Moiseenko as "Kolyan" in The Italian (Italianetz)
Jérémie Renierin in Private Property (Nue propriété)

BEST ANIMATION
Paprika (Papurika)
Ratatouille
Tekkonkinkreet (Tekon kinkurîto)
Persepolis

Runners-Up: (ANIMATED MOVIE that made me laugh despite my gripes)
Bee Movie (there’s finally an original song at the very end of the credits)

BEST SCENERY:
Seraphim Falls
Miss Potter
300 (for the “manscape”)
Khadak

BEST COSTUMES
Lust, Caution (Se, jie) (pretty ironic for an NC-17 rated movie)
Elizabeth – The Golden Age
Love in the Time of Cholera (and production design)

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS:
Verdict On Auschwitz: The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial 1963-1965 (first English-subtitled release)
Mafioso
Killer of Sheep
The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge)
65 Revisited
War and Peace (Voyna i mir) (all 6 hours, 51 minutes)
Thanks for new 35 mm prints for my first-time viewings of:
Fires on the Plain (Nobi); Raise the Red Lantern (Da hong deng long gao gao gua); The Earrings of Madame De. . . (Madame De); Street of Shame (Akasen chitai); The Draughtsman’s Contract; Le Doulos; The Makioka Sisters (Sasame-yuki); Diva; Monika (Sommaren med Monika); White Mane (Crin-Blanc); Seduced and Abandoned (Sedotta e abbandonata) and The Organizer (I Compagni) -- but the inadequate and illegible subtitles should have been improved

My Best Films of 2006- In no order, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films:

BEST ACTIONERS
Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) (kudos to the subtitles)
Breaking News (Dai si gein)
Inside Man (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Cavité
Casino Royale
District B 13 (Banlieue 13)
El Aura
13 (Tzameti)
Lady Vengeance (Chinjeolhan geumjassi)
Children of Men (kudos to director Cuarón)
Runners-Up: (movies I Recommend Despite my gripes)
Love
V for Vendetta
The Hidden Blade (Kakushi-ken: oni no tsume)
The Bridesmaid (La Demoiselle D'honneur) (kudos to Benoît Magimel)
Days of Glory (Indigènes)

BEST DRAMAS
Tsotsi (kudos to Presley Chweneyagae)
Beautiful City (Shah-re ziba)
Iron Island (Jazireh ahani)
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Moartea domnului Lazarescu)
United 93
Half Nelson (kudos to Ryan Gosling)
Climates (Iklimler)
The Queen (kudos to Helen Mirren)
Runners-Up: (movies I Recommend Despite my gripes)
Bubble
Fateless (Sorstalanság) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Man Pushes Cart
Three Times (Zui hao de shi guang)

BEST COMEDIES
Thank You for Smoking
Little Miss Sunshine
Stranger Than Fiction
Borat (yeah, you know the full title)
Only Human (Seres queridos) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)

BEST GROWING-UP
Brick
The Motel
Quinceañera (best look at gentrification) (DVD review – scroll down)
L’Enfante
12 and Holding
Runners-Up: (movies I Recommend Despite my gripes)
Lonesome Jim (I am an early appreciator of Casey Affleck.)
Mutual Appreciation

BEST DOCUMENTARIES
Deliver Us From Evil (Pair viewing with Hand of God)
Yang Ban Xi: The 8 Model Works
Who Killed the Electric Car? (the one without Al Gore)
Iraq in Fragments
Cult of the Suicide Bomber (by Baer, not Rehov)
Devil & Daniel Johnston (scroll down for my capsule review)
Runners-Up: (movies I Recommend Despite my gripes)
Unknown White Male (or faux?)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold
I’m Your Man
Crossing the Bridge
Shut Up & Sing
Encounter Point (seen at 2006 Tribeca Film Festival))
The Beauty Academy of Kabul

BEST FAUX DOCUMENTARIES
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America
Brothers of the Head

BEST EXPLOSION OF A GENRE
Letters from Iwo Jima (My additional note.)
The Proposition

BEST WOMEN’S MOVIES (as they used to call them)
Sherrybaby (kudos to Maggie G.)
Heading South (kudos to Charlotte Rampling)
Sweet Land (kudos to Elizabeth Reaser and best romantic Line of the Year: Yes, I believe that ducks dream.)
Come Early Morning (kudos to Ashley Judd)
Look Both Ways
Runners-Up: (movies I Recommend Despite their my gripes)
When the Sea Rises (Quand la mer monte...)
Somersault (kudos to Abbie Cornish)
Princesas (kudos to Candela Peña)
Lover Boy (kudos to Kyra)
Flannel Pajamas
Hard Candy (kudos to Ellen Page)
Secret Life of Words (kudos to the second best romantic Line of the Year: I'll learn to swim.)

