Mandel Maven's Nest Reel Life: Flicks 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 and Commentaries

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.

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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.

TV Recommendations


My Best Films of 2025
My Best Films of 2024
My Best Films of 2023
My Best Films of 2022
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
IF YOU’RE JONESING FOR SOMETHING LIKE THE WIRE
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 2025 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):

BEST FEMALE POV
Fiction
The Last Showgirl (Kudos Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis) (courtesy of Roadside Attractions)
Blind At Heart (Die Mittagsfrau) (Kudos Mala Emde) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Rose (kudos to writer/director/composer/singer Aurélie Saada and star Françoise Fabian) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ 2025 Cohen Media Group release)
Jazzy (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2025 theatrical and On Demand release by Vertical Entertainment)
Visiting Hours (La Prisonnière de Bordeaux) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Wild Diamond (Diamant brut) (Kudos to Malou Khebizi) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln/ courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Bonjour Tristesse (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image/ theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment)
Measures for a Funeral (Kudos to the music) (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)
Lilly (“Equal Pay Day” at Workers Unite Film Festival/ theatrical release by Blue Harbor Entertainment)
Audrey’s Children (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2025 theatrical release by Blue Harbor Entertainment )

Documentary
Diane Warren: Relentless (at 2024 DOC NYC/ 2025 theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment)
Every Little Thing (Kudos to hummingbird rehabber Terry Masear, director Sally Aitken & cinematographer Ann Johnson Prum) (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Nina Is An Athlete (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
A Great Big Secret (short) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Ada: My Mother the Architect (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Full Support (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Go2Films)
The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & The Art Of Survival (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of East Meets West Productions)
Paint Me a Road Out of Here (courtesy of Aubin Pictures)
Unbroken (at 2023 DOC NYC/ 2025 theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment)
A Photographic Memory (Kudos to Sheila Turner-Seed) (at 2024 DOC NYC/ 2025 theatrical release by Zeistgeist Films/ Kino Lorber)
Home Court (at 2025 NYICFF - New York International Children’s Film Festival/ PBS Independent Lens)
A Want in Her (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)
Tata (Father) (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)
1-800-On-Her-Own (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2025 theatrical release by 8 Above)

Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Adult Best Friends (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2025 theatrical/VOD release by Gravitas Ventures)
This Life of Mine (Ma vie ma gueule) (Kudos to Agnès Jaoui) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)

Documentary
Sanctuary Station (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)


BEST ROMANCES
The Glory of Life (Die Herrlichkeit des Lebens) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Okiku and the World (Sekai no Okiku) (courtesy of Film Movement+)


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries)
Midas Man (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)


Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
“SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” (courtesy of Onyx Collective/Hulu/Disney+)
Soldiers of Song (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2025 theatrical and VOD release)


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
Living Large (La Vie, En Gros/Život k sežrání) (at 2025 NYICFF - New York International Children’s Film Festival)

Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Savages (Sauvages) (at 2025 NYICFF - New York International Children’s Film Festival)


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/SPIRITUAL/APOCALYPTIC
Jump! (¡Salta!) (at 2025 NYICFF - New York International Children’s Film Festival)

Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPSE I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Hood Witch (Roqya) (courtesy of Dark Sky Films)


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSERS
September 5 (Deadline “Virtual Screening Series”/ courtesy of Paramount)
Harbin (Kudos to cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo and composer Jo Yeong-wook) (courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment)
Ghost Trail (Les Fantômes) (Kudos to Adam Bessa) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Music Box Films)
The Temple Woods Gang (Le gang des Bois du Temple) (at 2024 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ 2025 release by Several Futures)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Cleaner (Kudos to Daisy Ridley as Action Hero) (courtesy of Quiver Distribution)
Old Guy (Kudos to Christoph Waltz) (courtesy of The Avenue Film)
The Quiet Ones (De lydløse) (courtesy of Magnet Releasing)


BEST NEO-NOIRS
Something Is About To Happen (Que Nadie Duerma) (courtesy of Film Movement)
Kid Snow (Kudos to Outback cinematography) (courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
Holy Cow (Vingt Dieux) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Zeitgeist Films/Kino Lorber)
Jippie No More (Kudos to Wesley van Klink) (at 2025 NYICFF - New York International Children’s Film Festival)
Julie Keeps Quiet (Julie Zwijgt) (courtesy of Film Movement)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Desert of Namibia (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)


BEST COMING TO TERMS
Hard Truths (courtesy of Bleecker Street Films)
Armand (courtesy of IFC Films)
Neither Day Nor Night (לא יום ולא לילה) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Winter in Sokcho (Hiver à Sokcho) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
When Fall Is Coming (Quand vient l’automne) (Kudos to Hélène Vincent) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Music Box Films)
Windless (Bezvetrije) (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)
The Penguin Lessons (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)


BEST SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY:
This Is My Mother (La vie de ma mère) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
The Six Triple Eight (Netflix)
I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui) (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Meeting with Pol Pot (Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Strand Releasing)


BEST CINEMA OF THE ABSURD:
Marcello Mio (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Universal Language (Une langue universelle) (courtesy of Oscilloscope)
The Second Act (Le Deuxième Acte) (at 2025 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)


AGITPROP WORTH SEEING
From Ground Zero: Stories From Gaza (courtesy of Watermelon Pictures)
October 8 (courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment)


BEST DOCUMENTARY RE-ENACTMENTS/DOCU-DRAMA/FICTION HYBRIDS
Oceans Are The Real Continents (Los Océanos Son Los Verdaderos Continentes) (at 2024 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Film Movement)
Of Dogs and Men (Al Klavim Veanashim) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Asog (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ streamed at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ 2025 release by Film Movement)
Park (Taman-taman) (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Torah Tropical (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Go2Films)
Lost City (Verdwenen Stad) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
The Spoils (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Tattooed4Life (short) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Go2Films)
Ain't No Back to A Merry-Go-Round (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Israel Palestine On Swedish TV 1958-1989 (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)
Elementary (Apprendre) (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)
Songs of Slow Burning Earth (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)

Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
A Frown Gone Mad (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire (Kudos to animation by Joel Orloff) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of American Masters - PBS)


EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws:
The Other (at 2024 Other Israel Film Festival/ 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of We Uncover Films)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
The Fifth Shot of La Jetée (Le Cinquième Plan de La Jetée) (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)
Chronicles of the Absurd (Crónicas del absurdo) (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)
Zodiac Killer Project (at 2025 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image)


BEST REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS IN NEW PRINTS
Frank N. Seltzer and George K. Rowlands’ Breaking Home Ties (1922) (Reconsidered) (Digital film restoration by the National Center for Jewish Film with new score) (at 2025 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Axel Ranisch’s Orphea in Love (2022) and Hermann Zschoche’s Seven Freckles (Sieben Sommersprossen) (1978) (in German Film Office’s Allas Liebe: Goethe on Demand Film Series)
Krzysztof Kieslowski’s The Scar (Blizna) (1976), Camera Buff (Amator) (1979), No End (Bez konca) (1985), Blind Chance (Przypadek) (1987) and A Short Film About Love (Krótki film o milosci)- the feature version of “The Sixth Commandment” of The Decalogue (1988) and Josef von Sternberg’s silent The Last Command (1928) (on CUNY-TV’s City Cinematheque)
Heiny Srour’s Leila and the Wolves (Leila wa al ziap) (1984) (2021 restoration by the CNC - Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée in 2K with sound digitized by British Film Institute) (courtesy of Several Futures)


MY BEST FILMS of 2024 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
The Legionnaire (Il legionario) (preview at 2022 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center/ Film Movement Plus)
About Dry Grasses (Kuru Otlar Üstüne) (courtesy of Sideshow/Janus Films)
Achilles (Ashil) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ courtesy of Visit Films)
Green Border (Kudos director Agnieszka Holland and ensemble) (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Sing Sing (courtesy of A24)
Shadow of Fire『ほかげ』(Hokage) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Summerlight… And Then Comes The Night (Sumarljós og svo kemur nóttin) (Kudos to ensemble, cinematographer David Williamsson, and Icelandic landscape) (courtesy of Juno Films)
Small Things Like These (Kudos to Cillian Murphy) (courtesy of Lionsgate)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Kudos to Mohammad Rasoulof, cast and crew) (courtesy of Neon)
The Brutalist (courtesy of A24)

Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Yana Mara (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Queer (courtesy of A24)
Nickel Boys (courtesy of Amazon MGM Studos)


BEST FEMALE POV
My coverage of female filmmakers at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival
Fiction
Tótem (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Sideshow Janus Films)
Shayda (2023 premiere courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Talking About The Weather (Alle Reden Übers Wetter) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of German Film Office)
The Peasants (Chlopi) (Kudos to writer/director DK - Dorota Kobiela- Welchman and score by Lukasz Rostowski) (oil painting animation) (2023 premiere courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics/ 2024 on Netflix)
Earth Mama (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ 2024 Athena Film Festival/ courtesy of A24)
Fancy Dance (Kudos to co-writer-director Erica Tremblay [Seneca-Cayuga], co-writer [Tlingit] Miciana Alise, and star Lily Gladstone [Blackfeet/Nez Perce]) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ 2024 Athena Film Festival/ 2024 theatrical/streaming release by AppleTV+)
The Persian Version (2024 Athena Film Festival/ 2023 preview courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Inshallah A Boy (Kudos to director/co-writer Amjad Al Rasheed and co-writers Rula Nasser & Delphine Agut) (courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Babes (courtesy of Neon)
Sisterhood (HLM Pussy) (at 2024 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Banel & Adama (Kudos to Khady Mane) (at 2024 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release by Kino Lorber)
Tendaberry (hybrid) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Arthur&Diana (hybrid) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Voice of Others (La Voix Des Autres) (short) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Foremost By Night (Sobre Todo De Noche (Kudos Lola Dueñas) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Alpha Violet)
Malu (hybrid) (Kudos Yara de Novaes) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (Shashvi shashvi maq'vali) (Kudos Eka Chavleishvili) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Totem Films)
My Love Affair with Marriage (hand-drawn animation) (Kudos to writer/director/animator/designer/co-editor Signe Baumane; animator Yajun Shi; composer Kristian Sensini; and voice cast (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2024 theatrical & streaming release by MVD Entertainment/ streams on OVID as of 12/20)
The Beautiful Summer (La bella estate) (at 2024 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Film Movement)
Come Closer (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Darkest Miriam (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Devil’s Bath (Das Teufels Bad) (Kudos to star/composer Anja F Plaschg) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of IFC Films/Shudder)
Don’t You Let Me Go (Agarrame fuerte) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Cinema Tropical)
Bikechess (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Samia (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Arzé (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
In The Summers (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical & streaming release by Music Box Films)
Ebb & Flow (short) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bloomed in the Water (short) (in “Moving the Spotlight” at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
When Everything Burns (Cuando Todo Arde) (short) (in “Moving the Spotlight” at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sisi & I (Sisi & Ich) (courtesy of Film Movement)
Performing KAORU’s Funeral『カオルの葬式』(KAORU no Soushiki) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Following the Sound『彼方のうた』(Kanata no Uta) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
The Punishment (El Castigo) (Kudos to writer Coral Cruz, actress Antonia Zegers, director Matias Bize, cinematographer Gabriel Diaz) (at Latin & Spanish Film Showcase of Outsider Pictures)
Lullaby (Cinco Lobitos) (Kudos to writer/director Alauda Ruiz de Azua) (at Latin & Spanish Film Showcase of Outsider Pictures)
Sica (Coming of Ager) (Kudos as a film shot with a majority of women heading the crews) (at Latin & Spanish Film Showcase of Outsider Pictures)
Chuck Chuck Baby (Kudos to writer/director Janis Pugh for karaoke musical) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ 2024 theatrical release via Dark Star Pictures)
Winner (courtesy of Vertical) (see with the documentary Reality Winner (aka United States Vs.) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ at 2021 DOC NYC/ theatrical release by Codebreaker Films)
Lee (Kudos to Kate Winslet) (courtesy of Roadside Attractions and Vertical)
Hold Your Breath (Kudos to writer/co-director Karrie Crouse, cinematographer Zoë White, and Sarah Paulson) (courtesy of Hulu)
What A Feeling (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
The Queen of My Dreams (at 2024 “Pride Encore” in New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Nikah (courtesy of Icarus Films/dGenerate Films Collection)
In Her Place (El lugar de la otra) (Netflix)
Janet Planet (courtesy of A24)
All We Imagine As Light (courtesy of Sideshow/Janus Films)
Girl with the Needle (Pigen med nålen) (co-writer Line Langebek Knudsen) (Kudos score/sound design) (courtesy of MUBI)
The Room Next Door (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Vermiglio (courtesy of Sideshow/Janus Films)
Santosh (Kudos to writer/director Sandhya Suri, stars Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar) (courtesy of Metrograph Pictures)
I’m Not a Robot (Ik ben geen robot) (short) (via The New Yorker
Babygirl (Kudos to the music) (courtesy of A24)
Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything (Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzählen) (courtesy of Strand Releasing)

Documentary
Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ theatrical release by Oscilloscope)
A Place Of Our Own (Ek Jagah Apni) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Queen of the Deuce (at 2022 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment)
Bye Bye Tiberias/ Tibériade (at 2023 DOC NYC/ theatrical release via Women Make Movies)
Apolonia, Apolonia (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2024 release by Grasshopper Film)
999: The Forgotten Girls (including Bardejov) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of the filmmaker)
The Disappearance of Shere Hite (“Short List” at 2023 DOC NYC/ 2024 Athena Film Festival/ courtesy of IFC Films)
Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ 2024 Athena Film Festival/ HBO Documentary)
Q (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ at 2024 Athena Film Festival)
How To Make Challah (short) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of the filmmaker)
Anyuka (Mother) (short) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of the filmmaker)
Self-Portrait: 47 KM 2020 (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
1489 (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Echo (El Eco) (hybrid) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Break The Game (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2024 theatrical release)
Frida (Kudos to director Carla Gutiérrez’ research and use of animation) (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ Amazon MGM/ “Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC)
Between Revolutions (Între revoluții) (hybrid) (Kudos to epistolary writer Lavinia Braniște) (at 2024 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
COPA 71 (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs” and Greenwich Entertainment)
Missing From Fire Trail Road (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Made In Ethiopia (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Satisfied (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shunga: The Lost Japanese Erotica (春の画Shunga』(Haru no e Shunga) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Kadono Eiko's Colorful Life: Finding the Magic Within『カラフルな魔女 ～角野栄子の物語が生まれる暮らし～』(Karafuru na Majo ～Kadono Eiko no Monogatari ga Umareru Kurashi～) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (DOC NYC Selects Summer 2024/ Netflix)
The Mother of All Lies (Kadib Abyad) (“Short List” at 2023 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical release via Outsider Pictures)
Maya and the Wave (Opening Night at 2022 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical self-release)
Sweetheart Deal (courtesy of Abramorama)
Mediha (at 2023 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical release by Together Films)
Fanatical: The Catfishing Of Tegan And Sara (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ courtesy of Hulu)
Lesvia (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
I'm Not Everything I Want to Be (Ještě nejsem, kým chci být) (Kudos to Libuše Jarcovjáková’s archive) (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Black Box Diaries (Kudos to Shiori Ito) (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ MTV Documentary Films/ “Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC)
The World According To Allee Willis (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ courtesy of Magnolia Pictures/ 2025 on Hulu)
The Taste of Mango (courtesy of the filmmaker at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ 2024 theatrical release by Oscilloscope)
Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story (at 2024 DOC NYC)
There Was, There Was Not (at 2024 DOC NYC)
The Only Girl In The Orchestra (short) > (at 2023 DOC NYC/ 2024 Netflix release)
Never Look Away (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ Greenwich Entertainment)

Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Irena’s Vow
Good One (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Metrograph Pictures)
Shimmering Bodies (Corpos Cintilantes) (short) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Kill 'Em All (Mátalos A Todos) (short) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Last Summer (L’été dernier) (courtesy of Sideshow/Janus)
Ice Cream Fever『アイスクリームフィーバー』(Aisukurimu Fiba) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Hail Mary 『マリアに幸あれ』(Maria ni Sachiare) (short) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Wife’s Power Outage 『妻の電池切れ』(Tsuma no Denchigire) (short) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Creature (Creatura) (in 2024 “Latin & Spanish Film Showcase” of Outsider Pictures)
Paradise Is Burning (Paradiset brinner) (courtesy of Room 8 Films)
All Eyes Off Me (Mishehu Yohav Mishehu) (courtesy of Film Movement Plus premiere)
The Outrun (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Nightbitch (courtesy of /Walt Disney Company)
Documentary
Breaking The News (at 2023 Athena Film Festival)
Driver (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Debutantes (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Cranes Call (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Politics Is A Mother, Raising Hell Is Part Of The Job (at 2024 Montclair Film Festival)
Stolen Time
Standing Above the Clouds (at 2024 DOC NYC)
Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr (“Short List Shorts: Justice and Democracy” at 2024 DOC NYC)


BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES
A Cautionary Tale (Cum să fiu mort, dacă-s viu?) (documentary) (at 2024 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
The Lionheart (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO Max)
A Journey in Spring (Chun Xing) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Being Film and Art Co., LTD)
The Space Race (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ National Geographic Channel)
Mountains (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2024 theatrical release by Music Box Films)
Daddio (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hunters on a White Field (Jakt) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bitterroot (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Deep Into The Forest (short) (Kudos to orienteering) (in “Moving the Spotlight” at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Leading Man (short) (in “Moving the Spotlight” at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Keba, Interrupted (short) (in “Moving the Spotlight” at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Kudos to Jim Broadbent, Director Hettie Macdonald, Writer Rachel Joyce, Cinematographer Kate McCullough, and the English landscape) (courtesy of Quiver Distribution)
Alok (short) (Kudos to the earrings) (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Caribbean Queen (short) (in “Caribbean Pride Power” at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Zari (short) (in “Women’s Night Out” at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Until He’s Back (“Short List: Shorts Justice and Democracy” at 2024 DOC NYC)
A Swim Lesson (“Short List: Shorts Human Spirit” at 2024 DOC NYC)
Planetwalker (short) (“Films That Move” via The Redford Center)


BEST ROMANCES
The Breaking Ice (Ran Dong) (Kudos to Heaven Lake) (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
The Taste of Things (La passion de Dodin-Bouffant) (2023 preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Here (Kudos to moss) (courtesy of Cinema Guild)
Slow (Tu man nieko neprimeni) (Kudos writer/director Marija Kavtaradze, stars Greta Grinevičiūtė & Kęstutis Cicėnas, and songs by Irya Gmeyner) (courtesy of KimStim Films)
The Dead Don’t Hurt (courtesy of Shout! Studios)
The Freshly Cut Grass (El aroma del pasto recién cortado) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Ripe! (Kudos to the songs) (short) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Challengers (courtesy of MGM Amazon Studios)
America (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum/ 2023 Israel Film Center Festival/ courtesy of and 2024 theatrical release by Menemsha Films)
Rei 『莉の対』(Rei no Tsui) (Kudos to director/writer/editor/star Toshihiko Tanaka) (in 2024 “New Generation” Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
I’ll Be Your Mirror (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Gondola (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Anora (courtesy of Neon)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
The Day I Met You (O Dia que te Conheci) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
The Mattachine Family (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ 2024 digital release Giant Pictures)
Aisha (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
The Young Wife (courtesy of Paramount Movies)
The Everything Pot (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Beast (La bête) (courtesy of Sideshow/Janus)
Between The Temples (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
High Tide (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ courtesy of Strand Releasing)


BEST PANDEMIC-LIKE RELATIONSHIPS AND POST-LIFE
MMXX (at 2024 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
A Good Place (Ein Schöner Ort) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Stress Positions (Closing Night at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Neon)
Nuked (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Coup! (courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
The Secret Art of Human Flight (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ On Demand 2024 Level 33 Entertainment)
And Mrs. (Kudos ensemble especially Billie Lourd, Dame Harriet Walter, and Susan Wokoma) (courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/SPIRITUAL/APOCALYPTIC
Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell (Bên trong vo kén vàng) (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
I.S.S. (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Bleecker Street)
The Animal Kingdom (Le Règne animal) (at 2024 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Magnet Releasing)
Handling the Undead (Håndtering Av Undøde) (courtesy of Neon)
A Different Man (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of A24)
I Saw The TV Glow (Kudos to the music) (courtesy of A24)
Six Singing Women 『唄う六人の女』(Utau Rokunin no Onna) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Motion Picture: Choke 『映画(窒息)』(Eiga Chissoku) (Kudos to Misa Wada) (in 2024 “New Generation” Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Dune 2 (HBO)
The Substance (courtesy of MUBI)
Nosferatu (Kudos to cinematographer Jarin Blaschke and production design) (courtesy of Focus Features)

Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPSE I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Under the Hanging Tree (at 2024 New York African Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ African Film Festival, Inc.)
Evil Does Not Exist (courtesy of Sideshow Janus Films)
The Weekend (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Wait (La Espera) (Kudos to Zeltia Montes’ ominous score) (courtesy of Film Movement Plus)
Meanwhile On Earth (Pendant Ce Temps Sur Terre Clapin) (Kudos to use of animation) (courtesy of Metrograph Picture )


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSERS
Io Capitano (Kudos to Seydou Sarr) (courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
Farewell, Mr. Haffmann (Adieu Monsieur Haffman) (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Libertate (at 2024 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
Asphalt City
Blaga’s Lessons (Urotcite Na Blaga) (Kudos Eli Skorcheva) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Heretic Films)
Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (courtesy of IFC Films)
Beacon (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Kubi 『首』 (Kudos Takeshi Kitano) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Rhinegold (Rheingold) (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
The Arctic Convoy (Konvoi) (courtesy of Magnet Releasing)
The Silent Forest (Schweigend Steht Der Wald) (in German Film Office’s 2024 Der Wald: An Online Film Series about the Forest/ VOD release via Blue Fox Entertainment)
The Silent Hour (Kudos to Sandra Mae Frank #deaftalent) (courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
Heretic (courtesy of A24)
Juror #2 (courtesy of Warner Brothers)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) (Kudos to Pierre Niney, ensemble, mise en scène, and adaptation) (courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Disco Boy (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ theatrical release by Big World Pictures)
Horizon: American Saga – Chapter 1 (Max)
Duchess (courtesy of Saban Films)
Cuckoo (courtesy of Neon)
Conclave (courtesy of Focus Features)


BEST NEO-NOIRS
American Star (courtesy of IFC Films)
Sleeping Dogs (courtesy of The Avenue)
Limbo (courtesy of Music Box Films)
Boss (at 2024 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
Love Lies Bleeding (courtesy of A24)
Restless (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Whale Bones 『鯨の骨』(Kujira no Hone) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Detained (courtesy of Quiver Distribution)
Mothers’ Instinct (courtesy of Neon)


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries)
They Shot the Piano Player (animation) (2023 preview courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
The Klezmer Project (Adentro Mío Estoy Bailando) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Hazel (dual) (short) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Adiós Buenos Aires (Kudos to the tango music) (courtesy of Outsider Pictures)
Funmi! (short) (at 2024 New York African Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ African Film Festival, Inc.)
The Beach Boys (Disney+)
New Wave (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Luther: Never Too Much (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release by Giant Pictures)
Stud Country (short) (in “Moving the Spotlight” at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Dusty & Stones (Kudos to Gazi Simelane and Linda Msibi) (preview at 2022 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical release by First Run Features)
Other People (Inni ludzie) (courtesy of streaming premiere on Film Movement Plus)
Dalton’s Dream (at 2023 DOC NYC/ at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Dandelion (Kudos to Kiki Layne, songs by Aaron & Bryce Dessner, writer/director Nicole Riegel) (courtesy of IFC Films)
Kneecap (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
This Is Ballroom (Salão de Baile) (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Teaches of Peaches (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It (at 2024 DOC NYC)
Emilia Pérez (courtesy of Netflix)
Wicked (courtesy of Universal Pictures)
I Am Celine Dion (courtesy of Netflix)
Wicked (courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Lost Soulz (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release by Kino Lorber)
Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix)
Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision (courtesy of Abramorama)
The End (courtesy of Neon)


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
In The Shadow of the Cypress (short) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Permanent Picture (La Imatge Permanent) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA
Bottle George『ボトルジョージ』(Botoru Jo-Ji) (short) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Nezumikozo Jirokichi『山中貞雄に捧げる漫画映画「鼠小僧次郎吉」 (short) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Not for Money, Not for Love, Not for Nothing (short) (New York Times Op-Doc)
Brim Broome Boulevard (short) (in “Queer Teen Moxie” at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Inside Out 2 (courtesy of Disney)
Memoir of a Snail (courtesy of IFC Films)
Piece By Piece (Kudos to use of music) (courtesy of Focus Features)
Porcelain War (Kudos to BluBlu Studios animation of art by Anya Stasenko and Slava Leontyev) (courtesy of Picturehouse)
Flow (courtesy of Sideshow Janus Films)

Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Robot Dreams (courtesy of Neon)
Budō (short) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Wild Robot (courtesy of Universal)
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (courtesy of Netflix)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
Sujo (Kudos to Co-Writers/Directors Astrid Rondero & Fernanda Valadez, Cinematographer Ximena Amann) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Grace (Blazh) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ 2024 theatrical release by sThe Forge)
After The Long Rains (Baada Ya Masika) (at 2024 New York African Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ African Film Festival, Inc.)
An Endless Sunday (Una sterminata domenica) (at 2024 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sayonara, Girls 少女は卒業しない』(Shojo wa Sotsugyo Shinai) (in 2024 “New Generation” Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Dìdi (弟弟) (Kudos to Joan Chen) (courtesy of Focus Features)
My Old Ass (courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)
Bird (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ courtesy of MUBI)
Grace, Saturday Ritual, Scrap Fabric (Retaso), Blue Boy, and We Met at Camp (shorts) (in “Queer Teen Moxie” at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Out of My Mind (courtesy of Disney+)
The Last Ranger (short) (Kudos Liyabona Mroqoza as "Litha") (courtesy of Six Feet Films)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Delegation (Ha’Mishlahat) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
All, or Nothing at All (A/B) (Suo You You Shang De Nian Qing Ren) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Retreat (Réduit) (courtesy of Film Movement Plus)
Pine Ridge Reservation section of Lisandro Alonso’s Eureka triptych (courtesy of Film Movement)
Out (Kudos to Thomas van der Gronde’s cinematography) (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)


BEST COMING TO TERMS
Golden Years (Die goldenen Jahra) (via Music Box Films)
Permanent Picture (La Imatge Permanent) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Cu Li Never Cries (Cu Li Không Bao Gio Khóc) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Dreaming & Dying (Hao jiu bu jian) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Lights on Film)
Omen (Augure) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Utopia)
All Will Be Well (courtesy of Strand Releasing) s
The Old Oak (Kudos Ken Loach’s valediction) (courtesy of Zeitgeist Films/Kino Lorber)
Nowhere Special (courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
Tuesday (courtesy of A24)
Ghostlight (courtesy of IFC Films)
Some Rain Must Fall (Kudos to YU Aier) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Kyrie 『キリエのうた』(Kyrie no Uta) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
All the Long Nights『夜明のすべて』(Yoake no Subete) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Great Absence『大いなる不在』(Oinaru Fuzai) (Kudos to Tatsuya Fuji) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society/ courtesy of Gaga Corporation/ PictureHouse)
His Three Daughters (Netflix)
Alaska (in German Film Office’s Der Wald: An Online Film Series about the Forest)
Close Your Eyes (Cerrar los ojos) (courtesy of Film Movement)
How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (Lahn mah) (courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment)
Last Shadow At First Light (courtesy of IndiePix Films)
Duino (at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
A Real Pain (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
Oh, Canada (courtesy of Kino Lorber)

Runners-Up: BEST COMING TO TERMS
The Shadowless Tower (Bai ta zhi guang) (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
The Featherweight (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Sebastian (at 2024 NewFest Pride/ courtesy of Kino Lorber)


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
The Promised Land (Bastarden) (Kudos to Mads Mikkelsen) (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
One Life (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Bleecker Street)
The Goldman Case (Le procès Goldman) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Red Island (L’île rouge) (at 2024 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Film Movement)
The Fox (Der Fuchs) (courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
June Zero (at 2023 Israel Film Center Festival/ courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
Kidnapped (Rapito) (courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
Lubo (Kudos to Franz Rogowski) (at 2024 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Shadow Distribution)
The Monk and the Gun (release by Roadside Entertainment)
Under the Grey Sky (Pod szarym niebem) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Treasure (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Bleecker Street Films)
Young Woman and the Sea (courtesy of Disney+)
Dance First (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Across The River and Into The Trees (courtesy of Level 33 Entertainment)
The Apprentice (Kudos to Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan) (courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment & Rich Spirit)
The Order (courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
Piano Lesson (courtesy of Netflix)
The Fire Inside (Kudos to Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry) (courtesy of MGM Amazon Studios)
Blitz (AppleTV+)


BEST SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY:
Driving Madeleine (Une belle course) (courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
Gasoline Rainbow (2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ courtesy of MUBI)
Accidental Texan (courtesy of Roadside Attractions)
Thelma (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Touch (Snerting) (courtesy of Focus Features)
My Penguin Friend (courtesy of Roadside Attractions)
Memory Lane (De Terugreis) (courtesy of Dutch Filmworks)


BEST CINEMA OF THE ABSURD:
Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World (Nu Aștepta Prea Mult De La Sfârșitul Lumii) (courtesy of MUBI)
Terrestrial Verses (Ayeh haye zamini) (courtesy of Kim Stim)
Problemista (Kudos to Tilda Swinton) (courtesy of A24)
Dilli Dark (at 2024 New York African Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ African Film Festival, Inc.)
A Family Guide to Hunting (short) (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Family Therapy (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Box Man 『箱男』(Hako Otoko) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Employee Of The Month (L'Employée du mois) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2024 streaming on Film Movement Plus)
ILU, Bye and Hot Seat (shorts) (in “Comedy Comes Out” at 2024 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Triumph (Triumf) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Hundreds of Beavers


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES Better Than Their Movies
Hunter Schaefer and Dan Stevens in Cuckoo (courtesy of Neon)


BEST DOCUMENTARY RE-ENACTMENTS/DOCU-DRAMA/FICTION HYBRIDS
Solaris Mon Amour (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Samsara (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ Bendita Film Sales release at Metrograph)
Otro Sol (Kudos to the Atacama scenery) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
War Game (courtesy of Submarine Deluxe with cooperation of Vet Voice Foundation)
2073 (“Special Presentation” at 2024 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Neon)
Dahomey (“Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC/ courtesy of MUBI)
Afterwar (at 2024 DOC NYC)
Separated (courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment/ NBC News Studio)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ 2024 theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment)
Queendom (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ 2024 theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment)
Songs of Earth (Fedrelandet) (2023 DOC NYC/ 2024 courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Vishniac (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Abramorama Films)
Crossing The River (short) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of the filmmakers)
A Message from the Future: Bosnia Greets Ukraine (short) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Centropa)
Giado: Holocaust in the Desert (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Go2Films)
Generation 1.5 (courtesy of Go2Films)
Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World (courtesy of Fiore Media Group)
On the (Sur l’) Adamant (at 2024 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Gwetto (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Magic Mountain (Jadosnuri Mta) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? (Was Hast Du Gestern Geträumt, Parajanov?) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Behind Closed Doors (A Portas Fechadas) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Limitation (ვადაგასული საქმე) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Photographic Justice: The Corky Lee Story (preview at 2022 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical release by All Is Well Pictures)
Occasional Spies (Spioni de ocazie) (at 2024 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
Intercepted (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Cosmos Films)
Scale (Meezan) (at 2024 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA
Resistance: They Fought Back (courtesy of Abramorama)
MK: Mandela’s Secret Army (l’armée secrète de Mandela) (uMkhonto we Sizwe/Spearhead of the Nation) (at 2024 New York African Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ African Film Festival, Inc.)
Hacking Hate (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Checkpoint Zoo (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Searching for Amani (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Dust to Dust: Yuima Nakazato (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sabbath Queen (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Making of a Japanese 『小学校～それは小さな社会～』(Shogakko ～Sore wa Chisana Shakai～) (in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)/ includes the short Instruments of a Beating Heart (NY Times Op- Doc and in “Short List Shorts: Human Spirit” at 2024 DOC NYC)
Hollywoodgate (kudos to Ibrahim Nash’at) (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ Rolling Narratives)
Sugarcane (Kudos to directors Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat) (courtesy of National Geographic Documentaries/ “Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC)
Rule of Two Walls (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2024 distribution courtesy of Monumental Releasing)
Lonely Oaks (Vergiss Meyn Nicht) (in German Film Office’s Der Wald: An Online Film Series about the Forest)
The Officials (short) ( streaming on Time Studios)
Stopping the Steal (HBO/Max)
Blink (courtesy of National Geographic Documentaries)
Seeking Mavis Beacon (courtesy of Neon)
We Will Dance Again (courtesy of Paramount+)
Nathan-ism (at 2023 DOC NYC/ 2024 release via Outsider Pictures)
Agent of Happiness (courtesy of Film Movement)
Youth (Hard Times) (courtesy of Icarus Films - The dGenerate Films Collection)
Youth (Homecoming) (courtesy of Icarus Films - The dGenerate Films Collection)
Unearth (at 2024 DOC NYC)
All God’s Children (at 2024 DOC NYC)
Nocturnes (“Winners Circle” at 2024 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
Forest (Las) (Kudos to cinematographer Zuzanna Zachara) (at 2024 DOC NYC)
Ernest Cole: Lost And Found (“Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
The Bibi Files (courtesy of Jolt/ “Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC)
No Other Land (Kudos to Basel Adra) (courtesy of Antipode Productions)
Safe Place (short) (Intersection & The New York Times)

Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Golda’s War Diaries (at 2024 Jewish film festivals/ courtesy of Go2Films)
The Clinic (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Threat Assessment (short) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Much Ado About Dying (courtesy of First Run Features)
Pirópolis (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Happy Campers (at 2023 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical release by Grasshopper Film)
Borderland: The Line Within (courtesy of Skylight Pictures)
A House Is Not A Disco (at 2024 “Pride Encore” in New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Impossible Town (“Films That Move” via The Redford Center and 2024 DC Environmental Film Festival)
A New Kind of Wilderness (Ukjent landskap) (courtesy of A5 Film)
My Sweet Land (Տունս քաղցր ա) (“Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC)
Eternal You (at 2024 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Film Movement)
Incident (via The New Yorker)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Your Fat Friend (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ at 2024 Athena Film Festival)
How To Come Alive…With Norman Mailer (at 2023 DOC NYC/ Showtime/ 2024 theatrical release via Zeitgeist Films)
Flying Lessons (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
A Revolution On Canvas (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO Max)
Who Is Stan Smith? (at 2022 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical release via Monkey Wrench Films)
Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival/courtesy of Hulu)
Tito, Margot & Me (Tito, Margot y yo) (courtesy of IndiePix Films)
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (courtesy of Warner Bros)
Space Cowboy (kudos to aerial cinematography) (at 2024 DOC NYC)
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (“Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC/ Netflix)
Will & Harper (Netflix)


EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws:
Gumbo Coalition (at 2022 DOC NYC/ 2024 Workers Unite Film Festival)
The Books He Didn’t Burn (Die Bücher, Die Hitler Nicht Verbrannte) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Cargo Film & Releasing)
James Joyce’s Ulysses (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Arena on BBC Four)
Fioretta (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of 7th Art Releasing)
Spinoza: Six Reasons for the Excommunication of the Philosopher (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Go2 Films)
Periphery (short) (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of ”No Silence On Race Project”)
God + Country (courtesy of Oscilloscope)
Transition (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ streaming release by AGC Unwritten, Our Time Projects and Gravitas Ventures)
Lyd (courtesy of Icarus Films)
Following Harry (at 2024 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hollow Tree (“Films That Move” via The Redford Center)
Holding Back The Tide (at 2023 DOC NYC/ 2024 theatrical release by Grasshopper Film)
Leap of Faith (courtesy of Picturehouse) (See with 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted A Culture)
Look Into My Eyes (courtesy of A24)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (courtesy of Kino Lorber/ “Short List” at 2024 DOC NYC)
Invisible Nation (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ Abramorama)
Slumlord Millionaire (at 2024 DOC NYC)
Americans With No Address (streamed at The Wrap Documentary Awards Screenings)
Lead & Copper (courtesy of Vehicle City Productions)
399: Queen of the Tetons (“Films That Move” via The Redford Center)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
Remembering Gene Wilder (at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum / theatrical release courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Pictures of Ghosts (Retratos Fantasmas) (courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
Lateral (short) (preview 2024 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Jim Henson Idea Man (courtesy of Disney+)
Merchant Ivory (courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
I Like It Here (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ 2024 release by Greenwich Entertainment)
Blake Evans: A Love Story in 24 Frames (On PBS’s American Masters)
My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock (courtesy of Cohen Media Group)


BEST FOR THE CINEMATOGRAPHY/STYLE/SOUND or PRODUCTION DESIGN:
The Last Front (courtesy of Enigma Releasing)
Civil War (courtesy of A24)


BEST REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS IN NEW PRINTS especially of films I hadn’t seen before
Henry Lynn’s Mothers of Today (Hayntige Mames) (1939) (U.S. Premiere of 35mm film restoration by the National Center for Jewish Film at 2024 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Ivan Sen’s Toomelah (2011) (Amazon Prime)
Ariane Lorrain & Shahab Mihandoust’s Zagros (2018) by VUCAVU/F3M (on Vimeo)
Shinji Somai’s Moving 『お引越し』(Ohikkoshi) (1993) (East Coast Premiere of 4K restoration in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society via Cinema Guild)
Toshiharu Ikeda’s Mermaid Legend『人魚伝説』(Ningyo Densetsu) (1984) (40th Anniversary in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Gakuryu “Sogo” Ishii’s August in the Water『水の中の八月』(Mizu no Naka no Hachigatsu) (1995) (Imported 35mm print in 2024 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Thomas Arslan’s Vacation (Ferien) (2007) (in German Film Office’s online City, Country, River – A Cinematic Journey Across Germany)
Clara Roquet’s Libertad (2021) (US premiere Film Movement Plus)
Dieter Schumann’s Lene and the Forest Spirits (Lene und die Geister des Waldes) (aka The Forest Children’s Film co-writer Grit Lemke) (2020) and Sandra Wollner’s The Trouble with Being Born (2020) (in German Film Office’s Der Wald: An Online Film Series about the Forest)
Matias Rojas Valencia’s A Place Called Dignity (Un lugar llamado Dignidad) (2021) (Film Movement Plus)
Hamy Ramezan’s Any Day Now (Ensilumi) (2020) (Film Movement Plus)
Kiss My Wounds (Wann Kommst Du Meine Wunden Küssen) (2022) (in German Film Office’s online City, Country, River – A Cinematic Journey Across Germany)


