Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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Precious Doll
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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Okri wrote:I wouldn't put a movie with televisual qualities (and I don't mean a TV movie) on a top ten TV list.
That's true though some TV films to have a cinematic feel to them, whilst some cinema films have a televisual feel to them - The Wife, a probable Oscar winner an arguable example of the latter.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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1. I've never liked Armond White.

2. I love television, but movies and television are different forms and just because both use the visual doesn't mean they should share space on a movies top ten. I wouldn't put a movie with televisual qualities (and I don't mean a TV movie) on a top ten TV list. I read both plays and novels, but their purposes are different. Honestly, it feels just as much a hipster putdown on television (you're too good to be considered mere TV). And my least favourite thing about modern Hollywood filmmaking is how much it seems to be based on a television structure (endless sequels and spinoffs) and avoid participating.

3. dws, I'd be intrigued to hear more on the Batman vs Superman comment you just made. Because I'd rather have oral surgery than watch that film again.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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MaxWilder wrote:
Sabin wrote:Max, i don’t know how long you’ve tracked him but trust me, whatever has happened to Armond White is truly our loss. His review of A.I. Artificial Intelligence is one of the most important pieces of film writing of the 2000’s. He mattered. He challenged people, and wrote from a place of morality and spirituality. It seemed genuine.
I'll look up the pieces you mentioned! P.S. It turns out the top 2 most extraordinary images in any movie this century appear in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
While I wouldn't go as hyperbolic as White, I do think Batman v Superman (the extended cut, at least) is a very under-appreciated and misunderstood film, and better than any Marvel film. (Unless Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse counts as a Marvel film.) It would even be on my top ten list for 2016.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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Sabin wrote:Max, i don’t know how long you’ve tracked him but trust me, whatever has happened to Armond White is truly our loss. His review of A.I. Artificial Intelligence is one of the most important pieces of film writing of the 2000’s. He mattered. He challenged people, and wrote from a place of morality and spirituality. It seemed genuine.
I'll look up the pieces you mentioned! P.S. It turns out the top 2 most extraordinary images in any movie this century appear in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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I've just finished watching Mindhunter and needless to say the last three episodes lived up to the first seven.

Excellence across the board but the ultimate credit must go to the writers because without the basis of such an expertly written screenplay it would have proven very standard stuff. The casting was perfect and the production design spot-on, a perfect recreation of the era. And what a pleasure to see something were the actors look like and are made up like real people. Inclusions of pop songs on the soundtrack, something I usually don't like, worked perfectly. Of course all the directors deserve a great deal of credit too, as they maintained a consistent style throughout. The use of largely unknown cast (to me anyway) was an added bonus - known actors usually bring a degree of baggage with them - as aside from Jonathan Groff I've never heard or recognised any of them. There wasn't a wasted minute in what, less credits, must have been a running time of around eight hours. Can't wait for season two.

Whilst I don't watch much TV this is easily the best series I've seen since I, Claudius (1976) which I first saw in 1980 and than rewatched it again in the late 1980s. Of course I, Claudius too had a sensational screenplay based on two great novels and was loaded with performances that totally encapsulated the characters. That the sets were stage like and the makeup amateurish mattered not one bit for I, Claudius. Great material handled correctly will always overcome any technical shortcomings.

I like your point Mister Tee on investing so much time on series only to have them go downhill. I've encountered that myself and it is frustrating, likewise a weak episode or two can also mar a series to some degree as well.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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HarryGoldfarb wrote:
Precious Doll wrote: I can understand some critics including an exceptional television work. Hell, I'm seven episodes into Mindhunter (will watch the last three tonight) and so far its better than anything I've seen at the cinema since A Quiet Passion which was in 2016. Reminds me just why cinema is in decline - too much talent primarily behind the scenes are moving to the small screen. Probably pays better and more artistic freedom.
Mindhunter is superb. Can’t understand how it failed to connect more with people and critics (the TV awards from last year played as it didn’t exist, except for a totally deserved nod at the Emmys for Guest Actor).
Another thumbs-up for Mindhunter -- though I have to say it took me about 2-3 episodes before it truly clicked.

It's definitely true that much of our best talent is working in television, and I only wish I liked the format/structures of television more. What I like about movies is, I commit to a very limited time (generally three hours max), and either have or don't have my catharsis -- in any case, I make my judgment there. With television, it goes on for a long time -- 10 or more episodes at least -- and the arc is often dependent not on resolving the story elegantly, but on stringing it along for as many seasons as possible. When you watch something fall apart after investing 40 or more hours in it, the entire period you've put into watching it can feel wasted. (Lost is usually cited as the epitome of this, but I've grown tired of any number of shows that began promisingly.)

Bottom line: yes, TV is exponentially better than it was when I was growing up...but I miss movies more than I love TV.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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Precious Doll wrote: I can understand some critics including an exceptional television work. Hell, I'm seven episodes into Mindhunter (will watch the last three tonight) and so far its better than anything I've seen at the cinema since A Quiet Passion which was in 2016. Reminds me just why cinema is in decline - too much talent primarily behind the scenes are moving to the small screen. Probably pays better and more artistic freedom.
Mindhunter is superb. Can’t understand how it failed to connect more with people and critics (the TV awards from last year played as it didn’t exist, except for a totally deserved nod at the Emmys for Guest Actor).
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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dws1982 wrote:Armond White's Better-Than List

It's about what you would expect. Paul Schrader is apparently "craven".

