I love this annual marathon meeting-- our 38th-- of the BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS to decide our year end faves! We voted the "Best" in 15 categories topped by our BEST FILM of the year: the stunning IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK written and directed by Barry Jenkins, about a young African American couple in 1970's [...]
What's most remarkable about BLACK PANTHER about the latest Marvel superhero to leap to the big screen is not that it had the biggest pre-sale of any superhero movie in history, not that it features a predominantly black cast and writer/director, is well made, acted, scripted, designed, and directed (it is all of those things) [...]
In one of the more entertaining Oscar nomination ceremonies in recent memory, Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish announced the nominations for the 90th Annual OSCARS this morning from California. THE SHAPE OF WATER lead with 13 nominations. By my calculation, there were a few flubs, snubs, & surprises: --Spielberg was snubbed as Best Director for [...]
It happened this weekend: The BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS (of which I am a veteran member) met for the 37th time and voted Paul Thomas Anderson's PHANTOM THREAD (which a significant number of critics have not yet seen) starring Daniel Day-Lewis in his ostensible farewell performance as a fictional couturier, the BEST FILM [...]
Happy summer one and all! A pro-LONG-ed bout of pneumonia and a vacation abroad has kept me away from my website for awhile-- but I'm back up to speed with a slew of movies over the next few days and some "must-see" theater to recommend. Today I begin with the WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL about [...]
If you're still looking for that perfect gift for someone you love who loves the arts, I am passing along this 2016 Holiday Gift Guide, itself a gift from WBUR's The ARTery writers-- and I am proud to be one! This annual gift guide has several stockings full of suggestions in every discipline [...]
Boston's two film critics' circles (I belong to both) have voted their year end awards! The BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS (BSFC) have named "La La Land" starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and directed by Best Director Damien ("Whiplash") Chazelle as BEST PICTURE! The Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) has named "Moonlight" BEST PICTURE with Best Ensemble for the magnificent trio [...]
The Woods Hole Film Festival kicks off its 25th anniversary season on July 30 and not a moment too soon. In one of the worst summer movie seasons in recent memory, this 8-day festival (July 30-August 6) on Cape Cod has come to the rescue, bigger and better than ever! Over 130 films will be shown representing more than [...]
This summer at the movies sucks. I normally despise that expression but it accurately describes the vacuum that is this summer's movie season. Underwhelming fare is now playing on mainstream screens everywhere, and I am searching like crazy for things I want to see. Here's what I don't want to see: --NEWSCASTERS playing themselves on the big screen and then complaining about [...]
I’ve seen a raft of films of late—some float, some I’d push overboard. Here’s a list, sink or swim: INSIDE OUT: Disney/Pixar’s latest is among its greatest animated offerings, a 3D computer-generated, comedy/drama. We get to see, literally, inside 11 year-old Riley’s head as her various thoughts and emotions battle for control, with an all-star cast as [...]