MY BEST FILMS of 2023 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Let It Be Morning (previewed at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival/ theatrical release by Cohen Media)
Labyrinth of Peace (Frieden) (mini-series) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum/ Menemsha Films release/ streams on ChaiFlicks)
R.M.N. (in 2023 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival/ courtesy of IFC Films)
Concerned Citizen (Ezrah Mudag) (at 2023 Israel Film Center Festival/ theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment)
200 Meters (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings/ in 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center/ 2023 “Contemporary Arab Cinema” at BAM)
The Owners (Vlastníci)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Kudos to Lily Gladstone) (courtesy of Apple+)
American Fiction (courtesy of Orion Pictures/MGM Studios)
The Zone of Interest (courtesy of A24)

Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Bruiser (courtesy of Hulu)
Bread and Salt (Chleb i sól) (at 2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
Persian Lessons (Kudos to ensemble, cinematography, and use of languages) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ Cohen Media Group release)
Oppenheimer (IMAX courtesy of Universal Pictures) then see the documentary A Compassionate Spy (via Magnolia Pictures)
Dirty Difficult Dangerous (in 2023 “Contemporary Arab Cinema” at BAM)


BEST FEMALE POV
My coverage of female filmmakers at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and of Nora Ephron Award winners.
Fiction
Alice, Darling (courtesy of Lionsgate)
Cinema Sabaya (previewed at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival/ at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ theatrical release by Kino Lorber)
Alegría (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum/ shown at 2022 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Castles in the Sky (short) (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum)
Charlotte Salomon: Life and the Maiden (La Jeune Fille et La Vie) (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum)
Saint Omer (courtesy of Neon and Super Ltd.)
Cherry (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ Entertainment Squad theatrical release)
Full Time (À plein temps) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Music Box Films)
Baby Ruby (Kudos to writer/director Bess Wohl) (courtesy of Magnet Releasing)
You Left Me Alone (short) (at 2023 Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Emily (courtesy of Bleecker Street Films)
Other People’s Children (Les Enfants des autres) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Music Box Films)
Paris Memories (Revoir Paris) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Music Box Films)
The Worst Ones (Les Pires) (Coming of Ager) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Mother and Son (Un petit frère) (Coming of Ager) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Rodeo (Kudos to Julie Ledru) (courtesy of Music Box Films at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Line (La Ligne) (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Lionsgate/Starz)
A Thousand and One (Kudos to Teyana Taylor) (courtesy of Focus Features)
Immaculate (Imaculat) (in 2023 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
Family Time (Mummola) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
The Kidnapping of the Bride (El secuestro de la novia) (short) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Chile ‘76 (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Trenque Lauquen (at 2022 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Cinema Guild)
Precious Ivie (Ivie wie Ivie) (streamed through German Film Office)
Clare (Chiara) (preview at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Like Turtles (Come Le Tartarughe) (preview at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Blue Jean (Kudos to writer/director Georgia Oakley and star Rosy McEwen) (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Scarlet (L’envol) (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
The Other Widow (Pilegesh) (at 2023 Israel Film Center Festival)
The Good Person (Ha'Nefesh Ha'Tova) (at 2023 Israel Film Center Festival)
The Future (Ha’Atid) (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2023 Other Israel Film Festival/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Je’vida (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Smoking Tigers (Coming of Ager) (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Boca Chica (Coming of Ager) (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Marinette (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Let Liv (short at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Fish Out of Water (short at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Queens (Malikates) (at 2023 “Contemporary Arab Cinema” at BAM)
The Beasts (As Bestas) (Kudos to co-writer Isabel Peña) (courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Amiko (こちらあみ子) (Coming of Age) (“Next Generation” in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
When Morning Comes, I Feel Empty (朝がくるとむなしくなる) (“Next Generation” in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Klondike (courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Scrapper (Coming of Ager) (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Barbie (Kudos to writer/co-director Greta Gerwig, songs, and production design) (Courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures)
Beautiful, FL and Maxine (shorts in “Disney Launchpad”)
Nightsiren (Svetlonoc) (Fear of Supernatural Division) (Kudos to actress Natália Germáni, and director/co-writer Tereza Nvotová) (courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures)
Bottoms (High School Satire Division) (courtesy of Orion MGM Amazon Studios)
Cat Person (Kudos to scripter Michelle Ashford, director Susanna Fogel, and actress Emilia Jones) (courtesy of Studio Canal/Rialto Pictures)
More Than Ever (Plus Que Jamais) (RIP Gaspard Ulliel) (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Anatomy Of A Fall (Anatomie d’une chute) (Kudos to Sandra Hüller) (courtesy of Neon)
The Road Dance (Kudos to the Isle of Lewis) (courtesy of Music Box Films)
Clashing Differences (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
This Place (Kudos to authentic Indigenous/Refugee cast) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
Nyad (Kudos Annette Bening and Jodie Foster) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ Netflix)
Rose (Kudos to Sofie Gråbøl) (courtesy of Game Theory Films)
Crime Is Mine (Mon Crime) (Feminist satire) (Kudos to costume designer Pascaline Chavanne) (courtesy of Music Box Films)

Documentary
Bella (at 2023 Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release opens in L.A. by BAM Moves, LLC)
Transparent (short) (at 2023 Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Joanna d'Arc (short) (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Chalice. Of Sons and Daughters (O tahtai. Savendar tai seiandar) (in 2023 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
Serafina (short) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Seven Winters in Tehran (previewed in 2023 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Big Sister (Koromousso) (previewed in 2023 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Anonymous Sister (at 2021 DOC NYC/ theatrical release through Long Shot Factory)
Plan C (at 2023 Athena Film Fest/ theatrical release via Level 33 Entertainment)
The Gullspång Miracle (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Black Birth (short) (in ”The Queen Collective Program” at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Invisible Beauty (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release by Magnolia Pictures)
Bella! (including Liz Abzug’s protest posts) (PBS’s American Masters)
Joan Baez I Am A Noise (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
The Three of Us (שלושתנו) (previewed at 2023 DOC NYC)
Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Shari and Lamb Chop (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Neirud (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Four Daughters (Les Filles d’Olfa) (“Short List” at 2023 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Savvusanna sõsarad) (“Winner’s Circle” at 2023 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Kokomo City (“Winner’s Circle” at 2023 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Last Song From Kabul (short) (courtesy of Paramount+)
Sabotage (courtesy of Go2 Films)

Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Haute Couture (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Woman on the Roof (Kobieta na dachu) (seen at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
Fucking Bornholm (2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
Illusion (Iluzja) (2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
Maid (Camarera De Piso) (short) (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Lost King (courtesy of IFC Films)
Petrol (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
The Face of the Jellyfish (El rostro de la medusa) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Princess (preview at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Silent (HaShtika) (at 2023 Israel Film Center Festival)
Öte (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Silver Haze (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
I Am What I Am (そばかす) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Between Two Worlds (Ouistreham)
Remembering Every Night (Subete no Yoru wo Omoidasu) (courtesy of Kim Stim at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Showing Up (courtesy of A24 Films)
The Marsh King’s Daughter (Thriller) (Kudos to Northern Ontario wilderness) (courtesy of Lionsgate & STX)
All Dirt Roads Taste Of Salt (Kudos to cinematographer Jomo Fray) (courtesy of A24 Films)
Quiz Lady (courtesy of Disney+)
Documentary
In The Company Of Rose (previewed at 2022 DOC NYC/ Greenwich Entertainment theatrical release)
Witness (at 2023 DOC NYC


BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES
Fiction
The Blue Caftan (Le bleu du caftan) (courtesy of Strand Releasing
Saturn Bowling (Bowling Saturne) (Noir) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release via Dark Star Pictures)
Shreds (Strzępy en) (2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
Human Flowers of Flesh (courtesy of Cinema Guild)
The Eight Mountains (Le Otto Montagne) (courtesy of Janus Films Sideshow)
The Lesson (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Bleecker Street Media)

Documentary
Call Me Dancer (at 2023 Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release via Abramorama)
Little Richard: I Am Everything (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures/ CNN Films/ HBO Max)
Blue Box (previewed at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival/ DOC NYC/ theatrical release by CinePhil at Film Forum)
26.2 To Life (at 2022 DOC NYC/ theatrical release by San Quentin Marathon)
Caterpillar (at 2023 DOC NYC)


BEST ROMANCES
Three Nights a Week (Trois nuits par semaine) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
L’Innocent (courtesy of Janus Films at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Rye Lane (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures on Hulu)
Joyland (preview courtesy of Oscilloscope at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
The Hummingbird (Il Colibrì) (preview at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Past Lives (courtesy of A24 Films)
J005311 (Bromance) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
The Legend & Butterfly (レジェンド＆バタフライ) (1500’s era) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Wandering (流浪の月) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
My Sailor My Love (courtesy of Music Box Films)
All Of Us Strangers (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet Lehdet) (Courtesy of MUBI)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
In From The Side (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Love Life (preview courtesy of Oscilloscope at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Afire (Roter Himmel) (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Chestnut (Kudos to triangle cast) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)


BEST PANDEMIC RELATIONSHIPS AND LIFE
New Strains (Showcase Screening at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Human Nature (Natureza Humana) (short) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
A Strange Path (Estranho Caminho) (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Plastic (Kudos to music by Ide Kensuke) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Eternal Memory (La Memoria Infinita) (“Short List” at 2023 DOC NYC)


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSERS
Kompromat (courtesy of Magnet Releasing/Magnolia Pictures)
Cairo Conspiracy (courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films/ at “Contemporary Arab Cinema” at BAM)
The Gravity (La Gravité) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Rhino (Nosorih) “Godfather of Ukraine” (courtesy of XYZ Films in 2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
To The North (Spre nord) (in 2023 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
Once Upon A Time In Ukraine (courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Society of the Snow (Sociedad de la Nieve) (Netflix)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Schächten—A Retribution (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
The Creator (Amazon Prime)


BEST NEO-NOIRS
The Night of the 12th (La Nuit du 12) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ Film Movement)
Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA via Yellow Veil Pictures)
Autobiography (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Delta (preview at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
One Night With Adela (Una noche con Adela) (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Madeleine Collins (preview at 2022 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release by Greenwich Entertainment)
At The Gates (courtesy of Picturehouse)

Runners-Up: NEO NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Men of Deeds (Oameni de treabă) (in 2023 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival/ Dekanalog theatrical release)
Waikiki (at Mother Tongue Film Festival/ Seattle International Film Festival/ 2023 release in Regal theaters)
Rumble Through the Dark (Kudos to Marianne Jean-Baptiste as “Big Momma Sweet”) (courtesy of Lionsgate)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
Close (courtesy of A24 Films)
The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin) (courtesy of Neon and Super Ltd.)
Burning Land (Adama Boeret) (courtesy of Seventh Art Releasing)
Tori and Lokita (courtesy of Janus Sideshow with 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
War Pony
Arnold Is a Model Student (Arnon pen nakrian tuayang) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
L'immensità (courtesy of Music Box Films)
Single8 (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
People Who Talk to Plushies Are Kind (ぬいぐるみとしゃべる人はやさい/ Nuigurumi to shaberuhito ha yasasii) (in 2023 “Next Generation” Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Sanka: Nomads of the Mountain (山歌) (in 2023 “Next Generation” Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
The Roof (short in “Disney Launchpad”)
All The Fires (Todos los incendios) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ courtesy of Cinema Tropical)
Monster (Kaibutsu) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment)
Radical (courtesy of Participant)
The Teachers’ Lounge (Das Lehrerzimmer) (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Invincible (short) (on Vimeo)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Story Avenue (Kudos to Luis Guzmán) (courtesy of Kino Lorber)


BEST COMING TO TERMS
Mars One (Marte Um) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings/ distributed by Array Releasing)
Nostalgia (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings/ VOD on Breaking Glass Pictures/ at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Rimini (Kudos to the original schlager songs) (courtesy of Big World Pictures)
Mutt (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Safe Place (Sigurno mjesto) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
48 Hours and Civic (shorts at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Master Gardener (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Everything Went Fine (Tout s'est bien passé) (courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
My Neighbor Adolf (at 2023 Israel Film Center Festival/ courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
Monica (courtesy of IFC Films)
Asteroid City (courtesy of Focus Features)
The Graduates (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Fish Tale (さかなのこ) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Fremont (courtesy of Music Box Films)
White Building (Bodeng Sar) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ KimStim digital/VOD release)
The Holdovers (courtesy of Focus Features)
Memory (courtesy of Ketchup Entertainment)
Knight of Fortune (Ridder Lykke) (short) (streaming via New Yorker Studio)
Perfect Days (Kudos to Tokyo Toilets) (courtesy of Neon)


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC
Mami Wata (at 2023 First Look Festival of Museum of the Moving Image/ theatrical release via Dekanalog)
The Goat and Her Three Kids (Capra cu trei iezi) (in 2023 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future (La Vaca Que Cantó Una Canción Hacia El Futuro) (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Drought (Siccità) (preview at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Best Wishes To All (みなに幸あれ) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
From the End of the World (Sekai no owari kara/世界の終わりから) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
The Mountain (La Montagne) (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Birth/ReBirth (courtesy of Shudder/IFC Films)

Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPSE I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Huesera aka The Bone Woman (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release by XYZ Films)
Thaw (short at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (Courtesy of RLJE Films/Shudder)
The Three Sisters of Tenmasou Inn (天間荘の三姉妹) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries)
Moving Together (Kudos to the flamenco of Olivia Chacon and Isai Chacon, trumpet of Thaddeus Ford, and Boss Street Brass Band) (at 2023 Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Site-specific choreography shorts: Reminiscences (Réminiscences); I was waiting for the echo of a better day; and Mother Melancholia (at 2023 Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
I Thought the World of You (short) (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Personality Crisis: One Night Only (Showtime)
Margins (Margini) (preview at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Let The Canary Sing (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Anthem (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ Hulu)
Taylor Mac’s 24 Decade History of Popular Music (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO)
All Up in the Biz (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ Showtime)
The Elephant 6 Recording Co. (preview at 2022 DOC NYC/ theatrical release via Greenwich Entertainment)
Roots of Fire (courtesy of First Run Features)
”Omoiyari”: A Song Film By Kishi Bashi (courtesy of MTV Documentary Films)
The Job of Songs (preview at 2021 DOC NYC/ Gravity Ventures release on digital platforms)
The Stones and Brian Jones (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Immediate Family (preview at 2022 DOC NYC/ theatrical release via Magnolia Pictures)
Garland Jeffreys: The King Of In Between (at 2023 DOC NYC)
American Symphony (at 2023 DOC NYC/ Netflix)
Maestro (courtesy of Netflix)
The Color Purple (courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures)
Pianoforte (courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Wonka (courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
This is National Wake (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum)
Top Nine: A Story of the B-Boy Crew (ДЕВЯТЬ ЛУЧШИХ. ИСТОРИЯ КОМАНДЫ Top Nine) (at 2023 Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Hans van Manen— Just Dance the Steps (at 2023 Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Uncharted (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
32 Sounds (courtesy of Abramorama)
North Circular (courtesy of Madhouse Films)
Elis & Tom - It just had to be you (só tinha de ser com você) (courtesy of Outsider Pictures)


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
Shirey Mara, The Waltz, and My Parent, Neal (shorts) (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Lamya’s Poem (courtesy of Freestyle Digital Media)
iMordecai (courtesy of Femor Productions)
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (courtesy of Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber)
Deep Sea (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ Fortissimo Films theatrical release)
The Inventor (courtesy of Curiosity Studios and Sie Films)
Nimona (Netflix)
The Boy and the Heron (with English subtitles) (courtesy of GKids/Studio Ghibli)
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (Netflix)
Letter to a Pig (”Short of the Week”)


Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Elemental (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (courtesy of Columbia Pictures/Sony)
Once Within A Time (courtesy of Oscilloscope)


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
March (Marzec) ’68 (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Shttl (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
The Forger (Der Passfälscher) (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Forever Young (Les Amandiers) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
For My Country (Pour la France) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Les/Harkis (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Back Then (Zupa Nic) (2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
All Our Fears (Wszystkie nasze starchy) (Bio-Pic) (Kudos to Dawid Ogrodnik) (2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
Those Who Remained (Akik maradtak) (at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
The Strangeness (Las Stranezza) and Lord Of The Ants (Il signore delle Formiche) (preview at 2023 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Father of the Milky Way Railroad (銀河鉄道の父/ Ginga Tetsudo no Chichi) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Winny (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
Simone: Woman of the Century (le voyage du siècle)
Cassandro (MGM Amazon Studio)
Rustin (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest/ Netflix)


BEST OF THE CINEMA OF THE ABSURD:
The Origin of Evil (L'Origine du mal) (at 2023 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Almost Entirely a Slight Disaster (Sanki Her Sey Biraz Felaket) and Have You Seen This Woman? (Da Li Ste Videli Ovu Ženu?) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Proof of Concept (short at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mondays: See you “this” week! (このタイムループ、上司に気づかせないと終わらない) (in 2023 Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film at Japan Society)
The American (Amerikatski) (courtesy of Variance Films)
Poor Things (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
The Delinquents Los delincuentes (courtesy of MUBI)
El Conde (Kudos to cinematographer Edward Lachman) (Netflix)
The Anne Frank Gift Shop (short) (courtesy of GQ and Reboot Studios)
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Netflix)


BEST DOCUMENTARY RE-ENACTMENTS/DOCU-DRAMA/FICTION HYBRIDS
Exodus 91 (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum)
It’s What Each Person Needs (short) (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
You Are Ceaușescu to Me (Pentru mine tu ești Ceaușescu) (in 2023 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema Festival)
Maputo Nakuzandza (Maputo [Mozambique], I Love You) with Scarce (Escasso) (mockumentary short) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Dry Ground Burning (Mato seco em chamas) (at BAM courtesy of Grasshopper Films)
Playland (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Egypt, A Love Song (at 2023 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Unknown Country (Kudos to Lily Gladstone) (courtesy of Music Box Films)


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES Better Than Their Movies:
Laura Linney, Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith, and Agnes O'Casey in The Miracle Club (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Barbara Sukowa in Dalíland (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Charles Melton in May December (Netflix)
Barry Keoghan in Saltburn (Orion MGM Amazon Studios)
David Oyelowo in The After (short) (Netflix)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
I Am Not (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum)
Art Talent Show (Zkouška umění) (courtesy of Film Movement at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The River Is Not A Border (Mayo wonaa keerol/Le fleuve ne’st pas une frontière) (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Silent Love (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Away; Growing Up Absurd; Light Signal (shorts at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Three Women (Drei Frauen) (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Sam Now (preview at 2022 DOC NYC/ PBS Independent Lens)
The Etilaat Roz (previewed in 2023 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Razing Liberty Square (previewed in 2023 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Theatre of Violence (previewed in 2023 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Richland (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Between The Rains (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Exposing Parchman (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ A&E)
Lakota Nation vs. United States (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release by IFC Films)
ElDorado: Everything The Nazis Hate (Eldorado - Alles, was die Nazis hassen) (Netflix)
20 Days In Mariupol (courtesy of PBS Distribution/Frontline/AP)
Fresh Water (short) (New York Times Op Doc)
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ Netflix)
BS High (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO Max)
The League (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Every Body (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Into the Weeds (at 2022 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ theatrical/VOD release via Film Movement)
Queen of New York (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)
To Kill A Tiger (Kudos to director Nisha Pahuja & DP Mrinal Desai) (courtesy of Notice Pictures & National Film Board of Canada)
While We Watched (“Short List” at 2023 DOC NYC/ PBS POV)
Silver Dollar Road (Pro Publica Films) (“Short List” at 2023 DOC NYC/ Amazon Prime)
36 Seconds: Portrait of A Hate Crime (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Grasshopper Republic (at 2023 DOC NYC/ via Taskovski Films)
How To Have An American Baby (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Camp Courage (short) (“Short List” at 2023 DOC NYC /Netflix)
Beyond Utopia (“Winner’s Circle” at 2023 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Roadside Attractions)
Bobi Wine: The People’s President (“Short List” at 2023 DOC NYC /National Geographic Channel)
Youth (Spring)/ courtesy of Icarus Films - The dGenerate Films Collection)
Orlando, My Political Biography (courtesy of Sideshow/Janus Films)
Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros (courtesy of Zipporah Films)
Deciding Vote (short) (courtesy of New Yorker)
The ABC’s of Book Banning (short) (courtesy of Paramount+)
The Last Repair Shop (short) (courtesy of Los Angeles Times and Searchlight Pictures)
Occupied City (seen in 2024 at Film Forum)

Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
When Spring Came To Bucha (previewed in 2023 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Carpet Cowboys (courtesy of Memory)
This Much We Know (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute/ theatrical release via Oscilloscope)
Jack and Sam (short) (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Eat Bitter (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Al Djanat: The Original Paradise (Paradis original) (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Three Promises (at 2023 DOC NYC)
The Caravan (La Caravana) (at 2023 DOC NYC)
The Ghost of (Le Spectre de) Boko Haram (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Shaken (at 2023 DOC NYC)
Heaven Rain Flows Sweetly (at 2023 DOC NYC)
How We Get Free (short) (HBO Max)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Krzysztof Wodiczko: The Art of Un-War (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum)
The First Step (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
It Ain’t Over (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Sony Classics Pictures)
The Art of Silence (L’art du silence) (short version) (courtesy of Seventh Art Releasing)
Stan Lee (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Disney+)
We Dare To Dream (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival)
Robert Irwin: A Desert Of Pure Feeling (at 2022 DOC NYC/ theatrical release via Greenwich Entertainment)
Radical Wolfe (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
Filmmakers For The Prosecution (aka The Lost Film of Nuremberg) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ Kino Lorber release) (supplements Nuremberg with my additional notes.)
The Hamlet Syndrome (Syndrom Hamleta) (seen at 2022 DOC NYC/ 2023 Kino Polska at BAM)
Jill, Uncredited (short) (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Desperate Souls, Dark City And The Legend Of Midnight Cowboy (at DOC NYC Selects/ courtesy of Zeitgeist Films/Kino Lorber)
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed (at 2023 Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO)


EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Yamna's Blessing (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Jews of the Wild West (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Who Cares About DC? The Case for Making DC the 51st State (at 2023 Workers Unite Film Festival)
The Narrow Bridge (at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Herbaria (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute/ at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Robb-ed (courtesy of director)
Letter to the Editor (preview at 2019 DOC NYC/ 2023 DOC NYC selects)
A Common Sequence and Agrilogistics (short) (in “Science on Screen” at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Coconut Head Generation (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Center, Ring, Mall (short) (at 2023 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Slava Ukraini and Glory to the Heroes (La Règle du Jeu) (courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
We Are Guardians (previewed in 2023 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Close To Vermeer (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
And the King Said What A Fantastic Machine (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Stamped From the Beginning (Netflix)
The Barber of Little Rock (short) (streaming via New Yorker Studios)
Wings of Dust (courtesy of 5 Stick Films)


BEST REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS IN NEW PRINTS especially of films I hadn’t seen before
Joseph Green and Leon Trystand’s A Letter to Mother (A Brivele Der Mamen) (1939) (World Premiere of 35mm film restoration by the National Center for Jewish Film at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Shaul and Yitzhak Goskind’s Jewish Life In Lwow (1939) (short) (restoration by the National Center for Jewish Film at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
David Appleby, Allison Graham, and Steven John Ross’s At The River I Stand (1993) and Michael Honey and Errol Webber’s Love & Solidarity: Rev. James Lawson & Nonviolence in the Search for Workers’ Rights (short) (2016) (at 2023 Workers Unite Film Festival)
Oren Rudavsky and Menachem Daum’s A Life Apart: Hasidism in America (1997) (World Premiere of new 4K restoration celebrating 25th anniversary of the film at 2023 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Pamela Sporn’s Detroit 48202: Conversations Along A Postal Route (2018); Victorious DeCosta’s Digging for Weldon Irvine (2019); Alexander Johnston’s Dark Cell Harlem Farm (2022, short); Joel Fendelman’s Fireburn: The Documentary (2021, short); and, Sikivu Hutchinson’s Grinning Skull (2018, short) (“In Honor of Black History Month” 2023 at Workers Unite Film Festival)
Itzik Lerner’s God’s Messengers (Shlechei Ha El) (2015) and Charles Enderlin’s In the Name of the Temple (2014) (courtesy of Seventh Art Releasing)
Mohanad Yaqubi’s R 21 aka Restoring Solidarity (of 20 1964 – 1989 shorts) (at 2023 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Thomas Arslan’s Bright Nights (Helle Nächte) (2017); Leonie Krippendorf’s Cocoon (Kokon) (2020); Ilker Ҫatak’s I Was, I Am, I Will Be (Es Gilt Das Gesprochene Wort) (2019); Joya Thome’s Queen of (Konigin Von) Niendorf (2017); Tom Sommerlatte’s Summers Downstairs (Im Sommer wohnt er unten) (2015); Johannes Maria Schmitt’s Reconstruction (Neubau) (2021); Sven Taddicken’s The Most Beautiful Couple (Das Schönste Paar) (2018) (in German Film Office’s Sommerfilme)
Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road (2013) on Amazon Prime
Yui Kiyohara’s Our House (Watashitachi no ie) (2017) (from 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Donato Rotunno’s I Am Fine (Io Sto Bene) (2020) (courtesy of IndiePix Films)
George Sherman’s Sword in the Desert (1949) on TCM
Wolfgang Ettlich’s A German Journey: A Road Movie Between Yesterday and Today (Deutschlandreise: Ein Roadmovie zwischen Gestern und Heute) (2020) in ”Genrekino” of Goethe-Institut
JEB (Joan E. Biren)’s A Simple Matter Of Justice: The 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation (1993) (at 2023 New York LGBTQ Film Festival of NewFest)


MY BEST FILMS of 2022 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
The Good Boss (El buen patrón) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings/ via Cohen Media in theaters)
A Hero (Ghahreman) (preview courtesy of Amazon)
Reflection (Vidblysk) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Hit The Road (Jaddeh Khaki) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Kino Lorber)
The Visitor (El Visitante) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
EO (courtesy of Janus Films)
No Bears (Khers Nist)
The Banshees Of Inisherin (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
Broker (courtesy of Neon)

Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Delicious (Délicieux) (Samuel Goldwyn Films release)
Întregalde (courtesy of Film Forum and Grasshopper Film)
Once Upon A Time In Calcutta (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
The Wedding Day (Wesele) (Kudos to the editing) (at 2022 Toronto Jewish Film Festival/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Paraclete (Paraclito), Desert Lights (Luces del desierto) and Fifth of June (Cinco de Junio) in “Latinx Shorts: Human Condition (Condicion Humana)” (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Peace in the Valley (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Matter Of Trust (Ingen Kender Dagen) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Whale (courtesy of A24 Films)
The Fabelmans (courtesy of Universal)


BEST FEMALE POV
Coverage and Updates of Nora Ephron Award at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival

Fiction
The Shepherdess and The Seven Songs (Kudos to music and cinematography) (at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ Grasshopper release)
Shapeless (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Here Before (Kudos to writer/director Stacey Gregg, DP Chloë Thomson, and star Andrea Riseborough) (Saban Films release)
Affairs of the Art (short) (In “Best of Annecy 2021: Spotlight on Women Directors” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française/ The New Yorker ”Screening Room”)
How to Be at Home (short) (In “Best of Annecy 2021: Spotlight on Women Directors” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française/ in National Film Board’s The Curve series)
The World Within (Le Monde en soi) (In “New French Shorts” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Self Scratch (Je me Gratte) (In “New French Shorts” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Boobs (Lolos) (In “New French Shorts” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
The Crossing (La Traversée) (at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Princesse Dragon (at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Soumaya (courtesy of IndiePix Films)
We’re All Going To The World’s Fair (Coming of Age) (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (theatrical/VOD release by Utopia, then HBO Max)
Queen of Glory (Kudos to Nana Mensah) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release by Film Movement)
Secret Name (La Place d'une autre) (preview at 2022 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Zero Fucks Given (Rien à foutre) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Limits of Vision (animated short) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Beans (Coming of Age) (at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
Turning Red (Kudos to director/co-writer Domee Shi and female production team leaders) (animation) (Disney+)
Poppy (Kudos to Libby Hunsdale) (Coming of Age) (at 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York/ Indiepix)
Dos Estaciones (Kudos to Teresa Sánchez and Cinematographer Gerardo Guerra) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Rehana (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA) (courtesy of Grasshopper Films)
Happening (L’événement) (Kudos to Anamaria Vartolomei) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of IFC Films)
You Resemble Me (Tu Me Ressembles) (brief review at FF2 Media) (Kudos to director Dina Amer and ensemble) (previewed in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release by Willa Productions)
Nico (streamed through German Film Office)
We Might As Well Be Dead (Wir könnten genauso gut tot sein) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hommage (오마주) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Persuasion (Netflix)
Robe of Gems (Manto De Gemas) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA) (courtesy of Visit Films)
The Justice of Bunny King (Kudos to Essie Davis) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ On Demand and Digital via Film Rise)
God’s Creatures (courtesy of A24 Films)
Corsage (Kudos to Vicky Krieps, Costume Designer Monika Buttinger, Hair Designer Helen Land) (courtesy of IFC Films)
She Said (courtesy of Universal Pictures)
Women Talking (courtesy of United Artists)
Rosaline (Kudos to Kaitlyn Dever) (Hulu)
Call Jane
The Eternal Daughter (Kudos to Tilda Swinton and “Moel Famau”) (courtesy of A24 Films)

Documentary
The Conductor (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Raymonde El Bidaouia (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Untitled (Tania Project) (short) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
It Rains (Llueve) (short) (In “Best of Annecy 2021: Spotlight on Women Directors” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Liberated! (Libres!) (docu-shorts series) (at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Penelope My Love (Pénélope mon amour) (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Petite Maman (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ Neon)
My Two Voices (Mis dos Voces) (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Children of the Mist (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA /Film Movement release/PBS’ POV)
Midwives (brief review at FF2 Media) (previewed in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The New Greatness Case (brief review at FF2 Media) (previewed in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Up To G-Cup (previewed in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Janes (HBO/ in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Fly So Far (streamed in “The War on Reproductive Choice: Virtual Film Series” of Women Make Movies)
Beba (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of https://neonrated.com/films/beba)
Hidden Letters (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Four Winters (at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ courtesy of Film Forum)
The Super 8 Years (Les Années Super 8) courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Geographies of Solitude (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Everything Wrong And Nowhere To Go (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
The Artists (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
The Forgotten Ones (Mizrahim - Les Oubliés de la Terre Promise) (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Leonor Will Never Die (Ang Pagbabalik ng Kwago) (courtesy of Music Box Films)
Jeanette Lee Vs. (preview at 2022 DOC NYC/ ESPN 30-30)
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On (preview at 2022 DOC NYC/ PBS American Masters)
Idina Menzel: Which Way To The Stage? (preview at 2022 DOC NYC/ Disney+)
Roberta (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Return Of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile (at 2022 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Wisdom Gone Wild (Kudos to score) (at 2022 DOC NYC)
For Your Peace Of Mind, Make Your Own Museum (Para su tranquilidad, haga su propio museo) (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Between Earth & Sky (PBS POV If/Then Short)


Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Mazel Tov (short) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Anaïs In Love (Les amours d'Anaïs) (at 2022 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
What Resonates in Silence (Ce qui résonne dans le silence) (short) (In “Best of Annecy 2021: Spotlight on Women Directors” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Deadly Cuts (preview courtesy of Level 33 Entertainment)
Murina (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Husek (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Beatrix (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Other Tom (El Otro Tom) (at 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Swing Ride (Calcinculo) (preview at 2022 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
She Will (Supernatural Division) (courtesy of IFC Films)
Hatching (Pahanhautoja) (Horror Division) (courtesy of IFC Films)
Baby (Bébé) in “Juneteenth Shorts Portraits and Performances” (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Good Girl Jane (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
To Leslie (Kudos to Andrea Riseborough) (courtesy of Momentum Pictures)
Watcher (Thriller Division) (courtesy of IFC Films)
Pleasure (courtesy of Neon)
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (Hulu)
Lady Amar (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
Catherine Called Birdy (Amazon)
Joyride (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)

Documentary
Alone Together (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
AA (short) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Cow (at 2021 DOC NYC/ IFC Films release)
Above Water (Marcher Sur L'eau) (at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
Clarissa’s Battle: Growth of A Movement (previewed in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Queen (HaMalka) Shoshana (preview at 2022 Israel Film Center Festival)
Sinéad O'Connor: Nothing Compares (Showtime)
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (at 2022 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Neon)
Finding Her Beat (previewed at 2022 DOC NYC)
Category: Woman (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Skate Dreams (at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Art Of Rebellion (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Cesária Évora (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Fati’s Choice (at 2022 DOC NYC)


BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES

Fiction
Warsha (short) (at Sundance Film Festival)
The Ark (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Aftersun (courtesy of A24 Films)

Documentary
A Cops and Robbers Story (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ Greenwich Entertainment release)
We Were the Others (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Bunker (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight/ at Science On Screen of Museum of the Moving Image)
What We Leave Behind (Lo que dejamos atrás) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ then on Netflix)
The Wild One (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
It Runs In The Family (Lo Que Se Hereda) (at 2022 DOC NYC)
How To Save A Dead Friend (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Kash Kash – Without Feathers We Can’t Live (at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Hermit Of Treig (Kudos to the score by Cameron McLellan & Mischa Stevens and Ken Smith’s photographs) (at 2022 DOC NYC)


BEST PANDEMIC ROMANCES AND LIFE
The End of Love (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
7 Days (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)


BEST ROMANCES
Compartment No 6 (Hytti nro 6) (Sony Classics release)
Air Doll (Kûki Ningyô) (2009) (Dekanalog release)
Great Freedom (Grosse Freiheit) (courtesy of MUBI)
The/L’Horizon (preview at 2022 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
The White Fortress (Tabija) (Courtesy of Game Theory Films)
We Dance in “Juneteenth Shorts Portraits and Performances” (preview at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Dogfriend (Hundefreund) in “LGBTQIA+ Shorts: See Me, Feel Me” (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Breaking The Ice (Wenn wir die Regeln brechen) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Sin La Habana (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
The Sky Is Everywhere (Apple TV+)
Two Sisters and a Husband (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bones and All (courtesy United Artists Releasing)


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSERS
Catch The Fair One (Kudos to Kali Reis) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release via IFC Films)
Free Country (Freies Land) (re-make of Marshland (La isla mínima)) (streamed through German Film Office)
The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic (Sokea Mies Joka El Halunnut Nähdä Titanicia) (Kudos to Petri Poikolainen) (at 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Onoda - 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Plan A (at 2022 Toronto Jewish Film Festival/ courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Huda’s Salon (courtesy of IFC Films)
RRR (courtesy of Variance Films)
The Woman King (Kudos to the music) (courtesy of Sony Pictures)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Ghosts Of The Ozarks (XYZ Films release)


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC
Freaks Out (Kudos to production design) (preview at 2022 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (Kudos to Michelle Yeoh) (courtesy of A24 Films)
After Yang (courtesy of A24 Films)
Coming Out With The Help Of A Time Machine in “LGBTQIA+ Shorts: See Me, Feel Me” (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Attachment (Natten Har Øjne) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Land of Dreams (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Prey (Kudos to Amber Midthunder) (Hulu)
Karmalink (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)

Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC I Recommend Despite My Gripes
White Noise (Netflix)
The Innocents (De Uskyldige) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of IFC Films)


BEST NEO-NOIRS
Pilgrims (Piligrimai) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA
The Code of Silence (Una femmina) (preview at 2022 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Decision to Leave (courtesy of MUBI)
God’s Country (courtesy of IFC Films)
Stars At Noon (Kudos to the chemistry between Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn) (courtesy of A24 Films)
Emily the Criminal (Kudos to Aubrey Plaza) (courtesy of Roadside Attractions)
Holy Spider (Kudos to Zar Amir Ebrahimi)

Runners-Up: NEO NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Sundown (Bleecker Street release)
Darkling (Mpak) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Night Ride (Nattrikken) (short) (streaming via The New Yorker)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Whaler Boy (Kitoboy) (Film Movement release)
The Zone (Faritra) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Scenes From The Glittering World (at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
The Cathedral (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA) (courtesy of Visit Films)
Nitram (courtesy of IFC Films)
The Swimmer (HaSahyan) (preview at 2022 Israel Film Center Festival/ courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Carajita (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
My Name Is Sara (courtesy of Strand Releasing)


BEST COMING TO TERMS
Phantom of the Open (courtesy of Sony Classics)
Africa (courtesy of Strand Releasing)
The Inner Cage (Ariaferma) (preview at 2022 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Pink Moon (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris
Causeway (Apple TV+)
A Man Called Otto (courtesy of Sony Pictures)


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
Firestarter - The Story of Bangarra (at Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
The Moment Remains (An Kalir) (at Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Eileen (short) (at Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
The Nangiarkoothu Artist (short) (at Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Junior (short) (in “Remaking The World” at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Annea Lockwood: A Film About Listening (short) (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Song Searcher: The Times and Toils of Moyshe Beregovsky
HALLELUJAH: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Take Me To The River New Orleans (courtesy of 360); Jazz Fest : A New Orleans Story (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics); Music Pictures: New Orleans (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Lost Weekend: A Love Story (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Rewind & Play (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Approaching Dawn (Weckuwapok) (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Brave (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Ellis (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)
Lee Fields: Faithful Man (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)
Lazaro and The Shark (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Cabin Fever (at 2022 DOC NYC)


Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Cyrano (kudos to Peter Dinklage and production design)
A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Beregovsky #136 (short) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Creation Stories (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ RLJE Films release)
Mahålang: A Love Letter to Guam (short) (at Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
You Who Never Arrived (short) (at Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Firebird Rising (short) (at Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
Places, Please (short) (at Dance on Camera Festival of Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center)
A Body in Fukushima (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Other, Like Me: The Oral History of COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Imperfect (at 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Bernie Krause, A Life with The Great Animal Orchestra (at CinéSalon for the Climate of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Elvis
Moonage Daydream (courtesy of Neon)
Sheryl (Showtime)
Songbirds (courtesy of Gravitas Ventures)
Lost Angel: The Genius Of Judee Sill (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues (at 2022 DOC NYC/ Apple TV+)


