Category: Film

  • Best Films – 2023

    Best Films – 2023

    This was a blockbuster year for two non-competing films launched almost simultaneously. Even my favorite art house joint fell for them, no questions asked. One dealt with a skinny doll and was financed by the large corporation that makes such toys, now including all colors and sizes, of course. Sadly, many white feminists decided the…

  • Best Films – 2020

    Best Films – 2020

    Bellocchio’s The Traitor was the last film I saw in a theatre. The film was only playing once a day at 1pm, so an early lunch was required. The calendar said it was the last day of February. The very next day, officials identified the first case of COVID-19 in NY. A couple of days…

  • Best Films – 2019

    Best Films – 2019

    I have a distinct impression that, in my book, 2019 was not a stellar year for high-quality films. I actually saw a few fewer films this year and lack of time was not really the issue. The latest by Bi Gan and Bon Joon Ho are exceptional. The former is outstanding in terms of cinematography…

  • Best Films – 2018

    Best Films – 2018

    While I managed to watch a film every 2.5 days on average, online sources were instrumental in making this a reality. The astounding public library system of the US county where I happen to live at the moment also played a significant role. In addition to facilitating access to academic books (usually on the expensive side)…

  • Best Films – 2017

    Best Films – 2017

    Travel and work got on the way big time this year. Watching films on the big screen thus became a bit more challenging. Here is where online streaming and, to a lesser extent, DVDs come to the rescue. In the past, missing a film implied waiting for months if not years to play catch up.…

  • Best Films – 2016

    Best Films – 2016

    Stopping a declining trend, I saw 140 films this year. That is about 40 more than last year. One big change to note here: For the first time, I watched more than 50% of films either online and/or on DVD. This is probably a reflection of increased competition as now we have many more players…

  • Best Films  – 2015

    Best Films – 2015

    A relatively slow year when it comes to films. Unlike previous, this year I only managed to see 99 films. That is almost 50 films less than last year.  I am sure I missed quite a few. Around 700 films are annually released in the US.  I probably saw maybe 10% of these, at most.…

  • Best Films – 2014

    Best Films – 2014

    This was not the best of years, that  is for sure. Let us call it a big transition year that included a huge roller-coaster ride that lasted not seconds but months. A bit longer that what is probably really needed. Yet, I was able to some how see 144 films. That is almost 10% less…

  • Best Films – 2013

    Best Films – 2013

    My film viewing trend continued to decline this year, now down to 158. This is just a fall of close to 7% which is probably not very significant. But this year I faced some health issues which prevented me from actually going to film theaters. In early March I broke a tiny bone in my…

  • Best Films – 2012

    Best Films – 2012

    Not entirely sure how but I managed to catch 169 films this year. That is 6 less than 2011 but, on the other hand, it seem to say that I was watching a film every other day of the year. Not quite, as I do have a full time job. But weekends were indeed busy…

  • Best Films – 2011

    Juggling travel and work, I still managed to catch 175 films in 2011. Below is a list of the films I liked the most, organized chronologically – in the order that I saw some them along the year. I was able to see a few films that have not been officially released in the US.…

  • Best Films – 2010

    This year I saw just over 125 films. Below is the list of the films I liked the most, presented in chronological order, according to the date I saw them. Unlike other similar lists, no ranking is intended. I did not see many of the blockbuster films that most people see. So do not expect…

  • Best Films – 2009

    I saw over 130 films this year. Below are the ones I liked the most. They are listed in chronological order, according to the dates in which I saw them. Silent Light/Stellet licht – Carlos Reygadas The Beaches of Agnes/Les plages d’Agnès – Agnes Varda Hunger – Steve McQueen Revanche – Gotz Spielmann Julia –…

  • Film Review: Sansho the Bailiff

    Kenji Mizoguchi’s (1898-1956) films are in deep sharp contrast with those of the better know and more popular of his contemporaries, Akira Kurosawa. Some critics argue (like Bazin) that some of the films of the latter were heavily influenced by the films of John Ford et. al. and the Western genre, masterfully adapted to Japan’s…

  • Sansho the Bailiff

    Kenji Mizoguchi’s (1898-1956) films are in deep sharp contrast with those of the better know and more popular of his contemporaries, Akira Kurosawa. Some critics argue (like Bazin) that some of the films of the latter were heavily influenced by the films of John Ford et. al. and the Western genre, masterfully adapted to Japan’s…