The American Film Institute announces winners for the AFI Awards 2015

It’s once again time for AFI AWARDS, an annual celebration of outstanding achievements in the moving image arts that recognizes the year’s most culturally and artistically significant works of both film and television. And what a stellar year its been.

AFI AWARDS aren’t like other accolades about the art form — they acknowledge the importance of the collaborative nature of film and TV production.

As chosen by the jury, the 10 most outstanding movies and 10 most outstanding television programs of 2015 are:

Library of Congress announces 25 additions to the National Film Registry for 2015

2015 National Film Registry: Ghostbusters Gets the Call
Top Gun, L.A. Confidential and Edison’s Sneeze Among Film Additions

Acting Librarian of Congress David Mao announced today the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be named to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. These films, which epitomize the diversity and richness of the nation’s cinematic heritage, have been identified as motion pictures that deserve to be preserved because of their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance.

"Selecting a film for the National Film Registry recognizes its importance to cinema and America’s cultural and artistic history," said Mao. "The registry is an invaluable way to advance public awareness of the richness, creativity and variety of our nation’s film heritage."

Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year the Librarian of Congress names to the National Film Registry 25 motion pictures that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant. The films must be at least 10 years old. The Librarian makes the annual registry selections after conferring with the distinguished members of the National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) and Library film staff, as well as considering thousands of public nominations. The public is urged to nominate titles for next year’s registry at the NFPB’s website.

TIFF announces Canada’s Top Ten for 2015

Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival expands with three-city simulcast and coast-to-coast screenings
Celebrated lineup includes works by Patricia Rozema, Guy Maddin, Philippe Falardeau, Alan Zweig, plus an onstage conversation with Kiefer Sutherland

TIFF salutes the country’s cinematic superstars tonight, revealing the Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival lineup of the top 10 features, shorts and student shorts for 2015. Established in 2001, the festival celebrates and promotes contemporary Canadian cinema and raises awareness of Canadian achievements in film. Running January 8 to 17, 2016 at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto, the 10-day event presents public screenings of the selected films accompanied by introductions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers, as well as special events, industry panels and free engagements. On January 16, Golden Globe–, Emmy- and Screen Actors Guild Award– winning Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland will take the stage for an intimate discussion about his fascinating career. The 1985 landmark film My American Cousin rounds out the lineup as the festival’s Canadian Open Vault selection.

Free screenings of Canada's Top Ten at Phi Centre

February 5 to 13, the Phi Centre celebrates Canadian cinema with the presentation of TIFF: Canada’s Top Ten. Come see the ten best films from the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival as well as two special presentations of the best Canadian shorts of the year.

The screenings start tonight with presentations of the stunning documentary Watermark by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky, and the thriller Enemy by Denis Villeneuve and starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

All screenings are free. Tickets will be available one hour before each screening at the Phi Centre ticket office. Limit of four per person.

Film Comment announces 2013 Best of Year lists

Film Comment’s annual end-of-the-year survey of film critics, journalists, film section editors, and past and present contributors was released today with Joel & Ethan Coen’s INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, Steve McQueen’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE and Richard Linklater’s BEFORE MIDNIGHT taking the top spots among films released in 2013. Among films that made appearances at film festivals or special screenings worldwide, but haven’t been picked up for stateside distribution as of yet, Philippe Garrel’s JEALOUSY, Tsai Ming-liang’s STRAY DOGS and Joaquim Pinto’s WHAT NOW? REMIND ME received the top rankings.

Golden Tomato Awards for 2012 – winners

The website Rotten Tomatoes announced the winners of their 14th annual Golden Tomato Awards today.

The number one movie in Wide Release was Ben Affleck's Argo with a rating of 96%. In Limited Release, the number one film was Jafar Panahi's This Is Not a Film which scored 99%. There were films that received higher ratings, but from fewer reviews which is taken into consideration with their rankings.

Free screenings of Canada's Top Ten at PHI Centre, Jan 14-25

From January 14-27, 2013: a special selection of TIFF Canada's Top Ten feature and short films. The screenings begin tonight with a presentation of Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways. The film tells the story of a man Laurence who tells his girlfriend that he wants to become a woman.

All screenings are free and take place at PHI Centre, 407, Saint-Pierre Street, Montreal.

The program will also be traveling across Canada to theatres in cities such as Vancouver, Edmonton, and Ottawa.

Canada's Top Ten at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Jan 4-13

Canada's Top Ten celebrates and promotes contemporary Canadian cinema and is intended to raise public awareness of Canadian achievements in film. All ten features and ten short films will be screening at TIFF Bell Lightbox this month.

The films for Canada’s Top Ten were selected by a jury of industry professionals. They include Cosmopolis by David Cronenberg, The End of Time by Peter Mettler, Goon by Michael Dowse, Laurence Anyways by Xavier Dolan, Midnight's Children by Deepa Mehta, My Awkward Sexual Adventure by Sean Garrity, Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen, Still by Michael McGowan, Stories We Tell by Sarah Polley, and The World Before Her by Nisha Pahuja.

