Mandel Maven's Nest Reel Life: Flick Pix
Nora Lee Mandel is a member of New York Film Critics Online. Her reviews are counted in the Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter:
Complete Index to Nora Lee Mandel's Movie Reviews
My reviews have appeared on: Film-Forward; FF2 Media; Lilith, FilmFestivalTraveler; and, Alliance of Women Film Journalists and for Jewish film festivals. Shorter versions of my older reviews are at IMDb's comments, where non-English-language films are listed by their native titles.
TV Recommendations

As of mid-2014, I am marking my own stricter application than others to fiction features of the Bechdel-Wallace Test
Originally suggested by Allison Bechdel, as inspired by her friend Liz Wallace (so her name was added to the symbol as of 2016), in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985 to note a film that features (1) at least two named female characters; (2) who talk to each other; (3) about something besides a man. Symbol first designed by the Swedish chapter of Women in Film and Television; thanks to The Hot Pink Pen for the updated image. But my own criteria consider a substantive interaction about substance and gender for when a film features more than female relationships.
My Best Films of 2021
My Best Films of 2020
My Best Films of 2019
My Best Films of 2018
My Best Films of 2017
My Best Films of 2016
My Best Films of 2015
My Best Films of 2014
My Best Films of 2013
My Best Films of 2012
My Best Films of 2011
My Best Films of 2010
My Best Films of 2009
My Best Films of 2008
My Best Films of 2007
My Best Films of 2006
My Best Films of 2005
My Best Films of 2004
My Best Films of 2003
My Best Films of 2002
My Best Films of 2001
Reviews by Nora Lee Mandel in my idiosyncratic categories of how I think of of flicks:
CHICK FLICKS
IMPACT OF 9/11 ON NYC THROUGH MOVIES
IMAGES OF DENTISTS AND PREVENTIVE TOOTH CARE IN MOVIES (carrying on the work of Dr. Irwin D. Mandel z”l)
JEWISH WOMEN IN (and missing from) THE FLICKS
MASTERPIECE THEATER: MOVIES AS MEDICINE
For the MIDDLE-AGED AT HEART: HURRAH FOR GROWN-UPS!
For the MUSIC (and/or the dancing)
NEW YORK NEW YORK: IT'S A HELLUVA TOWN
NOIR NIGHT OUT
OGLING TEENS AND '20SOMETHINGS
POPCORN EATERS
ROMEO AND JULIET (and friends) ACROSS THE ETHNIC DIVIDE
SCI-FI and FANTASY from A DISTAFF POV
And then there's RUSSELL CROWE (with commentary on the actor)
Friends don't let friends watch bad movies! -- John Ridley
It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons. -- Pierre Rissient
Mothers of America/let your kids go to the movies! -- Frank O’Hara, Ave Maria
MY BEST FILMS of 2021 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Night of the Kings (La nuit des rois) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Minari
200 Meters (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Never Gonna Snow Again (Sniegu juz nigdy nie bedzie) (Kino Lorber)
Atlantis (Kudos to writer/director/cinematographer Valentyn Vasyanovych) (preview courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Kudos to Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield) (HBO Max)
Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Broken Keys (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
The White Tiger (Netflix)
The Mauritanian (preview courtesy of STX Entertainment)
The Father (preview courtesy of Sony Classics)
BEST FEMALE POV
Fiction
Beginning (Dasatskisi) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Nomadland (Kudos to Frances McDormand and cinematography by Joshua James Richards) (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Herself (Kudos to star/co-writer Clare Dunne) (Amazon)
Buladó (Coming of Age Division) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Identifying Features (Sin señas particulares) (seen courtesy of Kino Lorber at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Two of Us (Deux) (Kudos to Barbara Sukowa) (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) (Kudos to Nina Hoss) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
And Tomorrow The Entire World (Und morgen die ganze Welt) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Tove (streamed with 2021 Nordic Women in Film)
Land (Kudos to star/director Robin Wright, cinematographer Bobby Bukowski, and score) (preview courtesy of Focus Features)
Hope (Håp) (Kudos to Andrea Bræin Hovig) (preview courtesy of KimStim)
My Zoe (Kudos to writer/director/star Julie Delpy) (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment and Museum of Moving Image)
Documentary
A Woman's Work: The NFL's Cheerleader Problem (PBS’s Independent Lens) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Her Socialist Smile (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (seen courtesy of director John Gianvito and Grasshopper Film)
Framing Britney (The New York Times Presents on FX/Hulu)
Purple Sea (Das Purpurmeer) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives German Documentary Showcase)
Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Preparations To Be Together For An Unkown Period Of Time (Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétre) (preview courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
14 Days, 12 Nights (14 Jours, 12 Nuits) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Scales (Sayidat Al Bahr) (Allegorical Division) (Variance Films)
Agnes Joy (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES
Here We Are (Hine Anachnu) (Kudos to writer Dana Idisis and cast) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Circus of Life (Zindagi Tamash) (Kudos to writer Nirmal Bano and cast) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Cowboys (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Lucky One (2019) (streamed with 2021 Nordic Women in Film)
Grandfather (Tote/Abuelo) (documentary) (streamed courtesy of 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
BEST ROMANCES
Little Fish (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Leona (preview at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum and shown at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
The Killing of Two Lovers (Kudos to Clayne Crawford) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Crossing (Flukten over grensens) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Better Days (Shaonian de ni) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite quibbles
Blizzard of Souls (Dveselu putenis) (Kudos to cinematography) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
The Disciple (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (coming to Netflix)
The Cantor’s Last Cantata (short) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
