#9: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind : An early-year release that will probably not get much (if any) Oscar consideration becuase of its opening date, Eternal Sunshine is already available on DVD for the enjoyment of those who missed its March ...
In the past, I have tried to match performances with the Academy's four vaunted categories: Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress. However, since who gets into what category is a matter of games and politics, I'm not going ...
Bottom 10 lists are curious things. They're more fun to read than to produce. (Doing so requires the critic to peruse titles of which he/she would prefer not to be reminded.) They are often used to promote a critic's "message," with some Bottom ...
Every year, I get asked why I don't post this list earlier. After all, some critics make theirs available in mid-December. To me, it's unseemly to reveal my favorites of the year before the year is over. So here's the list, with a few comments for...
Not quite, or at least not as I see it.Despite the protestations of some e-mailers, there is nothing to indicate that 2007 is going to be the break-out year for high-def DVDs, regardless of whether they are referring to Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, or some ...
Every festival is different, but this year’s edition of the Toronto International Film Festival may prove to be much different than "usual." This is my twelfth consecutive trip to this festival. Unlike many who make this annual late summer ...
Note: Rules for the "Beat Berardinelli" contest will be announced in a few days, both in the forums and in ReelThoughts. The contest will be open starting at noon ET on Sunday, February 17. One of the things to remember about the Oscars is that ...
It's Superbowl Sunday, but I'm thinking about the Oscars (presumably because I can't generate much enthusiasm about either the 49ers or the Ravens). In recent years, I have become increasingly fascinated by the combined science/art of predicting ...
There are five categories in which I have minimal confidence in my predictions. These are the too-close-to-call races, where two films are so close that it could lean either way. With the locks, I believe there's a 95% probability those predictions ...
I have long since moved away from calling my Bottom 10 a "Worst of..." list. Considering how many truly awful films I have given myself the latitude to skip, it's almost unfair to those remaining to be singled out as the biggest cinematic offenders. ...
A look back at 2015's role of dishonor. 10 films to avoid at all costs.
A few general comments about the year in film followed by the full Top 10 list.
So, the Pirate Bay is now operating out of North Korea. That rather ironic development represents the latest illustration of a major flaw in the way intellectual property is treated in 2013. Copyright Law was written and developed for another world...
After seeing Coraline, I was hopeful that the hype emerging from the major studios about 3-D being the "wave of the future" might have a basis in reality. Granted, 3-D wasn't used perfectly in Coraline, but it seemed to be at best an enhancement and...
Since I began writing reviews in 1992, I have devoted more than 3.2 million words to film criticism and commentary. That's somewhere between 5000 and 6000 pages of a hardback book. The sheer volume of what I have written didn't occur to me until I ...
The first time I saw him was on television. It was a Sunday night in the autumn of 1977. The ABC Sunday Night Movie. Live and Let Die. Probably not the network TV premiere; that was likely a year or two earlier. (In the '70s, movies typically reached...
Part One can be found here.After Roger Moore's departure, there was a great deal of media speculation about his replacement. The front-runner, Pierce Brosnan, was selected to step into Moore's shoes. However, between the "unofficial" announcement and...