Mandel Maven's Nest Reel Life: Flick Pix
Nora Lee Mandel is a member of New York Film Critics Online and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Her reviews are counted in the Rotten Tomatoes TomatoMeter:
Complete Index to Nora Lee Mandel's Movie Reviews
Since August 2006, edited versions of most of my reviews of documentaries/indie/foreign films are at Film-Forward; since 2012, festival overviews at FilmFestivalTraveler; and, since 2016, coverage of women-made films at FF2 Media. Shorter versions of my older reviews are at IMDb's comments, where non-English-language films are listed by their native titles.
TV Recommendations
As of mid-2014, I am marking my own stricter application than others to fiction features of the Bechdel-Wallace Test
Originally suggested by Allison Bechdel, as inspired by her friend Liz Wallace (so her name was added to the symbol as of 2016), in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985 to note a film that features (1) at least two named female characters; (2) who talk to each other; (3) about something besides a man. Symbol first designed by the Swedish chapter of Women in Film and Television; thanks to The Hot Pink Pen for the updated image. But my own criteria consider a substantive interaction about substance.
My Best Films of 2020
My Best Films of 2019
My Best Films of 2018
My Best Films of 2017
My Best Films of 2016
My Best Films of 2015
My Best Films of 2014
My Best Films of 2013
My Best Films of 2012
My Best Films of 2011
My Best Films of 2010
My Best Films of 2009
My Best Films of 2008
My Best Films of 2007
My Best Films of 2006
My Best Films of 2005
My Best Films of 2004
My Best Films of 2003
My Best Films of 2002
My Best Films of 2001
Reviews by Nora Lee Mandel in my idiosyncratic categories of how I think of of flicks:
CHICK FLICKS
IMPACT OF 9/11 ON NYC THROUGH MOVIES
IMAGES OF DENTISTS AND PREVENTIVE TOOTH CARE IN MOVIES (carrying on the work of Dr. Irwin D. Mandel z”l)
JEWISH WOMEN IN (and missing from) THE FLICKS
MASTERPIECE THEATER: MOVIES AS MEDICINE
For the MIDDLE-AGED AT HEART: HURRAH FOR GROWN-UPS!
For the MUSIC (and/or the dancing)
NEW YORK NEW YORK: IT'S A HELLUVA TOWN
NOIR NIGHT OUT
OGLING TEENS AND '20SOMETHINGS
POPCORN EATERS
ROMEO AND JULIET (and friends) ACROSS THE ETHNIC DIVIDE
SCI-FI and FANTASY from A DISTAFF POV
And then there's RUSSELL CROWE (with commentary on the actor)
Friends don't let friends watch bad movies! -- John Ridley
It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons. -- Pierre Rissient
Mothers of America/let your kids go to the movies! -- Frank O’Hara, Ave Maria
MY BEST FILMS of 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)
Runners-Up: MOVIES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
All Rise (seen at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival (Kudos to Kevin Harrison Jr.)
BEST FEMALE POV
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)
Documentary
Woman Make Film: A New Road Movie through Cinema (docu-series seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
Sunless Shadows (seen at MoMA’s 2020 Documentary Fortnight)
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
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)
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)
BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
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)
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)
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)
Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Weathering With You (Animation) (preview courtesy of GKids)
José
BEST COMING OF AGERS
Waiting for Anya
Wendy
Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL/APOCALYPTIC I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Speed of Life (Romantic Division)
Runners-Up: MOVIE MUSICALS (and music/dance bio-pics and documentaries) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band (preview at 2019 DOC NYC Festival)
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)
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 Ancient Woods (Sengire) (Kudos to director Mindaugus Survila) (at 2018 DOC NYC Festival/seen at 2019 Panorama Europe Film Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
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)
Runners-Up: Documentaries I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Slay The Dragon (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and shown at 2020 Cinematters: NY Social Justice Film Festival)
Afterward (preview at 2018 DOC NYC Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
The All-Americans (seen at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
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 (preview courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment and Film Forum)
American Muslim (at 2019 DOC NYC Festival and seen at 2020 Cinematters: Social Justice Film Festival)
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.)
BEST COMIC RELIEF from Depressing Movies Despite Nonsense:
Deerskin (Le Daim) (preview at 2020 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema of Film at Lincoln Center)
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, 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)
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)
Elem Klimov’s Come And See (1985) (preview of new Mosfilm restoration via Janus Films at Film Forum)
NOTABLE FILM-RELATED EXHIBITS
at Museum of the Moving Image (organized by DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum): Genesis and 50th Anniversary Exhibition in Queens:
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 (?ara moarta) (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)
Donbass (seen at 2019 First Look Festival at Museum of the Moving Image)
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 Other Israel Film Festival">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 Mistaker”] (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)
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)
Lucky Grandma (Kudos to Tsai Chin and the music) (preview at 2019 Tribeca Film Festival)
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 Festival)
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)
A Woman's Work: The NFL's Cheerleader Problem (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 Festival) (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 Festival)
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)
Sybil (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)
Abe (My commentary on the Jewish woman) (seen at 2019 Other Israel Film Festival)
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)
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)