Dec 29, 2017

My Favorite Films of 2017


1. Call Me By Your Name
2. Lady Bird
3. The Post
4. The Shape Of Water
5. Dunkirk
6. A Ghost Story
7. The Meyerowitz Stories
8. Get Out
9. Blade Runner 2049
10. All The Money In The World

My Favorite Performances of 2017


1. Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
2. Michelle Williams, All The Money In The World
3. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
4. James Franco, The Disaster Artist
5. Laurie Metcalf, LadyBird
6. Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
7. Barry Keoghan, The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
8. Alison Janney, I Tonya
9. Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
10. Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread

Dec 28, 2017

Most promising movies of 2018


Martin Scorsese‘s The Irishman (Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Bobby Cannavale, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano)AdamMcKay‘s Backseat (Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell)Damien Chazelle‘s First Man (Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Corey Stoll, Kyle Chandler, Jason Clarke)Clint Eastwood‘s The 15:17 to Paris (Jenna Fischer, Judy Greer, Bryce Gheisar, Alek Skarlatos, Thomas Lennon, Jaleel White, Tony Hale, P.J. Byrne). Steve McQueen‘s Widows (Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Andre Holland, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Daniel Kaluuya, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell) Nov 18 Terrence Malick‘s Radegund (August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Michael Nyqvist, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jürgen Prochnow, Bruno Ganz) Alfonso Cuaron‘s Roma (Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Yalitza Aparicio, Daniela Demesa, Enoc Leaño, Daniel Valtierra) Jacques Audiard‘s The Sisters Brothers (Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Rutger Hauer, Riz Ahmed, John C. Reilly)Barry Jenkins‘ If Beale Street Could Talk (Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Teyonah Parris, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Brian Tyree Henry, Diego Luna, Dave Franco).Bryan Singer‘s Bohemian Rhapsody (Rami Malek, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Joseph Mazzello, Allen Leech, Lucy Boynton. 20th Century Fox)Gus Van Sant‘s Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (costarring Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Jonah Hill, Jack Black, Mark Webber)Spike Lee‘s Black Klansman (John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Corey Hawkins — Focus Features)Woody Allen‘s A Rainy Day in New York (Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Jude Law, Diego Luna, Liev SchreiberLuca Guadagnino‘s Suspiria (Dakota Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth)Ron Howard‘s Solo — A Star Wars Story (Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton)Steven Spielberg‘s Ready Player One (Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T. J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance) Benh Zeitlin‘s Wendy The Incredibles 2Yorgos Lanthimos‘ The Favourite (Emma Stone, Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn, John Tormey).Richard Linklater‘s Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer)Robert Zemeckis‘s The Women of MarwenWes Anderson‘s Isle of Dogs (March 23)Anthony Maras The PalaceAsghar Farhadi‘s Everybody KnowsBjorn Runge‘s The WifeFelix von Groeningen‘s Beautiful BoyJennifer Kent‘s The Nightingale, Paolo Sorrentino‘s Loro  Laszlo Nemes' Sunset

Dec 15, 2017

Favorite Soundtracks Of 2017


1. The Shape Of Water — Alexandre Desplat
2. Call Me By Your Name — Sufjan Stevens, Ryuichi Sakamoto
3. Phantom Thread — Johnny Greenwood
4. Wonderstruck — Carter Burwell
5. Blade Runner 2049 — Hans Zimmer
6. Coco – Michael Giachino
7. A Ghost Story — David Lowery
8. Alien Covenant — Jed Kurzel
9. Darkest Hour – Dario Marinelli
10. The Vietnam War — Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

Favorite Songs of 2017


1. Oh Baby — LCD Soundsystem
2. Motion Sickness — Phoebe Bridgers
3. Mystery of Love — Sufjan Stevenes
4. You Never Knew — HAIM
5. Shine On Me — Dan Auerbach
6. Up All Night — the War on Drugs
7. Malibu — Miley Cyrus
8. New York – St Vicnent
9. Appetite— The Staves
10. This Song — Rostam / RACf

Favorite Albums of 2017


1. Stranger in the Alps — Phoebe Bridgers
2. Something To Tell You — Haim
3. async — Ruichi Sakamoto
4. A Deeper Understanding – The War On Drugs
5. American Dream — LCD Soundsystem
6. MASSEDUCTION — St Vincent
7. Waiting On A Song — Dan Auerbach
8. Not Even Happiness — Julie Byrne
9. Loney Dear — Loney Dear
10. Planeterium — Sufjan Stevens

Dec 10, 2017

'Tarantino: A Retrospective' reviewed


'The auteur theory is also front and centre in Tom Shone’s monograph on Tarantino (Thames & Hudson, £24.95). For some Tarantino is an example of the auteur as problematic text; a man with an immense facility for image-making and blessed of an unarguable cinephilia set against his hipster misogyny. This book, though, is very much the case for the defence. Shone is simply one of the most eloquent and acute film writers we have, but the retrospective shadow of the Harvey Weinstein allegations now inevitably seep into the margins of his text here given that Tarantino and Weinstein were joined at the hip in their salad days.  Then there’s the fact that the more films Tarantino has made the more enamoured the director has become with the sound of his own voice. To his detriment. All that said, this remains a real engagement on Shone’s part with a director who clearly loves cinema. And for those who love him it’s a must. But be warned. It contains a lot of pictures of Quentin. I mean, a lot.' — Teddy Jamieson, The Sunday Herald