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
A Kaddish for Selim (short) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Home (short) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
The Violin Upstairs (short) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Belle (GKids release)
My Neighbors' Neighbors (Les voisins de mes voisins sont mes voisins) (at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily (La Fameuse invasion de ours en Sicile) (at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Maalbeek (In “New French Shorts” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
The Mysteries of Paris (Les Mystères de Paris) (2020) (40-shorts serial) (Kudos to narration à la serial novelist Eugène Sue) (at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Petit Vampire (Little Vampire) (at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française/ on Amazon)
Phonos (Fonos) in “Latinx Shorts: Human Condition (Condicion Humana)” (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Sea Beast (Netflix)
Eternal Spring (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ Lofty Sky)
Unsinkable Ships (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Somebody’s Hero (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Belongings (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Patouille and the Parachute Seeds (des Grains) (short) (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (courtesy of A24 Films)
Holy Holocaust (short) (New Yorker)
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix)
Ice Merchants (short) (streaming via The New Yorker)
Black Slide (short) (streaming via The New Yorker)
The Flying Sailor (short) (streaming via The New Yorker)
The Garbage Man (O Homem do Lixo) (short) (streaming via The New Yorker)

Runners-Up: Animation I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Me To Play (Use of Animation - Coming to Terms) (at 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (Netflix)
The Bad Guys (courtesy of Universal)
Charlotte (Amazon)
A Language of Shapes (short in “Avant-Garde Micrographia” at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
Of Wood and There’s A Bison on the Prairie (shorts in “Visionaries & Revisions” at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
The Conspiracy (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
Neighbours (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Till (Kudos to Danielle Deadwyler) (courtesy of United Artists
A New Old Play (Jiao Ma Tang Hui) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ courtesy of Icarus/dGenerate Films)
Image of Victory (preview at 2022 Israel Film Center Festival)
1982 (courtesy of Tricycle Logic)
The Survivor (HBO Max)
January (Janvaris) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Murmurs Of The Jungle (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Memories Of My Father (El Olvido Que Seremos) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
All Quiet On The Western Front (Im Westen Nichts Neues) (Netflix)
Argentina, 1985 (Amazon)
Devotion (Kudos to Jonathan Majors) (courtesy of Sony Pictures)
The Inspection (Kudos to Jeremy Pope) (courtesy of A24 Films)
Living (Kudos to use of Scottish ballad “Rowan Tree”) (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)


BEST FOR THE CINEMATOGRAPHY/STYLE/SOUND or PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Ahed's Knee (Ha'berech) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ seen at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival)
Last and First Men (Metrograph Pictures release)
Bardo: False Chronicle Of A Handful of Truths (Falsa Crónica de unas Cuantas Verdades) (Amazon Prime)
Babylon (courtesy of Paramount Pictures)


BEST OF THE CINEMA OF THE ABSURD:
Brighton 4th (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Petrov’s Flu (Petrovy v grippe) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Feathers (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
Semiotic Plastic (short) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image
Flux Gourmet (Kudos to celiac story, Gwendoline Christie and her costumes) (courtesy of IFC Films)
Triangle of Sadness (courtesy of Neon)
Babysitter (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Menu (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
Glass Onion (Netflix)


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES better than their movies:
Manny Perez in La Soga: Salvation (Screen Media release)
Birthe Neumann in The Pact (Pagten) (Juno Films release)
Juliette Binoche in Both Sides Of The Blade aka Fire (Avec amour et acharnement) (at 2022 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of IFC Films)
Anna Diop in Nanny (Amazon)
Cate Blanchett in Tár (courtesy of Focus Features)
Léa Seydoux in One Fine Morning (Un beau matin) (courtesy of Sony Classics)
Olivia Colman in Empire of Light (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)


BEST DOCUMENTARY RE-ENACTMENTS/DOCU-DRAMA HYBRIDS
Ted K (courtesy of Neon and Super Ltd.)
107 Mothers (Cenzorka) (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Donbass (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ Film Movement theatrical and digital release)
Day After…(Anyadin) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Camouflage (Camuflaje) (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Plains (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
The City and the City (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Blue Island (憂鬱之島) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ courtesy of Icarus Films The dGenerate Films Collection)
Mother Lode (at 2022 DOC NYC)

Runners-Up: Documentary Re-Enactments/Docu-Drama Hybrids I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Afterwater (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Courtroom (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Terrain Vague (short in “The Researcher’s Revelations” at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
The Jump (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ Topic release)
We Need to Talk About Cosby (docu-series on Showtime)
The Automat (at 2021 DOC NYC)
I Had a Dream (Bir Rüya Gördüm) (streamed in 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu (streamed in 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Spirit to Soar (Mashkawi-Manidoo Bimaadiziwin) (streamed in 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Where Are We Headed (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
1970 (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Mariner of the Mountains (Marinheiro das motanhas) (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Myanmar Diaries (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight/ Icarus Films release)
The Earth Is Blue As An Orange (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight/ Film Movement theatrical and digital release)
Babi Yar. Context (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Mr. Landsbergis (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Balcony Movie (Film Balkonowy) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Night (short) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Attention All Passengers (Cestujúcim do pozornosti) and In Shallow Water (V plytkej vode) (shorts) in “Two by Marek Moučka” (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Pushed Up the Mountain (at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
Fire of Love (at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival and at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Singing In The Wilderness (旷野歌声) (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Riotsville, USA (at 2022 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center and Museum of Modern Art)
Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches (HBO/Max)
Lucy & Desi (Amazon)
The Andy Warhol Diaries (docu-series) (Netflix)
Dangerous (Delikado) (previewed in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
George Carlin’s American Dream (docu-series) (HBO)
For Love And Legacy and Paint and Pitchfork in “Juneteenth Shorts Portraits and Performances” (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Rising Fury (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Endangered (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO)
Of Medicine and Miracles (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
Lowndes County And The Road To Black Power (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Navalny (CNN)
The Territory (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Foragers with Dapaan (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
When the LAPD Blows Up Your Neighborhood (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Those Yet to Come (Weckuwapasihtit) (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Masks (Masques) (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Deerfoot Of The Diamond (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute/ ESPN 30 for 30)
Sealed With Blood (short) (at 2022 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Hold Your Fire (at 2021 DOC NYC/ courtesy of IFC Films)
Freedom On Fire: Ukrainians Fight for Freedom (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ at 2022 DOC NYC)
Time Theorem (Teorama de Tiemp) (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
Into the Ice (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
A Letter from Yene (Part 1 of Trilogy) (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival/ MUBI)
Medusa (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
H6 (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
No Time To Fail (courtesy of Arch + Bow Films)
Three Minutes - A Lengthening (at 2021 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Neon – Super Ltd.)
The Pez Outlaw (courtesy of Gravitas Ventures)
The Soldier's Opinion (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
A House Made Of Splinters (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ at 2022 DOC NYC)
1341 Frames Of Love And War (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
White Night (Pobo ‘Tzu’) see with Chichonal volcano footage in The Fire Within: Requiem For Katia And Maurice Krafft (2016) (Kudos to both for cinematography and scores) (both at 2022 DOC NYC)
In Search Of Bengali Harlem (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Grab (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Killing Of A Journalist (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”/ at 2022 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
I Didn’t See You There (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Loan Wolves (at 2022 DOC NYC/ MSNBC)
All That Breathes (at 2022 DOC NYC/ courtesy of HBO)
After Sherman (at 2022 DOC NYC/ PBS POV)
Descendant (at 2022 DOC NYC/ Netflix)
Bad Axe (at 2022 DOC NYC/ courtesy of IFC Films


Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
No Straight Lines: The Rise Of Queer Comics (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ Compadre Media Group release)
Shtetlers (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum/ Film Movement release)
So Late So Soon (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview courtesy of Oscilloscope at 2020 DOC NYC)
Chuj Boys of Summer (short) (streamed in “Survivance” at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
First Time Home (short) (streamed in “Survivance” at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
The Still Side (El Lado quieto) (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
The United States of America (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
A Thousand Fires (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Wild Romania (România Sălbatică) (at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
The Crab Season (La Saison des Tourteaux) (at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
Any Given Day (at 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
No U-Turn (previewed in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Battleground (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ Abramorama)
My Imaginary Country (Mi país imaginario) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Matter Out Of Place (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Eami (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Burial (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Terranova (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Pacaman (short) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
The Flagmakers (short) (Left out #ESOP!) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute/National Geographic Documentary)
Young Plato (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Last Flight Home
Cat Daddies (courtesy of Gray Hat Productions)
8 Days At Ware, Strands of Resistance, and The Other Little Black Book (shorts) (at 2022 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Wrought (short in “Avant-Garde Micrographia”) (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
The Last Human (Siunissaq Det Sidste Menneske) (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
Zoo Lockdown (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
Pony Boys (New York Times Op-Doc)
The Devil’s Drivers (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
Tantura (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival/ courtesy of Reel Peak Films)
1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted A Culture (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)
Coldwater Kitchen (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Super Eagles '96 (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Casa Susanna (at 2022 DOC NYC/ courtesy of PBS American Experience)
Closed Circuit (Bema’agal Sagoor) (at 2022 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Go2 Films)
Path Of The Panther (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Our American Family (courtesy of Deadline Hollywood’s “For the Love of Docs”)
The Elephant Whispers (short) (Netflix)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Coral Ghosts (at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
Promised Lands (Petah Tikva/Kinder der Hoffnung) (preview at 2022 Israel Film Center Festival)
Shut Up and Paint in “Juneteenth Shorts Portraits and Performances” (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lucky (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
We Feed People (Disney+/seen courtesy of National Geographic Films)
Crows Are White (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Lady Of The Gobi (short) (via The Guardian)
Sidney (Apple+)
Razzouk Tattoo (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
Kobra Self-Portrait (Auto-Retrato) (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (CNN)
Turn Every Page: The Adventures Of Robert Caro & Robert Gottlieb (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Sony Classics)
The Adventures of Saul Bellow (PBS American Masters)


EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Expedition Content (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ Cinema Guild theatrical release)
Who We Are: A Chronicle Of Racism In America (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview at 2021 DOC NYC/ at 2022 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival/ seen courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Breaking Bread (Kudos to the music) (My commentary on the Jewish woman participant) (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival/ Cohen Media Group release)
Xueta Island (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum and shown at 2022 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival/ Menemsha Films release)
Futura (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ Grasshopper Film release)
Ex Aequo! (docu-series) (shorts at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
The Return (Tian) (short) (streamed in “Survivance” at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Helena From (Manta) Sarayaku (at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Memoryland (Miền ký ức) (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Constant (short) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Listen to the Beat of Our Images (Écoutez le battement de nos images) (short) (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Only I Can Hear (at 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Here. Is. Better. (at 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Polar Bear (DisneyNature on Disney+)
Rebellion (previewed in 2022 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Handbook (Handbuch) (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
Boycott (preview at 2021 DOC NYC/ at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
Naya (Der Wald hat Tausend Augen), Nuisance Bear, and Haulout (in ”Great Escapes” shorts at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival/ The New Yorker)
The Invisible Extinction (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
The Human Trial (at 2022 Imagine Science Film Festival)
A Reel War: Shalal (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
H2: The Occupation Lab (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Samaritans: A Biblical People (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
Dead Sea Guardians (preview at 2022 Other Israel Film Festival)
African Moot (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Aftershock (at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Corridors Of Power (at 2022 DOC NYC/ Showtime)
The End of the World (at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Quiet Epidemic (preview at 2022 DOC NYC)
Theater Of Thought (at 2022 DOC NYC)
A Decent Home (at 2021 DOC NYC/ Gravitas Ventures)
A Witch’s Story (at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Wind Blows The Border (Vento na Fronteira) (at 2022 DOC NYC)
The Martha Mitchell Effect (Netflix)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
Claydream (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ Oscilloscope release)
From Where They Stood (À pas aveugles) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Omar Amiralay: Sorrow, Time, Silence. (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Nazarbazi (short) (streamed at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Jane by/par Charlotte (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ Utopia)
A Man and A Camera (at 2022 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Veteran (El Veterano) (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Train Again (short) (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Footnote (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Fiddler’s Journey To The Big Screen (courtesy of Zeitgeist Kino Lorber)
Swerve (short) (BAMcinemaFest/ (at 2022 Camden International Film Festival of Points North Institute)
The Last Movie Stars (docu-series) (HBO Max)
Light & Magic (docu-series) (Disney+)
Fragments Of Paradise (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Splice Here: A Projected Odyssey (at 2022 DOC NYC)
Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Mickey: The Story of A Mouse (Disney+)


BEST COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies:
Official Competition (Competencia oficial) (at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of IFC Films)
Hocus Pocus 2 (Disney +)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Roku)


BEST REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS IN NEW PRINTS especially of films I hadn’t seen before
Steve Brand’s Kaddish (1984/2022 restoration in 4K) (preview at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
James Blue’s The Olive Trees Of Justice (Les oliviers de la justice) (1962/2020 restoration in 4K) (courtesy of Kino Lorber release)
”Spotlight on Florence Miailhe” at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française: Shorts: Hammam (1991); Les oiseaux blancs, les oiseaux noirs (2003); Meanders (Méandres) (2013); Urban Tale (Conte de quartier) (2015); 25, Passage des oiseaux (2016); and, A Summer Night Rendez-vous (Au premier dimanche d'août) (2020)
Laurène Braibant’s The Ogre (L'ogre) (2017) and Bastien Dubois’s Madagascar, a Journey Diary (Madagascar, carnet de voyage) (2012) in “Pictanovo Presents” especially, among eight 2009 – 2021 shorts at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française
The NEF Animation International Residency at the Royal Abbey of “Fontevraud Presents” six 2019 – 2020 shorts at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Kristóf Deák’s Captives (Foglyok) (2019) (streamed via Liszt Institute - Hungarian Cultural Center, New York)
Mariona Lloreta’s The Moon Never Dies (A lua nunca more ) (2018, short) (in “Centering Women’s Voice” at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Arun Wolf’s The Cloth of the Mother Goddess (2015, short) and The Making of Creation (2015, short (in “Remaking The World” at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Shawara Maxakali and Charles Bicalho’s Mãtãnãg, a Encantada (2019, animated short) (in “Remaking The World” at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Maria Lino’s Ancestral Rhythms (Ritmos Ancestrales) (2014, short) (in “Remaking The World” at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Aleksei Vakhrushev’s The Book of the Sea (Книга моря) (2018) (at 2022 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Daniel Gamburg and Benjamin Goldman’s Eight Nights (2020, New Yorker short)
Vitaly Mansky’s Close Relations (2016) (streaming in ”Stand With Ukraine Film Series” of Camden International Film Festival)
Sergey Loznitsa’s Maidan (2014) (streaming in ”Stand With Ukraine Film Series” of Camden International Film Festival)
Helena Maksyom and Adrian Pirvu’s Everything Will Not Be Fine (2020) (streaming in ”Stand With Ukraine Film Series” of Camden International Film Festival)
Alina Gorlova’s No Obvious Signs (2018) and This Rain Will Never Stop (2020) (streaming in ”Stand With Ukraine Film Series” of Camden International Film Festival)
Vadym Ilkov’s My Father Is My Mother's Brother (2018) (streaming in ”Stand With Ukraine Film Series” of Camden International Film Festival)
Oleksandr Techynskyi, Aleksey Solodunov, and Dmitry Stoykov’s All Things Ablaze (2014) (streaming in ”Stand With Ukraine Film Series” of Camden International Film Festival)
“A War Begins: The WW2 Documentaries of Herbert Kline”: Crisis: A Film of the Nazi Way (1939) and Lights Out In Europe (1940) (streamed from Museum of Modern Art collection)
Roman Bondarchuk’s Ukrainian Sheriffs (2015) (streamed from Taskovski Films to Support Ukrainian Filmmakers)
István Szabó’s Age of Illusions (Álmodozások kora) (1965/restored 2018) in “The 60s in Hungarian New Wave Cinema” (streamed via Liszt Institute - Hungarian Cultural Center, New York)
Alice Diop’s On Call (La Permanence) (2016) and Towards Tenderness (Vers la tendresse) (short) (2016) (at 2022 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Luc Jacquet’s Ice and the Sky (La Glace et le ciel) (2014) (at CinéSalon for the Climate of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Samy Szlingerbaum’s Brussels Transit (Bruxelles-transit) (1980/restored 1991 by Cinematek – Royal Film Archive of Belgium)
Kate Kirtz and Nell Lundy’s Jane: An Abortion Service (1996) (streamed in “The War on Reproductive Choice: Virtual Film Series” of Women Make Movies)
Lori Hiris’s With A Vengeance (1989) (short) (streamed in “The War on Reproductive Choice: Virtual Film Series” of Women Make Movies)
Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater and Mike Attie’s Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa (2019) (short) (streamed in “The War on Reproductive Choice: Virtual Film Series” of Women Make Movies)
Deeyah Khan’s America’s War on Abortion (2020) (streamed in “The War on Reproductive Choice: Virtual Film Series” of Women Make Movies)
Rebecca Haimowitz’s 62 Days (2017) (short) (streamed in “The War on Reproductive Choice: Virtual Film Series” of Women Make Movies)
András Kovács’s Cold Days (Hideg napok) (1966) in “The 60s in Hungarian New Wave Cinema” (streamed via Liszt Institute - Hungarian Cultural Center, New York)


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
Never Gonna Snow Again (Sniegu juz nigdy nie bedzie) (Kino Lorber)
Atlantis (Kudos to writer/director/cinematographer Valentyn Vasyanovych) (at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ preview courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Kudos to Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield) (HBO Max)
Limbo (preview courtesy of Focus Features)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (Kudos to Welket Bungué) (preview courtesy of Kino Lorber)
High Ground (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Luzzo (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ Kino Lorber release)
There Is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad) (seen courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Charlatan (Šarlatán) (seen courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Stories from the Chestnut Woods (Zgodbe Iz Kostanjevih Gozdov) (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Killing Of Kenneth Chamberlain (Kudos to Frankie Faison) (HBO)
A Son (Un Fils/Bik Eneich) (preview courtesy of ArtMattan Films)

Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Broken Keys (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
The White Tiger (Netflix)
The Mauritanian (preview courtesy of STX Entertainment)
The Father (preview courtesy of Sony Classics)
The Sign Painter (Pilsēta pie upes) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Final Set (Cinquième set) (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Big Hit (Un Triomphe) (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Looking For A Lady With Fangs and A Moustache (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release Abramorama)
About Endlessness (Om det oändliga) (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Mass (seen courtesy of Bleecker Street)


BEST FEMALE POV My coverage of female filmmakers and Nora Ephron Award winner at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival
My coverage of female filmmakers at 2021 New York Film Festival
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)
Skater Girl (Netflix)
My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) (Kudos to Nina Hoss) (preview courtesy of Film Movement
The Mad Women's Ball (Le bal des folles) (Kudos to writer/director/star Mélanie Laurent) (Amazon)
And Tomorrow The Entire World (Und morgen die ganze Welt) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings/ 2021 on Netflix)
Tove (streamed with 2021 Nordic Women in Film/ Juno Films)
Land (Kudos to star/director Robin Wright, cinematographer Bobby Bukowski, and score) (preview courtesy of Focus Features)
Test Pattern (courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Hope (Håp) (Kudos to Andrea Bræin Hovig) (preview courtesy of KimStim)
My Zoe (Kudos to writer/director/star Julie Delpy) (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment and Museum of Moving Image)
And Breathe Normally (Andið eðlilega) (Netflix) (with 2021 Nordic Women in Film)
Kuessipan ("to you" in the Innu language) (seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival /streamed in virtual cinema)
Spring Blossom (Seize printemps) (Kudos to writer/director/star Suzanne Lindon) (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center courtesy of KimStim Films)
My Wonderful Wanda (Wanda, mein Wunder) (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ seen courtesy of Zeitgeist Films)
The Perfect Candidate (courtesy of Music Box Films)
Bipolar (只是一次偶然的旅行) (Kudos to the editing) (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Gull (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Als Hitler Das Rosa Kaninchen Stahl) (Coming of Age) (at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Gipsy Queen (Kudos to Alina Seban) (streamed courtesy of Goethe Institute Pop-Up Houston/KINO! Germany NOW! 2021 Discover New Talent)
Souad (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Novice (Kudos to Isabelle Fuhrman) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ IFC Films)
Perfume De Gardenias (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Ballad of a White Cow (Kudos to Maryam Moghaddam) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Our Own (Les Nôtres) (courtesy of Oscilloscope Films)
Holler (courtesy of IFC Films)
Mama Weed (La Daronne) (Caper Division) (preview courtesy of Music Box Films)
Passing (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ Netflix)
Lost Daughter (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ Netflix)
Spencer (courtesy of Neon)
Prayers for the Stolen (Noche de Fuego) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ Netflix)
Hive (Zgjoi) (courtesy of Zeitgeist Films)
Freeland (Kudos to Krisha Fairchild) (courtesy of Dark Star Pictures)
Giraffe (seen through German Film Office/ at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Margrete: Queen Of The North (Den Første) (courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Pictures)

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)
Purple Sea (Das Purpurmeer) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021German Documentary Showcase)
A Portrait in Red (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Ecstasy (Êxtase) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Delphine's Prayers (Les Prières De Delphine) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight/ theatrical premiere at BAM)
The Witches of the Orient (Les Sorcières De L’orient) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight/ theatrical release at Film Forum)
Night Shot (Visión Nocturna) (Kudos to filmmaker Carolina Moscoso) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
”Four Portraits by Paige Taul”: 10.28.30; 7-7-94; It makes me wanna; and It’s a condition (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
For Paradise (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Still Processing (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival/ also at 2021 DOC NYC)
Radiograph Of A Family (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Apart (streamed in 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Daughter Of A Lost Bird (streamed in 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Spirit Women (Mujeres Espíritu) (short) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Rebel Hearts (seen courtesy of Discovery+)
Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ seen courtesy of Roadside Attractions)
Sisters on Track (at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ Netflix)
LFG (at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/HBO Max)
The Queen of Basketball (short) (at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ New York Times “Op-Doc”)
Playing With Sharks (Disney+)
End Of The Line: The Women Of Standing Rock (Fuse)
Jacinta (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ Hulu theatrical and streaming release)
Found (Netflix)
A Rifle And A Bag (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival)
A Night of Knowing Nothing (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ at 2021 DOC NYC)
My Name Is Pauli Murray (Amazon Prime)
All About My Sisters (Jia ting lu xiang) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ seen courtesy of Icarus Films)
Elena (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ also at 2021 DOC NYC)
Luchadoras (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Writing With Fire (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ at at 2021 DOC NYC)
Julia (courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Love It Was Not (Ahava Zot Lo Hayta) (courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Be My Voice (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Walchensee Forever (streamed through German Film Office)


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) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Agnes Joy (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Tahara (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Slalom (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Ema (seen courtesy of Music Box Films and MUBI)
El Planeta (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ theatrical release by Utopia)
Short Vacation (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Bebia, à mon seul désir (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Stop-Zemlia (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ theatrical release by Altered Innocence)
Moon (Selene), 66 Questions (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
India Sweets and Spices (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Anne at 13,000 Ft. (Kudos to Deragh Campbell) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Comets (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
180 Degree Rule (Khatte farzi) (Kudos to Sahir Dolatshahi) (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
QueenPins (Comedy Division) (preview courtesy of STX films)
Bergman Island (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ seen courtesy of IFC Films)
Titane (Horror Division) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Souvenir Part II (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Intruder (El prófugo) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Mayday (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
The Unforgiveable (Netflix)

Documentary
Duty Free (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Ahead of the Curve (streamed at 2021 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York/ theatrical release by Wolfe Video)
Knots: A Forced Marriage Story (courtesy of Global Digital Releasing)
Little Girl (Petite Fille) (at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Music Box Films)
Rebel Dykes (courtesy of 2021 Newfest)
Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story (at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ CNN)
No Ordinary Life (at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
RIP Seni (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Since You Arrived, My Heart Stopped Belonging To Me (Desde que llegaste, mi corazón dejó de pertenecerme) (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Unrelinquished (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Cusp (at 2021 DOC NYC/ Showtime)
Exposure (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Subjects of Desire (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Business of Birth Control (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)


BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES

Fiction
Here We Are (Hine Anachnu) (Kudos to writer Dana Idisis and cast) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Circus of Life (Zindagi Tamash) (Kudos to writer Nirmal Bano and cast) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Cowboys (at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Lucky One (2019) (streamed with 2021 Nordic Women in Film)
I Carry You With Me (Te Llevo Conmigo) (Kudos to cinematographer Juan Pablo Ramírez and editor Enat Sidi) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ at 2020 and replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ theatrical release by Sony Picture Classics)
Should the Wind Drop (Si le vent tombe) (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Between Dog And Wolf (Entre perro y lobo) (docu-fiction) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Panquiaco (docu-fiction) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Do Not Hestitate (Kudos to writer Jolein Laarman) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tragic Jungle (Selva Trágica) (Kudos to cinematographer Sofia Oggioni) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ on Netflix)
The Power of the Dog (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ Netflix)

Documentary
Grandfather (Tote/Abuelo) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
The Calm After The Storm (Como El Cielo Despues De Llover) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Taming The Garden (streamed in 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ MUBI)
The Legend of the Underground (at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/HBO)
The Rifleman (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Speer Goes To Hollywood (at Film Forum)
Slow Hustle (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ at 2021 DOC NYC/ HBO)
Mr Bachmann and His Class (Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse) (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Silence Of The Mole (El Silencio del Topo) (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)


BEST ROMANCES
Little Fish (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Leona (preview at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum and shown at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
The Killing of Two Lovers (Kudos to Clayne Crawford) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Undine (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ IFC Films release)
I Am Afraid To Forget Your Face (short) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Heaven Reaches Down to Earth (short) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Glob Lessons (Friendship Division) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
I’m Your Man (Ich Bin Dein Mensch) (courtesy of Bleecker Street)
Golden Voices (Kolot Reka'a)
Gaza Mon Amour (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Gûzen to sôzô) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (Kudos to score by Arthur Sharpe with theremin, electric saw, and pedal steel) (Amazon)
Oasis (Oaza) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Pig (courtesy of Neon)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
À l’abordage! (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Long Story Short (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
Sublet (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ 2021 Israel Film Center Festival/ courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Mark, Mary & Some Other People (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
God’s Waiting Room (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Benedetta (17th-Century Lesbian Nuns Division) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Worst Person in the World (Verdens verste menneske) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Shiva Baby (HBO)
Falling for Figaro (courtesy of IFC Films)


BEST PANDEMIC ROMANCES AND LIFE
as of yet (My coverage of this Nora Ephron Award winner at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
7 Days (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Together (preview courtesy of Bleecker Street Films)
The Year Of The Everlasting Storm (preview courtesy of Neon)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Crossing (Flukten over grensens) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Pebbles (Koozhangal) (Kudos to landscape cinematography) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Surviving You, Always (short) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Summer of 85 (Été 85) (at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sweet Thing (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Concrete Cowboy (Netflix)
C’mon, C’mon (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Licorice Pizza (Kudos to Alana Hiam) (preview courtesy of MGM/United Artists)
The Tender Bar (Amazon)


Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Better Days (Shaonian de ni) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Masel Tov Cocktail (short) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Minyan (at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum/ seen courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Ibrahim (preview at 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Giants Being Lonely (Boo sexism) (preview courtesy of Metrograph)
One in a Thousand (Las mil y una) (Kudos to legible subtitles) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Shepherd: The Story Of A Jewish Dog
A Chiara (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Shelter (Foscaḋ) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)


Runners-Up: COMING TO TERMS
Swan Song (Senior Division) (courtesy of 2021 Newfest/ theatrical relaease by Magnolia Pictures)
Moffie (preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Cry Macho (Kudos to cinematographer Ben Davis) (HBO Max)
Drive My Car (Doraibu mai kâ) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center
Red Rocket (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Son Of Monarchs (Hijo de Monarcas) (HBO Max)
Jockey (Kudos to Clifton Collins Jr. and cinematographer Adolpho Veloso) (preview courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS/SUSPENSE
First Date (Comic Division) (preview courtesy of Magnet Releasing)
Candyman (Horror Division) (courtesy of MGM/United Artists)
No Time To Die (Sad farewell to Daniel Craig’s “James Bond”) (courtesy of MGM/United Artists)
The Guilty (Kudos to Jake Gyllenhaal) (Netflix)


Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Blizzard of Souls (Dveselu putenis) (Kudos to cinematography) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Crisis (preview courtesy of Quiver)
Khorfakkan (streamed courtesy of NYU Abu Dhabi Institute)
The God Committee (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ Vertical Entertainment)
Black Widow (Kudos to Florence Pugh) (Disney+)
Settlers (Kudos to Brooklynn Prince and Ismael Cruz Córdova) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, courtesy of IFC Films)
No Sudden Move (at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO Max)
A Quiet Place Part II (courtesy of Paramount)
Yakuza Princess (preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
My Son (Peacock)
Old Henry (courtesy of Shout Factory)
7 Prisoners (7 Prisioneiros) (Netflix)


BEST NEO-NOIRS
Azor (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Riders of Justice (Retfærdighedens ryttere) (courtesy of Magnet Releasing)
No Man of God (courtesy of RLJ Entertainment)
The Dry (aka “Dry 1) (courtesy of IFC Films)
Naked Singularity (courtesy of Screen Media)
Dogs (Câini) (at 2017 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center/ 2021 theatrical release by Dekanalog Releasing)
The Card Counter (Kudos to Robert Levon Been’s score & songs) (courtesy of Focus Features)
Nightmare Alley (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures) I Care A Lot (Netflix)

Runners-Up: NEO NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Rage (Kudos to score/sound design) (courtesy of Gravitas Ventures)
Ghosts (Los fantasmas) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC
La Llorona (Kudos to sound design and Gaby Moreno’s version of traditional title song) (courtesy of Shudder)
A Machine To Live In (hybrid doc-fiction) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Last Night In Soho (courtesy of Focus Features)
Lamb (Dýrið) (courtesy of A24 Films)
They Say Nothing Stays The Same (Aru Sendo No Hanashi) (Kudos to cinematographer Christopher Doyle) (courtesy of Film Movement)
The Matrix Resurrections (HBO Max)


Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Apples (Mila) (streamed at 2021 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Dune (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Green Knight (courtesy of A24 Films)
Soul (Roh) (courtesy of Film Movement)
Swan Song (Apple TV+)
Sleep (Schlaf) (seen through German Film Office)


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
The Disciple (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Netflix)
The Cantor’s Last Cantata (short) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
STTLMNT Laura Ortman (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Perfect Fifths (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Tiny Tim: King For A Day (Kudos to the animation) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC) (Theatrical release via Juno Films)
Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man In The Waters (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ theatrical release via Kino Lorber)
Forbidden Strings (documentary) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Best Summer Ever (Kudos to cast and crew) (streamed at 2021 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Tina (HBO)
In The Heights (Kudos to the choreography) (preview at 2021Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO Max)
Ailey (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of Neon)
Framing Britney Spears and Controlling Britney Spears (The New York Times Presents on FX)
The Sparks Brothers (courtesy of Focus Features)
Songs That Flood The River (Cantos que inundan el río) (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival) /see with Edna (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Velvet Underground (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ AppleTV+)
Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (at 2021 DOC NYC/ courtesy of Searchlight)
Jagged (preview at 2021 DOC NYC/ seen courtesy of HBO Music Box)
Life of Crime 1984-2020 (at 2021 DOC NYC/ HBO)
Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson (The New York Times Presents on FX)
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+ docu-series)
tick, tick…BOOM! (Netflix)
West Side Story (Kudos to dancing) (HBO Max)


Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Don't Rush (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Ronnie’s (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ Greenwich Entertainment release in 2022)
In My Own Time: A Portrait of Karen Dalton (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Annette (Amazon)
Respect (Kudos to Jennifer Hudson) (courtesy of MGM/UA)
Listening to Kenny G (at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ preview at 2021 DOC NYC courtesy of HBO Music Box)
The Nowhere Inn (courtesy of IFC Films)


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
Play, Pause, Repeat (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Luca (On Disney+)
Navozande, The Musician (short) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cryptozoo (Kudos to Animation Director Jane Samborski) (preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Archipelago (Archipel) (documentary essay) (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Vivo (Netflix)
Flee (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis (Netflix)
The Summit of the Gods (Le sommet des dieux) (Netflix/ at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
Encanto (Kudos to the music) (Disney+)
Inner Wound Real in “LGBTQIA+ Shorts: See Me, Feel Me” (preview at 2022 Tribeca Film Festival)
Greta Thunberg Has Given Up On Politicians (short) (NY Times Op Doc)


Runners-Up: Animation I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Number 7 Cherry Lane (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Blush (short) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)


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)
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Kudos to Jasna Djuricic) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)
Adventures of a Mathematician (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Dara of Jasenovac (preview courtesy of 101 Studios)
Wojnarowicz: F**k YOU F*ggot F**ker (Kudos to the documentary editing) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
The Good Traitor (Vores mand i Amerika) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
All The Dead Ones (Todos os Mortos) (Boo to white on white subtitles) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
Liborio (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
A Crime on the Bayou (documentary) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ theatrical release by Shout Studios)
Oslo (HBO)
12 Mighty Orphans (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Wife of A Spy (seen courtesy of Kino Lorber)
The Many Saints of Newark (HBO Max)
King Richard (HBO Max)
The Hand of God (È stata la mano di Dio) (Netflix)
Belfast (Kudos to cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos) (seen courtesy of Focus Features)
Betrayed (Den største forbrytelsen) (courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Being the Ricardos (Amazon)


BEST SATIRES:
Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn (Babardeala cu bucluc sau porno balamuc) (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Don’t Look Up (Netflix)


BEST COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies:
French Exit (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
New Red Order (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Friends and Strangers (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Werewolves Within (Kudos to Sam Richardson) (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ courtesy of IFC Films)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Acasă, My Home (Kudos to the associated Social Project) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
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 (HaLobby) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Victory Day (Den’ Probedy) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
SPK Complex (SPK Komplex) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
Winter Journey (Kudos to Bruno Ganz) (docu-drama) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Who’s Afraid of Alice Miller? (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Red Orchestra (Die Rote Kapelle) (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Enemies of the State (at 2020 and replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival) (IFC Films release in theaters and On Demand)
Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 DOC NYC)
In The Same Breath (seen at 2021 MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight/ in 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center) (HBO)
Cane Fire (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight/ then streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Nemesis (Kudos to cinematography and editing) (seen at 2021 MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Inside The Red Brick Wall (seen at 2021 MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Shared Resources (Kudos to collaborators Deborah & Albert Lord) (seen at 2021 MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
When You’re Lost in the Rain (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Last Days Of Spring (La Última Primavera) (hybrid) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore (preview courtesy of Grasshopper Film/ at 2020 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (Yi zhi you dao hai shui bian lan) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release by Cinema Guild)
State Funeral (ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЕ ПОХОРОНЫ/Gosudarstvennyye Pokhorony) (seen at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ theatrical release at Film Forum and MUBI stream)
Five Years North (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ theatrical release by Optimist)
Searching For Ana Velford (Buscando Ana Velford) (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Too Long Here (Aqui Demasiado Tiempo) (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Nitrate (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Annotated Field Guide of Ulysses S. Grant (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival/ Anthology Film Archives in The Films of Jim Finn)
The Meaning of Hitler (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ IFC Films release)
Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street (preview courtesy of Screen Media Films/ HBO)
We (Nous) (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Ancient Woods (Sengire) (Kudos to director Mindaugus Survila) (at 2018 DOC NYC/ seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ Film Forum)
Final Account
The Lost Leonardo (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ Sony Pictures Classics theatrical release)
Ascension (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tigre Gente (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
The American Sector (preview courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
The Neutral Ground (at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ on PBS POV) See with Civil War (Or, Who Do We Think We Are) (Peacock/MSNBC/ M Tuckman Media release)
Faya Dayi (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA/ theatrical release by Janus Films)
Missing in Brooks County (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ at 2021 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival/ 2021 theatrical release) (PBS’s Independent Lens)
Sabaya (preview courtesy of MTV Documentary Films)
Usedom: A Clear View Of The Sea (Der freie Blick aufs Meer) (preview courtesy of Big World Pictures)
In the Shadow of 9/11 (PBS Frontline) and The Forever Prisoner (HBO Max)
The Seer and The Unseen (preview courtesy of Utopia Media) – pair with “the invisible hand” in Oeconomia (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
The Velvet Queen (La panthère des neiges) (Kudos to director Marie Amiguet and score by Warren Ellis) (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival courtesy of Oscilloscope Labs)
After Antarctica (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
A Cop Movie (Una película de policies) (docu-drama) (at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ and 2021 DOC NYC/ Netflix)
The Rescue (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Courtroom 3H (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
3212 Un-Redacted (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Attica (at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and at 2021 DOC NYC/ Showtime)
Nothing But The Sun (Apenas El Sol) (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Newtok (preview at 2021 DOC NYC/ at 2022 DC Environmental Film Festival)
My Garden of A Thousand Bees (on PBS’s Nature)
Uppercase Print (Tipografic Majuscul) (docu-drama) (preview courtesy of Big World Pictures)
President (preview courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Meltdown in Dixie (MSNBC Meet the Press Film Festival/ at 2022 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
Puff: Wonders of the Reef (Kudos to underwater cinematrography) (Netflix)