Runners-Up: Animation I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Number 7 Cherry Lane (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
One Night in Miami (at 2021 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
Dear Comrades! (Dorogie tovarishchi) (Boo to white on white subtitles) (preview courtesy of Neon and Film Forum)
Monsters (Arracht) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Memories Of My Father (El Olvido Que Seremos) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Kudos to Jasna Djuricic) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Adventures of a Mathematician (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Acasă, My Home (Kudos to the associated Social Project) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
My Darling Supermarket (Meu Querido Supermercado) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Assassins (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Truffle Hunters (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
‘Til Kingdom Come (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)/ see with: Kings of Capitol Hill (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Victory Day (Den’ Probedy) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives German Documentary Showcase)
SPK Complex (SPK Komplex) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives German Documentary Showcase)
Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Kindertransports to Sweden (Dem Leben entgegen – Kindertransporte nach Schweden) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
17 Blocks (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Stray (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
Central Airport THF (Zentralflughafen THF) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives German Documentary Showcase)
What Remains/Re-visited (Was bleibt/Šta ostaje) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives German Documentary Showcase)
EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
MLK/FBI (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and at 2021 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
The Reason I Jump (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
The Human Factor (preview courtesy of Sony Picture Classics)
Oeconomia (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives German Documentary Showcase)
BEST REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS IN NEW PRINTS
Ellen Friedland and Curt Fissel’s Flory’s Flame: The Story of Flory Jagoda (2015) (In memoriam streaming through Museum of American Jewish History)
MY BEST FILMS of 2020 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Martin Eden (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Les Misérables
Corpus Christi (Kudos to Bartosz Bielenia)
Sorry We Missed You (preview at Film Forum)
Bad Education (HBO/ preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Homemade (collection of 17 shorts on Netflix by Covid-19 quarantined directors)
Stump the Guesser (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Foreigner (Extranjero) (short) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
All Rise (seen at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival) (Kudos to Kevin Harrison Jr.)
Run This Town (preview courtesy of Oscilloscope Films)
Red Moon Tide (Lúa vermella) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Chun Jiang Shui Nuan) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Looking For A Lady With Fangs And A Moustache (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pacified (Pacificado) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Gets Good Light (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Notes, Imprints (On Love): Part I (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Exile (Exil) (streamed courtesy of German Film Office)
News of the World
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Another Round (Druk) (Kudos to Mads Mikkelsen) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Sound of Metal (Kudos to Riz Ahmed)
A Sun (Yangguang puzhao) (Netflix)
Tigertail (Netflix)
Monsoon (VOD)
Nafi's Father (Baamum Nafi) (at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
BEST FEMALE POV
My coverage of 2020 Tribeca Film Festival
Fiction
Invisible Life (A Vida Invisível) (Kudos to co-writers Murilo Hauser & Inés Bortagaray & director Karim Aïnouz, and cinematographer Hélène Louvart)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu) (Kudos to cinematography and writer/director Céline Sciamma) (capsule review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Seberg (Kudos to Kristen Stewart)
Proxima (Kudos to Eva Green) (preview at 2020 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Kudos to Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, writer/director Eliza Hittman, cinematographer Hélène Louvart, and Planned Parenthood)
Kuessipan ("to you" in the Innu language) (seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival)
Rocks (Coming of Age Division) (seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival)
Red Fields (Mamy) (Music Division) (seen at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Pause (Pafsi) (Kudos to Stella Fyrogeni) (Always on Sunday of Hellenic Film Society USA with NY Women in Film & Television at Museum of the Moving Image)
Ankebût (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
The Tiger Who Came to Tea (animated short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cru-Raw (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Grey Zone (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shadows (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tapes (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Toto (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Vera (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lucky Grandma (Kudos to Tsai Chin and the music) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Radioactive (Kudos to Rosamund Pike) (Amazon)
Miss Juneteenth (Kudos to writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples and star Nicole Beharie) (VOD)
Song Without A Name (Canción sin nombre) (Kudos to actress Pamela Mendoza, music by Pauchi Sasaki, and cinemographer Inti Briones) (seen courtesy of Film Movement)
Point and Line to Plane (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Promising Young Woman (Kudos to writer/director Emerald Fennell and Carey Mulligan)
Saint Frances (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope)
Premature (Young Black Romance Division) (seen courtesy of IFC Films)
The Forty-Year Old Version (Kudos to Radha Blank) (Netflix)
Cuties (Mignonnes) (Netflix)
Ammonite (seen courtesy of Neon)
