The Long Road Out

I like smart films that have wonderful things to say in new ways.   So I generally don't go to genre or Hollywood blockbuster films (you'll find some of those in my list of films I don't intend to see below).  If Rotten Tomatoes rates out at 93% or better, then I'm likely to agree it's a winner. If you agree with me, you'll like this ranking of the very best films of 2019! Starting at the top with the Best Film of 2019: Woman at War -- Marvel should stop their silly film-making.   They’ve just been blown out of the ice-cold water by an Icelandic/Ukrainian indie partnership.   It’s more colorful.  It has a true hero who inspires us all to be stronger than we are.   The music is more mythological.   And there’s not a moment of CGI. How much better is Women at War ?  Let me count the ways, including the presence of a tuba and  a traditional singing trio. These musicians literally follow--we'r...

Maybe this is the year that the film distribution model will change. The movie theater distribution network  has supported the big distributors and kept indie films hidden from nearly all viewers.  I won't miss it--though most of my friends still seem to long for the days of sticky seats and a very limited slate of major theater releases.  Could we at least have hybrid?  If COVID taught us anything, it's an awareness of how limited we've been by the six-plex model.   Here's what I have from the year COVID changed everything, including the film industry.  I'd like to thank Netflix.  It's been the central lifeline for so many of us as we struggled to replace our personal panoplies of cultural options.  The weight transferred to, essentially, one provider.  Netflix--you pulled through for us in 2020.  Best films of 2020 Nomadland-- it would be sufficient if the only thing this movie did was introduce you to your new mentors: Linda May, ...