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)
Central Airport THF (Zentralflughafen THF) (2018) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
What Remains/Re-visited (Was bleibt/Šta ostaje) (streamed in German Film Office/ Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
Gunda (seen courtesy of Neon/ at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bicentenario (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
On a Clear Day You Can See the Revolution from Here (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Everything That Is Forgotten In An Instant (Todo Lo Que Se Olvida En Un Instante) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
No Ordinary Man (preview at 2020 DOC NYC) (Theatrical release via Oscilloscope)
A Demonstration (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Dark Red Forest (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
A Once and Future Peace (streamed in 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Dark Hobby (seen courtesy of Paradise Filmworks)
All These Sons (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Ascension (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Scars Of Ali Boulala (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Simple As Water (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ HBO)
Bring Your Own Brigade (CBSN/ at 2021 DOC NYC)
Dream (Nofinofy) (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
My Body (Il Mio Corpo) (documentary/fiction hybrid) (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Zinder (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Silent Voice (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Transnistra (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Phases of Matter (Maddenin Halleri) (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
There Will Be No More Night (Il n'y aura plus de nuit) (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Don’t Touch Me (Noli Me Tangere) (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Finding Kendrick Johnson (Starz)
Roots (Koreni) (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival)
Ostrov – Lost Island (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival)
Underdog (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival)
Eagles (Águilas) (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ POV Shorts/New Yorker)
Nonstop (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Storm Lake (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ at at 2021 DOC NYC)
Accepted (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
They Won’t Call It Murder (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Box (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Dial Home (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Facility (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ also at 2021 DOC NYC/ Meet the Press Film Festival)
To Be Reconciled (short) (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Convergence: Courage In A Crisis (Netflix)
The First Wave (seen courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films/ at 2021 DOC NYC)
Four Hours at the Capitol (HBO Max)/ with Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol (New York Times Visual Investigations)
And I Was There (short) (previewed at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival)
Skies Above Hebron and Mission Hebron (shorts) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (New York Times Op Doc) (both at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Bubble (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Mole (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
100 Up (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
We Are Russia (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Forest For The Trees (preview at 2021 DOC NYC/ at DC Environmental Film Festival)
Try Harder! (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
A Broken House (short) (at 2021 DOC NYC/ New Yorker/ POV Shorts)
Procession (at 2021 DOC NYC/ Netflix)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
Paris Calligrammes (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ theatrical release via Icarus Films)
Terra Femme (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
”Four By Bill Morrison”: Sunken Films; Curly Takes A Bath By The Sea; Wild Girl; and The Ring (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival) Plus Buried News (short) (streamed in 2021 Kronos Festival) [Full The Village Detective: A Song Cycle seen courtesy of Kino Lorber]
Image and Memory (Yaõkwá) (short) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival).
Stuntman (Disney+)
What We Left Unfinished (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
The Grocer’s Son, the Mayor, the Village, and the World…(Le fils de l'épicière, le maire, le village et le monde) (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Bottled Songs 1-4 (streamed at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Faithful: The King, The Pope, The Princess (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival)
Our Memory Belongs To Us (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival)
Val (Amazon Prime)
Prism (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ seen courtesy of Icarus Films)
Mr. Saturday Night (preview at 2021 DOC NYC/ courtesy of HBO Music Box)
Film, The Living Record Of Our Memory (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Alien On Stage (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Dean Martin: King Of Cool (at 2021 DOC NYC/ TCM)
Adrienne (at 2021 DOC NYC/ HBO)
A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks (at 2021 DOC NYC/ HBO/ at 2022 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Irmi (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Shooting the Mafia
Francesco (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Bill Traylor Chasing Ghosts (preview courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ Greenwich Entertainment release)
The New Bauhaus: The Life and Legacy of Moholy-Nagy (seen courtesy of Opendox)
City Of Ali (seen courtesy of Abramorama)
Wolfgang (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Death Of My Two Fathers (preview at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Fauci (courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films & Disney+)
Becoming Cousteau (at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ seen courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films)
Citizen Ashe (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ seen courtesy of CNN Films/ at 2021 DOC NYC)
Torn (at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ seen courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films/ also at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Fourth Window (HaChalon HaReviee) (My commentary on the Jewish women) (streamed at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Man Who Paints Water Drops (L'homme qui peint des gouttes d'eau) (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (at 2021 DOC NYC/ courtesy of IFC Films)
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (at 2021 DOC NYC/ Netflix)


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)
The Human Factor (preview courtesy of Sony Picture Classics/Dogwoof)
On Broadway (preview at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Still Life in Lodz
A Glitch In The Matrix (courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Rock Bottom Riser (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ Cinema Guild release)
All Light, Everywhere (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ also at at 2021 DOC NYC)
Under Siege (Bajo Fuego) (streamed in 2021 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Our Resistance (Kawsakunchik) (short) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
The Celine Archive (streamed via Women Make Movies: Stories of Asian and Asian-American Women)
Inhabitants:An Indigenous Perspective
Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street (CNN)/ Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre (History Channel)/ Rise Again: Tulsa and The Red Summer (National Geographic)
Misha and The Wolves (Netflix)
A Space In Time (Amazon)
The Outsider
America After 9/11 (PBS’s Frontline)
No Responders Left Behind (Discovery+)
The Mushroom Speaks (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ at DC Environmental Film Festival)
15 Minutes of Shame (HBO Max)
Burning (streamed at 2021 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival courtesy of Amazon/ at 2021 DOC NYC)
What If? Ehud Barak on War and Peace (previewed at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival)
The First 54 Years: An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ streamed at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival)
With No Land (previewed at 2021 Other Israel Film Festival/ at 2022 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
River's End (seen courtesy of Giant Pictures)
The Alpinist (Netflix)
Boycott (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Refuge (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Keep It A Secret (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
F@ck This Job (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Gig Is Up (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Art of Making It (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
End of the Line (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Photograph (preview at 2021 DOC NYC)
Algren (seen courtesy of First Run Features/ VOD in 2022)


BEST FOR THE CINEMATOGRAPHY/STYLE/SOUND or PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Samichay: In Search of Happiness (Samichay: En busca de la felicidad) (Kudos to cinematographer Hugo Carmona) (preview at 2021 Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center/Cinema Tropical)
”Two By Rajee Samarasinghe”: The Eyes of Summer (Gimhanaye Netra) (2020) and Imitation of Life (Jeevithaye Mayawa) (2020) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival) and “An Evening with Rajee Samarasinghe” in Modern Mondays at MoMA: Show Me Other Places (2021); everyday star (2021); The Queen of Material (2014); FOREIGN QUARTERS / 异乡居所 / YI XIANG JU SUO (2017); Misery Next Time (2021); The Spectre Watches Over Her (2016) the past (2021); The Exile / පිටුවහලයා / Piṭuvahalayā (2018); If I Were Any Further Away I’d Be Closer to Home (2016); Untitled (2019); black widow summer set (2015) (shorts)
Madalena (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Mighty Flash (Destello Bravío) (streamed at New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Last Days at Sea and No Kings (Sem Deus Sem Demônio) (streamed at 2021 Camden International Film Festival/ at MoMA’s 2022 Documentary Fortnight)
Məmoria (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The French Dispatch (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES better than their movies:
Emma Stone in Cruella
Saul Williams in Akilla’s Escape (courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
Alexis Louder in CopShop (courtesy of Open Road Films)
Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
Taylour Paige in Zola (courtesy of A24 Films)
Troy Kotsur in Coda (Apple TV+)
Lady Gaga in House of Gucci (courtesy of MGM/United Artists)
Léa Seydoux in France (at 2021 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS IN NEW PRINTS especially of films I hadn’t seen before
Ellen Friedland and Curt Fissel’s Flory’s Flame: The Story of Flory Jagoda (2015) (In memoriam streamed through Museum of American Jewish History)
Edgar G. Ulmer’s The Light Ahead (Fishke der Krumer) (1939) (4K digital restoration by The National Center for Jewish Film) (premiere at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Chung Mong-hong’s The Doctor (2006) (in Non/Fiction: 20 Years of Doc Fortnight at MoMA)
Eryk Rocha’s Sunday Ball (Campo de Jogo) (2014) (in Non/Fiction: 20 Years of Doc Fortnight at MoMA)
Zhang Yimou’s To Live (1994) (with novel by Yu Huah in NEA Big Read Program through Museum of the Moving Image)
Mostafa Derkaoui's About Some Meaningless Events (De Quelques Événements Sans Signification) (1974) (2018 4K digit restoration by Filmoteca de Catalunya in Barcelona and the Atelier de l'Observatoire (Art et Recherche) of Casablanca) (seen at 2020 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ also at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Pantelis Voulgaris’s Little England (Mikra Anglia) (2014) (courtesy of Corinth Films VOD)
Arlene Bowman’s Navajo Talking Picture (1985) (seen at MoMA’s 2021 Documentary Fortnight)
Deborah Gee’s Slaying the Dragon (1988)/ with Elaine H. Kim’s Slaying the Dragon: Reloaded (2011) (seen via Women Make Movies Stands With the AAPI Community)
Christopher Harris’s Reckless Eyeballing (2004) (short) (new 2K digitization) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Anand Patwardhan & Jim Monro’s A Time To Rise (1981) (short) (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
Lisa Miller’s Country Noise (Landrauschen) (2018) (streamed courtesy of German Film Office)
Wim Wenders’s The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter) (1972) (2014 restoration by Wim Wenders Foundation) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective in MoMA)
Chantal Akerman’s The Meetings of Anna (Les Rendez-vous d'Anna) (1978) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective in MoMA)
Horace Ové’s Playing Away (1986) (Digitally remastered by British Film Institute) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective through MoMA)
Mani Kaul’s Duvidha (1973) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective in MoMA)
Humberto Solás’s Lucía (1968) (2017 restoration by Cineteca di Bologna) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective through MoMA)
Lee Chang-dong’s Peppermint Candy (1999) (streamed in New Directors/New Films at 50: A Retrospective in MoMA)
Óscar Catacora’s Eternity (Wiñaypacha) (2017) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Sergio M. Rapu’s Eating Up Easter (Haka Puai te Kainga) (2019) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Martin Witz’s Gateways To New York: Othmar H. Ammann And His Bridges (2018) (streamed at 2021 Architecture & Design Film Festival)
David Nawrath’s Atlas (2018) (streamed through German Film Office)
Andrew Williamson’s The Land of Eb (2012) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Jacqueline Hazen’s Island To Island (2017) (documentary short) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Curtis Taylor and Nathan Mewett’s Until The End (Yulubidyi) (2017) (narrative short) (streamed in 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Terrah Guymala’s The Greedy Emu (Ngalkangila Ngalwurrburn) (2017) (narrative short) (streamed at 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Wieland Schulz-Keil’s The New Deal for Artists (1981) (40th anniversary re-master seen courtesy of Corinth Films)
David Riker’s La Ciudad (1998) (streamed at Mexico on the Hudson of Cinema Tropical, the CUNY Mexican Studies Institute, and Oscilloscope Laboratories Virtual Cinema)
Holly Fisher’s Deafening Silence (2012) (streaming in 3 X HOLLY FISHER at Anthology Film Archives Vimeo Showcase)
Joan Micklin Silver’s Hester Street (1975) Restoration (2020) (at 2021 New York Film Festival/ courtesy of Cohen Film Collection)
Ulrich Köhler’s In My Room (2018) and Bungalow (2002) (streamed through German Film Office)
Andreas Dresen’s Gundermann (2018) (streamed through German Film Office)
Andreas Goldstein’s Adam & Evelyn (2018) (streamed through German Film Office)


NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
at Museum of the Moving Image - through 9/26/2021, with weekly screenings of 2001: A Space Odyssey (organized by DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum): Genesis and 50th Anniversary Exhibition in Queens, where it was conceived:



MY BEST FILMS of 2020 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Martin Eden (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Les Misérables
Corpus Christi (Kudos to Bartosz Bielenia)
Sorry We Missed You (preview at Film Forum)
Bad Education (HBO/ preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Homemade (collection of 17 shorts on Netflix by Covid-19 quarantined directors)
Stump the Guesser (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Foreigner (Extranjero) (short) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)

Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
All Rise (seen at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival) (Kudos to Kevin Harrison Jr.)
Run This Town (preview courtesy of Oscilloscope Films)
Red Moon Tide (Lúa vermella) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Chun Jiang Shui Nuan) (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Pacified (Pacificado) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Gets Good Light (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Notes, Imprints (On Love): Part I (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Exile (Exil) (streamed courtesy of German Film Office)
News of the World
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Another Round (Druk) (Kudos to Mads Mikkelsen) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Sound of Metal (Kudos to Riz Ahmed)
A Sun (Yangguang puzhao) (Netflix)
Tigertail (Netflix)
Monsoon (VOD)
Nafi's Father (Baamum Nafi) (at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)


BEST FEMALE POV
My coverage of female filmmakers at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival

Fiction
Invisible Life (A Vida Invisível) (Kudos to co-writers Murilo Hauser & Inés Bortagaray & director Karim Aïnouz, and cinematographer Hélène Louvart)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu) (Kudos to cinematography and writer/director Céline Sciamma) (capsule review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Seberg (Kudos to Kristen Stewart)
Proxima (Kudos to Eva Green) (preview at 2020 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Kudos to Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, writer/director Eliza Hittman, cinematographer Hélène Louvart, and Planned Parenthood)
Rocks (Coming of Age Division) (seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival)
Red Fields (Mamy) (Music Division) (seen at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Pause (Pafsi) (Kudos to Stella Fyrogeni) (Always on Sunday of Hellenic Film Society USA with NY Women in Film & Television at Museum of the Moving Image)
Ankebût (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival) The Tiger Who Came to Tea (animated short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cru-Raw (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Grey Zone (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shadows (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tapes (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Toto (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Vera (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lucky Grandma (Kudos to Tsai Chin and the music) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Radioactive (Kudos to Rosamund Pike) (Amazon)
Miss Juneteenth (Kudos to writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples and star Nicole Beharie) (VOD)
Song Without A Name (Canción sin nombre) (Kudos to actress Pamela Mendoza, music by Pauchi Sasaki, and cinemographer Inti Briones) (seen courtesy of Film Movement)
Point and Line to Plane (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Promising Young Woman (Kudos to writer/director Emerald Fennell and Carey Mulligan)
Saint Frances (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope)
Premature (Young Black Romance Division) (seen courtesy of IFC Films)
The Forty-Year Old Version (Kudos to Radha Blank) (Netflix)
Cuties (Mignonnes) (Netflix)
Ammonite (seen courtesy of Neon)

Documentary
Woman Make Film: A New Road Movie through Cinema (docu-series seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight/ then shown on TCM in Fall)
Sunless Shadows (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Welcome To The Jungle (trilogy of shorts) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
That Which Does Not Kill (Sans Frapper) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Delphine and Carole (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Personhood (premiered at 2019 DOC NYC/ seen at 2020 Athena Film Festival)
Feminism is a browser (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Video Blues (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
In Her Boots (animation) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
I Dream of Vietnam (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
City Dreamers (Rêveuses de villes) (U.S. Premiere at 2019 ADFF NY/ seen streamed at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Yours in Sisterhood (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
Girl from God’s Country (2015) (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
Through The Night (previewed at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ also shown at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The State of Texas vs. Melissa (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Call Your Mother (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Picture A Scientist (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Blood and Glory (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Charlotte Perriand, Pioneer In The Art Of Living (seen at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival at NeoConnect)
#Anne Frank – Parallel Stories (on Netflix)
My Mexican Bretzel (documentary/fiction hybrid) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Correspondence (Correspondencia) (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Extractions (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Plastic House (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
See You in My Dreams (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
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) (on Amazon Prime)
A Thousand Cuts (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ “Short List” at 2020 DOC NYC) (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)
The Letter (Kudos to co-director Maia Lekow’s score) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
The Self-Portrait (Selvportrett) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Women in Blue (preview at 2020/ replay 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ at 2020 DOC NYC)
On The Record (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ HBO Max)
Love & Stuff (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ with Absolutely No Spitting (short) at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Hysterical Girl (short) (NY Times Op Doc)
A Secret Love (Netflix)


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)
Kinetics:The Desire To Move (seen at 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Asia (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ at 2021 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum/ theatrical release at Film Forum)
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)
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)
For the Love of Rutland (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Once Upon A Time In Venezuela (preview at 2020 DOC NYC) (streams on Topic)
Lost In Face (Kudos to animation by Frédéric Schuld) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
The Viewing Booth (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ showing at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Calendar Girl (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Nasrin (preview at 2020 DOC NYC) (on Hulu 2021)
I Am Greta (“Short List” at 2020 DOC NYC/ 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)
Father Soldier Son (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival) (documentary) (Netflix)


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)
South Terminal (Terminal Sud) (at 2020 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 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)
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)
Half Of It (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ Netflix)
Shithouse (Kudos to writer/director/star Cooper Raiff) (preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Wild Mountain Thyme (seen courtesy of Bleecker Street)


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)
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)
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)
New Order (Nuevo orden) (Dystopian Division) (courtesy of Neon)
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)
Bad Hair (horror satire) (Hulu) (seen 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)
Crutch (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Zappa (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures at 2020 DOC NYC)
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)
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)
In the Air Tonight (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Shut Up Sona (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Universe (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Mr. Soul!


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
Memoirs of Vegetation (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
MOTH (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
The Flounder (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Freeze Frame (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Chronosync (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Central Square (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Rain (Deszcz) (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Candy Shop (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Bathwell in Clerkentime (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Beyond Noh (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Friends (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Kapaemahu (short) (Kudos to Ana Tuisila) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ streamed at 2021 Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival)
Wolfwalkers (Kudos to the music) (Preview courtesy of Apple+)
The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo) (see with Songs of Repression documentary)
Soul (Kudos to the music)
Grab My Hand: A Letter To My Dad (short) (streamed at The Wrap International Awards Screenings)


Runners-Up: Animation I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Over The Moon
Onward


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
The Three Christs
Incitement (Yamim Noraim) (at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
A Story from Africa (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Liliu (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The Endless Trench (La Trinchera Infinita) (Netflix)


Runners-Up: BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Joan of Arc (preview at 2020 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sefarad (docu-drama) (seen at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Mank (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
The Glorias (Amazon)


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES better than their movies:
Simon Pegg in Inheritance (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Andra Day in The United States vs Billie Holiday (seen courtesy of Hulu)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Earth (Erde) (preview courtesy of KimStim and Anthology Film Archives)
Heimat Is A Space In Time (Heimat Ist Ein Raum Aus Zeit) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Booksellers (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (seen at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Always In Season at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
Thirst For Justice at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
The Young Observant (L'apprendistato) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Zero (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Wilcox (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Speak So I Can See You (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Take The Horse To Eat Jalabis (Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hoon) (Hybrid Division) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Ma’Abarot (at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum and seen at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Film About A Father Who (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Rewind (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Boys State (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA/ “Short List” at 2020 DOC NYC)
Ridge (Säsong) (Hybrid Division) (seen at 2020 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
If We Say That We Are Friends (short) (streamed with 2020 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Home in the Woods (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival/ also streamed at (streamed at 2021 Prismatic Ground Film Festival)
The Lake And The Lake (Kere mattu Kere) (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Faire-Part (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Louie's Antiques (short) (with animation) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Winter's First Moons (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Perdikaki (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
T A R T A M U D E O (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Kanockatonanok (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Our Time Machine (seen at 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Conscience Point (2019) (PBS’s Independent Lens) (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
P.S. Burn This Letter Please (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Stateless (Apátrida) (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ PBS POV 2021)
Spaceship Earth (seen through Neon and Museum of the Moving Image)
Sixth of June (Le Six Juin) (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Solitary (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tā Moko – Behind The Tattooed Face (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tall Tales With True Queens (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tangled Roots (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
USA v Scott (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Vote Neil (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Painter and the Thief (seen through Neon and Scandinavia House)
Elephant (seen on Disney+)
Her Name Was Europa (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Here and There (Aquí y allá) (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sanfield (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Why? (Apiyemiyekî?) (short) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Notturno (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Year of the Discovery (El año del descubrimiento) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ streaming on Film Movement Plus)
Totally Under Control (courtesy of Neon; available on Hulu October 20)
Collective (Colectiv) (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ “Short List” at 2020 DOC NYC)
The Mole Agent (non/fiction hybrid) (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival) (available on Amazon Prime Video) (PBS’s POV)
Agents of Chaos with The Perfect Weapon (HBO)
Dope Is Death (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
9/11 Kids (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Off The Road (Kudos to the score and the corridos) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Songs of Repression (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Neither Confirm Nor Deny (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Red Heaven (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Things We Dare Not Do (Cosas Que No Hacemos) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC) (PBS POV 2021)
Two Gods (Kudos to score and cinematography) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC) (PBS Independent Lens 2021)
The Dissident (preview courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment)
The Way I See It (Peacock)


Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Slay The Dragon (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and shown at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
Afterward (preview at 2018 DOC NYC) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
The All-Americans (seen at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
The Cordillera of Dreams (La cordillera de los sueños) (completes Patricio Guzmán's landscape and memory trilogy) (courtesy of Cinema Tropical and Icarus Films)
Every Pulse Of The Heart Is Work (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Some Kind Of Heaven (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight/ then on Hulu) (see with follow-up short The Paradise Next Door)
1275 Days (preview courtesy of FilmRise)
Shoot To Marry (preview courtesy of Northern Banner at Slamdance)
The Last Sermon (streamed at 2020 Queens World Film Festival)
Crip Camp (Netflix) (at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight and 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Landfall (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ PBS POV 2021)
499 (preview at 2020/replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Echoes in the Arctic (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pray Away (preview at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Welcome to Chechnya (HBO) (at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
76 Days (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ “Short List” at 2020 DOC NYC) (MTV)
537 Days (HBO)
Since I Been Down (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Smog Town (Yao Wang Fan Xing) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
The Last Out (preview at 2020/replay at 2021 DOC NYC)
The Walrus and The Whistleblower (preview courtesy of Gravitas Ventures at 2020 DOC NYC) (streams on Discovery+ as of 3/4/2021)
The Infiltrators (doc/re-enactment docu-drama) (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope
Red Penguins
Dick Johnson Is Dead (Netflix)
Coup (hybrid) (streamed courtesy of German Film Office)


EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Peshmerga (preview at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Citizen K (at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival) (preview courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment and Film Forum)
Quezon’s Game (docu-drama) (preview courtesy of ABS CBN)
American Muslim (at 2019 DOC NYC and seen at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
Picture of His Life (preview at 2020 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The State Against Mandela and the Others (preview at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Straight Flush/Corpse Cleaner (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Traveling While Black (360/VR) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Resonance (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Reiwa Uprising (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Immortal (Surematu) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
I Am A Town (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Arguments (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
During Revolution (Fi al-thawra) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Romaniotes: The Greek Jews of Ioannina (seen at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
The Final Hour (seen at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Viral Antisemitism In Four Mutations (preview courtesy of So Much Film)
Epicentro (seen at 2020 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Harvesters (short) (seen online through 2020 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
If We Say That We Are Friends (short) (seen online through 2020 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Bedlam (PBS’s Independent Lens) (seen at 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Waging Change (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
She Walks With Apes (on BBC America)/Jane Goodall: The Hope (on National Geographic)
Wake Up On Mars (Réveil sur Mars) (preview at 2020/ replay 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Banksy Most Wanted (preview at 2020/replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
Fatitude (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
AKA Jane Roe (on FX)
Seahorse (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
City Hall (at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Influence (seen at 2020 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Our Social Dilemma (Netflix)
Origin of the Species (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
In Silico (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Rebuilding Paradise (Hulu)
The Fight (as ACLU PR)
Coded Bias
My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
The Times of Bill Cunningham (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words (recommending first half only) (preview courtesy of Manifold Productions/Blue Fox Entertainment.)
Raymond Pettibone: A Collection of Lines (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You. (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Why Can't I Be Me? Around You. (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (PBS’s American Masters) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ seen at 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Still Burn (Algo Quema) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Councilwoman (streamed at 2020 LALIFF Connect of Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival)
And The Brave Shall Rise (short) (streamed at 2020 LALIFF Connect of Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival)
James Hubbell - Between Heaven and Earth (World Premiere at 2019 ADFF NY seen streamed at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival)
Harley (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2020/replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival)
La Madrina: The Savage Life of Lorine Padilla (at 2020/replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ on Peacock) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
With Drawn Arms (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ Starz)
Mr. Somebody (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
My Brother's Keeper (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Gloves Off (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Jørn Utzon - The Man & The Architect (at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival online)
Goff (at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival online)
Truus' Children (De Kinderen Van Truus) (streamed through De Sousa Mendes Foundation)
John Lewis: Good Trouble (at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival/ seen on Amazon Prime/ and at 2021 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
The Vasulka Effect (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Medicine Man: The Stan Brock Story (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Soros (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview courtesy of Abramorama)
Moments Like This Never Last (preview at 2020 DOC NYC courtesy of Vice Media)
Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (Netflix)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
The Lonedale Operator (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Makeshift (For Mekas) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
A Month of Single Frames/So Many Ideas Impossible To Do All (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Code of the Freaks (seen at 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
10 Years With Hayao Miyazaki (NHK docu-series: Ep 1: “Ponyo is Here”, Ep 2: “Drawing What’s Real”, Ep. 3 “Go Ahead - Threaten Me”, Ep 4: “No Cheap Excuses”) (then shown on PBS channels)
Disclosure (on Netflix)
There Are Not Thirty-Six Ways of Showing a Man Getting on a Horse (No existen treinta y seis maneras de mostrar cómo un hombre se sube a un caballo) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Hopper/Welles (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Blue Code of Silence (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Television Event (preview at 2020 DOC NYC/ at 2020/replay at Tribeca Film Festival)
Landfall (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show (at 2020/ replay at 2021 Tribeca Film Festival/ on Peacock)


BEST COMIC or OTHER RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
Deerskin (Le Daim) (preview at 2020 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Echo (Bergmál) (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
The Climb
12 Hour Shift (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Abducted (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Egg (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
I Can Change (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
John Bronco (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Piece Of Cake (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)
Dear Santa (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview at 2020 DOC NYC)
Palm Springs (Kudos to Cristin Milioti) (Hulu)
The Trip to Greece (seen courtesy of IFC Films)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Kudos to “Maria Bakalova”/whoever she is) (So, nu: my comments on the Jewish woman) (Amazon)
Kajillionaire
I Used to Go Here (via Gravitas Ventures)
The Twentieth Century (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Films)
We Are Little Zombies (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Films)


BEST FOR THE CINEMATOGRAPHY/STYLE:
Los Conductos (preview at 2020 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Mirage (short) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)


BEST for the SCENERY
Unnúr (short) (preview at 2020 Tribeca Film Festival)


BEST REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS IN NEW PRINTS
D.W. Griffith, Isn't Life Wonderful (1924, silent, with piano accompaniment) (at 2020 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Paulette McDonagh & Sisters, Those Who Love (1926 silent short) and The Cheaters (1929 silent feature), both with piano accompaniment (at 2020 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (50th anniversary DCP restoration by Christopher Nolan at Museum of the Moving Image)
Alice Guy-Blaché’s The Consequences of Feminism (Les résultats du feminism) (1906, Gaumont) and Algie the Miner (1912); Harold M. Shaw’s The Land Beyond the Sunset (1912); and Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant (1917) (accompanied by world premiere of Alexis Cuadrado Group’s score in Silent Films/Live Music at the Winter Garden of Brookfield Place)
James Searle Dawley’s Frankenstein (1910) and Tod Browning’s The Unknown (1927) (accompanied by world premiere of Vernon Reid Ensemble’s score in Silent Films/Live Music at the Winter Garden of Brookfield Place)
Horace B. Jenkins’ Cane River (4k restoration created by IndieCollect, in association with the archive of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Films)
Rel Dowdell’s Train Ride (2000) (preview of 20th anniversary DVD courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures)
Luchino Visconti’s L’Innocente (1976) (preview of Film Movement Classic’s new digital HD restoration at Film Forum)
István Szabó’s Mephisto (1981) (new 4K digital restoration by the Hungarian National Film Archive and Hungarian Filmlab via Kino Lorber at Film Forum)
Manfred Kirchheimer's and Walter Hess’s footage in Free Time (at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center then Film Forum)
Elem Klimov’s Come And See (1985) (preview of new Mosfilm restoration via Janus Films at Film Forum)
Hassan BenJelloun’s Where Are You Going Moshé? (Où vas-tu Moshé?) (2007) (seen at 2020 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Lisa Steele + Kim Tomczak’s The Afternoon Knows What the Morning Never Suspected (2017) (streamed at 2020 Ann Arbor Film Festival)
Jorge Thielen Armand’s La Soledad (2016) (streamed at 7 Days of Cinema of Filmatique
Natalia Cabral andOriol Estrada’s You and Me (Tú Y Yo) (2014) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Eliza Hittman’s It Felt Like Love (2014) (streamed at 7 Days of Cinema of Filmatique
Matías Meyer’s Yo (2015) (streamed in “FICM Presenta en Linea” of Morelia International Film Festival)
Anna Muylaert’s Don’t Call Me Son (Mãe Só Há Uma) (2016) (streamed at 7 Days of Cinema of Filmatique
José María Avilés’s The Death Of The Master (La Muerte Del Maestro) (2018) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Alexandre Rockwell’s Little Feet (2014) (streamed at 7 Days of Cinema of Filmatique
Miguel Hilari’s The Corral and The Wind (El Corral Y El Viento) (2014) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Javier Fesser’s Champions (Campeones) (2018) (seen with 2020 ReelAbilities Film Festival New York)
Leandro Listorti’s The Endless Film (La Película Infinita) (2018) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Agnes Varda’s The Little Story of Gwen From French Brittany (short) (streamed courtesy of American Cinematheque)
Lisandra I. Rivera and Manolo Sarmiento’s The Death of Jaime Roldós (La Muerte De Jaime Roldós) (2013) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Vladimir Durán’s So Long, Enthusiasm (Adiós Entusiasmo) (2017) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Yulene Olaizola’s Shakespeare and Victor Hugo´s Intimacies (Intimidades Entre Shakespeare Y Víctor Hugo) (2008) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Raoul Ruiz’s The Golden Boat (1990) ) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Boris Benjamin Bertram’s The Human Shelter (2018) (streamed at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival)
Catherine Hunter’s Glenn Murcutt: Spirit of Place (2017) (streamed at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival)
Julio García Espinosa’s The Adventures Of Juan Quin Quin (Las Aventuras De Juan Quin Quin) (1967) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Eduardo Coutinho’s A Man Marked For Death - Twenty Years Later (Cabra Marcado Para Morrer) (1984) (streamed in The Cinema Tropical Collection)
Diego Ros’s El Vigilante (The Nightguard) (2016) (streamed in “FICM Presenta en Linea” of Morelia International Film Festival)
Laura Mulvey’s Riddles of the Sphinx (1977) and Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti (1983) (short) (seen at Film Interrupted Series: Virtual Film Festival of Women Make Movies)
Marco Orsini’s Gray Matters (2014) (seen at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival online)
Elizabeth Federici and Laura Harrison’s Space Land Time: Underground Adventures with Ant Farm (2011) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (seen at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival online)
Nuria Ibáñez’s Wild Stream (Una Corriente Salvaje) (2018) (streamed in “FICM Presenta en Linea” of Morelia International Film Festival)
Katherine Knight and Marcia Connolly’s Strange and Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island (2014) (seen at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival at NeoConnect)
Loretta Dalpozzo and Michèle Volontè’s Mario Botta: The Space Beyond (2018) (seen at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival at NeoConnect)
Francesca Molteni’s SuperDesign: Italian Radical Design 1965-75 (2017) (seen at 2020 Architecture & Design Film Festival at NeoConnect)
Mohammad Reza Aslani’s The Chess Game of the Wind (Shatranj-e baad) (1976) (seen at 2020 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


MY BEST FILMS of 2019 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
To Dust (Kudos to Géza Röhrig) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Transit (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Never Look Away (Werk ohne Autor) (Kudos to writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and score by Max Richter)
Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben)
Rojo (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Nightingale (Kudos to writer/director Jennifer Kent, and Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr) (seen courtesy of IFC Films)
Birds of Passage (Pájaros de verano) (preview at Film Forum)
La Flor (Parts 1, 2, and 3) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Long Day’s Journey Into Night) (Kudos to writer/director Bi Gan, cinematographers Yao Hung, Dong Jinsong and David Chizallet, production and sound design) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center
Kiss of the Rabbit God (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians (Îmi este indiferent daca în istorie vom intra ca barbari) The Dead Nation - Fragments of Parallel Lives (Țara moartă) (at 2018 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema)
Ága (Kudos to music, cinematography and scenery)
Parasite (Gisaengchung) (Kudos to director/co-writer/lyricist Bong Joon-ho) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Saturday Fiction (Lan xin da ju yuan) (Kudos to cinematography and editing) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Irishman (Kudos to Steve Zaillian’s script, Robbie Robertson’s score with use of period music, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, plus casting director for the supporting cast) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Marriage Story (Kudos to writer/director Noah Baumbach) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Hidden Life (Kudos to August Diehl and Valerie Pachner)
Brotherhood (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Live-Action)


Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
A Tramway in Jerusalem (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.) (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Pluto Moment (Ming wang xing shi ke) (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Wild Pear Tree (Ahlat Agaci) (Kudos to the use of scenery)
High Flying Bird (Kudos to André Holland) (on Netflix)
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind (on Netflix)
Manta Ray (preview at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Unorthodox (Ha-Bilti Rishmi'im) (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.) (seen at 2019 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Dogman (Kudos to Marcello Fonte)
The Public (preview courtesy of Universal Entertainment)
Driveways (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Back Fork (Kudos to Josh Stewart)
Luce (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Noah Land (Nuh Tepesis) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Black Hat (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lost Bayou (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Limestone Cowboy (seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Dive (Ha Tzlila) (at 2019 Israel Film Center Festival)
Three Peaks (Drei Zinnen)
Jirga (Kudos to Afghan landscape, music, and sound design) (preview courtesy of Lightyear Entertainment)
Peanut Butter Falcon (Kudos to Zack Gottsagen and the music)
Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood (Not seen in 35 nor 70mm)
The Moneychanger (Así habló el cambista) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Fire Will Come (O que arde) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Motherless Brooklyn (Kudos to cinematographer Dick Pope, score by Daniel Pemberton for Wynton Marsalis on trumpet) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Laundromat (satirical version of the documentary The Panama Papers)
By The Grace Of God (Grâce à Dieu)
Adopt A Highway [“Dedicated to Anyone Who Ever Made A Mistake”] (preview courtesy of RLJE Films)
Dark Waters
The Lighthouse (Kudos the cinematography, sound design, Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe)
Uncut Gems (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.)


BEST FEMALE POV
Fiction
Adult Life Skills (reviewed at FF2 Media) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Little Woods (Kudos to writer/director Nia Dacosta; Tessa Thompson and Lily James) (preview and coda at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Daughter of Mine (Figlia mia) (Kudos to Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, and Sara Casu) (preview and coda at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Slut In A Good Way (Charlotte a du fun) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Promise of Dawn (La promesse de l'aube) (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Sunset (Napszállta) (Way Back Division) (at 2019 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Heiresses (Las Herederas) (Lesbian Division)
Invisibles (Les Invisibles) (preview at 2019 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Clemency (Kudos to Alfre Woodard and writer/director Chinonye Chukwu) (preview at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Long Way Home (Temporada) (at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Flawless (Haneshef) (Kudos to Stav Strashko) (My commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Weekend (Romantic Division) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
House Of Hummingbird (Beol-sae) (Coming of Age Division) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Red Joan (Way Back Division) (So, nu: My commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Mary Magdalene (Way Back Division) (preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Girls of the Sun (Les filles du soleil) (Kudos to Golshifteh Farahani) (at 2019 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center) (preview courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
Wild Nights With Emily (Comic Docu-Drama Way-Back Division) (Kudos to writer/director Madeleine Olnek) (preview courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Hook Up 2.0 (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pearl (Kudos to Julia Föry) preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Blow The Man Down (Noir Division) (Kudos to David Coffin’s chorus) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Jebel Banat (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
37 Seconds (Kudos to Mei Kayama) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mademoiselle Paradis (Licht) (Kudos to Maria Dragus) (Way Back Machine Division (seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
3 Days in Quiberon (3 Tage in Quiberon) (Kudos to Marie Bäumer) (seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
One Day (Egy Nap) (Kudos to Zsófia Szamosi) (seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Several Conversations About a Very Tall Girl (Cateva conversatii despre o fata foarte inalta) (Lesbian Division) (seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Aniara (Sci Fi Division) (seen courtesy of MagnoliaPictures)
Mouthpiece (Kudos to director Patricia Rozema with co-writers Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava)
The Farewell (Kudos to writer/director Lulu Wang and Awkwafina)
Red Cow (Para Aduma) (Kudos to Avigayil Kovary) (at 2019 Israel Film Center Festival)
The Sweet Requiem (Kyoyang Ngarmo) (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Charlie Says (at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Share (HBO/ at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Operative (Thriller Division)
Official Secrets (Thriller Division) (Preview courtesy of IFC Films)
Them That Follow (Kudos to Alice Englert) (preview courtesy of 1091)
Burn (Noir Thriller Division) (preview courtesy of Momentum Pictures)
Judy (Music Division) (Kudos to Renée Zellweger)
La Mala Noche (The Longest Night)(Kudos to score by Quincas Moreira and writer/director Gabriela Calvache) (at 2019 New York Latino Film Festival)
Harriet at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival (Kudos to Cynthia Erivo)
Bombshell (Kudos to Charlize Theron)
Little Women (Kudos to adaptor/director Greta Gerwig; Saoirse Ronan; costume and production design)
Girl on a Bike (short) (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open (Netflix)
Henrietta Bulkowski (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Animation)
Daughter (Dcera) (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Animation)
Saria (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Live-Action)


Documentary:
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The 5 Browns: Digging Through The Darkness (preview courtesy of Plow Productions at 2018 DOC NYC)
Period. End Of Sentence. (short) (on Netflix)
Afghan Cycles (preview courtesy Gunpowder & Sky)
Maiden (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Ask Dr. Ruth (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Scheme Birds (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Little Miss Sumo (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Leftover Women (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Circus of Books (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Barbara Rubin and the Exploding New York Underground (Nu - Note on this Jewish woman) (at 2018 DOC NYC) (preview courtesy of Juno Films)
In Search… (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
One Child Nation (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Wonder About Merri (at 2019 Dance on Camera Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Brigitte (short) (Kudos to director Lynne Ramsay) (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Waiting for Tearah (short) (seen at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
For Sama (On “Short List” at 2019 DOC NYC)
The Kingmaker (Showtime) (On “Short List” at 2019 DOC NYC)


Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Moko Jumbie (Inter-Ethnic Romance Division) (preview courtesy of IndiePix)
Holiday (preview courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures)
Woman At War (Kona fer í stríð) (Kudos to Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir)
Greta (Horror Division)
The Wind (Frontier Horror Division) (courtesy of IFC Films)
Gloria Bell (re-make of Gloria - 2013)
Juanita (on Netflix)
Wild Rose (preview) (at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Rafiki (Lesbian Division) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Flesh Out (Il Corpo Della Sposa) (Arranged Marriage Division) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Good Posture (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
East of the River (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
I Think She Likes You (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Night Swim (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lady Hater (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Third Wife (Kudos to cinematographer Chananun Chotrungroj) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Ladies in Black (preview courtesy of Sony Pictures)
The Chambermaid (La camarista) (at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (preview at Film Forum)
Ophelia
Ever After (Endzeit) (Zombie Division) (preview courtesy of Juno Films)
Shelter (Thriller Division)
The Ground Beneath My Feet (Der Boden unter den Füßen) (preview courtesy Strand Releasing)
Otherhood (Rom-Com Division) (Netflix)
Edie (Kudos to Mt. Suilven) (Preview courtesy of Music Box Films)
Sister Aimee (preview courtesy of Obscured Pictures)
Atlantics (Atlantique) (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
To The Ends Of The Earth (Tabi no Owari Sekai no Hajimari) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Girl Missing (Yokogao) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sibyl (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Paradise Hills (Satirical Sci Fi Division)
Miss Virginia (preview courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
Dilili In/à Paris (Animation Division) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
The Warrior Queen Of Jhansi (Way Back Division) (preview courtesy of Roadside Attractions)
Queen of Hearts (Dronningen) (Kudos to Trine Dyrholm) (preview courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures)
The Souvenir (Kudos to cinematography)
Hustlers (Kudos to Constance Wu)
Booksmart (Kudos to Beanie Feldstein)


Documentary:
Serendipity (seen at MoMA’s 2019 Documentary Fortnight and also shown at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Born in Evin (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Raise Hell: The Life & Times Of Molly Ivins (Preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
#FemalePleasure (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (Preview courtesy of Abramorama)


BEST ROMANCES
Ash is the Purest White (Jianghu Ernü) (Kudos to Zhao Tao) (at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Trouble with You (En liberté!) (at 2019 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Art of Seduction (Mademoiselle de Joncquiéres) (Kudos to the costumes by Pierre-Jean Larroque) (preview at 2019 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Photograph
Non-Fiction (Doubles Vies) (at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Aamis (Ravening) (Cannibalism Division) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Distances (Las Distancias) (Kudos to cinematographer Julián Elizalde) (seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Tomorrow Man
Always Be My Maybe (Netflix)
Plus One (Kudos to Maya Erskine and Jack Quaid) (at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
In The Aisles (In den Gängen) (preview courtesy of Music Box Films)
The Reports on Sarah and Saleem
Arabic Friday (short) (Other Israel Film Festival)
I Lost My Body (J'ai perdu mon corps) (Animation - Netflix - dubbed)


Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Untogether (previewed at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Berlin I Love You (”Transitions” features a Jewish woman) (Preview courtesy of Saban Films)
Lost & Found (”The Tent” features a putative Jewish woman) (Preview courtesy of Gravitas Ventures)
Brittany Runs A Marathon
Ode To Joy (Preview courtesy of IFC Films)
The Sun Is Also A Star


BEST COMING OF AGERS
All These Small Moments (preview and coda at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Amanda (preview at 2019 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Giant Little Ones (Preview courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
Too Late to Die Young (Tarde para morir joven) (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Place of No Words (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Piranhas (La paranza dei bambini) (preview at 2019 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Jojo Rabbit (Kudos to writer/director/star Taika Waititi)
Nefta Football Club (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Live-Action)


Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Genesis (Genèse) (preview at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Roads (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shooting Life (HaSusita Shel Herzl) (seen at 2019 Israel Film Center Festival)
Young Ahmed (Le jeune Ahmed) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Waves


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Arctic (Kudos to Mads Mikkelsen)
The Standoff At Sparrow Creek (Kudos to Jackson Hunt’s cinematography)
Hotel Mumbai
The Golem (Kudos to The Paz Brothers) (Preview courtesy of Epic Pictures)
The Hummingbird Project (Kudos to Kim Nguyen’s script & direction)
Monos (preview at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Us (Kudos to Lupito Nyong'o)
Gasoline Thieves (Huachicolero) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shadow (Ying) (Kudos to music, costumes, production design, and battle choreography)
Skin (Kudos to actors Jamie Bell and Danielle Macdonald, and writer/director Guy Nattiv) (Preview courtesy of A24 Films)
Fractured (on Netflix)
Joker (Kudos to Joaquin Phoenix, director Todd Phillips and score by Hildur Guðnadóttir)
The Aeronauts (Kudos to steam punk Felicity Jones, cinematography, production and costume design)
Queen & Slim (Kudos to Jodie Turner-Smith)
1917 (Kudos to cinematographer Roger Deakins)
The Report


Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite quibbles
American Hangman (preview courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
The Vanishing (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
Buffalo Boys (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
An Acceptable Loss (preview courtesy of IFC Films)
In Like Flynn (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment)
Polar (For Mads Mikkelsen only) (on Netflix)
Velvet Buzzsaw (Art World Horror Division) (on Netflix)
Yardie (Kudos to the music)
Paul Sanchez Is Back! (Paul Sanchez est revenu!) (Kudos to score by John Cale) (preview at 2019 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Styx (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Sobibor (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.) (at 2018 Russian Film Week) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Super Deluxe
Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (for action choreography only) (preview courtesy of Well Go Entertainment USA)
Domino (Kudos to score by Pino Donaggio) (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
The Outsider (Very Violent Division) (Kudos to Jon Foo) (preview courtesy of Cinedigm)
The Command (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
Screwdriver (Mafak) (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center/ IFC Center and at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
Cold Blood (preview courtesy of Screen Media (Kudos to the scenery)
15 Minutes of War (L'intervention) (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment)
Spider in the Web (preview courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
Wasp Network (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Parts You Lose (Kudos to cinematographer Evans Brown) (preview courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
Crown Vic (preview courtesy of Screen Media Films)
Red Sea Diving Resort (Netflix) (My commentary on the Jewish woman.)