Documentary
Woman Make Film: A New Road Movie through Cinema (docu-series seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight/ then shown on TCM in Fall)
Sunless Shadows (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Welcome To The Jungle (trilogy of shorts) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
That Which Does Not Kill (Sans Frapper) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Delphine and Carole (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Personhood (premiered at 2019 DOC NYC Festival/ seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival)
Feminism is a browser (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Video Blues (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
In Her Boots (animation) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
I Dream of Vietnam (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
City Dreamers (Rêveuses de villes) (U.S. Premiere at 2019 ADFF NY/ seen streaming at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Yours in Sisterhood (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
Girl from God’s Country (2015) (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
Jacinta (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Through The Night (previewed at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ also shown at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival) (PBS POV)
The State of Texas vs. Melissa (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Call Your Mother (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Picture A Scientist (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Blood And Glory (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Charlotte Perriand, Pioneer In The Art Of Living (seen at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival at NeoConnect)
#Anne Frank – Parallel Stories (on Netflix)
My Mexican Bretzel (documentary/fiction hybrid) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Correspondence (Correspondencia) (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Extractions (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Plastic House (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
See You in My Dreams (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Time (Kudos to editor Gabriel Rhodes and composers Jamieson Shaw/Edwin Montgomery) (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ “Short List” at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival) (on Amazon Prime)
A Thousand Cuts (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ “Short List” at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival) (PBS Frontline)
Belly of the Beast (So, nu: re: comments by the Jewish woman director) (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival) (PBS Independent Lens)
Lessons of Love (Lekcja miłości) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
The Letter (Kudos to co-director Maia Lekow’s score) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
The Self-Portrait (Selvportrett) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Women In Blue (PBS Independent Lens) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
On The Record (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival/ HBO Max)
Love & Stuff (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
Hysterical Girl (short) (NY Times Op Doc)
Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Buffaloed (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Beanpole (Dylda) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Zombi Child (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Assistant
Troop Zero (Coming of Age Division) (Amazon Prime)
Murmur (Depressing Division) (preview courtesy of Houseplant Films at Slamdance Film Festival)
Bull (Coming of Age Division) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Ordinary Love (Depressing Division)
The Garden Left Behind (Kudos to Carlie Guevara) (Depressing Division) (preview courtesy of Queens Pictures)
Anne at 13,000 Ft. (Kudos to Deragh Campbell) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Kinetics:The Desire To Move (seen at 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Ema (seen courtesy of Music Box Films and MUBI)
Asia (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Military Wives (seen courtesy of Bleecker Street Films)
On The Rocks (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Pieces of A Woman (Netflix)
Once Upon A River (seen courtesy of Film Movement)
Fourteen (VOD)
Let Them All Talk (HBO)
Selah and The Spades (Amazon)
To The Stars (VOD)
Documentary
Advocate (Lea Tsemel, Orehet Din) (seen at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center/IFC Center, and Q & A at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
Vitalina Varela (Ethnographic Re-Enactment Division) (Kudos to cinematography) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Toxic Beauty (preview courtesy of
White Pine Pictures)
We Are The Radical Monarchs (at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
Taylor Swift: Miss Americana (Netflix)
Aggie (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema (2017) (seen at Forest Hills Jewish Center Cinematek)
Beyond The Visible: Hilma Af Klint (preview courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Sisters Rising (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
The Undocumented Lawyer (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Athlete A (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ on Netflix)
The Go-Go’s (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ on Showtime)
Glimpses from a Visit to Orkney in Summer 1995 (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Finding Yingying (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Big vs. Small (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
For the Love of Rutland (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Once Upon A Time In Venezuela (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival) (streams on Topic)
Duty Free (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Lost In Face (Kudos to animation by Frédéric Schuld) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
The Viewing Booth (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Calendar Girl (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Nasrin (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
I Am Greta (“Short List” at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival/ Hulu)
A Love Song For Latasha (short) (Netflix)
BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES
