reelMandel Maven's Reel Life: Flick Pix
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 and, since 2012, festival overviews at FilmFestivalTraveler. Shorter versions of my older reviews are at IMDb's comments, where non-English-language films are listed by their native titles.
My Best Films of 2014
My Best Films of 2013
My Best Films of 2012
My Best Films of 2011
My Best Films of 2010
My Best Films of 2009
My Best Films of 2008
My Best Films of 2007
My Best Films of 2006
My Best Films of 2005
My Best Films of 2004
My Best Films of 2003
My Best Films of 2002
My Best Films of 2001
Reviews by Nora Lee Mandel in my idiosyncratic categories of how I think of of flicks:
CHICK FLICKS
IMPACT OF 9/11 ON NYC THROUGH MOVIES
IMAGES OF DENTISTS AND PREVENTIVE TOOTH CARE IN MOVIES
JEWISH WOMEN IN (and missing from) THE FLICKS
MASTERPIECE THEATER: MOVIES AS MEDICINE
For the MIDDLE-AGED AT HEART: HURRAH FOR GROWN-UPS!
For the MUSIC (and/or the dancing)
NEW YORK NEW YORK: IT'S A HELLUVA TOWN
NOIR NIGHT OUT
OGLING TEENS AND '20SOMETHINGS
POPCORN EATERS
ROMEO AND JULIET (and friends) ACROSS THE ETHNIC DIVIDE
SCI-FI and FANTASY from A DISTAFF POV
And then there's RUSSELL CROWE (with commentary on the actor)
Friends don't let friends watch bad movies! -- John Ridley
It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons. -- Pierre Rissient
A movie is shown in a movie theater, and I like to sit there and see it. That’s how it’s supposed to be. -- Roger Ebert, Newsweek, 5/15/2011
MY BEST FILMS of 2014 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
Ida (previewed at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of 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 (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Venus In Fur (La Vénus À La Fourrure) (kudos to Emmanuelle Seigner) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Hateship Loveship
Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Ana Arabia (previewed at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Friends From France (Les interdits) (previewed at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
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)
Grand Central (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Japanese Dog (Câinele Japonez) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Of Horses and Men (kudos to the cinematography) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Quod Erat Demonstrandum (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
To Kill a Man (Matar a un hombre) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Afronauts (short previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Honey (Miele) (for background see PBS’s Frontline report The Suicide Plan)
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)
Night Moves (kudos to Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
BEST NEO-NOIRS
Felony (kudos to writer/star Joel Edgerton, Jai Courtney, and Tom Wilkinson) (previewed at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Rob the Mob (kudos to Michael Pitt and Nina Arianda, and the editing)
Runners-Up: BEST NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Youth (Hanoar) (kudos to the Cunio brothers) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Fish & Cat (Mahi va gorbeh) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
God's Pocket (RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Joe (kudos to Tye Sheridan)
BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
Big Bad Wolves (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Omar (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (Director Talk interview is a useful supplement.)