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC
High Life (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Only (Romance Division) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Shipment (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
See You Yesterday (at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Little Joe (Kudos to co-writers/director Hausner and Géraldine Bajard, music/sound and production design) (preview at Jessica Hausner Retrospective: The Miracle Worker at Film at Lincoln Center)


Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC I Recommend Despite My Gripes
School’s Out (L’Heure de la sortie) (preview at 2019 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Changeover (preview courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
White Chamber (kudos to Oded Fehr) (preview courtesy of Dark Sky Films)
Cold Brook (preview courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
In Fabric


BEST NEO-NOIRS
Smaller and Smaller Circles (preview courtesy of Uncork’d Entertainment)
Never Grow Old (Western Division) (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
Naples in Veils (Napoli velata) (Kudos to Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Naples) (preview courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures)
The Wedding Guest


Runners-Up: NEO NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Echo (Hed) (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Belonging (Aidiyet) (preview at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Initials SG (Iniciales SG) (Kudos to the music, especially Serge Gainsbourg) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Low Tide (Kudos to young cast and Jersey Shore setting) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Into the Ashes (Kudos to Luke Grimes, cinematographer John W. Rutland, and composer James Curd) (preview courtesy of RLJ Entertainment)
Oh Mercy! (Roubaix, une lumière) (Policier Division) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Good Liar
Sequestrada (preview courtesy of Strand Releasing)


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
A Tuba To Cuba (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment)
Satan & Adam (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Inna Da Yard: The Soul of Jamaica (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Gay Chorus Deep South (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Stuck The Musical
Devil’s Pie – D’Angelo (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
All I Can Say (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Nureyev (preview at Film Forum)
The Black Godfather (on Netflix)
Yesterday (Kudos to Himesh Patel and script by Richard Curtis)
Seven Leagues (Siete Leguas) (at 2019 Dance on Camera Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Rocketman (Kudos to Taron Egerton, costume designer Julian Day, choreographer Adam Murray, and editor Chris Dickens)
Fiddler: A Miracle Of Miracles (preview courtesy Roadside Attractions & Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Blinded By The Light
Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool (preview courtesy Abramorama Films/American Masters)
Cunningham in 3D (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash (YouTube Original)


Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Her Smell (Kudos to Elisabeth Moss) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center
Redemption (Geula) (seen at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum / also shown at 2019 Israel Film Center Festival)
The Quiet One (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Apollo (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Teen Spirit
Guava Island (on Amazon Pime)
Blue Note Records: Beyond The Notes (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Echo In The Canyon (Kudos for attention to Jacques Demy’s 1969 Model Shop) (at 2018 DOC NYC/ preview courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
Other Music (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pavarotti
The Other Story (Sipur Acher) (at 2019 Israel Film Center Festival) (preview courtesy of Strand Releasing)
The Rolling Thunder Revue (on Netflix)
The Lion King (in 2D) (For the music only)
David Crosby: Remember My Name
Woodstock: Three Days That Defined A Generation (at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival/PBS)
ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band From Texas
Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love (Nu - Exhibition and Documentary)
Fiddlin’ (preview courtesy of Utopia)
Mountaintop (preview courtesy of Abramorama in partnership with Shakey Pictures and Reprise/Warner Records)
Playing With Fire: Jeannette Sorrell and the Mysteries of Conducting (preview courtesy of Cinema Flix Distribution)
Western Skies
Bluebird (preview courtesy of Cleopatra Entertainment)
The Apollo (at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival/HBO)


BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES
Mapplethorpe (Gay Division) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Mustang (Kudos to the horses and scenery)
Honey Boy (Kudos to Shia LaBeouf)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Kudos to Tom Hanks)


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
Peterloo
The Aftermath
All Is True
Dirty Bomb (short) (preview of Manhattan Film Festival)
Tolkien
One Nation, One King (Un peuple et son roi) (preview courtesy Distrib Films US)
Downton Abbey (Kudos to ensemble)
The Current War: Director’s Cut (Kudos to production design)
Just Mercy
Mob Town (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
Midway (according to my husband The World War II Buff)
Richard Jewell
The Great War (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
The King
The Two Popes (glossing over abuses)
Dolemite Is My Name (Netflix)


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
The Pure Necessity (Die Reine Notwendigkeit) (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Rezo (preview at Film Forum)
Penguin Highway (ペンギン) (at 2019 New York International Children’s Film Festival) (preview courtesy of Eleven Arts)
My Mother’s Eyes (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Funan (preview courtesy of GKids)
Another Day of Life (English dub)
Lady and the Tramp (Disney+) (CGI as animation)
Away (Projām) (at 2019 CineCina Film Festival)
Frozen 2 (2D) (Kudos to songs)
The Swallows of Kabul (Les Hirondelles de Kaboul) (Kudos to artistic director Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec) (seen at French Cinema Week NYC/Fi:AF Animation First)
The Tower (Wardi) (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival/ at 2022 Animation First Festival of French Institute/Alliance Française)
White Snake (Baishe: Yuanqi) (dubbed) (preview courtesy of GKids)
Marona's Fantastic Tale (L'extraordinaire voyage de Marona) (preview courtesy of GKids)
This Magnificent Cake! (Ce magnifique gâteau!) (short) (preview courtesy of GKids)
Mémorable (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Animation)
Kitbull (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Animation)


Runners-Up: Animation I Recommend Despite My Gripes
How To Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World (2D)
Aladdin (2D)
Muteum (short in 2019 Sundance Short Film Tour)
Missing Link (Recommended by my 5-year-old grandkid)
Toy Story 4
Klaus (Netflix)
Abominable
Children of the Sea (preview courtesy of GKids)
Sister (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Animation)
Hair Love (seen in Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2020: Animation)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Communion (Komunia) (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Invisibles (Die Unsichtbaren - Wir wollen leben) (Docu-Drama) (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.) (at 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Venerable W (Le Vénérable W.) (at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/seen at 2019 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Putin’s Witnesses (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Crosses (Las Cruces) (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Disappeared (Hane’elam) (So, nu: my identification of the Israeli women.) (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Turtle Rock (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Uppland (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Who Will Write Our History (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/ The Jewish Museum)
Roll Red Roll (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and also shown at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Land Mine: The Other Side Of Silence (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.) (seen at MoMA’s 2019 Documentary Fortnight)
To See Again (Volver A Ver) (seen at MoMA’s 2019 Documentary Fortnight)
Samouni Road (Kudos to animation by Stefano Massi) (seen at MoMA’s 2019 Documentary Fortnight)
The Next Guardian (seen at MoMA’s 2019 Documentary Fortnight)
Apollo 11 (IMAX)
Island of The Hungry Ghosts (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Time for Ilhan (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women and on 9/11 Islamophobia) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Blowin’ Up (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Buddy (So, nu: inspired by a Jewish woman.) (seen at MoMA’s 2019 Documentary Fortnight)
It’s A Hard Truth Ain’t It (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Silence of Others (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (My commentary on 9/11 images) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
When Lambs Become Lions (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Brink
Framing John DeLorean (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Serengeti Rules (preview courtesy of Abramorama) (at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Walk Run Cha-Cha (short) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Angels Are Made Of Light (at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and seen at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Accept the Call (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
When We Walk (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Lavender Scare (PBS)
The Good, The Bad, The Hungry (On ESPN’s 30 For 30)
Sea of Shadows (preview courtesy of National Geographic)
Cold Case Hammarskjöld (preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Los Reyes
Midnight Traveler (preview at Film Forum)
American Factory (at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival) (Netflix)
Ghost Fleet (at 2018 DOC NYC)
College Behind Bars (capsule review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (clips shown at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival (PBS)
Stuffed (DVD/VOD preview courtesy of Music Box Films)
Trouble (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bully. Coward. Victim: The Roy Cohn Story (So, nu: My commentary on the Jewish women) (brief review at FF2 Media) (seen at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and shown at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Poppy Crash (short-in-progress) (seen at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Cave (Kudos to director Feras Fayyad) (seen at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Nightcrawlers (short) (seen at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival/ also at 2019 DOC NYC)
Dark Suns (Soleils Noirs) (seen at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Guardian Of Memory (El guardián de la memoria) (at 2019 Margaret Mead Film Festival)
Narrowsburg (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
63 Up (at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
FYRE: The Best Party That Never Happened (on Netflix)
Hail Satan! (preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Screwball (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Biggest Little Farm (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Inside My Heart (on Starz)
Wrestle (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Films
Praise the Lard (at 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Misericórdia (short) (preview at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (on HBO)
Last Night I Saw You Smiling (Yub Menh Bong Keunh Oun Nho Nhim) (preview at 2019 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Walking on Water (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Free Trip To Egypt (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview courtesy Kindness Films)
Heavy Water (Kudos to the surfing cinematography)
Honeyland (at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Back to the Fatherland (So, nu: more commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview courtesy First Run Features)
Chasing the Moon (Part 1 – “A Place Beyond the Sky”; Part 2 – “Earthrise”; Part 3 – “Magnificent Desolation”) (On PBS’s American Experience)
Jawline (Hulu)
The Great Hack (on Netflix)
I'm Leaving Now (Ya Me Voy) (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Heading Home:The Tale Of Team Israel (preview courtesy Menemsha Films)
What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire? (at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bitter Bread (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
American Trial: The Eric Garner Story (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
In Dry Water (short) (seen at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival) The Pickup Game (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
Love Child (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
Blessed Child (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
Scandalous: The Untold Story of The National Enquirer (My commentary on 9/11 references) (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
The Russian Five (on NBC SN)
Backwards (short) (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
Feast of the Epiphany for second half on Roxbury Farm (Preview courtesy of Reverse Shot)
Ximei
The Hottest August (seen courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
Border of Pain (at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)


EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Untouchable (preview of earlier version at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Jihadists (Salafistes) (for original footage only)
The Trial (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom (on Smithsonian Channel)
Where the Pavement Ends (Kudos to sunsets and use of FOIA) (seen at MoMA’s 2019 Documentary Fortnight)
Take Light (seen at MoMA’s 2019 Documentary Fortnight)
Wall (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at Film Forum)
General Magic (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Black Mother (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
The Most Dangerous Year (preview courtesy of Passion River Films)
For They Know Not What They Do (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Changing the Game (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival/ on Hulu June 1, 2021)
Tigerland (on Discovery)
Decade Of Fire (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Bikes of Wrath (preview courtesy of Demand.Film)
Breaking Habits (preview courtesy of Good Deed Entertainment)
Chasing Portraits (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (preview courtesy of First Run Features)
Carmine Street Guitars (at New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (preview courtesy of Abramorama)
The Abortion Divide (On PBS’s Frontline)
If The Dancer Dances (preview courtesy of Monument Releasing)
The Dog Doc (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Proposal (at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Picture Character (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Cat Rescuers (at 2018 DOC NYC) (This activity was also featured on Animal Planet’s The Cat From Hell)
Life Overtakes Me (short) (on Netflix)
Ice on Fire (HBO)
Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center and also shown at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and at 2019 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Está Todo Bien (It’s All Good) (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Everything Must Fall (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
On the President’s Orders (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Edge Of Democracy (on Netflix)
No Box for Me. An Intersex Story (Ni d’Ève ni d’Adam. Une histoire intersexe) (preview at 2019 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
American Heretics: Politics Of The Gospel (preview courtesy of Abramorama)
Aquarela (Kudos to the cinematography and score)
The Deported (on YouTube Premium)
Unmasking Jihadi John: Anatomy of a Terrorist (HBO)
The Miracle of The Little Prince (Het Wonder van Le Petit Prince) (preview courtesy of (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Fantastic Fungi (Kudos to mushroom cinematography/fX) (preview courtesy of of Moving Art)
Don’t Be Nice (preview courtesy of Juno Films)
Born To Be (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish participants.) (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Who Is Afraid of Ideology? (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Pelourinho: They Don't Really Care About Us (short) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
PHX [X is for Xylonite] (short) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) dd>Receiver (short) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Liberty: Mother of Exiles (HBO)
Never Again Is Now
Saving Atlantis (Kudos to underwater cinematography) (preview courtesy of Gravitas Ventures)
Vas-Y Coupe! (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
The Longest Wave (Kudos to surfing footage) (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
Capital in the Twenty-First Century (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
Mr. Toilet: The World's #2 Man (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
The Lost Crown (HaKeter HaAvud) (at 2019 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival /seen at Forest Hills Cinematek)
A Reindeer’s Journey (preview courtesy of Screen Media Films)
Cause of Death (Sibat HaMavet) (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
Moonlight Sonata: Deafness In Three Movements (HBO)
Chinese Portrait (preview courtesy of Cinema Guild)
Emanuel (Starz)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World Of Ben Ferencz (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Etgar Keret: Based On A True Story (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People (PBS’s American Masters) (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Jay Myself (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali (HBO Sports) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Halston (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Watson (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Martha: A Picture Story (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Meeting Gorbachev (at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival) (History Channel production)
The River and The Wall (Kudos to the scenery) (preview courtesy Gravitas Ventures)
The Spy Behind Home Plate (preview courtesy of The Ciesla Foundation)
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (PBS’s American Masters)
True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality (on HBO) (at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
While I Breathe, I Hope (at 2018 DOC NYC)
My Father and Me (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Golda (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
Martin Margiela: In His Own Words (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
Mai Khoi & The Dissidents (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
Lifeline: Clyfford Still (preview at 2019 DOC NYC courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Comrade Dov (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
Samaritan (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
Disappearance of My Mother (Storia di B. - La scomparsa di mia madre) (preview courtesy of Kino Lorber)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
The Competition (Le Concours) (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Instant Dreams (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Eyes Of Orson Welles (preview at 2018 DOC NYC) (PBS’s American Masters)
Making Waves: The Art Of Cinematic Sound (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Love, Antosha
Friedkin Uncut (preview courtesy of Ambi Distribution)
I Am Patrick Swayze (for the dancing) (on Paramount Channel)
Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles (Buñuel en el laberinto de las tortugas) (animated docu-drama seen with Buñuel’s Land Without Bread (1933) on DVD) (preview courtesy of GKids)
Varda par (by) Agnès (brief review at FF2 Media) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
He Dreams Of Giants (Pre/post, see with The Man Who Killed Don Quixote) (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES better than their movies:
Ismael Cruz Córdova in re-make of Miss Bala
Rebecca Schull in The Last (preview courtesy of CAVU)
Wendell Pierce in Burning Cane (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
Olivia Cooke in Katie Says Goodbye
Sienna Miller in American Woman
Richard Dreyfuss in Astronaut (preview courtesy of of Quiver)
Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams in re-make of After the Wedding
Lee Pace in Driven (preview courtesy of Variance Films & Universal Pictures Content Group)
Peter Sarsgaard in The Sound of Silence
Tom Mercier in Synonyms


BEST FOR THE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
The Bygone (Plus scenery and score) (preview courtesy of Gravitas Ventures)


BEST OF THE CINEMA OF THE ABSURD:
Pity (Oiktos) (previewed in 2019 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Loro (preview at 2019 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Art of Self Defense (Kudos to Heather McIntosh’s score)
Give Me Liberty (Kudos to Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer)
It Must Be Heaven (seen at 2019 at CineCina Film Festival)


MOST DEPRESSING
The Family (Družina) (at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
An Elephant Sitting Still (Da xiang xi di er zuo) (Kudos to the cinematography) (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Ray & Liz (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
All Creatures Here Below (preview courtesy Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Rosie (Kudos to Sara Greene) (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment)
At War (En Guerre) (Kudos to Vincent Lindon) (preview courtesy of Cinema Libre Studio)
Gwen (preview courtesy of RLJ Entertainment)
Sócrates (preview courtesy Breaking Glass Films)
The Load (Teret) (preview courtesy Grasshopper Film)
Mother (preview at 2019 DOC NYC)
The Painted Bird (Nabarvené ptáce)
Tremors (Temblores) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)


BEST COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
Pig (Khook) (at Iranian Film Festival/preview courtesy of Daricheh Cinema)
Stuck (preview courtesy of North of Two)
Ghost Light (preview courtesy of Giant Pictures)
Being Frank (preview courtesy of Film Arcade)
Sword of Trust (Kudos to Marc Maron’s blues guitar music)
Phil (preview courtesy of Quiver Distribution)
Tel Aviv On Fire (Tel Aviv Al HaEsh)) (So, nu: My commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2019 Israel Film Center Festival)
The Day Shall Come (inspired by The Newburgh Sting)
Corporate Animals (Satire)
Sink Or Swim (Le Grand Bain) (Preview courtesy of Level Films)
Knives Out (Murdery Mystery Parody Division)


BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
The Nun (La Religieuse) (1966) (preview of 4K DCP restoration at Film Forum)
Life According to Agfa (Ha-Chayim Al-Pi Agfa) (1992) (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Général Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (Autoportrait) (1974) (seen at 2019 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Journeys from Berlin/1971 (seen at 2019 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Fragment of an Empire (Oblomok Imperii) (1929) (USSR silent, with piano accompaniment seen at 2019 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Forbidden Paradise (1924) (Ernst Lubitsch's silent, with piano accompaniment seen at 2019 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Faust (1926) (Murnau’s German silent, with piano accompaniment seen at 2019 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Fad’jal (1979) (seen at 2019 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Histoires d’Amérique: Food, Family And Philosophy (1989) (seen at 2019 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Underworld (1927) (Josef von Sternberg’s silent accompanied by Alloy Orchestra in Silent Films/Live Music at the Winter Garden of Brookfield Place)
War and Peace (Voyna i mir): “Part 1 Andrei Bolkonsky” (1965); “Part 2: Natasha Rostiva” (1966); “Part 3: The Year 1812” (1967); “Part 4: Pierre Bezukhov” (1967) (preview courtesy of Janus Films)
Tale of Tales (Skazka skazok) (1979) (preview at Film Forum)
Amazing Grace (preview of previously unreleased 1972 recording concert film at 2018 DOC NYC)
Babylon (1980) (preview courtesy of Kino Lorber)
Glorious (Comme T’Y Es Belle!) (2006) (seen at 2019 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Christ Stopped At Eboli (Cristo si è fermato a Eboli) (Parts 1 – 4) (1979) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview of uncut restoration with new subtitles at Film Forum)
The Wandering Soap Opera (La telenovela errante) (preview courtesy of Cinema Guild)
Leaving Home, Coming Home: A Portrait of Robert Frank (My commentary on the Jewish women.)
Rage and Glory (1984) and Turn Left At The End Of The World (Sof Ha'Olam Smola) (2004) (in “Ari Nesher Retrospective” at 2019 Israel Film Center Festival)
The Profession of Arms (Il mestiere delle armi) (2001) (World Premiere of a New Digital Restoration) and The Fiancés (I Fidanzati) (1963) (seen in “Ermanno Olmi” retrospective by Istituto Luce Cinecittà at Film at Lincoln Center)
This Ancient Law (Das alte Gesetz) (1923) (E.A. Dupont’s silent accompanied with original score by violinist Alicia Svigals and pianist/composer and Donald Sosin, seen at FH QBPL and was at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum))
Chulas Fronteras (1976) & Del Mero Corazon (1979) (Preview of Les Blank restorations courtesy of Argot Pictures)
Mr. Klein (1976) (preview of restoration with new subtitles at Film Forum)
Cotton Club Encore (1984) (preview at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Soldier Girls (1981) (not new print) (director/cinematographer Joan Churchill included in tribute to the American Society of Cinematographers’ Centennial at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sátántangó (1994) (Yes – all 432 minutes!) (at 2019 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


MY BEST FILMS of 2018 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
The Insult (Qadiat raqm 23)
Vazante (Kudos to director/co-writer Daniela Thomas, cinematographer Inti Briones and sound designer Vasco Pimentel) (at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Princess (short) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
Scrap Dolls (short) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
See You Up There (Au revoir là-haut) (Kudos to cinematography by Vincent Mathias, music by Christophe Julien, masks by Hélène Defline, and costumes by Mimi Lempicka) (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Final Journey (Leanders letzte Reise) (preview courtesy of KINO! 2018 Festival of German Films)
The Death of Stalin
The Seagull (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Dead Women Walking (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Gauguin - Voyage To Tahiti (Kudos to Vincent Cassel)
BlacKKKlansman (My additional notes.)
Happy As Lazzaro (Lazzaro felice) (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Shoplifters (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Favourite (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
At Eternity’s Gate (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Chore (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
God Never Dies (Dios Nunca Muere) (short) (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Life and Nothing More (seen courtesy of CFI Releasing)
Monsters and Men (seen courtesy of Neon)
Paddington 2 (as seen on HBO)
On the Seventh Day (En el Séptimo Día) (seen courtesy of Cinema Guild)
Thunder Road (Kudos to writer/director/star Jim Cummings)
The Citizen (Az állampolgár) (seen courtesy of ArtMattan)
Icebox (on HBO)


Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
First Reformed (Kudos to Ethan Hawke) (special preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Colo (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image) (Kudos to cinematographer Acácio de Almeida)
Foxtrot (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Ava (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Cocote (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Nothing Factory (A Fábrica de Nada) (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Outside In (Kudos to Laurie Metcalf) (preview courtesy of The Orchard)
Smuggling Hendrix (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Kuleana (seen courtesy of Hawaii Cinema)
Bye Bye Germany (Es war einmal in Deutschland...) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Nigerian Prince (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Yellow Birds (preview courtesy of Lionsgate)
The Catcher Was A Spy (So, nu: my commentary on the putative Jewish woman.)
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot
The Captain (Derr Hauptmann) (My additional notes.)
Roma (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Burning (preview at New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Cousin (Ha Ben Dod) (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival/also shown at 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
El Angel (Kudos to Lorenzo Ferro and production design)
Vice (Commentary on 9/11 treatment.) (Kudos to Amy Adams)
Ben Is Back (Kudos to Julia Roberts and Lukas Hedges)
Sollers Point (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories)
The Family (La Familia) (seen on HBO; info courtesy of Film Movement)
Tyrel (preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
The Last Suit (El Último Traje) (seen courtesy of Strand Releasing)


BEST FEMALE POV
Fiction
In Between (Bar Bahar) (Kudos to writer/director Maysaloun Hamoud) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (seen in 2017 Film Movement 15th Anniversary Celebration at Museum of the Moving Image)
Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts (Marlina Si Pembunuh Dalam Empat Babak) (My additional notes.) (Western Division) (Kudos to director/co-writer Mouly Surya) (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Game (short) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
The Guardians (Les Gardiennes) (Way Back Division) (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Number One (Numéro une) (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Sower (Le Semeur) (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Custody (Jusqu'à la garde) (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Closeness (Tesnota) (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Jellyfish (Kudos to Liv Hill) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lemonade (Luna de Miere) (Depressing Romanian Division) (Kudos to Mălina Manovici) (preview and coda at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Beauty and the Dogs (La Belle et la Meute) (Kudos to Mariam Al Ferjani and writer/director Kaouther Ben Hania) (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope)
Everything Else (Todo lo demás) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Garden (Sommerhäuser) (preview courtesy of KINO! 2018 Festival of German Films)
The Impossible Picture (Das Unmögliche Bild) (preview courtesy of KINO! 2018 Festival of German Films)
Woman Walks Ahead (My historical commentary, previewed at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mary Shelley (Celebrating the Bicentennial of Frankenstein) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Duck Butter (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival) (Lesbian Division)
Diane (Kudos to Mary Kay Place) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Party's Just Beginning (Kudos to Writer/Director/Star Karen Gillan) (preview and coda at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Dead Women Walking (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tully (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
When She Runs (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bao (animated short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Late Afternoon (animated short) (preview at 2018
Mirette (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Love Letter (Michtav Ahava Lam ‘em Sheli) (short) (My commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Paper Roof (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
So You Like The Neighborhood (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Miracle (Stebuklas) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Summer 1993 (Estiu/Verano 1993) (Coming of Ager) (preview courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Adrift (Adventure Division)
Dark River (Kudos to Ruth Wilson)
The Wife (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.)
Memoir of War (La douleur) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Support The Girls (Kudos to Regina Hall and writer/director Andrew Bujarski)
Skate Kitchen (preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
I Am Not A Witch
Colette (Kudos to Keira Knightly, the costumes and music)
Lizzie (Kudos to Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, and the sound design)
Wildlife (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Kudos to production design and cinematographer Diego Garcia)
3 Faces (Se rokh) (Kudos to writer/director Jafar Panahi and actress Behnaz Jafari) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Private Life (preview and capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Mahogany Too (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Working Woman (Isha Ovedet) (Kudos to Liron Ben Shlush) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Kudos to Melissa McCarthy, co-writer Nicole Holofcener, and director Marielle Heller)
A Private War (Kudos to Rosamund Pike, cinematographer Robert Richardson, editor Nick Fenton, and director Matthew Heineman) (see with Under the Wire
Becoming (Unga) Astrid (Previewed at Scandinavia House (almost) on the birthday of Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren)
Mary, Queen of Scots (Kudos to Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, score by Max Richter, cinematographer John Mathieson, and the scenery)
Destroyer (Noir Division) (Kudos to Nicole Kidman)
Liz and the Blue Bird (Animation)
Night Comes On
Eighth Grade (Coming of Age Division)
On The Basis Of Sex (So, nu: On my commentary on the Jewish women - see with RBG) (My additional Note on a real lawyer.)


Documentary
Tongue Cutters (Tungeskjærerne) (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Lives of Thérèse (Les vies de Thérèse) (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Instructions on Parting (Of white, Christian, middle-class NH/UT POV) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Mama Colonel (Maman Colonelle) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Call Her Ganda (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Judge (at 2017 DOC NYC/PBS Independent Lens 2018)
The Bleeding Edge (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Girl and the Picture (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Birth Control Your Own Adventure (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
RBG (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (See with On the Basis of Sex)
A Woman Captured (Egy nö fogságban) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image and also shown at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Other Side of Everything (Druga strana suega) (seen at 2017 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
A Thousand Girls Like Me (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Facing the Dragon (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Worlds Of Ursula K. Le Guin (Kudos to animation by Molly Schwartz) (preview at 2018 DOC NYC) (PBS’s American Masters)
In Her Footsteps (Acharayich) (preview at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
Over The Limit (seen courtesy Film Movement)
Bei Bei (at 2018 DOC NYC)


Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fiction
Blame (Preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Boy Downstairs (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (Preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
My Art at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Half Magic (Satirical Comedy Division)
Montparnasse Bienvenüe (Jeune femme) (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Milla (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Nervous Translation (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Sunday’s Illness (La Enfermedad del Domingo) (Depressing Division) (Kudos to Susi Sánchez) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
I Kill Giants (Girl/Animated Divisions)
Virgins (Vierges/Ein Betulot Bakrayot) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
All About Nina (Kudos to Mary Elizabeth Winstead) So, nu: My commentary on the Jewish women. (preview and coda at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Amateurs (Amatörer) (preview and coda at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Blue Night (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Radium Girls (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Salam (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Puzzle (remake of Rompecabezas)
What Will People Say (Hva vil folk si) (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
A Family Tour (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Tzeva Adom: Color Red (short) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (seen at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Hate U Give (Coming of Age Division)
Vox Lux (Kudos to Natalie Portman)
Madeline’s Madeline (Kudos to Helena Howard) (courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories
Dumplin’ (on Netflix)


Documentaries
Yellow Is Forbidden (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Netizens (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Love, Gilda (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Women of the Venezuelan Chaos (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
On Her Shoulders (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Naila and the Uprising (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2017 DOC NYC) (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center) (included in PBS’s Women War & Peace II)
Generation Wealth
Kusama – Infinity (bio-doc preview courtesy of Magnolia Pictures and Film Forum)
Reversing Roe (seen on Netflix)
The Great Mother (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Heartbound (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Looking for Zion (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
China Love (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Under the Wire (see with A Private War)
Alicia (Depressing Coming-of-Age) (at 2018 DOC NYC)
We Are Not Princesses (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Hello Girls (short) (on PBS)
Brave Girls (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Commander Arian: A Story of Women, War & Freedom (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Feminist (Gudrun-konsten att vara människa) (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Heat: A Kitchen (R)Evolution (at 2018 DOC NYC)
See You Tomorrow, God Willing! (Hasta manaña, si Dios quiere) (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Life Without Basketball (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Bad Reputation (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)


BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES
Zama (Re-Imagined Colonial Division) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Rider (My capsule “Best of 2018” review) (at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Western (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
You Were Never Really Here (Very Violent Division)
O.G. (Violent Division) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Back Roads (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Knuckles (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Last Romantic (El Último Romántico) (Romantic Comedy Division) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Before Summer Ends (Avant la fin de l'été) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
A Ciambra
Ava (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Lean on Pete (Kudos to Charlie Plummer and the scenery)
Bag of Marbles (Un sac de billes) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
The Elephant and the Butterfly (Drôle de père) (previewed at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Life of Esteban (Het Leven van Estaban) (short) (previewed at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Breath (Kudos to Rick Rifici’s water cinematography)
Prickly Pear (Bajtra Tax-Xewk) (short) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Maltese Fighter (short) (Kudos to Malcolm Ellul) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Eve (Lejliet) (short) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
We The Animals (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Leave No Trace
Mid90s (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Capernaum (Chaos) (Kudos to director/co-writer Nadine Labaki)


BEST ROMANCES
Almost Paris (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Keep The Change (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (previewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Signature Move (Cross-Cultural Lesbian Division) (preview courtesy The Chicago Project)
Oh Lucy! (Dark Comedy Division) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
On Body and Soul (Testről és Lélekről) (seen on Netflix)
M (preview and coda at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Disobedience (previewed at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Cakemaker (Der Kuchenmacher) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women) (at 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (preview courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Cold War (Zimna wojna) (Kudos to the songs) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Write When You Get Work (NYC Division) (Kudos to writer/director Stacy Cochran and ensemble cast)
The Charmer (Noir Division) (preview at Film Forum)


Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
The Female Brain (preview courtesy IFC Films)
The Leisure Seeker
If Beale Street Could Talk (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Asako I & II (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Love, Simon


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Goldstone
The Guilty (Den skyldige) (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras) (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Stockholm (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Black Panther (streamed on VOD)
A Quiet Place
Searching


Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite quibbles
Gringo
Unsane
A Violent Life (Une vie violente) (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
This Is Our Land (Chez Nous) (Political Division) (preview courtesy of Film Forum)
First Man
Widows
Creed II (AKA Rocky VIII)
The Sisters Brothers (Kudos to cinematographer Benoît Debie) (My note on its pro-preventive dentistry.)