BEST OLD FASHIONED ENTERTAINMENT (completely coincidental that they both feature Edward Norton as a romantic lead)
The Painted Veil (kudos to Naomi Watts)
The Illusionist (just beats out the other magicians in The Prestige)

BEST BIO PICS
Infamous
The Last King of Scotland (kudos to both Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy)

BEST SENIOR CITIZEN
Bom bom El Perro

BEST ANIMATION
Monster House
A Scanner Darkly

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Fallen Idol
Thanks for new 35 mm prints for my first-time viewings of:
Army of Shadows, Walkabout, Cléo de 5 à 7, and Rules of the Game -- (and Keanu thought so too about the last as he was at the same theater I was).

'BAD BOYZ' BREAK OUT PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR: (incomplete list)
Andreas Wilson in Evil (Ondskan)
Dustin Nguyen in Little Fish
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Firewall
Raúl Esparza in Find Me Guilty

BEST BEST FRIENDS OF THE YEAR: (incomplete list)
Zooey Deschanel in Failure To Launch
Frances McDormand in Friends With Money (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)

MOST DEPRESSING FILM OF THE YEAR: The Bridge

BEST ATTENTION FOR ACTORS I'VE BEEN A HUGE FAN OF SINCE 1998:
Daniel Craig finally for Casino Royale
Adam Beach finally for Flags of Our Fathers

CINEMATIC ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Cinematographer Tom Stern for Flags of Our Fathers AND Letters from Iwo Jima

BEST BROADS OF THE YEAR
Meryl Streep for opposite full characters in Devil Wears Prada AND A Prairie Home Companion
Dame Judi Dench for upending stereotypes with her “M” in Casino [I miss the Cold War.] Royale and lesbian vampire in Notes on A Scandal
Jennifer Hudson for Best Debut By An Adult in Dreamgirls

My Best Films of 2005- In the order I saw them:
Assisted Living (So, nu: my commentary on the putative Jewish woman)
Turtles Can Fly (Lakposhtha hâm parvaz mikonand)
Head On (Gegen die Wand)
Oldboy
Best of Youth (La Meglio gioventù)
Walk on Water (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Upside of Anger (kudos to Joan Allen)
Millions
Ha Ushpizin
Kings and Queen (Rois et reine)
Mysterious Skin (kudos to Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
Crash
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Caterina in the Big City (Caterina va in città)
5x2
The World (Shijie)
Land of the Dead
Lila Says (Lila dit ça)
Rize
Murderball
The Edukators (Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei)
2046
The Constant Gardener
The Memory of a Killer (De Zaak Alzheimer)
Thumbsucker (kudos to Lou Taylor Pucci)
Keane (kudos to Damian Lewis)
A History of Violence
Serenity
Dandelion (kudos to Vincent Kartheiser)
Crimen ferpecto
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Good Night, and Good Luck
Pride & Prejudice
Zathura
Walk the Line
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
No. 17 Is Anonymous
Ballet Russes
Brokeback Mountain (kudos to Heath Ledger)
King Kong (kudos to Naomi Watts and Andy Serkis)
Munich (kudos to Tony Kushner and Eric Bana)
The New World (kudos to Q'Orianka Kilcher)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Street Fight

Runners-Up: (Movies I Recommend Despite my gripes.)
Kontroll
Schizo (Shiza)
Nina's Tragedies (Ha-Asonot Shel Nina)
Dear Frankie
Sin City
Look At Me (Comme une image)
Le Grand Rôle
À Tout de Suite (Right Now)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (kudos to an emblematic tear)
Layer Cake
Lords of Dogtown
Saving Face
Cinderella Man
My Summer of Love
Heights
Howl's Moving Castle (Hauru no ugoku shiro)
Crónicas
Hustle & Flow
Happy Endings (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Tony Takitani
Secuestro Express
Mad Hot Ballroom
The Brothers Grimm
Games of Love and Chance (L'Esquive)
Campfire (Medurat Hashevet)
Lord of War
Corpse Bride
The Squid and the Whale
Nine Lives (kudos especially to Robin Wright Penn)
North Country (kudos to Frances McDormand)
Domino
Little Manhattan
Capote (kudos to Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Paradise Now
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (kudos to Robert Downey Jr.)
Cape of Good Hope
The Syrian Bride
Syriana
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (kudos to Tilda Swinton)
Breakfast on Pluto (kudos to Cillian Murphy)
Casanova
Caché (Hidden)
On the Outs
The Matador