First Cow (Kudos to John Magaro and Orion Lee, cinematography, score, and incorporation of indigenous culture) (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Roads Not Taken (Kudos to Sally Potter’s directing, editing, and score, with guitar by Fred Frith)
Twelve Thousand (Douze mille) (Kudos to Arieh Worthalter) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Fever (A Febre) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Grandad Was A Romantic (animated short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Umbrella (animated short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Cypher (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Jack and Jo Don't Want To Die (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tragic Jungle (Selva Trágica) (Kudos to cinematographer Sofia Oggioni) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
I Carry You With Me (Te Llevo Conmigo) (Kudos to cinematographer Juan Pablo Ramírez and editor Enat Sidi) (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Father Soldier Son (documentary) (Netflix)
A Cops and Robbers Story (documentary) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Film Festival)
BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSE
The Traitor (Il traditore) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bacurau (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Whistlers (La Gomera) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Wild Goose Lake (Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Balloon (preview courtesy of Distrib Films US)
Escape from Pretoria (preview courtesy of Momentum Pictures)
Resistance
Wonder Woman 1984
Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite quibbles
The Old Guard (on Netflix)
The True History Of The Kelly Gang (Kudos to Essie Davis and production design) (on VOD)
Invisible Man (on HBO) (Kudos to Elizabeth Moss)
Greyhound (on Apple+)
The Outpost (on VOD)
BEST NEO-NOIRS
A Patient Man (preview courtesy of Commuter Productions)
Runners-Up: NEO NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Night Clerk (Kudos to Tye Sheridan) (preview courtesy of Saban Entertainment)
You Go To My Head (preview courtesy of First Run Features) (Kudos to Morocco mise en scène)
Spellbound (Les envoûtés) (preview at 2020 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Last Ferry from Grass Island (島嶼故事) (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
A White, White Day (Hvítur, hvítur dagur) (courtesy of Film Movement)
I’m Your Woman
BEST ROMANCES
Top End Wedding (Indigenous/Aussie Rom Com Division) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Simple Wedding (Iranian/American Rom Com Division) (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment)
Olympic Dreams (preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Babyteeth (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Catch (El Salto) (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Better You (sci fi division) (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Undine (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Farewell Amor (preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Sister of the Groom
Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Weathering With You (Animation) (preview courtesy of GKids)
José
Inside the Rain (Mental Illness Division) (preview courtesy of Act 3)
The Half of It (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ Netflix)
Shithouse (Kudos to writer/director/star Cooper Raiff) (preview courtesy of IFC Films)
BEST COMING OF AGERS
Waiting for Anya
Wendy
Abe (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Witch Hunters (Zlogonje) (seen at 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Ainu Mosir (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sweet Thing (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Black Ghost Son (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Ham On Rye
Buoyancy (seen courtesy of Kino Lorber)
The Life Ahead (La Vita davanti a Sé) (Netflix)
Funny Boy (Netflix)
The Grizzlies (Netflix)
I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aqui) (Netflix)
The Brat (Natkhat) (short) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC
Carmentis (short) (Kudos to writer/director Antony Webb and crew) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Light Side (satirical short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Look Then Below (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The End of Suffering (a proposal) (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Humongous! (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
August 22, This Year (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
La Llorona (Kudos to sound design and Gaby Moreno’s version of traditional title song) (courtesy of Shudder)
The Vast of Night (Kudos to cinematography and production design) (Amazon)
His House (Netflix)
Two Distant Strangers (short) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Speed of Life (Romantic Division)
System Error (Humor Division) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Labor of Love (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Possessor (courtesy of Neon)
BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
And Then We Danced (Kudos to Levan Gelbakhiani and Bachi Valishvili, and cinematographer Lisabi Fridell)
Throat Singing in Kangirsuk (Katatjatuuk Kangirsumi) (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
My Father The Mover (short) (Kudos to Stoan Move Galela) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Welcome To A Bright White Limbo (short) (Kudos to Oona Doherty) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hamilton (On Disney+)
David Byrne’s American Utopia (on HBO)
Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane Mcgowan (Kudos to the editing) (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Crutch (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Tiny Tim: King For A Day (Kudos to the animation) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Zappa (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures at 2020 DOC NYC Festival)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Kudos to Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, ensemble, and director George C. Wolfe) (Netflix)
Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band (preview at 2019 DOC NYC Festival)
Felix in Wonderland (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Crescendo! (bio-doc short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Motorcycle Drive By (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Somebody Up There Likes Me (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
When I Write It (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)