Oscars in Black and White

A new review of Head Over Heels.

I want to take a moment to stress the wonder that is occurring in the realm of animated films. Year after year, films in this category recall and employ the acts of eternal storytelling. But more than that, they further use the milieu to enhance the visual element, taking us to places not possible in a real-action movies.

Head Over Heels joins a pantheon of great animated films this year. With all of the story elements it manages to convey, in 10 minutes and 27 seconds, with no dialog, it takes its place among the movies of the year.

Bravo.

Thank you, Academy, for waiting until February 12 – and twelve days before the Academy Awards – to release your official poster.

The design is not bad – a definite improvement from recent years, but you can do better. Look again at 2002.

New review of Zero Dark Thirty. I never thought I’d say that a film that runs 2.5 hours deserves to win for Film Editing.

Did you like Lincoln? Argo?

Try this – this is the movie of 2012 – Amour.

New review of “Waiting for Sugar Man“. This is a story for the ages, and the gold-standard example of what is a documentary.

Have you seen a documentary lately? I posit you have not. Not because you haven’t seen a film so classified, but because we have become lazy in our standards of what a documentary is. No commentary. No editorializing. No political or social message. Just a story – a story we all should see and hear.

And to the story itself: can you transform a generation, and a nation, and not even know? Watch this film and find out.

Bravo.

Two new reviews. Something for everyone – light and heavy…

Mirror, Mirror:

How to Survive a Plague:

The nominations for the 85th Annual Academy Awards are out … and movie season is on.

Do you know where you will be February 24th?

My first review of the season is complete – Silver Linings Playbook. Great stories have great relationships and this one has them aplenty. Let’s dance.

Yes, it is the season. Oscar season, that is!

The photos from last year’s celebration have been posted. Photos, and arrival photos, since 2002 are all available here. Enjoy!

The countdown to the announcement of the nominations is on. Early morning January 10, 2013 we will learn: is this the year of the Bat? Or Lincoln? Will Argo – the movie about a movie that was never a movie – be the first such movie to win Best Picture?

Let the games begin!

Last pre-party review: HP and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

New reviews of Margin Call & Moneyball