The Babadook (kudos to cinematography and book design) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Bethlehem (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Starred Up (kudos to Jack O’Connell and Ben Mendelsohn) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Manos Sucias (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Runners-Up: ACTIONERS/THRILLERS I enjoyed despite uncredible plots
Journey To The West: Conquering the Demons
The Raid 2: Berandal (kudos to the score and sound design)
The Canal (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
In Order Of Dissappearance (Kraftidioten (kudos to the Stellan Skarsgård, Bruno Ganz, and the scenery
BEST SCI FI/FANTASY
The Double (kudos to the cinematography, production design and Jesse Eisenberg) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) in tandem with Enemy (previewed at 2014 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (kudos to the cinematography) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Under the Skin (kudos to the cinematography and score/sound design)
Der Samurai (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Extraterrestrial (kudos to the cinematography and sound design) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
BEST ROMANCES
Under the Rainbow (Au bout du conte) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Obvious Child (kudos to Jenny Slate) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Vara: A Blessing (kudos to the classical Indian dancing with music) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Girl on a Bicycle
2 Autumns, 3 Winters (2 automnes 3 hivers) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
If You Don't, I Will (Arrête Ou Je Continue) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Only Lovers Left Alive (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the music, production design, and cinematography by Yorick LeSaux)
Fading Gigolo (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
The One I Love (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Brides (Patardzlebi) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
BEST COMING OF AGERS
Maidentrip (kudos to the scenery too)
Beneath The Harvest Sky (kudos to Emory Cohen and Callan McAuliffe) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
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) (previewed at 2014 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Young And Beautiful (Jeune & jolie) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Sheep (Mouton) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Hide Your Smiling Faces (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Palo Alto (kudos to Jack Kilmer) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
BEST FEMALE POV
Gloria (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Paulina García)
Towheads (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
On My Way (Elle s'en va) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Zero Motivation (Efes be-Yachasei Enosh) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Traitors (kudos to Chaimae Ben Acha) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Brides (Patardzlebi) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Two Lives (Zwei Leben)
Documentary Division:
Cineast(e)s: Women Filmmakers (at FI:AF in 2014 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema)
Runners-Up: BEST FEMALE POV I Recommend Despite my Gripes
Age of Panic (La bataille de Solférino) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Suzanne (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Stop the Pounding Heart (briefly reviewed in Witches & War at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
BEST ACTORS better than their movies:
Jude Law in Dom Hemingway
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
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) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The French Minister (Quai D’orsay) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Niels Arestrup)
Xingu (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Railway Man
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 (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
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: Bio Docs)
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)
BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation)
The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Mood Indigo (L'écume des jours) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga (briefly reviewed in Witches & War at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to the scenery) (My additional notes.) (kudos to the scenery)
Ernest & Célestine (My detailed comments on this dental version of the tooth mouse.)
Runners-Up: BEST ANIMATION (and use of animation) I Recommend Despite My Gripes:
The Congress (previewed at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
BEST DOCUMENTARIES:
Big Men (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival) (Informative interview with the director.)
The Last Of The Unjust (Le Dernier Des Injustes) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (Director Talk interview is a useful supplement.)
Fatal Assistance (Assistance mortelle) (briefly reviewed at 2013 Economics & the 24th Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Missing Picture (L'image manquante) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
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 Society of Lincoln Center)
Karama Has No Walls (seen with Oscar Nominated Shorts)
School Of Babel (La Cour de Babel) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Kids for Cash
The Return To Homs (briefly reviewed in Witches & War at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to the scenery) (My additional notes.)
DOCS – Best Reenactments
Charlie Victor Romeo
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza) (seen at MoMA’s 2014 Documentary Fortnight)
Runners Up DOCS – Best Reenactments
Bloody Beans (Loubia Hamra) (previewed at 2014 Art of the Real of Film Society of Lincoln Center
Educational DOCS you can learn from despite gaps and/or flaws):
flaws):
Before the Revolution (previewed at 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of 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)
We Come as Friends (kudos to the scenery) (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Time Goes by Like a Roaring Lion (Die Zeit Vergeht Wie Ein Brüllender Löwe) (previewed at 2014 Art of the Real of Film Society of Lincoln Center
The Second Game (Al doilea joc) (previewed at 2014 Art of the Real of Film Society of Lincoln Center
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 (previewed at 2014 Art of the Real of Film Society of Lincoln Center
Finding Vivian Maier (briefly reviewed at 2013 Doc NYC Round-up Part 1: Bio Docs) (Director Talk’s interview about her photography.)
The Unknown Known (previewed at 2013 Doc NYC Festival) (My additional note.)
