Best Films of 2018
My year in film, with links to writing and lists of favorite US releases, premieres, shorts, and discoveries.
Best Films of 2015
Favorite theatrical releases, undistributed premieres, experimental shorts, and discoveries.
Best Films of 2014
Favorite theatrical releases, undistributed premieres, experimental shorts, and discoveries.
2014 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2014, beginning with John Ford’s The Whole Town’s Talking and ending with . . .
2013 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2013, beginning with David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis (2012) and ending with . . .
Favorite Films of the ’90s
Thanks to the AV Club, film nerds everywhere are declaring their favorite films of the 1990s. I spent all of five minutes on mine, which is why they’re alphabetized.
Best Films of 2012
With the latest redesign and relaunch of Long Pauses, I’ve decided to take a different approach. Rather than wait until December, I’m going to rank films as I see them. This is a work in progress.
2012 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2012, beginning with Alex Ross Perry’s The Color Wheel (1967) and ending with episode 15 of Mark Cousins’s The Story of Film (2011).
Best Films of 2011
With the latest redesign and relaunch of Long Pauses, I’ve decided to take a different approach. Rather than wait until December, I’m going to rank films as I see them.
2011 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2011, beginning with Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouria (1967) and ending with Raul Ruiz’s The Mysteries of Lisbon (2011).
Best Films of 2010
This year, to determine eligibility I’ve decided to follow the “New York commercial release” rule, which means that this list has been culled from the 40 or so films I saw. Honestly, this Top 10 could be shuffled randomly and I’d probably be as satisfied with the results.
2010 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2010, beginning with Arnaud Desplechin’s Kings and Queen (2004) and ending with James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931).
Best Films of 2009
I’ve now seen about 40 of the point-earning films from the 2009 IndieWire Critics Survey, which seems a reasonable enough number. I’ve taken the coward’s route and included eleven films because I just couldn’t decide which one to leave off.
Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009)
I’ll follow Tom Hall’s lead and call this my “Incredibly Personal, Completely Subjective List of the Best Films of The Decade.” Consider it a snapshot of my taste right now. Conspicuously absent are several filmmakers… Best Films of the Decade (2000-2009)
2009 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2009, beginning with Frank Borzage’s Lazybones (1925) and ending with Arnaud Desplechin’s’s Kings and Queen (2004).
Best Films of 2008
This year, for the first time, I submitted an official Top 10 list, abiding by the “one-week theatrical run in the States” rule.
2008 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2008, beginning with Apitchatpong Weerasethakul’s Mysterious Object at Noon (2000) and ending with Jeff Nichols’ Shotgun Stories (2007).
Best Films of 2007
So here are ten favorites, in alphabetical order, with some honorable mentions thrown in, followed by my favorite discoveries of 2007.
My Favorite Films (2007 Edition)
According to Your Movie Database, I last compiled a list of my 20 favorite films almost exactly four years ago. I’ve seen nearly 700 more since then, so I thought it was time to give it another go.
2007 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2007, beginning with Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows (1969) and ending with Pedro Costa’s In Vanda’s Room (2011).
Best Films of 2006
I find that I now approach the film blog-o-sphere in much the same way that I would behave if we all gathered face-to-face for a massive cocktail party. I grab my drink and find a quiet table over in the corner where I chat with the folks I’ve known the longest and the best and whose tastes are most similar to my own.
2006 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2006, beginning with Alfonso Cuarón’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and ending with Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin’s Tout Va Bien (1972).
Best Films of 2005
Of the ten best new films I saw this year, eight were festival screenings, and, of those, only two have a reasonable chance of making it to a theater here in Knoxville. I mention that in passing as a reminder of how these year-end best lists are shaped by distribution and by the brand of popular American film criticism that still ghettoizes the vast majority of world cinema into a single, convenient category, “Foreign Language Film.”
Five Spiritually Significant Films
The fine folks at the Arts and Faith discussion forum have cast their votes, crunched the numbers, and released their second annual list of the Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films. In honor of their fine work, I offer my own obvious and predictable Top 5 list.
Fifteen for Fifteen
In celebration of its 15th anniversary, the IMDb has invited its editorial staff to submit their Top 15 Lists: 1990-2005. Never one to pass up an opportunity to obsess for a few days over such a challenge, I’ve put together a list of my own — a list joyfully free of editorial imposition, meaning that I can stretch and/or ignore even the most basic criteria/rules.
Movies, They’re Everywhere, Man. EVERYWHERE!
Last Thursday, Girish introduced me to a friend of his, a Toronto native who had just returned from Montreal, where he had seen 54 films at that festival. He had another 45 tickets in hand for TIFF. I don’t get it. I just left my 31st film (I think), and I’m exhausted. Completely.
2005 Film Diary
A day-by-day viewing log of my filmwatching habits in 2005, beginning with Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Sizzou (2004) and ending with Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale (2005).
Best Films of 2004
I’m paralyzed by the process of ranking films, but Café Lumière was an easy choice for favorite of the year. A transcendent film about transcendence, Hou’s homage to Ozu is a beautifully human piece, full of silence and grace and, most of all, curiosity.
They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?
The fine folks at They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They? have done some more tweaking to their list of The 1,000 Greatest Films. You’ve got to admire their initiative. It’s like the movie fanatic’s Holy Grail.
DVD Beaver Listserv Top 20
I’ve participated in the DVDBeaver listserv since its inception. Gary Tooze created the list when several of us who posted frequently in the Movies section of the Home Heater Forum decided that we needed a place to talk privately about foreign and art films. Here is a compiled list of our favorite films.