BEST NEO-NOIRS
The Great Buddha+ (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Sicilian Ghost Story (preview at 2018 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Boys Cry (La terra dell'abbastanza) (preview at 2018 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Third Murder (Sandome No Satsujin) (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Sweet Country (Kudos to director Warwick Thornton, cinematographer Dylan River, and ensemble)
American Animals


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC
Cargo (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Night Eats The World (La Nuit A Dévoré Le Monde) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Slows (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Border (Gräns) (Kudos to music, sound design, make-up, and Eva Melander)


Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Zoe (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Dark (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Laboratory Conditions (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sorry To Bother You (Social Satire Division)
Diamantino (Social Satire Division) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Above All Things (Romance Division) (courtesy of Choice Studios)


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
Django (preview at 2017 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Opera House (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Mama Africa (re-issue) (briefly reviewed in Final Roundup of the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
American Folk (Commentary on 9/11 treatment.)
Becks (Kudos to “lesbian folk rock” songs by Alyssa Robbins & Steve Salett) (Recommendation is not because the spouse of my 2nd cousin twice removed has a tiny part) (preview courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment)
Sing Song (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
The Day I Beat The Sky (Le jour où j'ai battu le ciel) (short animation) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
Souvenir (preview courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Hybridos, the Spirits of Brazil (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Barbara (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Rock in the Red Zone (seen at 2018 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Azougue Nazare (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Howard (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bathtubs Over Broadway (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
United Skates (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Homeless: The Soundtrack (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Velvet Underground Played At My High School (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Elvis Presley: The Searcher (seen on HBO)
The King (Music-related sections only)
Milford Graves Full Mantis (at 2018 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center) (preview courtesy of Cinema Guild)
Veslemøy’s Song (short) (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Star Is Born
Stranger of the Dunes (short) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman) (seen at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Maria By Callas
Mary Poppins Returns


Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Saturday Church (for the musical numbers) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Act & Punishment:The Pussy Riot Trials
Flip The Record (short) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
Habaneros (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Untitled (Pow Wow) (short – part of the North Dakota Museum of Art’s “Songs for Spirit Lake” project) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Nico, 1988 (Kudos to Trino Dyrholm) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Jeanette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (Jeannette, l'enfance de Jeanne d'Arc) (preview at 2018 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Flock of Four (preview courtesy of Abramorama)
Hearts Beat Loud (preview courtesy Gunpowder & Sky)
Bohemian Rhapsody (Kudos to Rami Malek)
Dennis & Lois (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Show's The Thing: The Legendary Promoters Of Rock (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Quincy (on Netflix)


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
Journey’s End
The Young Karl Marx (Le Jeune Karl Marx)
The Forgiven (preview courtesy of Saban Films)
Chappaquiddick
Blood & Glory (Modder en Bloed) (preview courtesy of Cleopatra Entertertainment)
In Times Of Fading Light (In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts) (preview courtesy of KINO! 2018 Festival of German Films)
Shock and Awe
The Front Runner
Green Book
22 July (on Netflix)
Black ‘47 (Depressing Division)


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
Mary and The Witch's Flower (preview courtesy of GKids)
Have A Nice Day (Chinese Noir Division) (preview courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Black Barbie (short) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
Next Door Spy (Nabospionen) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
Cat Days (Neko No Hi) (short) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm (Museum of Jewish Heritage/HBO documentary short) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
Tehran Taboo (preview at Film Forum)
KCLOC (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Liyana (Kudos to directors Amanda & Aaron Kopps, storyteller Gcina Mhlophe, and animator Shofela Coker) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight/also shown at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
Five Years After The War (Cinq ans après la guerre) (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Incredibles 2 (With Grandkid #1: First Movie in Theater – with big tub of popcorn)
Grand Bizarre (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Seder-Masochism (at 2019 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Ralph Breaks The Internet (NB: Rated PG) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish Princess.)
Mirai (preview courtesy of GKids)
Liz and the Blue Bird


Runners-Up: Animation I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Isle of Dogs
Lu Over the Wall (preview courtesy of GKids)
MFKZ (preview courtesy of GKids)


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES better than their movies:
Sir Ben Kingsley in An Ordinary Man and Operation Enemy


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun? (seen at 2017 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and also shown at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Last Days In Shibati (Derniers Jours a Shibati) (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
A Taste of Cement (Kudos to cinematographer Talal Khoury and his short Mediterranean) (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Railway Sleepers (Mon Rot Fai) (at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Playing Men (at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
You Have No Idea How Much I Love You (Nawet Nie Wiesz, Jak Bardzo Cie Kocham) (at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Polluting Paradise (Müll im Garten Eden) (preview courtesy of Strand Releasing)
The King of Twirl (De Majorette Koning van het Noorden) (short) (preview at 2018 New York International Children’s Film Festival)
In The Intense Now (No Intenso Agora) (seen at Film Forum)
Ramen Heads (preview courtesy of Gunpowder & Sky)
Jesser and the Sugarcane (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Abbeville (short) (Kudos to Equal Justice Initiative) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Spirit Lake (short – part of the North Dakota Museum of Art’s “Songs for Spirit Lake” project) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Find Fix Finish (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
The Long Season (Kudos to Leonard Retel Helmrich and Ramia Suleiman) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
’63 Boycott (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Black Memorabilia (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Rio Verde: El tiempo de los Yakurunas (Green River: The Time of the Yakurunas) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Leaning Into The Wind – Andy Goldsworthy
The Ancestral Sin (Sallah, Po Ze Eretz Yisrael) (seen at 2018 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival/ also screened at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
Makala (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
House Two (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tanzania Transit (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Feeling of Being Watched (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and also shown at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Nana (preview courtesy of First Run Features)
After Auschwitz (preview courtesy)
Studio 54 (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Charm City (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival) (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Home + Away (preview at 2018 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival)
The River of the Kukamas (The El Rio de los Kukamas) (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Into My Life (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Wendy’s Shabbat (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
5 October (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Hey Ronnie Reagan (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (My capsule “Best of 2018” review) (Commentary on 9/11 reference.)
What Haunts Us (seen on Starz)
The Distant Barking of Dogs (preview at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Voices of the Sea (Voces del Mar) (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Angkar (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
It Will Be Chaos (seen on HBO)
This is Home: A Refugee Story (seen on Epix)
Cielo (kudos to the night sky) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Three Identical Strangers (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Minding the Gap (My capsule “Best of 2018” review) (preview courtesy of Hulu and Kartemquin Films)
Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story (Docu-Series preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, then on Paramount Channel)
Science Fair (preview courtesy of National Geographic)
Monrovia, Indiana (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Waldheim Waltz (Waldheims Walzer) (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (So, nu: my commentary on the director as a Jewish woman.)
Valeria Street (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Eye of the Needle (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Chooka (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Labyrinth (El Laberinto) (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
jeny303 (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Of Fathers And Sons (at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and also shown at 2018 DOC NYC )
People’s Republic of Desire (seen at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and also shown at 2018 DOC NYC)
False Confessions (at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and also shown at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Panama Papers (seen at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival) (on Epix)
Out of Omaha (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Kleptocrats (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Cracked Up (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Laila at the Bridge (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Crime + Punishment (seen courtesy of “Short List” at 2018 DOC NYC) (available on Hulu)
Megiddo (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (seen at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
Free Solo
Bisbee ‘17 (seen in 2018 Contenders MoMA)
They Shall Not Grow Old (and Peter Jackson’s accompanying “Making of”)
306 Hollywood (Kudos to filmmakers and devoted grandchildren Elan and Jonathan Bogarín) (seen courtesy of El Tigre Productions)
The Sentence (“Shortlist” at 2018 DOC NYC/HBO)
The Rescue List (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Patrimonio (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Of Fish and Foe (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Elephant Path (Njaia Njoku) (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Grit (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Providers (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Fire on the Hill: The Cowboys Of South Central LA (Kudos to cinematography and score.) (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Our New President (Amazon stream)


Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Tinselwood (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Mr. Gay Syria (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
Starting Over Again (seen at 2018 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Hale County This Morning, This Evening (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Meteors (Meteorlar) (preview at 2018 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Workers Cup (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Momentum Generation (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Crossroads (preview at 2018 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival)
Far From The Tree (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
The Steel Mill Café (Buffet Željezara) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Beyond The One (Al Di Là Dell'uno) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Anote’s Ark (preview at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Unafraid (brief review at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center and updated Q & A at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
American Jail (seen on CNN)
Dark Money (preview courtesy of PBS Distribution/POV)
Fahrenheit 11/9 (preview courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center)
93Queen (as seen on PBS’s POV)
The Truth About Killer Robots (at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and also shown at 2018 DOC NYC)
Foreign Land (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
City of Joel (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Be/longing (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
A Murder in Mansfield (at 2018 DOC NYC/ Investigation Discovery)
The World Before Your Feet (Commentary on 9/11 memorials) (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Dawn Wall
Distant Constellation (seen courtesy of Grasshopper Film )
The Last Resort (at 2018 DOC NYC /preview courtesy of Kino Lorber)
The Last Race (seen courtesy of Magnolia)
16 Bars (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Other Rio (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Blessing (at 2018 DOC NYC) (Kudos to director/cinematographer Hunter Robert Baker and music by Kevin Kiner and David Russell, especially lead guitar)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
The Peacemaker (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Seeing Allred (seen on Netflix)
Western Wild…or how I found wanderlust and met Old Shatterhand (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
13, a ludodrama about Walter Benjamin (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
George (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
When Paul Came Over The Sea: Journal of an Encounter (Als Paul über das Meer kam – Tagebuch einer Begegnung (preview courtesy of KINO! 2018 Festival of German Films)
McQueen (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Gospel According to André (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment and Film Forum) (PBS’s American Masters)
Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center and Capsule, also shown at 2018 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Last Stop Coney Island: The Life and Photography of Harold Feinstein (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists (HBO) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (Commentary on 9/11 reference.) (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Witkin & Witkin (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Artist & The Pervert (at 2018 DOC NYC)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
Filmworker (at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Prototype (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Room H.264: Brooklyn, NY, June 2016/Room H.264: Astoria, NY, January 2018 (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Exiled (L'Exilé) (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Other Episodes/Missing Episode (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Measuring Change/L. Cohen/Readers (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Get Up and Go/A Spin Through Night City/Along The Elevated (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Hitler’s Hollywood: German Cinema In The Age Of Propaganda: 1933 - 1945 (preview courtesy of Film Forum)
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival) (Note on 9/11 reference)
Cosmic Debris (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Saving Brinton (Bravo Mike Zahs)

- NYC Opening Night panel on women directors: Director Amy Adrion; interviewees Mary Harron & Chris Hegedus, and Women & Hollywood’s Melissa Silverstein. (I attended courtesy of FF2 Media)
Half the Picture
King Cohen (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
A Whale of A Tale (Okujirasama) (Preview courtesy Fine Line Media)
Introduzione All'Oscuro (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Searching for/Auf Der Suche Ingmar Bergman (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival and Capsule of Film at Lincoln Center)
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/Netflix)
Creating A Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Hal (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Shirkers (on Netflix)
Jane Fonda in Five Acts (on HBO)
The Greenaway Alphabet (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Insufferable Groo (at 2018 DOC NYC)
What She Said: The Art Of Pauline Kael (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)


EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
In The Land Of Pomegranates (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Ghost Hunting (Istiyad Ashbah) (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
West Of The Jordan River (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (at 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Out of My Head (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight) (also shown at 2018 Reelabilities Film Festival - NY)
Why Do They Hate Us? (Pourquoi nous détestent-ils) (seen at 2018 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Eating Animals (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
Into The Okavango (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (preview at 2018 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Man Who Stole Banksy (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
King in the Wildersness (on HBO)
The End of Fear (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Maineland (Kudos to Sean Price Williams’ cinematography) (preview courtesy of Abramorama)
Pressing On: The Letterpress Film
Five Seasons - The Gardens Of Piet Oudolf (preview courtesy of Argot Pictures)
The Cleaners (preview at 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Hope Against the Haze (VR short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
I Am The Revolution (preview at 2018 DOC NYC)
Piripkura (seen courtesy of Cinema Libre)
The China Hustle (seen courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)
Perfect (Parfaites) (seen courtesy of Upstream Flix)
Cooked: Survival By Zip Code (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Inside Lehman Brothers (at 2018 DOC NYC)
The Smartest Kids In The World (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Stars In The Sky: A Hunting Story (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Harvest Season (at 2018 DOC NYC) (PBS Independent Lens)
Exit: Leaving Extremism Behind (at 2018 DOC NYC) (also available in German Film Office/Anthology Film Archives 2021 German Documentary Showcase)
Boys Who Like Girls (at 2018 DOC NYC)
Bleed Out (at 2018 DOC NYC/HBO)
Memory Games (at 2018 DOC NYC)
North Pole, NY (at 2018 DOC NYC)


MOST DEPRESSING
Nostalgia
Where Is Kyra?


BEST COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
The Saint Bernard Syndicate (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Welcome Home (Velkommen til oss) (short) (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)
Under the Tree (Undir trénu) (Dark Comedy Division)
Ocean’s 8
Crazy Rich Asians


THEME OF THE YEAR: POETRY
Scary Mother (Sashishi deda) (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
The Dreamed Ones (Die Geträumten) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image/ at 2016 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center) (poets Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan)
Correspondences (Correspondências) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image) (poets Sophia de Mello Breyner and Jorge de Sena)
Gavagai (Kudos to the cinematography and Tarjei Vesaas’s poetry) (preview courtesy of Shadow Distribution
I Hope I'm Loud When I'm Dead (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Mixed Signals (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Luminous Shadow (Sombra Luminosa) (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Death of a Poetess (Mot HaMeshoreret) (So, nu: commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2018 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Kindergarten Teacher (preview from Netflix) (American re-make of the Israeli The Kindergarten Teacher (Haganenet) - So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
MS Slavic 7 (at 2019 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)


BEST for the SCENERY
Let The Summer Never Come Again (at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Dérive Veneziane (long short) (seen at MoMA’s 2018 Documentary Fortnight)
In the Last Days of the City (Akher ayam el madina) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Djon Africa (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Drift (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Arcadia (short) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Ada Kaleh (short) (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST for the CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
24 Frames (seen at Film at Lincoln Center)
Winter Brothers (Vinterbrødre) (preview at 2018 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA
Obey (preview at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival)


THANKS TO THEATRICAL REVIVALS/RESTORATIONS for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
Avanti Popolo (1966) (at 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Late Summer Blues (Blues Lahofesh Hagadol) (1988) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (at 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Siege (Matzor) (1969) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (at 2018 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Room 666 (seen at 2018 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Case For The New Hangman (Prípad pro zacinajíciho kata) (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Illiac Passion (seen at 2018 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Wanda (restored print) (preview courtesy of Janus Films)
Rendez Vous in July (new 4K restoration) (centerpiece of Jacques Becker: Complete Retrospective at at Film Forum)
The Other Side Of The Wind (preview at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (See on Netflix with Morgan Neville’s making-of documentary They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead)
Ericka Beckman shorts restored: Cinderella and You the Better (preview and Capsule at 2018 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


MY BEST FILMS of 2017 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Chapter & Verse (preview at 2016 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Sincerely (Atentamente) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
After the Storm (Umi yori mo mada fukaku) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Odyssey (preview at 2017 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
White Sun (Seto Surya) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Graduation (Bacalaureat) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Nakom (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Hymyilevä mies)
Norman: The Moderate Rise And Tragic Fall Of A New York Fixer (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Holy Air (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Newton (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sambá (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Phone Calls (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Suitcase (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
World in Your Window (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pineapple (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
King of the Belgians (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Stuff Of Dreams (La Stoffa Dei Sogni) (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
1945 (My capsule “Best of 2017” review) (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Journey (My additional note.) (Note on 9/11 reference)
Pop Aye (preview at Film Forum)
Columbus (Kudos to Haley Lu Richardson, writer/director Kogonada, and architecture in Indiana)
The Fencer (Miekkailija)
I Dream In Another Language (Sueño en otro idioma) (preview courtesy of Film Rise)
Crown Heights
The Teacher (Ucitelka) (My capsule “Best of 2017” review) (preview at Film Forum)
Woodpeckers (Carpinteros)
The Meyerowitz Stories (New And Selected) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish (?) women.) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
BPM (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Last Flag Flying (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Mudbound (Kudos to writer/director Dee Rees, cinematographer Rachel Morrison, and ensemble) (within Rees’s career perspective) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Kudos to Frances McDormand & ensemble, and writer/director Martin McDonagh)
Stronger (Kudos to ensemble, especially Jake Gyllenhaal)
Gook
Dayveon
The Post (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)


Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Gold
The Founder
The Salesman (Forushande)
Trespass Against Us
Land of Mine (Under sandet) (My additional note.)
Arábia (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Person to Person (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Diamond Island (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Last of Us (Akher Wahed Fina) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Arábia (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Wound (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
King of Peking (Jing Cheng Zhi Wang) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Zookeeper’s Wife (So, nu: additional notes and my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Amerika Square (Plateia Amerikis) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Stanko (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Harmonium (preview courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Foster Portfolio (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Life Boat (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Pirates of Somalia (Dabka) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Navigator (Kartleseren) (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Brigsby Bear
Lucky
Molly’s Game
The Disaster Artist
The Other Side Of Hope (Toivon tuolla puolen)
One Week and a Day (Shavua ve Yom) (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories)


BEST FEMALE POV
Fiction
A Quiet Passion (kudos to Cynthia Nixon and writer/director Terence Davies) (My capsule review) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
My Happy Family (Chemi Bednieri Ojakhi) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Lady MacBeth (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Their Finest
Ice Mother (Bába z ledu) (kudos to Zuzana Kronerová and writer/director Bohdan Sláma) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Wedding Plan (Laavor et hakir) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (New York premiere preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Woman of a Certain Age (short series preview in New Online Work (N.O.W.) Showcase at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Again (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Big Sister (Ahotcha) (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Don't Mess With Julie Whitfield (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Fry Day (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Joy Joy Nails (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Little Bird (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Viola, Franca (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
YOYO (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Maudie (kudos to Sallie Hawkins)
Moka (Noir Division)
The Beguiled (Noir Division)
The Midwife (Sage Femme)
Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge (My capsule review) (preview at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Strange Weather (kudos to Holly Hunter, music by Sharon Van Etten, and Mississippi locations)
Novitiate (kudos to Melissa Leo)
Polina (preview courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories)
The Unknown Girl (La fille inconnue) (Noir Division) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
In The Fade (Aus dem Nichts)
Spoor (Pokot) (Kudos to Agnieszka Mandat-Grabka) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Battle of the Sexes (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
I, Tonya (Kudos to Margot Robbie and Allison Janney)


Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Moon in the 12th House (Yareach BeBayit 12) (preview at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
One Percent More Humid (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Flower (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
3 Generations
The Divine Order (Die göttliche Ordnung) (My report on its Nora Ephron Award win) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Beehive (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Dive (Salta) (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Landline (for the sororial relationship) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Rehearsal (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Amnesia (kudos to digital cinematography)
Victoria and Abdul (kudos to Judi Dench)
Félicité (For Kinshasa mise en scène) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Thelma (Supernatural Division) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Tribes of Palo Verdes (Kudos to surfer girl)


Documentary
Speed Sisters (preview at 2015 DOC NYC) (My note on the dental connection.)
Mr. Bernstein (short) (preview at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Suitable Girl (briefly at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
I Am Evidence (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hilda (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Heroin (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Love The Sinner (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mother’s Day (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
New Deep South: House of JXN (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sick (Bolesno) (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Run Mama Run (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Spring (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
What Happened To Her (short) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Lindy Lou, Juror Number 2 (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Faces Places (Visages, villages) (Viva Varda with JR) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Rape of Recy Taylor (preview at 201s7 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Soufra (Needs dish names and recipe descriptions –other than buying the cookbook for $70) (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)


DOCUMENTARY Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
P.S. Jerusalem (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2015 DOC NYC) (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and at IFC Center)
All This Panic (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Apology (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Big Sonia (at 2016 DOC NYC)
A Better Man (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)


BEST FEMALE VIEW OF MALES
Beach Rats (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Detroit (Kudos to ensemble)
Nobody’s Watching (Nadie Nos Mira) (kudos to Guillermo Pfening) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Son of Sofia (O Gios tis Sofias) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Wetlands (for the NJ Noir atmosphere)


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Alone in Berlin (seen courtesy IFC Films)
Sexy Druga (kudos to cinematography) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Hounds of Love (kudos to Emma Booth and score by Dan Luscombe) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Wall (kudos to Aaron Taylor-Johnson and editor Julia Bloch)
Wonder Woman
The Exception (kudos to chemistry between Lily James and Jai Courtney) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Two Sentence Horror Stories: MA (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
It Comes At Night (Post-Apocalyptic Division) (kudos to cinematographer Drew Daniels and score/sound design)
Logan Lucky (kudos to script by whoever is Rebecca Blunt)
Dunkirk in IMAX (kudos to cinematography, sound design/score)
Good Time (kudos to Queens locations, score by Oneohtrix Point Never (aka Daniel Lopatin), Robert Pattinson, and casting)
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Deadpan Supernatural Division)
Get Out (Satirical Division)
Logan
I Don't Feel At Home In This World (Deadpan Comic Division)
All the Money In The World (Kudos to the ensemble)


Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite quibbles
Visaranai (seen in India’s New Wave at Museum of the Moving Image)
Nocturama (preview at 2017 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Buster’s Mal Heart (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Baby Driver (kudos to “choreography”)
Shot Caller (kudos to sound design)
Wind River (kudos to score, indigenous casting, and Rocky Mountains scenery)
Atomic Blonde (the violence vs. women just got too over the top)
The Legend Of Ben Hall (kudos to historicity and Australian scenery) (DVD/VOD preview courtesy of Vega Baby Releasing & Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
6 Days (preview courtesy of Vertical Entertainment)
Rememory (kudos to Peter Dinklage) (preview on Google Play)
Hostiles (kudos to the NM and MT scenery)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Kudos to the production design)


BEST NEO-NOIRS
The Ardennes (preview courtesy of Flanders House)
Detour (kudos to writer/director Christopher Smith, trio of Emory Cohen, Tye Sheridan & Bel Powley, cinematographer Chris Ross, editor Kristina Hetherington, score by Toydrum) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Midnight Service (shorts series preview in New Online Work (N.O.W.) Showcase at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sweet Virginia (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Drowning (kudos to Avan Jogia and score by Radium Cheung and Jamin O’Brien) (preview at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Nile Hilton Incident (Die Nile Hilton Affäre) (kudos to writer/director Tarik Saleh, Fares Fares, editing, and cinematography) (preview courtesy of Strand Releasing)
The Limehouse Golem (kudos to scripter Jane Goldman, actors Olivia Cooke and Douglas Booth)


BEST ROMANCES
The Big Sick (Note on 9/11 reference)
The Mountain Between Us (kudos to the scenery)
God’s Own Country (My capsule “Best of 2017” review) (preview at Film Forum)

Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool
Band Aid (kudos to filmmaker/star Zoe Lister-Jones) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)


Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
World’s Apart (Political Division)
From the Land of the Moon (Mal de pierres) (preview at 2017 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Autumn, Autumn (Chuncheon, chuncheon) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Pendular (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Vincent N Roxxy (for, literally, diehard fans of Emile Hirsch and Emory Cohen like me) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Lovers (Mature Division) (Kudos to score by Mandy Hoffman) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Europe, She Loves (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)


Runners-Up: BEST ANTI-ROMANCES
After Love (L'économie du couple)
Phantom Thread (Kudos to Vicky Krieps and the costumes)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
Lady Bird (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Wonderstruck (Kudos to casting emotive deaf actress Millie Simmonds as a deaf child; Kudos to director Todd Haynes and writer Brian Selznick for incorporating -- beautifully by cinematographer Edward Lachman-- my beloved Panorama of the City of New York - but no you can’t walk on it!) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Fanny’s Journey (Le voyage de Fanny) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish females.) (seen at Cinematek Forest Hills)


Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Kepler’s Dream


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL
November ehk Rehepapp (kudos to cinematographer Mart Taniel, sound designer Marco Vermaas, composer Jacaszek) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Survivalist (Post-Apocalyptic Division) (kudos to Martin McCann, Mia Goth, and Olwen Fouere) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Ghost Story
Blade Runner 2049
Shape of Water


Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL I Recommend Despite My Gripes
The Bad Batch
Marjorie Prime (preview in Future Imperfect: The Uncanny In Science Fiction at Museum of Modern Art)
Downsizing (Kudos to production design)
Okja
Colossal


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
The Lost City of Z (kudos to cinematographer Darius Khondji) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Afterimage (Powidoki) (preview at Tribute to Andrzej Wajda of Film at Lincoln Center and Polish Cultural Institute)
A United Kingdom
The Summer Is Gone (Ba yue)) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Death of Louis XIV (La mort de Louis XIV) (kudos to Jean-Pierre Léaud) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Cezanne and Me (Cezanne et Moi) (kudos to scenery, cinematography, costumes)
Frantz (preview at 2017 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Promise (see with Joe Berlinger’s Intent to Destroy “making of” documentary for historical and cinemtographical context, preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tommy's Honour
Chuck (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cloudy Sunday (Ouzeri Tsitsanis/Ουζερί Τσιτσάνης) (seen at 2017 New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival)
Stefan Zweig: Farewell To Europe (Vor Der Morgenröte - Stefan Zweig In Amerika) (at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Days that Confused (Päevad, mis ajasid segadusse) (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
13 Minutes (Elser)
Endless Poetry (Poesía Sin Fin) (Kudos to production design)
The Viceroy’s House
Breathe
LBJ
The Darkest Hour (Kudos to Gary Oldman and make-up/prosthetics)
The Man Who Invented Christmas (Kudos to ensemble, especially Christopher Plummer – bring tissues!)


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
Strike A Pose (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bang! The Bert Berns Story (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
The Lure (Córki dancingu) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Mr. Gaga (preview at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Dancer (La danseuse) (preview at 2017 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Smoke That Travels (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
The Paris Opera (preview at 2017 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Book of Clarence (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Patti Cake$ (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
I Called Him Morgan (at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
When God Sleeps (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
I Am The Blues (My additional notes.)
Olancho (seen in 2017 Rural Route Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image where I presume I’m in this audience Q & A)
La Barracuda (Noir Division) (preview in 2017 Rural Route Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Step
Let’s Play Two
Trouble No More (at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Rebels On Pointe (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
Beatles, Hippies And Hells Angels: Inside The Crazy World Of Apple (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
Sammy Davis: I’ve Gotta Be Me (preview at 2017 DOC NYC) (PBS’s American Masters)
David Bowie: The Last Five Years (preview at 2017 DOC NYC) (HBO)
Itzhak (seen at 2017 DOC NYC) (PBS’s American Masters) (Commentary on the Jewish women)
Song of Granite
Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars (at 2017 DOC NYC) (Showtime)
Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead (Amazon)


Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Junction ‘48 (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Midsummer In Newtown (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Reset (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Folk Hero & Funny Guy (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Beauty and the Beast (2D)
Mali Blues (Preview courtesty of Icarus Films)
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World (preview at Film Forum)
Sidemen: Long Road To Glory (preview courtesy of Abramorama)
Indivisible (Fantasy Division)
Extraordinary Ordinary People (preview courtesy of First Run Features and Masters of Traditional Arts)
May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories)
The Greatest Showman


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
My Life As A Zucchini (Ma vie de Courgette) (in French)
Half A Life (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Odd is an Egg (Odd er et egg) (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Girl Without Hands (La jeune fille sans mains) (in French)
Loving Vincent
Coco (3D)
The Breadwinner (preview courtesy of GKids)


Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Mune: Guardian Of The Moon (Mune, le gardien de la lune) (preview courtesy of GKids)
Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming


BEST for the CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Live Cargo (Note to Wire fans) (kudos to cinematographer Daniella Nowitz) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Icaros: A Vision (kudos to scenery, visual and sound design) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Super Dark Times (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Erlprince (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Kékszakállú (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Wonder Wheel (Kudos also for costume and production design: so stream with the sound off) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Call Me by Your Name (Gay Guy Teen With Older Hunk Division) (Kudos to cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom) (Commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST OF THE CINEMA OF THE ABSURD:
Do Re Mi Fa (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Square (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES better than their movies:
Bryan Cranston in Wakefield
Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Bill Pullman in The Ballad of Lefty Brown (kudos to scenery, too)


BEST VILLAIN
”Rabbi David” (Aviv Alush) in The Women’s Balcony (Ismach Hatani) (at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
The Settlers (Ha'mitnakhalim) (Additional commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Dimona Twist (at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Hummus! The Movie (Commentary on the Jewish woman) (at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum; then at Mi>Forest Hills Jewish Center Cinematek)
Balloonfest (short) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
A Model Family in a Model Home (short) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Territory (Territorio) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Boone (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Animals Under Anaesthesia: Speculations on the Dreamlife of Beasts (short) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Reichstag 9/11 (short) (seen with additional Ken Jacobs’ shorts: Windbreaker (World premiere); Cyclops Observes the Celestial Bodies (U.S. premiere); Popeye Sees 3-D (NY premiere) in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Between Fences (Bein gderot/Entre Les Frontières) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Keep Quiet (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Uncertain (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Last Laugh (Commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Machines (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Broken (Kaputt) (animated short) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
#Bars4Justice (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
The Revolution Won’t Be Televised (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Through the Repellent Fence: A Land Art Film (Kudos to Postcommodity) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Austerlitz (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Gaza Surf Club (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
When Rabbit Left the Moon (short) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Plastic China (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Irrawaddy Mon Amour (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Tell Them We Are Rising (PBS’s Independent Lens) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Strong Island (PBS’s POV) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Quest (PBS’s POV) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Tickling Giants (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Night School (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Rat Film (kudos to director Theo Anthony) (preview at 2016 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Wind Knows That I'm Coming Back Home (El viento sabe que vuelvo a casa) (preview at 2017 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
A River Below (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
True Conviction (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Farthest (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Holdouts (short preview in New Online Work (N.O.W.) Showcase at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
New Deep South: House of JXN (short series preview in New Online Work (N.O.W.) Showcase at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
I LIVED: Brooklyn (short preview in New Online Work (N.O.W.) Showcase at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
In Transit (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Skull + Bone (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Last Animals (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Watched (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Acorn and The Firestorm (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Swagger (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Safari (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Abacus: Small Enough To Jail (episode of PBS’s Frontline) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Muhi - Generally Temporary and additional review (Commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Blood Is At The Doorstep (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Water Warriors (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lost in Lebanon and additional review (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Grown-Ups (Los Niños) (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
City of Ghosts and additional review (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Icarus (seen on Netflix)
Spettacolo (preview courtesy of Grasshopper Film)
Motherland (Bayan Ina Mo) (preview courtesy of The Film Collaborative)
Trophy (preview courtesy of The Orchard)
Red Trees (preview courtesy of Cohen Media Group)
Voyeur (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Tempest (Tempestad) (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and at IFC Center)
One of Us (Updates) (preview for 2017 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Cocaine Prison (seen at 2017 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Devil’s Freedom (La Libertad Del Diablo) (seen at 2017 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
The Field (at 2017 Other Israel Film Festival)
Waiting for Giraffes (at 2017 Other Israel Film Festival)
Born in Deir Yassin (Nolad Be’Deir Yassin) (at 2017 Other Israel Film Festival)
Cradle of Champions (at 2017 DOC NYC)
EuroTrump (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
Mole Man (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
Sky & Ground (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
Brimstone & Glory (kudos to cinematography and score by Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer) (seen courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Miss Kiet’s Children (De kinderen van juf Kiet) (preview courtesy of Film Forum)
Last Men in Aleppo (seen on Netflix)


Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Karl Marx City (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Obit (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bugs (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Sunshine Makers (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
Out There (documentary/fiction hybrid) (Notes on 9/11 reference) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
From False to Legal in One Take (De falso a legal una toma)/Prospector/Misters Without Blame (Nores sin señalar)/Sakura, Sakura/This Bogeyman/Inside the Inside (L’en-Dedans/Untitled) (seen in On Resistance: International Avant-Garde Films & Videos 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Betting On Zero (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Wolf and Sheep (documentary/fiction hybrid) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Mixed Feelings (seen at 2017 SR Socially Relevant Film Festival)
The Departure (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Copwatch (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
In Flint (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Far from Home (En otra casa) (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Nowhere To Hide (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Good Postman (Hyvä postimies) (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Warning: This Drug May Kill You (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Complicit (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
No Dress Code Required (Etiqueta NO Rigurosa) (My additional Note.) (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Almost Sunrise (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Force (also briefly reviewed 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Whose Streets?
Ex Libris – The New York Public Library (preview courtesy of Film Forum and NYPL)
Company Town (preview courtesy of First Run Features)
Sea Sorrow (as a PSA) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
No Stone Unturned (seen at 2017 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Trust WHO (seen at 2017 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
End of Truth (seen at 2017 Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival)
Naples ‘44
Traffic Stop (short) (on HBO)
Heroin(e) (short) (on Netflix)
Knife Skills (short) (seen on New Yorker)
Edith + Eddie (short) (seen on Topic)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Everybody Knows…Elizabeth Murray (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Something About Life (Nesto o zivotu)/A Short Family Film (Kratki obiteljski film) (shorts) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
Acts & Intermissions (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Tip of My Tongue (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back (Note on 9/11 reference) (Compare and contrast with the fictional artists in The Family Fang) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Citizen Jane: Battle For The City (Commentary on the Jewish women) (review) (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Letters From Baghdad: The True Story of Gertrude Bell and Iraq (Commentary on the Jewish women) (at 2016 DOC NYC)
The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography (My commentary on her as a Jewish woman) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Burden (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shadowman (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hondros (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Heroin (short preview in New Online Work (N.O.W.) Showcase at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Ben-Gurion: Epilogue (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Get Me Roger Stone (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Woody’s Order (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Jane (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Hall of Mirrors (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Caniba (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINÉPHILES:
Helmut Berger, Actor (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
How I Fell in Love with Eva Ras (Kako Sam Se Zaljubio U Evu Ras/Como Me Apaixonei por Eva Ras) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
My Journey Through French Cinema (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
David Lynch: The Art Life (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival) (Commentary on the Jewish women)
I Am Heath Ledger (for his personal videos/films) (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Tyrus (broadcast on PBS’s American Masters in honor of the 75th anniversary of Bambi)
Dawson City – Frozen Time (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center courtesy of MoMA)
Escapes
Arthur Miller: Writer (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Spielberg (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Vigilante: The Incredible True Story Of Curtis Sliwa And The Guardian Angels (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
The Iconoclast (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2017 DOC NYC)
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (at 2015 DOC NYC)
The Problem With Apu (at 2017 DOC NYC)


EDUCATIONAL DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Shalom Rabin (preview at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
My Scientology Movie (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sacred (Commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2016 DOC NYC) (On PBS in 2017)
LA 92 (preview at 2017 DOC NYC) (On National Geographic Channel) (I more recommend John Ridley’s Let It Fall: Lost Angeles 1982 – 1992, as broadcast on ABC, for unique interviews and archival photographs providing far more context and perspective.)
haveababy aka Vegas Baby (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Risk (at 2017 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Mariupolis (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Wasted! The Story of Food Waste (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
500 Years and Capsule Review (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Home Truth (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Black Code (preview at 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The House On Coco Road (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Birthright: A War Story
Off Frame AKA Revolution Until Victory (seen in New Adventures in Non-Fiction at Museum of the Moving Image)
Human Flow
School Life
Chasing Coral
Cuba and The Cameraman (at 2017 DOC NYC)
Destination Unknown
Aida’s Secrets (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2017 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Cries From Syria
I Am Another You


Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
The Giant (Jätten) (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Wilson
One Thousand Junkies [Cynical Division] (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Take Me [Cynical Division] (preview at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shiva (Commentary on the Jewish women) (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
New York Is Dead (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lemon (short) (briefly reviewed at 2017 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lost in Paris (Paris pieds nus)


Most Depressing
I (Já), Olga Hepnarová (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Florida Project (Kudos to Willem Dafoe) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
Loveless (Nelyubov)


BEST for the SCENERY
Documentary:
The Letters (Las Letras) (seen at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight)
The Challenge (preview at 2017 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)


BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Kaos (preview at Film Forum in Pirandello 150)
Granular Film - Beirut (short) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
L’en-Dedans (Inside the Inside) (short) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
A Kind Of Loving (preview at Film Forum in The Brit New Wave)
Maurice [note error in publicity materials: Phoebe Nicholls’ “Anne” is naïve not “shallow”] (preview courtesy Cohen Media)
Le Trou (preview at Film Forum)
The Four Sisters: Baluty; The Hippocratic Oath; The Merry Flea; Noah’s Ark (So, nu: my commentary on these Jewish women from Shoah.) (preview at 2017 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)

And thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
Recordando El Ayer (short) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
City in Flames (Stadt in Flammen) (short) (seen in 2017 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
”Emiko Omori Retrospective” at MoMA’s 2017 Documentary Fortnight: Rabbit in the Moon (1999); Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm (co-directed with Wendy Slick) (2007); Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World (2010); To Chris Marker, An Unsent Letter (2012)
Notes sur l’émigration. Espagne 1960 (seen in 2017 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)


NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
Agnès Varda: Visual Artist at Blum & Poe with Agnès Varda: Life As Art Special Talk at French Institute: Alliance Franҫaise in association with Rendez-Vous with French Cinema and at Film at Lincoln Center)

The Jim Henson Exhibition permanent installation at Museum of the Moving Image


MY BEST FILMS of 2016 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Aferim! (kudos to the cinematography) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
A War (Krigen)
Embrace of the Serpent (El abrazo de la serpiente)
Dheepan (My edited capsule “Best of 2016” review) (My additional note.) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Thithi (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
El Clásico (kudos to scenery) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Love & Friendship (kudos to Kate Beckinsale, costumes and hair)
You Can Go (short) (kudos to S. Epatha Merkerson) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Simshar (kudos to director/co-writer Rebecca Cremona) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Home Care (Domácí péce) (kudos to director/writer/co-star Slávek Horák) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Neruda (kudos to editing and cinematography) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sieranevada (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Paterson (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Manchester By The Sea (kudos to Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, and Lucas Hedges, cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes, and writer/director Kenneth Lonergan) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Jackie (kudos to Natalie Portman, scripter Noah Oppenheim, director Pablo Larrain and scorer Mica Levi) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Fences (kudos to director/star Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, and the production design/use of the Pittsburgh locale)


Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
My Golden Days (Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse) (kudos to Lou Roy-Lecollinet) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Rams (Hrútar)
The Club (El Club) (no “Old Testament” references?)
The Project of the Century (La obra del siglo) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Cemetery Of Splendour (Rak ti Khon Kaen) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to the CPAP machines)
Valley of Love (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Huppert, Depardieu and Death Valley)
Life After Life (Zhi Fan Ye Mao) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Louder Than Bombs
The Ticket (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Measure of a Man (La loi du marché) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Don’t Think Twice (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Tenth Man (El Rey Del Once)) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Hologram for the King (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Money Monster
The People vs. Fritz Bauer (Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer) - long review; review in series - Enemy Territory – Fritz Bauer & Postwar Germany in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image) and at the Goethe Institut)
Captain Fantastic
Last Cab to Darwin (preview courtesy of First Run Features)
Island City (seen in India’s New Wave at Museum of the Moving Image)
I, Daniel Blake (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Man Called Ove (En man som heter Ove)
Toni Erdmann (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Denial (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Loving
Rules Don’t Apply (kudos to Warren Beatty, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and Lorraine Feather & and Eddie Arkin’s title song)
Florence Foster Jenkins (kudos to costumes)
A Bigger Splash (kudos to locale)


THE RETURN OF THE “WOMAN’S” PICTURE
Sunset Song (kudos to Agyness Deyn and the Scottish scenery) (preview at 2016 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
My King (Moi Roi) (Amour Fou Division) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Emmanuelle Bercot)
The Dressmaker (Satirical Division) (kudos to Judy Davis and costumes by Marion Boyce and Margot Wilson) Best Woman-Directed Feature 2016
The Light Between Oceans (kudos to score by Alexandre Desplat and scenery)
Julieta (kudos to score by Alberto Iglesias) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Ali And Nino (kudos to the Azerbaijan scenery)


BEST FEMALE POV -- My favorite female-directed films of 2016, selected for FF2 Media.
Mi Madre (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Fits (kudos to Royalty Hightower and sound design) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Sworn Virgin (Vergine Giurata) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Always Shine (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hold On (Houvast) (short) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Homeland (Hemland) (short) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Nkosi Coiffure (short) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Ping Pong Coach (乒乓) (short) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Father’s Day (short) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Anna (Per amor vostro) (kudos to Valeria Golino, director Giuseppe Gaudino, score by Epsilon Indi, and cinematographer Matteo Cocco) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Wednesday Child (A szerdai gyerek) (kudos to Kinga Vecsei and writer/director Lili Horváth) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Diary Of A Chambermaid (Journal d'une femme de chamber)
Parched (preview courtesy of Wolfe Releasing)
The Kind Words (Ha'milim ha'tovot) (preview for the 2016 Israel Film Center Festival courtesy of Strand Releasing)
Our Little Sister
Equity (kudos to Anna Gunn) Best Woman-Directed Feature 2016 (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Tale of Love and Darkness (Commentary on the Jewish women) (kudos to cinematographer Slawomir Idziak) Best Woman-Directed Foreign-Language Film 2016 (preview at 2016 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Aquarius (kudos to Sônia Braga) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy (short) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Krisha
The Innocents