He lost me for good in 2012 when he suddenly decided that he hated Steven Spielberg after both mainstream and auteurist critics responded strongly to Lincoln. Ever since, Spielberg has been on his "list". I think every movie he's made since has been on the worst half of the "Better-Than" list. But actually, no...he lost me in 2009 when he raved about The Hurt Locker and then, when it started picking up serious critical attention, less than a month later it was "now overrated", and then (if I remember right) he ended up putting it on his "Better-Than" list. (Jim Sheridan's instantly-forgotten Brothers was better than The Hurt Locker.) It's a shame he's so useless now, because even up to the mid-2000's, he was writing some interesting, intriguing stuff.
I do enjoy reading Armond White but I only ever take note of what he likes and basically ignore his dislikes. Over the years he has pointed me into the direction a couple of very interesting under the radar films.

I'd rather read Armond White's panning of a film I like over a Peter Travers rave of a film I like any day.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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MaxWilder wrote
"The most extraordinary image in any movie this century appears in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."
--an actual sentence written by Armond White
Max, i don’t know how long you’ve tracked him but trust me, whatever has happened to Armond White is truly our loss. His review of A.I. Artificial Intelligence is one of the most important pieces of film writing of the 2000’s. He mattered. He challenged people, and wrote from a place of morality and spirituality. It seemed genuine. When he turned on The Hurt Locker, that was a huge sign. His essays about 2004 being the year that culture broke or his “What we talk about when we talk about movies” 2009 piece or whatever it was called is a big thing too. I don’t know why he became a part time film critic and a full time culture warrior. Honestly, I think the older he got the more became interested in one thing: his own opinions.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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MaxWilder wrote:
HarryGoldfarb wrote:
Precious Doll wrote:Sight & Sounds Top 20 Films of the Year
https://www.bfi.org.uk/best-films-2018
I'll add some of the more prominent critics lists when I receive my paper edition.
Killing Eve???
In addition to that non-film, there's 2019's High Life.
High Life is 2018 for France and was shown out of competition at Venice last September. It will be a 2019 and beyond release for the rest of the world. Sight & Sound like Film Comment compile their lists from film critics from around the globe. It is simply not possible for all contributors to see all the films for a variety of reasons, the main one being that lots of films haven't been released in various parts of the world. And people should not feel compelled to omit films that have yet to received screenings in most of the world.

As far as having a TV series included I do think that is up to individuals to decide for themselves. Its worth noting that French serials such as Louis Feuilldade's Fantomas (1913) & Les Vampires (1915) are pretty viewed as films these days. Really a film can run anywhere from 30 seconds to 165 hours.

Personally, I'm loathed to include TV series or TV movies in my own personal lists with the exception being TV films that have been released in my own country at the cinema. The most recent example is Behind the Candelabra. Though that practice was far more common a couple of decades ago with TV films and even some series (re-edited) such as See How She Runs, Sybil, Jesus of Nazareth, Shogun, Wagner, The Day After & Max Headroom given cinema releases and some to great success.

Its worth noting too that films such as Lars von Trier's The Kingdom, Bergman's Face to Face, Fanny and Alexander & Scenes from a Marriage were TV series in some countries though they were also made with a cinema release in mind for the international market.

I can understand some critics including an exceptional television work. Hell, I'm seven episodes into Mindhunter (will watch the last three tonight) and so far its better than anything I've seen at the cinema since A Quiet Passion which was in 2016. Reminds me just why cinema is in decline - too much talent primarily behind the scenes are moving to the small screen. Probably pays better and more artistic freedom.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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HarryGoldfarb wrote:
Precious Doll wrote:Sight & Sounds Top 20 Films of the Year
https://www.bfi.org.uk/best-films-2018
I'll add some of the more prominent critics lists when I receive my paper edition.
Killing Eve???
In addition to that non-film, there's 2019's High Life.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

Post by MaxWilder »

dws1982 wrote:It's a shame he's so useless now, because even up to the mid-2000's, he was writing some interesting, intriguing stuff.
"The most extraordinary image in any movie this century appears in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."
--an actual sentence written by Armond White

From this year's:
Double Lover> Mary Poppins Returns
That's like saying "Pineapple > 7." What?
Last edited by MaxWilder on Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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Precious Doll wrote:Sight & Sounds Top 20 Films of the Year

https://www.bfi.org.uk/best-films-2018

I'll add some of the more prominent critics lists when I receive my paper edition.
Killing Eve???
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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Armond White's Better-Than List

It's about what you would expect. Paul Schrader is apparently "craven".

He lost me for good in 2012 when he suddenly decided that he hated Steven Spielberg after both mainstream and auteurist critics responded strongly to Lincoln. Ever since, Spielberg has been on his "list". I think every movie he's made since has been on the worst half of the "Better-Than" list. But actually, no...he lost me in 2009 when he raved about The Hurt Locker and then, when it started picking up serious critical attention, less than a month later it was "now overrated", and then (if I remember right) he ended up putting it on his "Better-Than" list. (Jim Sheridan's instantly-forgotten Brothers was better than The Hurt Locker.) It's a shame he's so useless now, because even up to the mid-2000's, he was writing some interesting, intriguing stuff.
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Re: Critics Top Ten Films of the Year

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Film Comments Top Ten of the Year.

Like S&S complied from critics from all over the globe:

1. Zama (Lucrecia Martel)
2. Burning (Lee Chang-dong)
3. First Reformed (Paul Schrader)
4. Roma (Alfonso Cuarón)
5. Western (Valeska Grisebach)
6. Shoplifters (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
7. Let the Sunshine In (Claire Denis)
8. The Other Side of the Wind (Orson Welles)
9. Happy as Lazzaro (Alice Rohrwacher)
10. Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross)
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