Most Depressing
Documentary Division:
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
BEST for the SCENERY:
Feature Division:
Love Is The Perfect Crime (L'amour est un crime parfait) (previewed at 2014 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (previewed at 2014 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Documentary Division:
Visitors (kudos to the Philip Glass score)
Watermark
BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Il Sorpasso
Red Hollywood (previewed at 2014 Art of the Real of Film Society of 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) (previewed in Masterpieces of Polish Cinema at Film Society of 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 Society of Lincoln Center);
MY BEST FILMS of 2013 (In the order I saw them, many reviews yet to be written, particularly of festivals-viewed, non-theatrically distributed films):
About 111 Girls (Darbare 111 Dokhtar) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Modest Reception (Paziraie Sadeh) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA)
Dormant Beauty (Bella addormentata) (previewed at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to score by Giuliano Taviani and CarmeloTravi)
Lore
No (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Jiseul (kudos to the cinematography and score) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Place Beyond The Pines (kudos to Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, and writer/director Derek Cianfrance)
Renoir (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (My additional notes.)
Mold (Küf) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
The Shine Of The Day (Der Glanz des Tages) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (My additional notes.)
Harmony Lessons (Uroki Garmonii) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Computer Chess
Fruitvale Station (kudos to writer/director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan)
The Selfish Giant (kudos to writer/director Clio Barnard, Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas and Sean Gilder)
Runners-Up: Movies I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Aliyah (also briefly reviewed at 2013 New York Jewish Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
The Cutoff Man (Menatek Ha-maim) (briefly in Reviewed: New York Jewish Film Festival 2013 of Film Society of Lincoln Center/The Jewish Museum)
Outside Satan (Hors Satan)(previewed at Anthology Film Archives
Southwest (Sudoeste) (seen in 2013 Global Lens series at MoMA)
The Pirogue
Three Worlds (Trois Mondes) (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Blue Caprice (kudos to the score) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Starbuck (seen at MoMA's 2012 Canadian Front) -- like a fiction version of the documentary Donor Unknown (briefly reviewed at 2011 Tribeca Film Festival) (remade in Hollywood as Delivery Man)
It Was The Son (È stato il figlio) (previewed at 2013 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the cinematography)
In The Fog (V tumane)
The Hunt (Jagten) (kudos to Mads Mikkelsen)
You Will Be My Son (Tu Seras Mon Fils)
Nebraska (kudos to Bruce Dern and June Squibb, Bob Nelson’s script, Phedon Papamichael’s cinematography and Mark Orton’s score) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Touch Of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (despite the kowtowing to Beijing PC-ness)
In The Name Of. . . (W imie...) (kudos to Andrzej Chyra)
Aftermath (Pokłosie) (kudos to Maciej Stuhr and Ireneusz Czop) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Three Exercises of Interpretation: The Cat is On the Chair, The Mouse is Under the Table, and The Monkey is On the Branch (Trois exercices d’interprétation): (previewed in Making Waves: New Romanian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Under The Same Sun (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Inheritance (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Arabani (previewed at 2013 Other Israel Film Festival) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
The Past (Le passé) (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
Burning Bush (Hořicí Keř) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (in the Czech Republic it was a TV mini-series)
The Immigrant (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (So, nu: my commentary on the missing Jewish women.) (kudos to Marion Cotillard, cinematographer Darius Khondji, and production design, especially at Ellis Island)
12 Years A Slave (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Fifth Estate (not so way-back division)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (kudos to Idris Elba and Naomie Harris)
BEST ACTIONERS/THRILLERS
The Baytown Outlaws (kudos to Clayne Crawford and Travis Fimmel)
Gangster Squad (kudos to art, scenic, costume, and sound design)
Motorway (Che sau) (kudos to the music) (previewed at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Berlin File (Be-reul-lin)
A Hijacking (Kapringen) (briefly reviewed in best of year- scroll down) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (see it with The Project, briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival) (I preferred over Captain Phillips)
Stampede (a short film from Croatia by Cyril Amon Schäubli as tense as Bourne in a train station) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Northwest (Nordvest) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival) (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Shadow Dancer (kudos to Andrea Riseborough) (My additional notes.)