ADDITIONAL NOTABLE FEATURES:
Best Revivals in New Prints
Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud)
Harakiri (Seppuku)
Classe tous risques

'Bad Boy' Break Out Performances of the Year:
Nikolaj Lie Kaas in Brothers (Brødre) (He's much sexier than Jake Gyllenhaal in the the American remake.)
Romain Duris in The Beat That My Heart Skipped (De Battre mon coeur s'est arrete)
Alex O'Loughlin in Oyster Farmer
Garrett Hedlund in Four Brothers
Marton Csokas in Asylum
Edgar Ramirez in Domino
Kevin Zegers in Transamerica
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in Match Point

Gracie Allen Tribute Performances of the Year:
Amy Adams in Junebug
Isla Fisher in Wedding Crashers
Jason Schwartzman in Shopgirl

Most Delightful Production Design
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

My Best Films of 2004- In the order I saw them:
Trilogy: On the Run (Cavale), An Amazing Couple (Un couple épatant), After the Life (Après la vie)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Goodbye, Lenin!
Broken Wings (Knafayim Shvurot)
Kill Bill, Volume 2
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom)
Since Otar Left (Depuis qu'Otar est parti...)
Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei)
Baadasssss!
The Inheritance (Arven)
Before Sunset
Last Life in the Universe (Ruang rak noi nid mahasan)
Garden State (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Hero (Ying xiong)
Almost Peaceful (Un monde presque paisible) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Infernal Affairs
Stage Beauty
La Petite Lili
Sideways
House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu)
Dolls
The Aviator
Hotel Rwanda
In Good Company
The Woodsman
The Sea Inside (Mar adentro)
Runners-Up:
Osama
Facing Windows (La Finestra di fronte)
Maria Full of Grace
The Manchurian Candidate
We Don't Live Here Anymore
Good Bye, Dragon Inn (Bu san)
Mind the Gap
Primer
Ray
Vera Drake
The Incredibles
Ae Fond Kiss
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Million Dollar Baby
OTHER NOTABLE FEATURES:
Cinematic Artist of the Year: Christopher Doyle
Best Creepy Movie
The Machinist
Best Intense Close-Ups
Birth
Being Julia
Most Indelible Image in an Oddball Movie
Bright Future (Akarui mirai)

My Best Films of 2003 - In the order I saw them:
City of God (Cidade de Deus)
Nowhere in Africa (Nirgendwo in Afrika) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Raising Victor Vargas
Marooned in Iraq (Gomgashtei dar Aragh)
Finding Nemo
Whale Rider
American Splendor
Lucia, Lucia (La Hija del canibal)
Lost in Translation
Mystic River
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Shattered Glass
The Station Agent
Pieces of April
21 Grams
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
House of Sand and Fog
Cold Mountain
Les Triplettes de Belleville
Monster
Runners-Up:
Bend It Like Beckham
Something's Gotta Give
Elf

My Best Films of 2002 - in the order I saw them:
Monsoon Wedding
Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas)
American Chai
Late Marriage (Hatuna Meuheret)
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)
Rain
Lovely and Amazing
Read My Lips (Sur mes levres)
Last Kiss (L'ultimo Bacio)
Secret Ballot
My Wife is an Actress (Ma femee est une actrice)
Tully
Bloody Sunday
Drumline
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Adaptation
Chicago
Runners-up:
The Pianist
Baran
My Best Films of 2001 -- heavy on indies and foreign movies with limited distribution: (not in order of preference)
Donnie Darko
Amores Perros
The Princess and the Warrior (Der Krieger und Die Kaiserin)
Together (Tillsammans)
The Road Home
The Taste of Others (Le Goût des autres)
Aberdeen
Happy Accidents
A Beautiful Mind
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Memento Best Film Influenced By Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Kandahar (Safar e Ghandehar)
Dinner Rush
Diamond Men
Gosford Park
Lantana
Monster's Ball



(updated 12/10/2013)

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