Runners-Up: FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Fatima (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Parisienne (Peur de rien) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Much Loved (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Kill Me Please (Mate-me por favor) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Happy Hour (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Califórnia (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mother (Ema) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Children of the Mountain (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
All We Had (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
AWOL (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Meddler (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Things To Come (L’avenir) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
American Honey (kudos to the soundtrack)
Christine (kudos to Rebecca Hall)
Queen of Katwe (kudos to the African music soundtrack and locale)
Sand Storm (Sufat Chol)
Edge of 17 (caveat: the teens all look 25)
Dobro (short) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Baden Baden (preview at Anthology Film Archives, courtesy of MUBI)
White Girl
Hidden Figures (Way Back Machine Division)


BEST ROMANCES
Lolo (Rom Com Division) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Cleaner (Cistic) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image) (Obsession Division)
Southside With You (Way Back Machine Division)
From the Diary of a Wedding Photographer (Myomano Shel Tzlam Hatonot) (Anti-Romance Division) (short) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Tumbledown (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Summertime (La Belle saison) (Amour Fou Lesbian Division) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Perfect Strangers (Perfetti sconosciuti) (Anti-Romance Division) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
Songs My Brothers Taught Me (kudos to writer/director Chloé Zhao and cinematographer Joshua James Richards)
Hunt For The Wilderpeople (kudos to the cast, script, directing, scenery, and score) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Semele (short) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Babai (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
King Jack (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Morris From America (kudos to Markees Christmas) (preview for BAMcinemaFest 2016)
Little Men (kudos to Theo Taplitz & Michael Barbieri) (preview for BAMcinemaFest 2016)
Killa (The Fort) (seen in India’s New Wave at Museum of the Moving Image)
Moonlight (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Viva (for the parents-figures with teen)
The New Kid (Le Nouveau) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Standing Tall (La Tête haute) (kudos to Rod Paradot) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Kicks (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pele: Birth Of A Legend (kudos to the score) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
20th Century Women (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL
Neither Heaven Nor Earth [aka The Wakhan Front] (Ni le ciel ni la terre) (in Supernatural Division) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Demon (in Ghost Division) (Commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
April And The Extraordinary World (English version) (in Animated Division)
Reality + (short) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)


Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Synchronicity (in Noir Romance Division)
Evolution (Bella e perduta) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Midnight Special
High-Rise (Satirical Dystopian Division) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Arrival (kudos to sound design, editing, and music by Jóhann Jóhannsson)
10 Cloverfield Lane
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Passengers (Rom-Com Division)


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Eye in the Sky
Remember (My additional Commentary on the Jewish women.)
Our Kind of Traitor
Hell or High Water (kudos to Jeff Bridges and score by Cave & Ellis)
In Order Of Disappearance (Kraftidioten) (kudos to Stellan Skarsgård, Bruno Ganz, and the scenery) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Man Down
Hacksaw Ridge (kudos to cinematographer Simon Duggan)
Anthropoid


Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite quibbles
The Wave (Bølgen) (kudos to the scenery)
The Clan
Imperium
Snowden
Desierto (kudos to the score/sound design)
Miss Sloane (kudos to annoyingly eerie likenesses)


BEST NEO-NOIRS
Titli (Butterfly) (seen in India’s New Wave at Museum of the Moving Image)
Disorder (Maryland) (kudos to the sound design) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Dark Inclusion (Diamant noir) (My additional Commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Remainder (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Women Who Kill (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival) (Comedy Division)
Marshland (La isla mínima) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Department Q Trilogy: The Keeper Of Lost Causes; The Absent One; A Conspiracy Of Faith (kudos to Nikolaj Lie Kaas) (preview in The New Nordic Noir at IFC Center)
Old Stone (Lao Shi) (preview at Museum of the Moving Image)


Runners-Up: NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Kirumi (Virus) (seen in India’s New Wave at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Fixer (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)


BEST HORRORS
Jeruzalem
Under the Shadow (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Bridgend (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to cinematography and sound design/score) (See with J.M. Williams’ 2013 documentary of the same name on the real town tragedy that inspired the feature.)
The Wailing
Train to Busan (Busanhaeng)


BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
Men Go To Battle (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to research into Civil War diaries and letters)
Elvis and Nixon (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Genius (Commentary on the Jewish woman)
Free State of Jones
Café Society (kudos to cinematography by Vittorio Storaro, production design by Santo Loquasto and costumes by Suzy Benzinger) (Commentary on the Jewish women)
Indignation (kudos to production designer Inbal Weinberg and costume designer Amy Roth)
Come What May (En mai, fais ce qu'il te plait)
Birth of a Nation
The Man Who Knew Infinity
Everybody Wants Some!!
The Witch
Silence (kudos to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto/boo to torture porn)
Patriots Day


Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
The Treasure (Comoara) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Lobster (Dark Satire Division) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Men & Chickens (Mænd & Høns) (Noir Division)
Chevalier (Mocking Men Division) Best Woman-Directed Foreign-Language Film 2016
Hail Caesar! (Satire Division)


Runners-up: Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
The Nice Guys (Ultra-Violent Division)


BEST OF THE CINEMA OF THE ABSURD:
Pawel and Wawel (Pawel i Wawel) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Houston, We Have a Problem! (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
History’s Future (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Wiener-Dog


BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
Marguerite (kudos to Catherine Frot)
A Magical Substance Flows Into Me (preview at 2016 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
As I Open My Eyes (À peine j'ouvre les yeux) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bad Rap (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Girl Band (short) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Presenting Princess Shaw (Kudos to Samantha Montgomery and Ophir Kutiel)
The Beat of Love (Utrip Ljubezni) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Miss Sharon Jones! Best Woman-Directed Documentary 2016 (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
Argentina (preview courtesy of First Run Features)
Sonita (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and at IFC Center)
Dancer (preview courtesy of Sundance Selects)
The Jazz Loft According To W. Eugene Smith (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
Gimme Danger (kudos to the contextual clips) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Two Trains Runnin’ (kudos to music by Gary Clark Jr., Chris Thomas King, Valerie June, Buddy Guy, Lucinda Williams, Jimbo Mathus, Luther Dickinson/North Mississippi Allstars) (at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Born to Be Blue
Contemporary Color (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Song Of Lahore (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Idol (Ya Tayr El Tayer)
The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years (kudos to the restoration of the Shea Stadium concert)
La La Land (the leads can’t sing or dance)
Sing Street


BEST ACTORS/ACTRESSES better than their movies:
Emayatzy Corinealdi in Miles Ahead (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
The Orchestra (short) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cafard (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
The BFG (kudos to Mark Rylance)
Kubo and The Two Strings
The Red Turtle (La tortue rouge)
Moana (in 2D) (kudos to a couple of songs)
A Monster Calls (kudos to production design)


Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Finding Dory/Piper
Sausage Party


Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION EFFECTS-RELATED I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Pete’s Dragon (Boo to the fur!)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
I Am the People (Je suis le peuple) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Abandoned Goods (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Lou Beth Zayma: What Eyes Are Pretending To See (Ce Que L’œil Pretend Voir) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Rabin, The Last Day (My additional Notes.) (preview at 2016 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Toponymy (Toponimia) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
My Aleppo (short seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Long Story Short (short seen in An Evening with Natalie Bookchin at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
France Is Our Mother Country (La France est notre patrie) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Ettrick (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
The Great Wall (kudos to the relevance of Franz Kafka’s short story “The Building of the Great Wall of China”) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Memories from Gehenna (Souvenirs de la Géhenne) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
INAATE/SE [it shines a certain way, to a certain place./it flies. falls./] (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Behemoth (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Birth Of Saké (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Command and Control (episode of PBS’s American Experience) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Return (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
National Bird (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four Best Woman-Directed Documentary 2016 (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Win! (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Solitary (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival) (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Prison Dogs (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Memories Of A Penitent Heart (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Spartacus and Cassandra (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Lampedusa in Winter (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Kate Plays Christine
Under the Sun (V paprscích slunce) (preview at Film Forum)
Hooligan Sparrow (My edited capsule “Best of 2016” review) (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and at IFC Center)
Jackson (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and at IFC Center)
Ovarian Psycos (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and at IFC Center)
When Two Worlds Collide (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
The Eagle Huntress (kudos to cinematographer Simon Niblett, photographer Asher Svidensky, scenery, and score)
The Crossing (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Starless Dreams (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Among the Believers (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (Notes on 9/11 references)
Raising Bertie (seen in "Kartemquin Films at 50" at Museum of the Moving Image)
Tower
Brillo Box (3¢ Off) (short) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Nu - Note on: putative Jewish women)
The Illinois Parables (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bending to Earth (short) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Flowers of the Sky (short) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing (Note on 9/11 reference) (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Off The Rails (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Tickled


Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Over the Years (Über du Jahre) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
The Event (Sobytie) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Out of Norway (as the sequel to Imagining Emanuel I saw at Documentary Fortnight 2012, seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Scrumped (Extended Version) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Wake (Subic) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Eldorado XXI (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Other Side (preview at 2016 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Academy of Muses (La Academia de las Musas) (preview at 2016 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Show of Shows (kudos to University Of Sheffield’s National Fairground Archive) (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Daddy Don’t Go (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
My Love, Don't Cross That River (preview courtesy of Film Movement)
Lucha Mexico (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
Inside The Chinese Closet) (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and at IFC Center)
Growing Up Coy (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
Suited (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center) (My additional commentary on the Jewish female participants.)
Do Not Resist (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)
13th (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
I Had Nowhere To Go (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Cuba, Fatherland Or Death (Patria O Muerte) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Portrait of a Garden (Appreciated in memoriam to Marco Polo Stufano) (preview at Film Forum)
Winter at Westbeth (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Super Girl (Note on the Jewish females) (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
City of Joy (Note on the Jewish woman leader) (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Ne Me Quitte Pas (in “Most Depressing” category) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Those Who Jump (Les Sauteurs) (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)


BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Le Juif de Lascaux (Commentary on the Jewish women) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
City Of Gold
And When I Die, I Won’t Stay Dead (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Chi (Mr. Zhang Believes) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Call Her Applebroog (alternative link) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Last Man in Dhaka Central (The Young Man Was, Part 3) (seen at MoMA’s 2016 Documentary Fortnight)
Peter and the Farm (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Weiner (Commentary on the Jewish woman) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Magnus (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
After Spring (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Pistol Shrimps (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Team Foxcatcher (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Free as the Birds (short) (seen at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Vita Activa: The Spirit Of Hannah Arendt (So, nu: my additional commentary on this Jewish woman.)
Don’t Blink – Robert Frank (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You
Gleason
Uncle Howard (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The White Helmets (seen on Netflix)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINÉPHILES:
João Bénard da Costa—Others Will Love the Things I Have Loved (João Bénard da Costa: Outros amarão as coisas que eu amei) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Ozoners (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Crystal World (short seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Cameraperson (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
I Don’t Belong Anywhere: The Cinema Of Chantal Akerman (preview at Film Forum)
De Palma (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Cinema Travellers (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
I Am Not Your Negro (preview for 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Thanks to Maysles Cinema for walking tour of “James Baldwin’s Harlem”)
By Sidney Lumet (Our cousin Danielle Shapiro is thanked in the credits.) (Episode of PBS’s American Masters)
Mifune: The Last Samurai
Finding Kukan (seen at 2016 DOC NYC)
The Islands and the Whales (seen on BBC/shown at 2016 DOC NYC)


Runners-Up: BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINÉPHILES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Color Correction (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Spectrum Reverse Spectrum (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Pixel Jungle (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Here Come the Videofreex (My additional notes.)
Author: The JT Leroy Story
The Lovers and the Despot


Educational DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
Colliding Dreams
Life, Animated (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
This Magic Moment (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shadow World (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
Germans & Jews (So, nu: my additional commentary.)
Lo And Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
The Seasons In Quincy: Four Portraits Of John Berger (preview at Film Forum)
Rikers (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
The Beekeeper and His Son (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Trezoros: The Lost Jews Of Kastoria
Defying The Nazis: The Sharps War
Food Evolution (preview at 2016 DOC NYC)
Zero Days
Blood on the Mountain
Bobby Sands: 66 Days
Seasons (Saisons) (French language version preview courtesy of Music Box Films)
Nuts!


DOCUMENTARIES – Best Reenactments
Maestà (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Story of Judas (Histoire de Judas) (preview at 2016 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Lost and Beautiful (Bella e perduta) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Francophonia
LoveTrue (preview at 2016 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Spirits Diary (Rakijaški dnevnik) (seen in 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
Sully (fictionalized docu-drama)
Notes On Blindness


BEST for the CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Bleak Street (La Calle de la Amargura) (kudos to cinematographer Alejandro Cantú) (preview at Film Forum)
Touched With Fire (kudos to cinematographers Kristina Nikolova and Alexander Stanishev)
Tikkun (Commentary on the Jewish women) (kudos to cinematographer Shai Goldman) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Neon Bull (Boi Neon) (kudos to cinematographer Diego García) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The 9th Life of Louis Drax
Nocturnal Animals (kudos to cinematographer Seamus McGarvey)


BEST for the SCENERY
The Visit (La Visite) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Tower (A Torre) (short seen in ”A Matter of Visibility: International Avant-Garde & Artists’ Cinema” at 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Kaili Blues (Lu bian ye can) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Mountain (Ha'har) (Commentary on the Jewish women) (preview at 2016 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Last Days in the Desert (kudos to cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and score by Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans)
Les Cowboys (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Ornithologist (O Ornitólogo) (kudos to the birds) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Lion


BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Orchard Street (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Night Train (Pociag) (seen in 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
I Knew Her Well (Io la conoscevo bene) (preview at Film Forum)
Dekalog (preview courtesy The Criterion Collection)
Daughters of the Dust (preview courtesy Cohen Media)
Taipei Story (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Aux quatre coins, Le quadrille, and Le divertissement (Jacques Rivette shorts) (preview at 2016 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Russians Are Coming (Die Russen kommen) (seen at 2016 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
From the Branches Drops the Withered Blossom (Déjà s’envole la fleur maigre) (seen at 2016 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Comradeship (Kameradschaft) (seen at 2016 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Westfront 1918: Vier von der Infanterie (seen at 2016 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Children Must Laugh (Mir Kumen On) (seen at 2016 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
The Last Chance (Die Letzte Chance) (seen at 2016 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art)
Behind the Door (seen at 2016 To Save and Project: MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art) (kudos to live piano/flute/accordion accompaniment by Stephen Horne)

And thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
The Lighted Field and RIP: Chantal Akerman's video Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher (seen in 2016 First Look and Cara Morton’s 16mm Across (shorts seen in A Matter of Visibility: International Avant-Garde & Artists’ Cinema at 2016 First Look at Museum of the Moving Image)
Benilde, or the Virgin Mother (Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe) and Past and Present (O Passado e o Presente) in Manoel de Oliveira’s Tetralogy of Frustrated Love in 35mm (preview at Film at Lincoln Center)
Yesterday Girl (Abschied Von Gestern – Anita G.) and Fritz Bauer - Death By Installments (Tod Auf Raten) in the series Enemy Territory – Fritz Bauer & Postwar Germany at the Goethe Institut
Blues By The Beach (seen at Cinematek Forest Hills)


NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
Martin Scorsese at Museum of the Moving Image (organized by Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin)

Laura Poitras: Astro Noise at the Whitney Museum of American Art


MY BEST FILMS of 2015 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
White God (Fehér isten) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Great Man (Le grand homme) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
About Elly (Darbareye Elly) (briefly reviewed in Part 1 Recommendations at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)
We Are Young. We Are Strong. (Wir sind jung. Wir sind stark.) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Wondrous Boccaccio (Maraviglioso Boccaccio) (kudos to the cinematography) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Way of Tea (Les Frémissements du Thé) (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Red Leaves (preview in 2015 New York African Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Taxi (My additional note.)
Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One; Volume 2 - The Desolate One; Volume 3 - The Enchanted One (As Mil e Uma Noites: O Inquieto; O Desolado; O Encantado) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
99 Homes (kudos to Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield, score by Antony Partos & Matteo Zingales)
Room
The Walk (in IMAX 3D) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bridge of Spies (kudos to the cinematography) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Son of Saul (Saul Fia) (kudos to Géza Röhrig, writer/director László Nemes, cinematographer Mátyás Erdély and sound designer Tamás Zányi) (My edited capsule “Best of 2015” review) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
MacBeth (kudos to Shakespeare adaptation, cinematography, and scenery)
Spotlight (kudos to ensemble and script – plus the link to The Wire)
Mediterranea (seen courtesy of IFC Center)
Beasts of No Nation (kudos to Idris Elba and Abraham Attah)
Time Out of Mind (kudos to Richard Gere)

Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
The Dune (at 2015 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Little Accidents
Anarchy (as in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline à la Sons of Anarchy) (preview at 2015 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
Of Horses and Men (kudos to the cinematography) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Court (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Far From Men (Loin Des Hommes) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to the scenery)
Ashby (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Mickey Rourke and Nat Wolff)
Virgin Mountain (Fúsi) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Dinner (I Nostri Ragazzi) (preview at 2015 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Good Kill (seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival; at the 2016 Fest, the Israeli short Operator was similar.)
Manglehorn
The Stanford Prison Experiment (kudos to Ezra Miller, Tye Sheridan, and Michael Angarano)
Holmes
Learning to Drive (go eat at an Indian restaurant after!)
Pawn Sacrifice
The Cut (Notes)
Experimenter (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Trash
Trumbo (kudos to Bryan Cranston and ensemble)
One Floor Below (Un etaj mai jos) (preview in 2015 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Big Short (Kudos to the ensemble) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

BEST FEMALE POV
Feature:
Beloved Sisters (Die geliebten Schwestern) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Timbuktu (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (My additional note.)
Clouds Of Sils Maria (kudos to Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Mommy (kudos to Anne Dorval and Suzanne Clement)
Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem (preview at 2015 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (kudos to Ronit Elkabetz)
Tsili (at 2015 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Kumiko the Treasure Hunter (kudos to the scenery and love for Fargo) [NB: My colleague Kyoko Hirano objected to stereotyped view of an Asian woman.]
Breathe (Respire) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Fidelio, Alice’s Odyssey (Fidelio, l’odyssée d’Alice) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Party Girl (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Kindergarten Teacher (Haganenet) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Lesson (Urok)
Chlorine (Cloro) (preview at 2015 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Testament of Youth (kudos to the script, Alicia Vikander, and Kit Harington)
Grandma (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Lily Tomlin)
Next To Her (At Li Layla) (kudos to co-writer/co-star Liron Ben-Shlush and Dana Ivgy) (seen at 2015 Israel Film Center Festival)
Mustang
No Home Movie (Go Skype your mother!) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
I Smiled Back (kudos to Sarah Silverman)
Phoenix (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Daughter (Dukhtar)
Difret
The Summer of Sangaile (Sangailes vasara) (seen courtesy of IFC Center) (briefly reviewed for 2016 Panorama Europe at Museum of the Moving Image)
The Second Mother (Que Horas Ela Volta?) (Showing 2016 in O Brasil: Contemporary Brazilian Cinema at at Museum of the Moving Image)
Joy (kudos to Jennifer Lawrence and writer/director David O. Russell) (So, nu: my commentary on “Joan Rivers”.)

Documentary:
The Muses of Isaac Bashevis Singer (preview at 2015 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Polgár Variant (at 2015 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Trials of Spring (multi-media project preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: NonViolence & Revolt at Film at Lincoln Center) (included in PBS’s Women War & Peace II)
Burden Of Peace (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: NonViolence & Revolt at Film at Lincoln Center)
Mala Mala (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
He Named Me Malala

Animation:
When Marnie Was There (with subtitles)
Inside Out (But 2D was weaker)

Runners-Up: BEST FEMALE POV Features I Recommend Despite my Gripes
My Friend Victoria (Mon amie Victoria) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Tu dors Nicole (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Bare (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Being 14 (À 14 ans) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Catwalk (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Listen (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Mighty Nice Man (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to the cinematography and young Kylie McVey)
Heaven Knows What (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Arielle Holmes)
Train Wreck (NB: Doesn’t pass Bechdel Test)
The Diary of a Teenage Girl (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Apples From the Desert (Tapoukhim min ha'midbar) (seen at 2015 Israel Film Center Festival)
Brooklyn (My colleague Martha P. Nochinson reported on the reaction to my questioning the creative team at the 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center preview. I’m the first audience questioner at the press conference.)
The New Girlfriend (Une nouvelle amie)
Flowers (Loreak)
The Danish Girl (kudos to Alicia Vikander)
The Lady In The Van (for Dame Maggie Smith)

Runners-Up: BEST FEMALE POV Docs I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Code: Debugging The Gender Gap (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Dior and I (only as a tribute to Florence Chehet, première for the atelier flou, and Monique Bailly, première for the atelier tailleur, and their seamstresses)
Everything Is Copy (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)

BEST ROMANCES
Love at First Fight (Les Combattants) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Christmas, Again (kudos to Kentucker Audley) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Viaje (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
El Cinco (El 5 De Talleres) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Far From the Madding Crowd (sigh for Matthias Schoenaerts)
Coming Home (Gui lai)
The High Sun (Zvizdan) (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest 2016 at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Felix and Meira (preview at 2015 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Gaby Baby Doll (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Dixieland (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to interspersed real people interviews and actors Chris Zylka and Riley Keough)
Sleeping With Other People (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Warning Labels (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to director Jennifer Morrison of House, M.D.and Once Upon A Time)
The Statistical Analysis of Your Failing Relationship (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Uncertain Terms (seen in 2014 Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You at MoMA)
The Little Death
Results
Gemma Bovery

BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Black Sea (kudos to Jude Law)
’71 (kudos to Jack O’Connell, editing, cinematography, and music) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (kudos to Amsterdam chase scenes)
The Connection (La French) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Haemoo (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
24 Days (24 Jours)
Cop Car (kudos to the Colorado scenery)
Sicario (kudos to cinematography)
The Hateful Eight (kudos to Enrico Morricone’s score, Quentin Tarantino’s crazy script, and the ensemble)

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite quibbles
SK1 (L’Affaire SK1) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Guillaume Canet and the score by Grégoire Hetzel)
The Fool (Durak) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Hyena (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Peter Ferdinando)
L’Ardor (kudos to the jungle)
Two Step (kudos to score by Andrew Kenny)
Brothers…Blood Against Blood (kudos to the music and bodies)
Creed (kudos to Michael B. Jordan, director Ryan Coogler – and even Sylvester Stallone)
In the Heart of the Sea (kudos to cinematography, but “buoy” to absence of sea chanteys)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

BEST HORRORS
Goodnight Mommy (Ich seh, Ich seh) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
It Follows

BEST POST-APOCALYPSES
Mad Max: Fury Road (kudos to cinematography, production design, score/sound design and the Vuvalini who rate )

Runners-Up: BEST POST-APOCALYPSES
Jackrabbit (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Josh Caras Ian Christopher Noel)
The Shaman (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to production design
Z for Zachariah (kudos for the scenery)

BEST SCI FI/FANTASY
The Martian (3D) (kudos to science nerds)

Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Ex Machina (cool score – intriguing Science Goes to the Movies discussion)
Jellyfish Eyes (kudos to the F.R.I.E.N.Ds)

BEST NEO-NOIRS
Every Secret Thing (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)

Runners-Up: NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
In the Name of My Daughter (L’Homme qu’on aimait trop) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Sunrise (Arunoday) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Adil Hussain, sound design/score, and the streets of Mumbai)
Wednesday 04:45 (Tetarti 04:45) (kudos to sound design and cinematography) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Strangerland (kudos to the outback views and the score)
Legend (kudos to Tom Hardy and Tom Hardy)
The Gift

BEST COMING OF AGERS
Bypass (kudos to George MacKay) (preview at 2015 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
Eat Your Bones (Mange tes morts) (FYI – they are Yeniche.) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (seen with subtitles missing 5 letters.)
Wild Life (Vie sauvage) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
May Allah Bless France! (Qu’Allah bénisse la France!) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Young Tiger (Bébé tigre) (preview at 2015 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Violet (kudos to the cinematography, sound design, and BMX riders) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Wolf (Theeb) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Kingdom of Garbage (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Borrowed Identity (Dancing Arabs Aka Second Son) (kudos to Yaël Abecassis and Michael Moshonov) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Wonders (Le meraviglie) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Dope
Five Star (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (originally filed under “Most Depressing”) (My additional notes.)
Prince
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

BEST REELABILITIES: Presentation of Disabilities in Film (giving credit for appropriating the term without attending/seeing these at the NY Disabilities Film Festival)
The Tribe (Plemya) (Depressing Dystopian Division) (My edited capsule “Best of 2015” review) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Infinitely Polar Bear
Welcome to Me (Kudos to Kristen Wiig)

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
The Wrecking Crew (My additional notes.)
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Les Boquets (short) (seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Evolution of a Gen-X Music Purchaser (seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Love & Mercy (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
No Land's Song (multi-media project preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Preserving Cultural Identity Under Stress at Film at Lincoln Center)
Amy
Lucky Stiff (kudos to animation produced by Faith Hubley)
Miles Ahead (kudos to actor/producer/director/composer Don Cheadle and the score) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
Janis: Little Girl Blue (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
What Happened Miss Simone? (seen on Netflix)
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (seen on HBO)
Sound Of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Song One (songs by Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice)
Salad Days: A Decade Of Punk In Washington, DC (1980-1990) (despite much too short shrift to Riot Grrrls) (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
When I Live My Life Over Again (only for Christopher Walken singing and the images of his character’s past LP covers) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bombay Velvet
Beats of the Antonov (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Preserving Cultural Identity Under Stress at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Dream Of Shahrazad (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Preserving Cultural Identity Under Stress at Film at Lincoln Center)
Tap World
The Outrageous Sophie Tucker (So, nu: my commentary on Tucker as a Jewish woman.)
Chi-Raq (kudos to music, rhymes, and ensemble)

BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
Woman In Gold (My additional notes on the Jewish women)
Jimmy’s Hall (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to research into Civil War diaries and letters)
Greenery Will Bloom Again (Torneranno i prati) (preview at 2015 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to the cinematography and score)
Leopardi (preview at 2015 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Elio Germano, the cinematography, costumes, and score)

Runners-Up: BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE I Recommend Despite my gripes
Queen and Country (preview at MoMA’s 2014 The Contenders)
The Water Diviner
Madame Bovary (kudos to the costumes and locales)
Labyrinth Of Lies (Im Labyrinth Des Schweigens) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Suffragette

BEST for the CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Güeros (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Chagall and Malevich (So, nu: my commentary on Bella, the Jewish woman.)
February/Avraham/December/Intimations/Prelude in Retrospective – Luminous Intimacy: The Cinema of Nathaniel Dorsky (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Forbidden Room (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Everything Will Be Fine (for 3D aesthetics)

Runners- Up: BEST for the CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Documentary:
The Wanted 18 (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: NonViolence & Revolt at Film at Lincoln Center)

Best Animation
Zarafa (at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman animator.)
The Good Dinosaur
Sanjay’s Super Team (short) (kudos to director Sanjay Patel)
Shaun The Sheep
Boy and the World (O Menino e o Mundo) (kudos to the music)
Extraordinary Tales

Most Depressing
Fiction:
Port of Call (preview at 2015 New York Asian Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
James White (kudos to Cynthia Nixon)

Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
Paddington (kudos to Sally Hawkins, Nicole Kidman, Ben Whishaw’s voicing and the production design)
Cut Bank (Noir Division)
Applesauce (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann)
The Handmaiden (Ah-ga-ssi) (Exploitative Male Gaze Division)

Runners-up: Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
The Final Girls
Nasty Baby
Sisters

BEST OF THE CINEMA OF THE ABSURD:
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron)


BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
The Search For General Tso (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (See with Max Weber’s Chinese Restaurant at the Whitney Museum of American Art)
Above and Beyond (preview at 2014 DOC NYC) (kudos to ILM’s effects and earthy interviewees)
Deli Man (preview at 2015 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (preview at 2015 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
1971 (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Violence & Vigilantes at Film at Lincoln Center) (seen at MoMA’s 2015 Documentary Fortnight)
Of Men And War (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Violence & Vigilantes at Film at Lincoln Center) (seen at MoMA’s 2015 Documentary Fortnight) (My additional Notes.)
Park Lanes (seen at MoMA’s 2015 Documentary Fortnight) (For the entire 8 hour shift, plus Q & A)
The Creation of Meaning (La creazione di significato) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Western (FYI – those birds are grackles) (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) see with Cartel Land (briefly reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Violence & Vigilantes at Film at Lincoln Center) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Palio (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Democrats (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Toto And His Sisters (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Look Of Silence (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Violence & Vigilantes at Film at Lincoln Center) (My capsule “Best of 2015” review) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Murder In The Park (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
Meet the Patels (preview at 2014 DOC NYC) (biased by my enjoying learning the Indian pronounciation of ”Ravi”)
Stray/Dog (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Life Is Sacred (preview at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: NonViolence & Revolt at Film at Lincoln Center)
Meru (kudos to Jimmy Chin as co-director, co-DP, photographer – while climbing)
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (seen on HBO)
The Pearl Button (El botón de nácar) (My edited capsule “Best of 2015” review)
Newman (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
Sherpa
Frame By Frame
Winter On Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom (My additional Notes.) (Seen on Netflix)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES FOR CINEPHILES:
Becoming Anita Ekberg and The Vanity Tables of Douglas Sirk (shorts preview at 2015 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Quay, seen in The Quay Brothers on 35 MM (short preview at Film Forum)
Forbidden Films (Verbotene Filme) (kudos to Film Forum for free showings) (So, nu: my commentary on the missing Jewish women.)
The Wolfpack (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
How To Smell A Rose: A Visit With Ricky Leacock In Normandy
Listen to Me Marlon (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Monty Python: The Meaning Of Live (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story Of The National Lampoon (My additional notes.) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival
Sembène! (kudos to the animation and music) (Commentary on missing Jewish women)
Hitchcock/Truffaut (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Vessel (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
The Hunting Ground
In My Father’s House (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (My notes on dental care.)
A Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Armor Of Light (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (briefly reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Violence & Vigilantes at Film at Lincoln Center)
Killing Them Safely (aka Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
(T)error (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival) (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Violence & Vigilantes at Film at Lincoln Center)
Do I Sound Gay? (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
(Dis)Honesty: The Truth About Lies (kudos for including several women social scientists)
3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: Violence & Vigilantes at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Iron Ministry (preview at Museum of Modern Art)
Finders Keepers
The Man Who Saved The World (a docudrama hybrid)
Thank You For Your Service (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)

BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
The Salt of The Earth
Dream/Killer (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Yes Men Are Revolting (reviewed at Human Rights Watch Film Fest ’15: NonViolence & Revolt at Film at Lincoln Center) Commentary on the Jewish women. (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
Transfatty Lives (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Ballerina’s Tale (albeit no bio – but outs Balanchine for promulgating the anorexic pre-adolescent male standard of beauty) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Walter:The Man Who Married Kittens (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Trials of Constance Baker Motley (short seen at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Best of Enemies (NB: I didn’t watch these ABC News debates live in 1968 because I was watching the real news of the actual convention coverage.)
Homme Less (at 2014 DOC NYC) (kudos to jazzy score by Kyle Eastwood & Matt McCord)
Beltracchi: The Art Of Forgery
Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine (My additional notes.) (Compare with the fictionalization in Steve Jobs, including So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Heart of a Dog (9/11 Commentary) (Jewish woman Commentary) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
I Am Sun Mu (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
The Diplomat (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)

Educational DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws): flaws):
Approaching the Elephant (seen in 2014 Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You at MoMA)
Hot Type: 150 Years of The Nation (seen at MoMA’s 2015 Documentary Fortnight)
Emptying The Skies (reviewed at 2013 “Birds Of A Feather” Flock To DOC NYC)
The Royal Road (preview at 2015 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center (The Zinn Education Project is also challenging “the Mission Unit” in California schools.)
Letter to a Father (Carta a un padre) (preview at 2015 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
We Come as Friends (kudos to the scenery) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional note.)
Where To Invade Next (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
In Jackson Heights (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Journey Of A Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers (preview at 2015 DOC NYC) (included in PBS’s Women War & Peace II)
Class Divide (preview at 2015 DOC NYC)
Disturbing The Peace (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)

BEST for the SCENERY
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Dog Lady (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Entertainment (preview at 2015 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Last Knights (a new genre: sword and snow epic?)
Slow West (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Aloft (kudos to Arctic scenery and sound design) (preview at 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
Aloha (and the Hawaiian music)
Counting (as a tribute to Chris Marker)
Wolf Totem (2D) (kudos to the ecological balance message)
The Assassin (Nie yin niang) (kudos to the costumes and cinematography)
The Sky Trembles And The Earth Is Afraid And The Two Eyes Are Not Brothers (preview at 2015 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Revenant (kudos to the cinematography)

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Play (preview at In Case Of No Emergency: The Films of Ruben Östlund of Film at Lincoln Center)
Pain of Love (Kærlighedens smerte) (preview at 2015 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Crime to Fit the Punishment (seen at 2015 Carte Blanche: Women’s Film Preservation Fund of Museum of Modern Art) (Re: the making of Salt of the Earth)
From Mayerling to Sarajevo (preview at Film Forum) (now I understand “morganatic marriage”)
Lions Love (preview at 2015 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits)
A Poem Is A Naked Person
In Absentia, The Comb, and Street of Crocodiles in The Quay Brothers on 35 MM (preview at Film Forum)
Jane B. Par (By) Agnès V. (note) and Kung-Fu Master! (Le Petit Amour) (Viva Varda!) (preview courtesy of Cinelicious Pics)
Moana With Sound (1926/1980) (preview at Film Forum)

And thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of:
Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red in It (Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazougai/Purple Rain) (seen in Rural Route Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
A Trick Of The Light - great for kids who can read English subtitles! (preview of U.S. theatrical premiere in Wim Wenders: Portraits Along the Road retrospective at IFC Center) (Here’s some of the Skladanowsky brothers surviving Bioskop films)
La Habanera and Hitler’s Madman, (preview at Imitations of Life: The Films of Douglas Sirk of Film at Lincoln Center)

NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
America Is Hard to See at the Whitney Museum of American Art (including Reginald Marsh’s Twenty Cent Movie and Walker Evans’ 1931 photograph “Torn Movie Poster”)


MY BEST FILMS of 2014 (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Ida (preview at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (kudos to Agata Kulesza and the cinematography)
The Lunchbox (Dabba)
Child’s Pose (Pozitia copilului) (kudos to Luminita Gheorghiu)
Jimmy P: Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Venus In Fur (La Vénus À La Fourrure) (kudos to Emmanuelle Seigner) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hateship Loveship
A Street in Palermo (Via Castellana Bandiera) (kudos to writer/director/star Emma Dante) (preview at 2014 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Manuscripts Don't Burn (Dast-neveshtehaa nemisoosand) (briefly reviewed)
Two Days, One Night (Deux jours, une nuit) (briefly reviewed) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Marion Cotillard)
Rosewater (kudos to Gael García Bernal, Kim Bodnia, and Haluk Bilginer)

Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Ana Arabia (preview at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Friends From France (Les interdits) (preview at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Generation War (Unsere Mütter, Unsere Väter) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
When I Saw You (Lamma Shoftak)
Vic + Flo Saw A Bear (Vic + Flo Ont Vu Un Ours) (preview at Anthology Film Archives)
Grand Central (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Japanese Dog (Câinele Japonez) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Quod Erat Demonstrandum (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
To Kill a Man (Matar a un hombre) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Afronauts (short preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Honey (Miele) (for background see PBS’s Frontline report The Suicide Plan)
Locke
The Grand Budapest Hotel (kudos to the production design and mise en scene)
The Retrieval (kudos to young Ashton Sanders, Tishuan Scott, writer/director Chris Eska, and the cinematography) (preview at Film Forum)
Dormant Beauty (Bella addormentata) (preview at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
Those Happy Years (Anni felici) (preview at 2014 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Noah
Colette (seen at 2014 Czech That Film Tour)
Policeman (Ha-shoter) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Coffee In Berlin (Oh Boy) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Hanna’s Journey (Hannas Reise) (preview at 2014 Kino!)
Land Ho! (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to the scenery)
Happy Christmas
All About the Feathers (Por las plumas) (preview at 2014 Latin Beat of Film at Lincoln Center) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
My America
Closed Curtain (Pardé)
Lilting (kudos to Ben Whishaw) (preview at 2014 NewFest of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Master Builder
Frontera
Pasolini (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Saint Laurent (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to how well the actors wear those designer outfits)
Birdman (kudos to Michael Keaton, production design, editing, and cinematography) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Big Eyes (kudos to Christoph Waltz) (because I’m a sucker for the images of the 1964 World’s Fair)
The Imitation Game (kudos to Benedict Cumberbatch)

BEST VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS
Felony (kudos to writer/star Joel Edgerton, Jai Courtney, and Tom Wilkinson) (preview at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
Rob the Mob (kudos to Michael Pitt and Nina Arianda, and the editing)
Night Moves (kudos to Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Life of Crime (RIP Elmore Leonard)
Nightcrawler (kudos to Jake Gyllenhaal)
A Most Violent Year

Runners-Up: VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS I Recommend: Comic Division
Jackpot (Arme Riddere) (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Calvary (My additional note.)
Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes)
Blue Ruin

Runners-Up: BEST NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Youth (Hanoar) (kudos to the Cunio brothers) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Fish & Cat (Mahi va gorbeh) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
God's Pocket (RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Joe (kudos to Tye Sheridan)
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Bai ri yan huo) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cold in July (kudos to the score)
Child of God (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
West (Lagerfeuer)
Gone Girl (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to the editing and score)
The Blue Room (La chambre bleue) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to the music and editing)
Foxcatcher (kudos to cast, editing, and cinematography) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Captive (kudos to the score by Mychael Danna)

BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Big Bad Wolves (preview at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Omar (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
The Babadook (kudos to cinematography and book design) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Bethlehem (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Starred Up (kudos to Jack O’Connell and Ben Mendelsohn) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Manos Sucias (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
The German Doctor (Wakolda) (Useful supplements: Director Talk interview and Tablet Magazine visit to Bariloche.) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
A Most Wanted Man

Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite uncredible plots
Journey To The West: Conquering the Demons (Xi you xiang mo pian)
The Raid 2: Berandal (kudos to the score and sound design)
Wolf (kudos to Marwan Kenzari and the cinematography)
The Rover (kudos to Natasha Braier’s cinematography, scenery, sound design and score by Anthony Partos)

BEST SCI FI/FANTASY
The Double (kudos to the cinematography, production design and Jesse Eisenberg) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) in tandem with Enemy (preview at 2014 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (kudos to the cinematography) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Under the Skin (kudos to the cinematography and score/sound design)
Der Samurai (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Snowpiercer (kudos to the production design and score)
The Zero Theorem (kudos to the costume and production design)
The Kármán Line (short) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Olivia Colman)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (kudos to the 3D cinematography)

Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Extraterrestrial (kudos to the cinematography and sound design) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Canal (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Coherence
Honeymoon (kudos to writer/director Leigh Janiak for female-empowering the genre)
Bird People
Interstellar
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ROMANCES
Under the Rainbow (Au bout du conte) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Obvious Child (kudos to Jenny Slate) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Gerontophilia (preview at 2014 NewFest of Film at Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Girl on a Bicycle
2 Autumns, 3 Winters (2 automnes 3 hivers) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
If You Don't, I Will (Arrête Ou Je Continue) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Only Lovers Left Alive (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to the m, production design, and cinematography by Yorick LeSaux)
Fading Gigolo (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
The One I Love (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)

Runners-Up: BEST ANTI-ROMANCES
X/Y (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Force Majeure (Turist)
Miss Julie (kudos to Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton)

BEST COMING OF AGERS
Maidentrip (kudos to the scenery too)
Beneath The Harvest Sky (kudos to Emory Cohen and Callan McAuliffe) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Paula Hertzog and the Sierra de Córdoba scenery)
Boyhood (kudos to writer/director Richard Linklater)
Apaches (at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center/ courtesy of Film Movement)
Natural Sciences (Ciencias Naturales) (preview at 2014 Latin Beat of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho) (preview at 2014 NewFest of Film at Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Jamesy Boy (kudos to Spencer Lofranco and Michael Trotter)
Me and You (Io e te) (preview at 2014 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
Young And Beautiful (Jeune & jolie) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Sheep (Mouton) (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Hide Your Smiling Faces (preview at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Palo Alto (kudos to Jack Kilmer) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Broken Hill Blues (Ömheten) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bad Hair (Pelo Malo) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Horses of God (Les Chevaux de Dieu) (My additional Notes.)
Casa Grande (preview at 2014 Latin Beat of Film at Lincoln Center)

BEST FEMALE POV
Gloria (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Paulina García)
Towheads (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
On My Way (Elle s'en va) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Zero Motivation (Efes be-Yachasei Enosh) (Also briefly reviewed in Best of 2014) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Traitors (kudos to Chaimae Ben Acha) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Brides (Patardzlebi) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Two Lives (Zwei Leben)
I Won’t Come Back (Ya Ne Vernus) (kudos to Vika Lobacheva and Natalia Drozd) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Wetlands (Feuchtgebiete) (kudos to Carla Juri)
Misunderstood (Incompresa) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Ophelia (short) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Hanna Schygulla)
Tracks (kudos to Mia Wasikowski and cinematographer Mandy Walker) (My additional note.)