Drug War (Du zhan)
The Grandmaster (Yi dai zong shi) (U.S. version) (kudos to the martial arts choreography and cinematography)
Prisoners
Lone Survivor (kudos to director Peter Berg)
Gravity (3D)
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) (previewed in 2013 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Nairobi Half Life (previewed in 2013 New York African Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Single Shot (kudos to Sam Rockwell and score by Atli Örvarsson)
Runners-Up: BEST NEO-NOIRS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Mobius (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mystery (previewed at 2013 New York Asian Film Festival at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Child of God (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
BEST SCI FI/FANTASY
The Wall (Die Wand) (kudos to Martina Gedeck and the scenery)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (kudos to the action and hints of romance)
Runners-Up: BEST SCI FI/FANTASY I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Blancanieves (kudos to cinematography and music) (previewed at 2012 Spanish Cinema Now at Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to the black-and-white cinematography)
Byzantium (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
World War Z
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
BEST COMING OF AGERS
The Interval (L’Intervallo) (previewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (kudos to Francesca Riso)
Blackbird (seen at MoMA's 2013 Canadian Front) (kudos to Connor Jessup and writer/director Jason Buxton)
Before My Heart Falls (Avant Que Mon Coeur Bascule) (seen at MoMA's 2013 Canadian Front)
The Rocket (previewed at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival)
What Richard Did (kudos to Jack Reynor) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
The Spectacular Now (despite more upbeat ending than the book)
Club Sándwich (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Runners-Up: COMING OF AGERS I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Gimme The Loot (briefly reviewed at 2012 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA)
Molly Maxwell (seen at MoMA's 2013 Canadian Front)
The We and The I (My additional notes.)
La Playa DC (Seen at The African Diaspora International Film Festival
BEST ROMANCES
Warm Bodies (Sci-Fi Division) (kudos to Nicholas Hoult)
Refrain (Rengaine) (briefly reviewed at 2013 New Directors/New Films of Film Society of Lincoln Center/MoMA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman)
Before Midnight (40somethings Division) (kudos to Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy)
Much Ado About Nothing (a la Joss Whedon and friends)
Fill the Void (Lemale et ha'halal) (previewed at 2012 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Hadas Yaron and Yiftach Klein) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women)
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (kudos to Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck)
Real (Riaru: Kanzen Naru Kubinagaryû No Hi) (Sci-Fi Division) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Blue Is The Warmest Color (La Vie d’Adèle -Chapitre 1 and 2) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to Adèle Exarchopoulos)
Her (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (kudos to writer/director Spike Jonze, Joaquin Phoenix, voice of Scarlett Johansson, score by Arcade Fire, KK Barrett’s production design)
The Pin (kudos to actors Milda Gecaite and Grisha Pasternak, writer/director Naomi Jaye and score/sound design) (previewed at The Anne Frank Center USA) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish women.)
Runners-Up: ROMANCES I Recommend Despite My Gripes
Nights With Theodore (Les Nuits avec Theodore) (previewed at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Laurence Anyways (seen at MoMA's 2013 Canadian Front) (kudos to Melvil Poupaud and Suzanne Clément)
Upstream Color (Sci-Fi Division) (kudos to Shane Carruth)
Every Blessed Day (Tutti i santi giorni) (previewed at 2013 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Floating Skyscrapers (Plynace wiezowce) (briefly reviewed in LGBT Cinema at Tribeca ‘13 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Alì Blue Eyes (Alì ha gli occhi azzurri) (briefly reviewed in Youth in Rebellion at Tribeca 2013 at Tribeca Film Festival)
Don Jon
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) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Girl (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
Future Weather (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
A Lady in Paris (Une Estonienne À Paris) (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Augustine (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Thérèse Desqueyroux (previewed at 2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Eden (My additional notes.)
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 Society of Lincoln Center) 