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.
As of mid-2014, I’ll be marking my own application to fiction features of the Bechdel Test:
[Originally created by Allison Bechdel 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.]
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
Mothers of America/let your kids go to the movies! -- Frank O’Hara, Ave Maria
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
A Street in Palermo (Via Castellana Bandiera) (kudos to writer/director/star Emma Dante) (previewed at 2014 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Manuscripts Don't Burn (Dast-neveshtehaa nemisoosand) (briefly reviewed)
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)
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)
Dormant Beauty (Bella addormentata) (previewed at 2013 Film Comments Selects of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Those Happy Years (Anni felici) (previewed at 2014 Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Noah
Colette (seen at 2014 Czech That Film Tour)
Policeman (Ha-shoter) (previewed at 2011 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Coffee In Berlin (Oh Boy) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Hanna’s Journey (Hannas Reise) (previewed at 2014 Kino!) (So, nu: my commentary on the Jewish woman.)
Land Ho! (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (kudos to the scenery)
Happy Christmas
All About the Feathers (Por las plumas) (previewed at 2014 Latin Beat of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
My America
Closed Curtain (Pardé)
Lilting (kudos to Ben Whishaw) (previewed at 2014 NewFest of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
A Master Builder
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)
Every Secret Thing (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Night Moves (kudos to Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota Fanning) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Runners-Up: VIOLENT NEO-NOIRS I Recommend: Comic Division
Jackpot (Arme Riddere) (previewed at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival)
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)
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Bai ri yan huo) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Cold in July (kudos to the score)
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.)
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)
In Order Of Dissappearance (Kraftidioten) (kudos to the Stellan Skarsgård, Bruno Ganz, and the scenery) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
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) (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)
Snowpiercer (kudos to the production design and score)
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)
The Canal (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Coherenced
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.)
Gerontophilia (previewed at 2014 NewFest of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
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)
Runners-Up: BEST ANTI-ROMANCES
X/Y (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) (kudos to Paula Hertzog and the Sierra de Córdoba scenery)
Boyhood (kudos to writer/director Richard Linklater)
Natural Sciences (Ciencias Naturales) (previewed at 2014 Latin Beat of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho) (previewed at 2014 NewFest of Film Society of 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) (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)
Broken Hill Blues (Ömheten) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Bad Hair (Pelo Malo) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Horses of God (Les Chevaux de Dieu) (My additional Notes.)
Casa Grande (previewed at 2014 Latin Beat of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
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)
I Won’t Come Back (Ya Ne Vernus) (kudos to Vika Lobacheva and Natalia Drozd) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
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.)
Exhibition (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
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
BEST for the CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Güeros (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
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) (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of Lincoln Center) (Holland interview at Director Talk.)
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
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
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)
Please Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (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)
Vara: A Blessing (kudos to the classical Indian dancing with music) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Keep On Keeping On (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
We Are The Best! (Vi är bäst!) (kudos to Mira Barkhammar and Mira Grosin)
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) (previewed at 2014 Sound + Vision of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Shield and Spear (previewed at 2014 Sound + Vision of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
Dd>Pulp (previewed at 2014 Sound + Vision of Film Society of Lincoln Center)
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) (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)
Wrinkles (Arrugas) (English-dubbed version – kudos to George Coe’s voicing)
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.)
Manakamana (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival of Film Society of 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 (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional Notes.)
1971 (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Search For General Tso (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Next Goal Wins (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Virunga (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
The Kill Team (briefly reviewed in 2013 Documentaries at Tribeca Film Festival)
A World Not Ours) (previewed at 2013 Doc NYC Festival)
Life Itself
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.)
The Overnighters (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Mala Mala (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
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)
Beyond The Edge (kudos to the scenery)
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
Karpotrotter (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Silenced (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional Notes.)
The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Misconception (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Breastmilk (reviewed at 2013 Women's Docs at DOC NYC)
Emptying The Skies (reviewed at 2013 “Birds Of A Feather” Flock To Doc NYC)
Last Days In Vietnam (except for the self-serving Henry Kissinger)
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 and note.)
An Honest Liar (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Dd>Regarding Susan Sontag (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes on her as a Jewish woman and 9/11 analyst.)
Point and Shoot (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
True Son (previewed 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: Bio Docs)
Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case (My additional notes.)
Burt’s Buzz (My additional notes on the Jewish woman.
Nan Goldin - I Remember Your Face (previewed at 2014 Kino!) (So, nu: my commentary on her as a Jewish woman.)
Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs And The New South Africa (previewed at Ford Foundation’s Just Films)
Whitey: United States Of America V. James J. Bulger
Most Depressing
Fiction Division
Ice Poison (Bing Du) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Five Star (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival) (My additional notes.)
Norte, the End of History (Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan) (kudos to the scenery) (seen at Film Society of Lincoln Center)
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)
Journey to the West (Xi You) (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
Documentary Division:
Visitors (kudos to the Philip Glass score)
Watermark
Fishtail (previewed at 2014 Tribeca Film Festival)
BEST REVIVALS IN NEW PRINTS
Il Sorpasso
Red Hollywood (previewed at 2014 Art of the Real of Film Society of Lincoln Center
Sorcerer
The Wind Will Carry Us (Bad ma ra khahad bord)
Archipelago and Unrelated (previewed at 2013 New York Film Festival 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); China Is Near (La Cina è vicina) in Marco Bellocchio: A Retrospective at MoMA
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)
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)