Top Ten Films: 2013

Hollywood is obsessed with money, I say. Duh, you think in response. But hear me out. In 2013, Hollywood was particularly obsessed with money. Not just with making money, but with telling stories about making — and losing — money. In my Top Ten list last year, I named Zero Dark Thirty my favorite film […]

The Year I Gave Up On The Oscars

(I know, it’s Thursday, and your tolerance for Oscar discussion was likely exhausted by Tuesday morning. But I’m still detoxing, so just let me get this out of my system.) It used to be like Christmas, except it lasted even longer. From Thanksgiving or so all the way into late February, or even March, it […]

Not-Oscars 2012: The Year’s Best Performances

(Originally published at JustinPlusSeven on January 10, 2013.) You, dear reader, have the honor of reading this in the future, after the Oscar nominations have been announced. But I am writing from this from the near past, before we know which five contenders are fighting it out in each category. Of course, some are shoo-ins; […]

Top Ten Films: 2012

It’s Oscar time! As usual, the Academy Awards are poised to make some very wrong decisions this year. So as usual, I am prematurely correcting them by releasing my Top Ten of the year. That year is 2012, of course — real film critics release such lists at the end of December or beginning of […]

‘Django’ Fuck Yourself: Oscar’s Also-Rans

Well, I finally saw Django Unchained, and where to begin? I avoided it for quite some time because it seemed most everyone had already seen it, and a Tarantino film is not a thing I like to embark on alone. For one, I’d heard about the over-the-top violence, which seemed like a thing best taken […]

In What World Is ‘Argo’ A Better Movie Than ‘Zero Dark Thirty’?

In what world is Argo a better movie than Zero Dark Thirty? This isn’t a response to Ben Affleck’s Golden Globes win for Best Director and Argo’s triumph as Best Drama. The Globes are the Globes, and they can only be taken so seriously. Avatar, The Descendants, Babel, and plenty of other films have proven […]

Top Ten Films: 2010

As a film school graduate, I’m afraid I have an obligation to take entertainment way too seriously. That’s why, when awards season rolls around, I can’t help but partake in the senseless, arbitrary, and totally nerdy critic’s pastime of ranking all the films I saw and compiling a Top Ten List. And since 2011’s award […]

Hard In The City vs. The Oscars: Live Blog & Winners 2011

Since my live blog of the Golden Globes this year was surprisingly popular (really, I didn’t think anyone would care what I have to say), I am again live-blogging and tweeting up a storm for the Academy Awards this evening. Should you need them, here are my predicted winners.

Gold Rush: Oscar Predictions 2012

Though so many of us take the Oscars very seriously (guilty as charged), really, it’s just a game. It’s no different than the Super Bowl, except there are about five teams playing in every “quarter” and it’s actually quite embarrassing to be wearing the same outfit as anyone else. No jerseys on the red carpet. […]

Silence Is Golden: Why It’s Okay If ‘The Artist’ Wins Best Picture

(Yes, yes. The “if” in that title should almost certainly be “when.”) From the moment the Oscar nominations were announced last month, it was already a foregone conclusion: The Artist is the year’s Best Picture winner. It has been since mid-December, before it was even released in most major American cities. Some seasons, the Academy […]

The Not-Oscars 2010

(Originally posted over at Fabulous Apple. In preparation for this year’s “Not-Oscars,” here’s what I said about last year…) We all know the Oscars don’t always get it right. Of course, “right” is a matter of opinion — but with some perspective, there are a few awards and nominations we collectively agree did not go […]

Youth In Tumult: ‘Margaret’ Gives Good Grief

(Films discussed in this post: Margaret, Putty Hill, The Myth Of The American Sleepover, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, A Better Life.) “It is the blight man was born for, It is Margaret you mourn for.”