Runners-Up: BEST FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Age of Panic (La bataille de Solférino) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Suzanne (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Stop the Pounding Heart (briefly reviewed in Witches & War at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Exhibition (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Very Good Girls
May In The Summer
Wu Gui (Turtle) (short) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Life’s A Breeze
Wild
Camp X-Ray (kudos to Kristen Stewart and Peyman Moaadi)

Documentary:
Finding Vivian Maier (briefly reviewed at 2013 DOC NYC Round-up Part 1:BEST BIO DOCS) (Director Talk interview is a useful supplement about her photography.)
Cineast(e)s: Women Filmmakers (at FI:AF in 2014 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema)
Out in the Night (preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at IFC Center -- where the central events took place by its doors)
Private Violence (preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)

Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Breastmilk (reviewed at 2013 Women's Docs at DOC NYC)
Actress (at 2014 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center
Vessel (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
Scheherazade’s Diary (preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
Sepideh – Reaching For the Stars preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
Regarding Susan Sontag (briefly reviewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes on her as a Jewish woman and 9/11 analyst.)
Elena
Nan Goldin - I Remember Your Face (preview at 2014 Kino!) (So, nu: my commentary on her as a Jewish woman.)
Iris (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (So, nu: my commentary on her as a Jewish woman.)

Runners-Up: BEST BROMANCES I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Bicycling With Molière (Alceste à bicyclette)

BEST ACTORS better than their movies:
Jude Law in Dom Hemingway
Angelina Jolie in Maleficent
Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything
Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Beyond the Lights

BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE
A Field in England (Then watch the making-of Master Class)
Cesar Chavez (except for the non-Chicano score)
In Secret
Age Of Uprising: The Legend Of Michael Kohlhaas
Burning Bush (Hořicí Keř) (mini-series) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
The Liberator (Libertador) (kudos to the Venezuelan scenery)
Mr. Turner (see with National Gallery) (kudos to production design and cinematographer Dick Pope) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Diplomacy (Diplomatie) (Schlöndorff interview at Director Talk) (kudos to André Dussollier and Niels Arestrup)
Selma (My additional notes.)

Runners-Up: BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE I Recommend Despite my gripes
Summer In February
The Marchers (La Marche) (except for the non-ethnic score) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The French Minister (Quai D’orsay) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Niels Arestrup)
Xingu (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Railway Man
Half of A Yellow Sun
Belle
Violette (My additional notes.)
The Last Sentence (Dom Över Död Man) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Marius
Kill the Messenger
The Good Lie
Revenge of the Green Dragons (preview at Museum of the Moving Image) (Diva Review interview with the directors)
Fury
Unbroken
Devils Knot

BEST REELABILITIES: Presentation of Disabilities in Film (giving credit for appropriating the term without attending/seeing these at the NY Disabilities Film Festival)
Run and Jump (preview at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Please Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (preview at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Keep On Keeping On (kudos to the music too) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)

Runners-Up: BEST REELABILITIES Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Demi-Sɶur

BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries):
Mercedes Sosa: The Voice of Latin America (briefly reviewed at 2013 DOC NYC Round-up Part 1:BEST BIO DOCS)
Vara: A Blessing (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to the classical Indian dancing with music)
We Are The Best! (Vi är bäst!) (kudos to Mira Barkhammar and Mira Grosin)
Finding Fela
20,000 Days on Earth (preview at Film Forum)
Seymour: An Introduction (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Lambert & Stamp (kudos to the editing)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Mistaken for Strangers (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
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)
Flex Is Kings (categorizing as dance-like) (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Time is Illmatic (briefly reviewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Frank
Flashback Memories (3D) (preview at 2014 Sound + Vision of Film at Lincoln Center)
Shield and Spear (preview at 2014 Sound + Vision of Film at Lincoln Center)
Pulp (preview at 2014 Sound + Vision of Film at Lincoln Center)
Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb Vs. Gravity
Revenge of the Mekons (briefly reviewed at 2013 DOC NYC Round-up Part 1:BEST BIO DOCS)
Into The Woods

BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Mood Indigo (L'écume des jours) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga (briefly reviewed in Witches & War at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.) (kudos to the scenery)
Ernest & Célestine (My detailed comments on this dental version of the tooth mouse.)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (English-dubbed version)
Song of the Sea
How To Train A Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls

Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
The Congress (preview at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Wrinkles (Arrugas) (English-dubbed version – kudos to George Coe’s voicing)
The Lego Movie (for the dialogue)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Big Men (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
The Last Of The Unjust (Le Dernier Des Injustes) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
Fatal Assistance (Assistance mortelle) (briefly reviewed at 2013 Economics & the 24th Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Missing Picture (L'image manquante) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
Manakamana (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Tomorrow We Disappear (briefly reviewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Art and Craft (briefly reviewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Newburgh Sting (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional Notes.)
Next Goal Wins (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Virunga (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Kill Team (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
A World Not Ours) (preview at 2013 DOC NYC)
Life Itself
Watchers of the Sky (preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center) (inspired me to read Samantha Power’s A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide)
The Beekeeper (Der Imker) (preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Green Prince) (My additional Notes.) (preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
National Gallery (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Red Army (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
Enquiring Minds: The Untold Story Of The Man Behind The National Enquirer (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
Florence Arizona (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
The Return (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)

DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
12 O’Clock Boys (more subtitles please!)
The New Black (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
Karama Has No Walls (seen with Oscar Nominated Shorts)
School Of Babel (La Cour de Babel) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Kids for Cash
The Return To Homs (briefly reviewed in Witches & War at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to the scenery) (My additional notes.)
The Overnighters (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Evaporating Borders preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
The Homestretch preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
A Quiet Inquisition preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
Siddharth preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
Crooked Candy (short) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Citizenfour (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Still Dreaming (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)

DOCUMENTARIES – Best Reenactments
Charlie Victor Romeo (preview at Film Forum)
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza) (seen at MoMA’s 2014 Documentary Fortnight)
Beyond The Edge (kudos to the scenery)
Ming Of Harlem: Twenty One Storeys In The Air (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Evolution of a Criminal

Runners Up DOCUMENTARIES – Best Reenactments
Bloody Beans (Loubia Hamra) (preview at 2014 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
For Those Who Can Tell No Tales (preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center) (inspired me to read Ivo Andrić’s brilliant, Nobel Prize-winning The Bridge Over The Drina, originally published in 1945, 1959 English translation back in print)

Educational DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws): flaws):
Before the Revolution (preview at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Great Flood (briefly reviewed at 2012 Silent Films/Live Music) (My additional notes.)
Teenage (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival and in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013)
Jodorowsky's Dune
Particle Fever (kudos for focusing on two women physicists) (preview at Film Forum)
Time Goes by Like a Roaring Lion (Die Zeit Vergeht Wie Ein Brüllender Löwe) (preview at 2014 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center
The Second Game (Al doilea joc) (preview at 2014 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center
Karpotrotter (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Silenced (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional Note.)
The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Misconception (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
First to Fall preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
Dinosaur 13
Expedition To The End Of The World (preview at Film Forum) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
Spanish Lake (for background on the St. Louis suburbs of the Ferguson uproar)
Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (preview at Film Forum) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
Last Days In Vietnam
The Last Hijack (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (preview at 2014 DOC NYC) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
Levitated Mass: The Story of Michael Heizer’s Monolithic Sculpture (preview at 2013 DOC NYC)
Inside The Mind Of Leonardo In 3D (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)

BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
Aasinki: The Story Of Arctic Cowboys (briefly reviewed in Shout Out for Quiet Documentaries at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to the scenery)
Cave Digger (seen with Oscar Nominated Shorts)
BIG JOY: The Adventures of James Broughton (briefly reviewed in LGBT Cinema at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Castanha (preview at 2014 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center
The Unknown Known (My additional specific note and general note.) (preview at 2013 DOC NYC)
An Honest Liar (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Point and Shoot (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
True Son (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Pleasures Of Being Out Of Step: Notes on the Life of Nat Hentoff (briefly reviewed at 2013 DOC NYC Round-up Part 1:BEST BIO DOCS)
Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case (My additional notes.)
Burt’s Buzz (My additional notes on the Jewish woman.
Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs And The New South Africa (preview at Ford Foundation’s Just Films)
Whitey: United States Of America V. James J. Bulger
Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
The Supreme Price preview at the 2014 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center
The Decent One (Der Anständige) (preview at Film Forum)
Back On Board: Greg Louganis (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
Little White Lie (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)

Most Depressing
Fiction:
Ice Poison (Bing Du) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Norte, the End of History (Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan) (kudos to the scenery) (seen at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Notebook (Le Grand Cahier)
Leviathan (kudos to the scenery and cinematography)
Almost Alice (kudos to Julianne Moore) (raising memories of my father’s closing illness)
Documentary:
Til Madness Do Us Part (Feng ai) (seen at MoMA’s 2014 Documentary Fortnight)

Runners-up: Best COMIC RELIEF from Depressing DOCS Despite Nonsense:
Muppets Most Wanted
Life of Riley (Aimer, boire et chanter) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)

BEST for the SCENERY:
Feature:
Love Is The Perfect Crime (L'amour est un crime parfait) (preview at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (preview at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Journey to the West (Xi You) (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Canopy
La Sapienza (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Homesman
Winter Sleep (Kis uykusu)
Documentary:
Visitors (kudos to the Philip Glass score)
Watermark
Fishtail (preview at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sunshine Superman (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Antarctica: A Year On Ice

BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Il Sorpasso (preview at Film Forum)
Red Hollywood (preview at 2014 Art of the Real of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sorcerer
The Wind Will Carry Us (Bad ma ra khahad bord)
Archipelago and Unrelated (preview in Emerging Artist Spotlight at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Boy Meets Girl (preview at Film Forum’s Carax Retrospective)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (But I was really festival-tired during key scenes, so I can’t take it off my cinema bucket list yet, darn)
The King and the Mockingbird (Le Roi et l’oiseau) (animated) (preview at 2014 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Memories of the Eichmann Trial (seen at To Save and Project: The 12th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of Museum of Modern Art) (My additional notes on the Jewish women).
David (preview at 2014 DOC NYC)
A Winter’s Tale (Conte d'hiver) (preview at Film at Lincoln Center)

And thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of: Light of Compassion (Nasake no hikari) in The Aesthetics of Shadow, Part 1: Japan at MoMA (with live piano accompaniment); Jump (Salto), Mother Joan Of The Angels (Matka Joanna od Aniołów), The Saragossa Manuscript (Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie) (preview in Masterpieces of Polish Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center); Borom Sarret/Black Girl (La noire de...) in An Auteurist History of Film at MoMA; Statues Also (Die Les Statues meurent aussi) in MoMA’s 2014 Documentary Fortnight; Christian Petzold’s Wolfsburg and Ghosts in the 2014 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center); China Is Near (La Cina è vicina) in Marco Bellocchio: A Retrospective at MoMA; The Lovers on the Bridge (Les Amants Du Pont Neuf) (preview at Film Forum’s Carax Retrospective)

NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
100 Years in Post-Production: Resurrecting a Lost Landmark of Black Film History at To Save and Project: The 12th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation of the Museum of Modern Art (kudos to the 1913 cakewalk sequence in Bert Williams Lime Kiln Club Field Day and the decade of restoration detective work)


MY BEST FILMS of 2013 (By theatrical release date, then 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)
Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to score by Giuliano Taviani and CarmeloTravi)
Lore
No (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Jiseul (kudos to the cinematography and score) (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Place Beyond The Pines (kudos to Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and writer/director Derek Cianfrance)
Renoir (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
Mold (Küf) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Shine Of The Day (Der Glanz des Tages) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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)
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 at 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Outside Satan (Hors Satan) (preview at Anthology Film Archives)
Southwest (Sudoeste) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA)
The Pirogue
Three Worlds (Trois Mondes) (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Blue Caprice (kudos to the score) (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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) (preview at 2013 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at 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) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Touch Of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at 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): (preview in 2014 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Under The Same Sun (preview at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Inheritance (preview at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Arabani (preview at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
The Past (Le passé) (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down) (kudos to Bérénice Bejo and Pauline Burlet)
Saving Mr. Banks
Mud
American Hustle
The Hours (RIP Paul Walker)

Runners-Up: BEST USE OF THE WAY BACK MACHINE I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Lee Daniels' The Butler
The Immigrant (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Berlin File (Be-reul-lin)
A Hijacking (Kapringen) (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down) (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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) (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Northwest (Nordvest) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival) (preview 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)
Welcome to the Punch (kudos to the production style)

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) (preview in 2013 New York African Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Nairobi Half Life (preview in 2013 New York African Film Festival at Film at 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 (preview at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mystery (preview at 2013 New York Asian Film Festival at Film at 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) (preview at 2012 Spanish Cinema Now at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to the black-and-white cinematography)
Byzantium (preview at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
World War Z
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Interval (L’Intervallo) (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 (preview 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 (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
So Much Water (Tanta Agua) (digital release via Film Movement)

Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Gimme The Loot (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 at 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) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at 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)
Real (Riaru: Kanzen Naru Kubinagaryû No Hi) (Sci-Fi Division) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Blue Is The Warmest Color (La Vie d’Adèle -Chapitre 1 and 2) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Adèle Exarchopoulos)
Her (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview 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) (preview at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film at 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) (preview at 2013 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at 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
Out In The Dark (Alata) (Dhalam) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Charlie Countryman

Runners-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) (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Girl (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Future Weather (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Lady in Paris (Une Estonienne À Paris) (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Augustine (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Thérèse Desqueyroux (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Eden (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 (Grand comme le Baobab) (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
In A World. . . (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Our Children (À Perdre La Raison) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Émilie Dequenne)
Afternoon Delight (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
The Patience Stone (Syngué Sabour) (kudos to Golshifteh Farahani)
Adore (Two Women) (kudos to Robin Penn and Naomi Watts)
Wadjda
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
Abuse Of Weakness (Abus De Faiblesse) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
My Name Is Hmmm… (Je M’appelle Hmmm…) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 at 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) (preview at 2013 New York Asian Film Festival at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center)
The Battle Of Pussy Willow Creek (My additional notes.)
In the House (Dans la maison) (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Max Raabe in Israel (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film at 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 (Pokazatelnyy protsess: Istoriya Pussy Riot) (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
Inside Llewyn Davis (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Oscar Isaac and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Punk Singer (briefly reviewed at 2013 DOC NYC Round-up Part 1:BEST BIO DOCS)
We Always Lie To Strangers (reviewed at 2013 “Birds Of A Feather” Flock To DOC NYC)

Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
The Ballad of the Weeping Spring (Balada le'aviv ha'bohe) (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Let’s Dance! (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film at 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (My additional notes.)
Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey (My additional notes.) (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
The Broken Circle Breakdown (preview at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
The History Of Future Folk
20 Feet From Stardom (My additional notes.)
Enzo Avitabile Music Life (seen at 2012 DOC NYC)
CBGB (just for the inaccurate fun of it) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Sweet Dreams
I Used To Be Darker (for how naturally the character-defining music was incorporated into the story)
Touba (seen at 2013 DOC NYC)

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)

BEST ANIMATION
The Day Of The Crows (Le Jour des Corneilles) (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Suicide Shop (Le magasin des suicides) (in 3D) (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Painting (Le Tableau) (preview at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center)
Is The Man Who Is Tall Happy? (briefly reviewed at 2013 DOC NYC Round-up Part 1:BEST BIO DOCS) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
56 Up (My additional notes.)
Numbered (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film at 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 (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (briefly reviewed at 2013 Death & Politics at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
No Place On Earth (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.) (Also reviewed on page 14 of New Hampshire Jewish Film Buzz)
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)
Powerless (Katiyabaaz) (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 at 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 at Lincoln Center)
Born This Way (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
In The Shadow Of The Sun (briefly reviewed at 2013 Faith & Filmmaking at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
Salma (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
Camp 14 – Total Control Zone (briefly reviewed at 2013 Death & Politics at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Square (Al Midan) (kudos to director Jehane Noujaim) (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
The Empire Project (seen at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Herb & Dorothy 50x50 (the sequel to Herb & Dorothy)
Golden Slumbers (Le Sommeil d’Or) (preview at Anthology Film Archives
The Garden of Eden (preview at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Town Hall (reviewed at 2013 Politics at DOC NYC: A Look Back)

DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
The Gatekeepers (Shom'ray Ha'saf) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
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 at Lincoln Center)
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
Raw Herring (Hollandse Nieuwe (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
Camera/Woman (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
Going Up The Stairs (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
Rafea: Solar Mama (briefly reviewed at 2013 Islam & Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at 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 at 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 (preview at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
After Tiller (My additional note.)
Dove’s Cry (preview at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
God Loves Uganda and Mission Congo (preview at 2013 DOC NYC)
Brave Miss World (reviewed at 2013 Women's Docs at DOC NYC)

Runners-Up:BEST 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 at 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 at 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (preview at 2012 DOC NYC) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Life In Stills (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Nicky’s Family (courtesy of Menemsha Films)
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 (preview at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Anton’s Right Here (L Anton tut ryadom) (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Our Nixon (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at 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.)
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)
Cutie and the Boxer (preview at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Stories We Tell (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Iceberg Slim: Portrait Of A Pimp (briefly reviewed at 2012 DOC NYC)
Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
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 at Lincoln Center)
When I Walk
In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons In Life With Saul Leiter (briefly reviewed at 2013 DOC NYC Round-up Part 1:BEST BIO DOCS)
American Revolutionary: The Evolution Of Grace Lee Boggs (reviewed at 2013 Politics at DOC NYC: A Look Back)

Educational Runners-Up (DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
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 at 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 at Lincoln Center)
The Undocumented (briefly reviewed at 2013 Death & Politics at Human Rights Watch Film Fest at Film at Lincoln Center)
Blackfish (My additional note.)
The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology (briefly reviewed at 2012 DOC NYC)
Levitated Mass (preview at 2013 DOC NYC)
Sweet Dreams
Apples of the Golan (preview at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival)
The Fading Valley (preview at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival)
Good Garbage (preview at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival)

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

BEST for the CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Stoker
Springbreakers

BEST ACTORS better than their movies:
Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street
Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Far From Vietnam (Loin du Vietnam) (preview in Cinema of Resistance at Film at Lincoln Center)
Northern Lights
My mom’s essay on Thomas McGrath’s Letter to an Imaginary Friend makes the poet seem like an inspiration for the film.
Lola (new restoration in Film Forum's Jacques Demy)
The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians (Profetul, aurul si Ardelenii) (preview in Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Mauvais Sang

And thanks for theatrical showings for my first-time viewings on big screens of: Ten in A Close-Up Of Abbas Kiarostami at Film at Lincoln Center; Guelwaar and TGV in 2013 New York African Film Festival at Film at 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 at 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 (Art Spiegelman, Traits de mémoire), 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 (By theatrical release date, then 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.) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Eddie Garcia)
Amour (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Les Neiges Du Kilimandjaro) (preview at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Omar Killed Me (Omar m’a tuer) (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Minister (L’exercice de l’État) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Found Memories (Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Neighboring Sounds (O som ao redor) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Relentless (preview at 2012 New York African Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Post Mortem (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Saviors In The Night (Unter Bauern) (New Hampshire Jewish Film Buzz on p. 16 – N/A) (also briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to the scenery)
A Better Life (Une Vie Meilleure) (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Kaddish for a Friend (Kaddisch für einen Freund) (seen at MoMA's Kino! 2012: New Films from Germany)
Polisse (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Monster’s Club (preview 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) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Beyond The Hills (Dupa dealuri) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
On The Road (kudos to Garrett Hedlund)
Tabu (missed it at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to hunky Carloto Cotta and the black-and-white cinematography)

BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Miss Bala (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Raid: Redemption (Serbuan maut) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Rat King (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Sleepless Night (Nuit Blanche) (preview 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 (preview at 2012 New York Asian Film Festival at Film at 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)
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 (preview at 2012 New York African Film Festival at Film at 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) (preview in Midnight Movies at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Now, Forager (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Trishna (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
Chicken With Plums (Poulet Aux Prunes) (preview 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) (preview at 2011 Spanish Cinema Now at Film at 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 (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Your Sister’s Sister (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
Take This Waltz (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Hysteria (preview 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) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Turn Me On, Goddamit (Få meg på, for faen!) (kudos to director/novel adapter Jannicke Systad Jacobsen) (preview at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Breathing (Atmen) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Death of a Superhero (preview 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?) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Goodbye (Bé omid é didar) (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Black Butterflies (kudos to Carice van Houten) (preview at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lollipop Monster (seen at MoMA's Kino! 2012: New Films from Germany)
Room 514 (Heder 514) (preview at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Araf (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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) (preview at 2012 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
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:
Sing Your Song
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 at 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 (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Ballroom Dancer (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Searching for Sugar Man (preview at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Becoming Traviata (La Traviata et nous) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Savoy King: Chick Webb & The Music That Changed America (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
David Bromberg: Unsung Treasure (briefly reviewed at 2012 DOC NYC) (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:
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 (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (Based on “Expensive Trips Nowhere” by Tom Bissell: Steppe makes strong what is strong. Makes weak what is weak.) Documentary:
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 at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to the animation) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Consuming Spirits (preview 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 (preview 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 at 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.) (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
This Is Not A Film (In film nist) (My additional notes.) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Aita (Father) (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
Without Gorky (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
Bully (My additional notes.) (preview 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.)
Dolphin Boy (preview 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 at 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) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to the animation)
Five Broken Cameras (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.) (Background at Director Talk’s interview)
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)
The List (briefly reviewed in Award-Winning Docs at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Portrait of Wally (preview 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 at 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
Ordinary Miracles: The Photo League’s New York (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

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 (preview 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 (preview at 2012 DocuWeeks) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Girl Model
Payback
Casting By (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2012 Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Chasing Ice (kudos to the scenery)
Head Games
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God (My additional notes.)

Runners-Up:BEST BIO DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or glosses:
The Education of Auma Obama (preview at 2012 New York African Film Festival at Film at 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 (preview at 2012 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival)
Meet the Fokkens (Ouwehoeren)
Celluloid Man (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (briefly reviewed at 2012 DOC NYC)
Shepard and Dark (briefly reviewed at 2012 DOC NYC)

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

Most Depressing
Documentary:
When The Bough Breaks (seen at MoMA’s 2012 Documentary Fortnight)
Feature:
Oslo, August 31st (preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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)
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 (preview 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) (preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland ’65 (briefly reviewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 preview at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA); Revenge Of The Snakes (Yılanların Öcü) and Secret Face (Gizli Yüz) preview 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 at 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 (By theatrical release date, then 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) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Even The Rain (También La Lluvia) (preview at 2010 Spanish Cinema Now of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Luis Tosar)
Hands Up (Les Mains En L'air) (preview at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Top Floor, Left Wing (Dernier Étage, Gauche, Gauche) (preview at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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 (preview at The Far Side of Paradise: New Films From Norway atFilm at 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) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Artist (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Outbound (Periferic) (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Incendies (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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) (preview at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
My Piece of the Pie (Ma part du gateau) (preview at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Journals of Musan (Musan Il-gi) (preview at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Blackthorne (preview 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum, in New Hampshire Jewish Film Buzz, at page 21 N/A) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
The Optimists (Optimisti)
Littlerock
50/50 (So, nu: my commentary on the missing Jewish women)
Carnage (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
A Dangerous Method (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at 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?) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Sidewalls (Medianeras) (preview at 2011 Latin Beat of Film at 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) (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 (preview 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 at Lincoln Center)
Weekend

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

Runners-Up: VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite my gripes
The Big Picture (L’homme Qui Voulait Vivre Sa Vie) (preview at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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) (preview at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to Grigory Dobrygin for Break Out Hunk of the Year)
Point Blank (À bout portent) (preview 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 (preview in 3D at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground (briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)

Runners-Up: BEST MOVIE MUSICALS (and music bio-pics and documentaries):
Score: A Hockey Musical (seen at MoMA's 2011 Canadian Front)
Kinshasa Symphony (preview at 2011 New York African Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
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) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Weird World Of Blowfly
Dzi Croquettes

BEST USE OF MUSIC:
Microphone (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Small Town Murder Songs (preview 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.)
Pariah (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)

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 at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
NEDS (preview at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
She Monkeys (Apflickorna) (preview at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Tree (with Marton Csokas as quite the Antipodean hunk)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (kudos to Elizabeth Olsen) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Turin Horse (A torinói ló) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)


MOST VISUAL HEAD TRIPS
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Potiche (kudos to Catherine Deneuve) (preview at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Copacabana (kudos to Isabelle Huppert) (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Meek's Cutoff (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Illégal (kudos to Anne Coesens)
Puzzle (Rompecabezas) (kudos to Maria Onetto)
The Hedgehog (Le Hérisson) (preview at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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) (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Naomi (Hitpartzut X) (preview 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) (preview at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Princess Of Montpensier (La Princesse De Montpensier) (preview at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Sleeping Beauty (La Belle Endormie) (preview at 2011 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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 (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Eichmann’s End: Love, Betrayal, Death (Eichmanns Ende) (briefly reviewed at 2011 New York Jewish Film Festival of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
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 (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 (preview at 2011 DocuWeeks)
There Was Once…
Into the Abyss (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)


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 (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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, d 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 (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)


Best of the Young-Folks-in-Competition DOCS :
Louder Than A Bomb (preview at 2010 DocuWeeks) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
To Be Heard (preview at 2010 DOC NYC) (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 at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
I Wish I Knew (Hai shang chuan qi) (preview at 2011 Film Comments Selects of Film at 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 (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Donor Unknown (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cinema Komunisto (preview at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (preview 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) (preview at 2011 LatinBeat of Film at 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 (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
Flat Daddy (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
Perdida (Lost in Time) (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
Ingrid Betancourt - Six Years In The Jungle (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
Standing Silent (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
Blazing The Trail: The O'Kalems In Ireland (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
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 (New Hampshire Jewish Film Buzz on p. 15 – N/A) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)


Runners-Up:BEST 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 at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (Context/Part 2 is Lost Bohemia preview at 2010 DOC NYC)
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 Worldpreview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Vito (preview at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Lemon (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
Calvet (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
Charlotte Rampling: The Look (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, The Mad And The Beautiful (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (preview at 2011 DOC NYC)
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) (preview at 2011 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 at 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 at 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 at 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’s Tribute To Richard Leacock.


MY BEST FILMS of 2010 (By theatrical release date, then 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (and the comparably-themed short With a Little Patience (Türelem))
Fish Tank
In the Beginning (A l’origine) (preview at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
A Prophet (Un prophète) (kudos to Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup)
Little Girl (La Pivellina) (preview at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Road, Movie (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Micmacs (Micmacs à tire-larigot) (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lola (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The White Meadows (Keshtzar haye sepid) (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The White Space (Lo spazio bianco) (kudos to Margherita Buy and writer/director Francesca Comencini) (preview at 2010 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center)
Cow (Dou niu) (preview at 2010 New York Asian Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Huang Bo)
Confessions (Kokuhaku) (preview 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) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Black Venus (Vénus noire) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Another Year (kudos to Lesley Manville) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at 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)
Letters to Father Jacob (Postia pappi Jaakobille)


Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Ajami (also briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at 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 at 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 at 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) (preview at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Every Day Is a Holiday (Chaque jour est une fête) (preview at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
My Brothers (preview 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) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Aurora (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Strange Case of Angelica (O Estranho Caso de Angélica) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (see it with Luis Miñaro’s short 101, which I preview at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)
The Last Circus (Balade Triste) (preview at 2010 Spanish Cinema Now of Film at Lincoln Center)
The King's Speech (kudos to Colin Firth)
Biutiful (kudos to Javier Bardem)
Rabbit Hole (kudos to Nicole Kidman)
Within the Whirlwind (seen at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)


BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
North Face (Nordwand)
Rapt (preview at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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) (preview 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) (preview at 2010 New York Asian Film Festival at Film at 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) (preview at 2009 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 ) (preview 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) (preview 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) (preview at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
Terribly Happy (Frygtelig lykkelig)
The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos)
The Killer Inside Me (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to Casey Affleck, cinematographer Marcel Zyskind, and the production design)
Blood and Rain (La sangre y la lluvia) (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Winter's Bone
Thursday Widows (Las viudas de los jueves) (preview at Film at 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) (preview through Sundance Selects)
Snap (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Double Hour (La doppia ora) (kudos to Ksenia Rappoport and to Filippo Timi as a hunk) (preview at 2010 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center)
Bluebeard (La Barbe Bleue) (preview at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Meek's Cutoff (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 (preview at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 at 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 at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Down Terrace (kudos to the use of traditional murder ballads) (preview at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)


BEST ROMANCES
Mademoiselle Chambon (preview at 2010 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain)
Samson and Delilah (preview at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Barking Water (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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) (preview at 2010 New York Asian Film Festival at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center)
Ondine (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Lucky Life (preview 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 at Lincoln Center/MoMA)


BEST COMING OF AGERS
I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) (preview at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Evening Dress (La robe du soir) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Girl (Flickan) (preview at Northern Exposures: Social Change and Sexuality in Swedish Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
My Queen Karo (preview 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) (preview at Northern Exposures: Social Change and Sexuality in Swedish Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center
The Trotsky (preview 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 (preview 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) (preview 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 (preview at 2009 Tribeca Film Festival)


BEST ANIMATION
Mary and Max (seen at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at 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 (preview 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 at Lincoln Center)
Einsatzgruppen: The Death Brigades (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at 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 at Lincoln Center, with Herb & Dorothy)
Last Train Home (preview at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 (preview 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 (preview at 2009 DocuWeeks)
Marwencol
Armadillo (preview at 2010 DOC NYC)
Rabbit à la Berlin (Królik po berlinsku) (preview at MoMA’s 2010 Academy-Nominated Documentary Shorts)
My Enemy’s Enemy


DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
Human Failure (Menschliches Versagen) (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Gevald! (briefly reviewed at 2010 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at 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 (showing at 2021 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image with World premiere of a live score by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher)
The Red Chapel (preview at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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) (preview at 2010 Premiere Brazil! series at MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Holy Wars (seen at 2010 DocuWeeks)
Family Affair (seen at DocuWeeks) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
The Rati Horror Show (El Rati Horror Show) (preview at Film at Lincoln Center’s Latin Beat)
The Autobiography of Nikolae Ceaucescu (Autobiogrfia lui Nikolae Ceaucescu) (bit confusing for Americans not knowledgeable about Romanian history) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 at 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 at 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 (Shtikat Haarchion) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Inside Job (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)


Runners-Up:BEST 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 at 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 at 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 (preview at at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 (preview 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) (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) (for Dirty Dancing deeds)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World


BEST SCENERY:
Cairo Time (preview at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival)
Moloch Tropical (briefly reviewed at 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival) Film at Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
Robinson in Ruins (too fictional to be considered a documentary) (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at 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) (preview at 2010 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 at 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 at 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 at Lincoln Center)
Nuremberg (preview at 2010 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 at 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 at Lincoln Center; The Sign of Leo (Le Signe du lion) at The Sign of Rohmer retrospective at Film at Lincoln Center


MY BEST FILMS of 2009 (By theatrical release date, then 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 at 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 at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Yolande Moreau)
The Girl on the Train (La Fille du RER) (preview at 2009 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Hunger (kudos to co-writer/director Steve McQueen)
The Maid (La Nana) (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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)
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) (preview and briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at 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, preview at 2009 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Two Lovers
Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons Eviga Ögonblick)
12
Tokyo Sonata
Amreeka (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Autumn (Sonbahar) (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center>/MoMA)
Parque via (briefly reviewed at 38th New Directors/New Films of Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo di ferragosto) (preview at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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, preview at 2009 Spanish Cinema Now at Film at 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 (preview 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 at 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)
The Rashevski Tango (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)


BEST ROMANCES
Medicine for Melancholy
Unmade Beds (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 New Hampshire Jewish Film Buzz, at page 21- N/A)
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 at Lincoln Center)
Hierro (preview at 2009 Spanish Cinema Now at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
The Apprentice (L’apprenti) (preview at 2009 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
Stella (briefly reviewed at 2009 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
Treeless Mountain (briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 2009 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center) (kudos to Tom Stern's cinematography and Clovis Cornillac as a contemporary Jean Gabin)
Copy of Coralie (La Copie de Coralie) (preview at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 (preview 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 at Lincoln Center)


Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Fados
Soundtrack for a Revolution (preview 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 at 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 at 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 at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Moon (preview at 8th Tribeca Film Festival)


BEST FEMINIST FABLES
The White Ribbon (Das weisse band) (preview at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center)
Bluebeard (La Barbe Bleue) (preview at 2009 New York Film Festival of Film at 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 at 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 2009 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
The Cove (also briefly reviewed at 2009 New Directors/New Films of Film at 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 (preview at Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center) (plus the sad follow-up Silencing the Song: An Afghan Fallen Star)
As Seen Through These Eyes (courtesy of Menemsha Films)
Sweet Crude (seen at DocuWeeks)
Loot


DOCS that are Close Runners-Up
Camp Girls (briefly reviewed at 2009 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Young Freud in Gaza (Unge Freud i Gaza) (briefly reviewed at 18th New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Paradise (briefly reviewed at 10th Film Comments Selects of Film at 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 at 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Every Mother Should Know (Teda Kol Em Ivriya) (briefly reviewed at 18th New York Jewish Film Festival of Film at 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:BEST 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 at Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Neither Memory nor Magic (seen at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight – 8th International Festival of Nonfiction Films)
Carmen & Geoffrey
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 (1920) Paul Wegener’s German silent film performed live with Tom Nazziola's musical score 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 at 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 at Lincoln Center)
Pyaasa (The Thirsty One) (briefly reviewed at 47th New York Film Festival of Film at 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 (By theatrical release date, then 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) (preview at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center) (Viva Nicolas Cazalé)
Megane (Glasses) (seen at New Directors/New Films at Film at 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) (preview 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) (preview at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center)
Paris (seen at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at Lincoln Center)
La Zona (The Zone) (seen at New Directors/New Films at Film at 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 (preview at MoMA’s Premiere Brazil!) (kudos to Giovanni Venosta’s score)
The Pope's Toilet (El Baño el Papa) (preview 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
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) (preview at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film at 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) (preview 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) (preview at Spanish Cinema Now at Film at Lincoln Center)
King of the Hill (El rey de la montaña) (seen at Spanish Cinema Now at Film at 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 (preview at 2008 New Directors/New Films at Film at Lincoln Center/ MoMA)
Paranoid Park (kudos to DP Christopher Doyle)
Water Lilies (Naissance Des Pieuvres) (preview at New Directors/New Films at Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) (preview 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 had 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
The Duchess Of Langeais (Ne Touchez Pas La Hache) (My additional notes.)
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) (preview at New Directors/New Films at Film at 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) (preview at NY Jewish Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Murder of a Hatmaker (Assassinat d'une modiste) (seen at NY Jewish Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
Trouble the Water (preview at New Directors/New Films at Film at Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Brothers in Arms (seen at NY African Film Festival at Film at 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 at Lincoln Center)
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) (preview at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at 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) (preview at Film at 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 (preview at New Directors/New Films at Film at 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 preview at the 2008 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center before it went straight to PBS)
Cuba: An African Odyssey (seen at NY African Film Festival at Film at 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, preview 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:BEST 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 at 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 (preview 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) (preview 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 at 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 at 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 at 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 at 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 (By theatrical release date, then 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) (preview at the NY Jewish Film Festival at Film at Lincoln Center)
The Italian (Italyanets)
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)
Naming Number Two
There Will Be Blood (kudos to Daniel Day Lewis, Jonny Greenwood’s score, Paul Thomas Anderson’s direction and Robert Elswit’s cinematography)
The Band’s Visit (Bikur Ha-Tizmoret) (emendations coming after 2/7/2008)


BEST ROMANCES
Quiet City


BEST DOCUMENTARIES
2 Or 3 Things I Know About Him (2 oder 3 Dinge, die ich von ihm weiß) (See The Unknown Soldier (Der Unbekannte Soldat) for 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)
Manufactured Landscapes


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 (Italyanets)
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- (By theatrical release date, then the order I saw them, 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 Push 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 and scroll down for my capsule review (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 and scroll down for my capsule review


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 FILMS OF THE YEAR:
The Bridge
The Clay Bird (Matir moina)


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
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days (Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage) (kudos to Julia Jentsch and Gerald Alexander Held)


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 3/31/2025)

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