My Top Ten Films of 2016

Posted on December 29, 2016 at 3:16 pm

In my opinion, the best film of 2016 is “Fences,” with a screenplay by August Wilson, based on his Tony and Pulitzer-winning play, directed by and starring Denzel Washington, with Viola Davis.

As usual, the rest of my list is all tied for second place:

“13th”
“Everybody Wants Some!!”
“Hell or High Water”
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“La La Land”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”
“Sing Street”
“Zootopia”

Runners up: “Eye in the Sky,” “Don’t Think Twice,” “Southside With You,” “Finding Dory,” “Moana,” “Love & Friendship,” “Arrival,” “Loving,” “Eight Days a Week,” “Keanu,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “The Meddler,” “Hello My Name is Doris,” “Weiner,” “Zero Days,” “Command and Control,” “I, Daniel Blake,” “Little Men,” “A Monster Calls”

My friends at Rogerebert.com have compiled a great list of other critics’ top ten lists. Thanks for including mine!

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How to Watch a Movie Like a Critic

Posted on October 11, 2016 at 3:43 pm

At the Brooklyn Book Fair, a panel of critics advised the audience with their best advice for getting the most from movies and books. From NY Times critic A.O. Scott:

Whatever you’re consuming—even a movie that seems to require no thought—pay attention, and take notes. For Scott, there’s no real difference between reading or watching for work and for pleasure.
“I can’t read without a pencil or pen in hand, whatever I’m reading,” he says. “I have to have something to make notes in the margin or underline or scribble with. … I can’t just like what I like, or not like what I don’t like, without thinking, ‘Why?’ —Which is kind of where criticism starts.”

Broadcast Film Critics Announce Documentary Awards Nominations

Posted on October 10, 2016 at 8:58 am

It is one of the great honors of my professional life to be a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and participate in the Critics Choice awards. This year, I am delighted that we have established a new, separate awards ceremony for documentaries. Here are the outstanding nominees for the inaugural Critics Choice documentary awards.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Fire at Sea (Kino Lorber/Stemal Entertainment/21 Unofilm/Cinecittà Luce/Rai Cinema/Les Films d’Ici/Arte France Cinéma)
– Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
– Tickled (Magnolia/A Ticklish Tale/Fumes Production/Horseshoe Films)
– Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film)
– Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– The Witness (FilmRise/Five More Minutes Productions)

BEST DIRECTION OF A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– Ezra Edelman – 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Ron Howard – The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (Hulu/Imagine Entertainment/Apple Corps)
– Kirsten Johnson – Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Keith Maitland – Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film)
– Clay Tweel – Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Roger Ross Williams – Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)

BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
– Otto Bell – The Eagle Huntress (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– David Farrier and Dylan Reeve – Tickled (Magnolia/A Ticklish Tale/Fumes Production/Horseshoe Films)
– Adam Irving – Off the Rails (The Film Collaborative/Zipper Bros Films)
– Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg – Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– James D. Solomon – The Witness (FilmRise/Five More Minutes Productions)
– Nanfu Wang – Hooligan Sparrow (The Film Collaborative/Little Horse Crossing the River)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Audrie & Daisy (Netflix/Actual Films)
– Newtown (Abramorama/Mile 22/Independent Television Service)
– Weiner (Sundance Selects/Motto Pictures/Edgeline Films)
– Zero Days (Magnolia/Jigsaw Productions/Participant Media)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE (TV/STREAMING)
– 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– 30 For 30: Fantastic Lies (ESPN)
– Amanda Knox (Netflix/Plus Pictures)
– Audrie & Daisy (Netflix/Actual Films)
– Before the Flood (National Geographic/Appian Way/Insurgent Docs/RatPac Documentary Films)
– Holy Hell (CNN/WRA Productions)
– Into the Inferno (Netflix/Herzog-Film/Matter of Fact Media/Spring Films)
– Jim: The James Foley Story (HBO/Kunhardt Films)
– Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (HBO/Film Manufacturers/World of Wonder Productions)
– Rats (Discovery Channel/Dakota Group/Submarine Entertainment/Warrior Poets)

BEST DIRECTOR (TV/STREAMING)
– Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato – Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (HBO/Film Manufacturers/World of Wonder Productions)
– Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn – Amanda Knox (Netflix/Plus Pictures)
– Ava DuVernay – 13th (Netflix/Kandoo Films)
– Werner Herzog – Into the Inferno (Netflix/Herzog-Film/Matter of Fact Media/Spring Films)
– Morgan Spurlock – Rats (Discovery Channel/Dakota Group/Submarine Entertainment/Warrior Poets)
– Fisher Stevens – Before the Flood (National Geographic/Appian Way/Insurgent Docs/RatPac Documentary Films)

BEST FIRST FEATURE (TV/STREAMING)
– Everything is Copy – Jacob Bernstein and Nick Hooker (HBO/Loveless)
– Holy Hell – Will Allen (CNN/WRA Productions)
– Mavis! – Jessica Edwards (HBO/Film First Co.)
– My Beautiful Broken Brain – Sophie Robinson and Lotje Sodderland (Netflix)
– Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four – Deborah Esquenazi (Investigation Discovery/Motto Pictures/Naked Edge Films)
– Team Foxcatcher – Jon Greenhalgh (Netflix/Hattasan Productions/Madrose Productions)

BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth (Showtime/Left/Right)
– The Eighties (CNN)
– The Hunt (BBC America/Silverback Films/NDR Naturfilm)
– Jackie Robinson (PBS/Florentine Films)
– Soundbreaking: Stories From the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music (PBS/Higher Ground/Show of Force)

BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
– 30 for 30 (ESPN)
– Frontline (PBS)
– Last Chance U (Netflix)
– Morgan Spurlock Inside Man (CNN)
– POV (PBS)
– This Is Life with Lisa Ling (CNN)

BEST SONG IN A DOCUMENTARY
– “Angel by the Wings” – The Eagle Huntress – Written by Sia – Performed by Sia (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– “The Empty Chair” – Jim: The James Foley Story – Written by Sting and J. Ralph – Performed by Sting (HBO/Kunhardt Films)
– “Flicker” – Audrie & Daisy – Written by Tori Amos – Performed by Tori Amos (Netflix/Actual Films)
– “Hoping and Healing” – Gleason – Written by Mike McCready – Performed by Mike McCready (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– “I’m Still Here” – Miss Sharon Jones! – Written by Sharon Jones – Performed by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (Cabin Creek Films/Starz Digital Media)
– “Letters to the Free” – 13th – Written by Common, Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper – Performed by Common featuring Bilal (Netflix/Kandoo Films)

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
– 30 For 30: Fantastic Lies (ESPN)
– 30 For 30: O.J.: Made in America (ESPN/Laylow Films)
– Dark Horse (Sony Pictures Classics)
– The Eagle Huntress (Sony Pictures Classics/Kissaki Films/Stacey Reiss Productions)
– Gleason (Open Road/Amazon/Exhibit A)
– Jackie Robinson (PBS/Florentine Films)
– Keepers of the Game (Tribeca Digital Studios/Flatbush Pictures)

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
– The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (Hulu/Imagine Entertainment/Apple Corps)
– Gimme Danger (Magnolia/Amazon)
– Miss Sharon Jones! (Cabin Creek Films/Starz Digital Media)
– The Music of Strangers (Participant Media/Tremolo Productions)
– Presenting Princess Shaw (Magnolia)
– We Are X (Drafthouse Films)

MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY
– Cameraperson (Janus Films/Fork Films/Big Mouth Productions)
– Kate Plays Christine (Grasshopper Film/4th Row Films/Faliro House Productions/Prewar Cinema Productions)
– Life, Animated (A&E IndieFilms/The Orchard/Motto Pictures/Roger Ross Williams Productions)
– Nuts (Amazon/mTuckman Media/Cartuna/Gland Power Films)
– Tower (Kino Lorber/ITVS/Meredith Vieira Productions/GTS Films/Diana DiMenna Film
– Under The Sun (Icarus Films/Vertov Studio/Saxonia Entertainment/Hypermarket Film)

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New Book: The Oliver Stone Experience

Posted on September 19, 2016 at 3:54 pm

From “Scarface,” “Midnight Express,” Natural Born Killers,” “Wall Street,” “JFK,” “Nixon,” “W,” and “Platoon” to this month’s release, “Snowden.” Oliver Stone has been one of the most provocative writers and directors in movie history. Also one of its most lauded, with awards and nominations that include three Oscars in two separate categories: Best Adapted Screenplay (“Midnight Express”), and Best Director (“Born on the Fourth of July” and “Platoon”).

A new book, The Oliver Stone Experience, is part memoir, part critical assessment of Stone’s work over three decades. Working with critic Matt Zoller Seitz, Stone shares memories of serving in the Vietnam war, his childhood, his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, and his continual struggle to reinvent himself as an artist. The book includes never-before-seen material that dates back to Stone’s childhood in the 1950s, personal snapshots, private correspondence, annotated script pages and storyboards, and behind-the-scenes photography.

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Mental Illness on Television

Posted on September 18, 2016 at 4:13 pm

Angelica Jade Bastién is one of my favorite critics, and her essays on film are always insightful and thought-provoking. For Vulture, she wrote about the increasingly sensitive and authentic portrayal of mental illness on television. And she calls out the still-too-frequent portrayal of mentally ill characters as serial killers, or quirky-but-wise, or even super-smart but flawed figures.

If you live with mental illness, a show like You’re the Worst is downright revelatory. During its first season, the FXX comedy introduced Edgar, a military veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. In its second season, the show revealed that its lead female character, Gretchen, has clinical depression. And in its third season, which premiered last week, Gretchen actively seeks treatment and begins seeing a therapist.

In a television landscape that often misunderstands and misrepresents mental illness, You’re the Worst isn’t alone. Thanks to shows like BoJack Horseman, Lady Dynamite, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, it’s now easier than ever to find moving portraits of mental illness on television — but on the whole, most shows still struggle with flawed, careless, and inaccurate depictions….By failing to offer a diagnosis, a show’s writers can cherry-pick a variety of symptoms, which ultimately creates a dishonest portrayal that hinges on plot needs. This often leads to confused characterization, or worse, an exploitative view of mental illness.

It does not have to be a serious drama to be true to the reality of mental illness. Bastién’s good examples include “You’re the Worst” and “Crazy-Ex Girlfriend.”