AARP's 10 Best Movies for Grownups in 2012

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) has released their 12th annual list of 10 Best Movies for Grownups.

As one might expect, some of the choices featured older characters and actors with stories that reflected the realities of the older generation, such as Amour, Quartet and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. However, some of the choices were simply good movies that featured few if any older characters – Argo, The Sessions, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty.

Last year's 10 Best list included eventual Best Picture Oscar-winner The Artist.

The Black List – top unproduced screenplays of 2012

The Black List was compiled from the suggestions over 290 film executives, each of whom contributed the names of up to ten of their favorite scripts that were written in, or are somehow uniquely associated with, 2012 and will not have completed principal photography during this calendar year.

This year, scripts had to receive at least six mentions to be included on the Black List.

All reasonable effort has been made to confirm the information contained herein. The Black List apologizes for all misspellings, misattributions, incorrect representation identification, and questionable 2012 affiliations.

Film Comment lists of best films of 2012

“HOLY MOTORS,” “THE MASTER” AND “MOONRISE KINGDOM” ARE 1-2-3 FOR FILMS RELEASED DURING THE YEAR

“OUR CHILDREN,” “MEMORIES LOOK AT ME” AND “FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED” TOP THE FILMS WITHOUT U.S. DISTRIBUTION LIST

Film Comment’s annual end-of-the-year survey of film critics, journalists, film section editors, and past and present contributors was released today with Leos Carax’s HOLY MOTORS, Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER and Wes Andreson’s MOONRISE KINGDOM taking the top spots among films released in 2012. Among films that made appearances at film festivals or special screenings worldwide, but haven’t been picked up for stateside distribution as of yet, Joachim Lafosse’s OUR CHILDREN, Song Fang’s MEMORIES LOOK AT ME and Alan Berliner’s FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED received the top rankings.

American Film Institute's top ten of 2012

The American Film Institute has released its annual list of the top ten movies and television programs of the year.

Included in the top movies list are current awards season darlings such as Argo, Lincoln, Les Misérables, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty. It is interesting to see the inclusion of Les Misérables because it's primarily a British production and AFI only selects American titles for its lists.

But notable omissions include the Paul Thomas Anderson film The Master and Flight by Robert Zemeckis. There are also no animated films or documentaries, even though it was a strong year for both.

Time Magazine's top ten Best and Worst films of 2012

Time Magazine has published its list of top 10 best and worst films of the year. Topping the list of best films was Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner Amour. This is a sensible and unsurprising choice as it has won numerous other awards since its triumph at Cannes. The top ten selection was made by Richard Corliss.

The number one worst film, however, has proven controversial. Taking the top spot for worst film of 2012 was Cloud Atlas, the adaptation of the David Mitchell novel by Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski.

I personally had issues with it, not least of which was the yellow-face casting and acting. Sure, many actors cross races in the movie, but none in a main role in the story as Jim Sturgess does as a Korean. Nonetheless, it has good intentions, I suppose. But it has other flaws as well as strengths. I didn't find it confusing as many did, but I did find it muddled.

Canada's Top Ten films of 2012

CANADA’S TOP TEN TOASTS THE NATION’S BEST FILMS OF 2012 – CRONENBERG, POLLEY, NGUYEN AND MEHTA AMONG FILMMAKERS RECOGNIZED

TORONTO — TIFF^® tipped its hat to the cream of the Canadian film crop at tonight’s 12^th annual Canada’s Top Ten^™ industry event, with hosts Sarah Gadon (Cosmopolis, A Dangerous Method) and Don McKellar (Blindness, Trigger) announcing the year’s top 10 best features and top 10 best short films, as selected by a panel of industry professionals. Established in 2001, Canada’s Top Ten celebrates excellence in Canadian cinema and raises global awareness of Canadian achievements in film. This festival of Canadian works runs from January 4 to 13, 2013 at TIFF Bell Lightbox, featuring public screenings accompanied by introductions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers, and a special onstage Mavericks conversation with director Sarah Polley (Stories We Tell, Take This Waltz). Select films from the lineup will tour major cities across the country, including Vancouver’s Pacific Cinematheque, Edmonton’s Metro Cinema and Montreal’s PHI Centre. Tickets and packages for TIFF Bell Lightbox dates go on sale December 5 for TIFF Members and December 12 for non-members.

Sight & Sound Magazine's top films of 2012

Sight & Sound Magazine has named its annual top ten list which because of a four-way tie for the eighth spot is actually a top eleven list. Taking the number one spot in its poll of about 100 critics is Paul Thomas Anderson's Scientology film The Master.

Included in the list is a Canadian film, David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis which stars Robert Pattinson, Samantha Morton, Paul Giamatti, Juliette Binoche and Sarah Gadon. It is one of the five English-language films. The remaining films are all European and Middle Eastern.

Here is the full list of eleven films.

Cahiers du Cinema – Top 10 list for 2012

The French cinema magazine Cahiers du Cinema has released the list of their top ten films of 2012. The selection is topped by duelling limousine movies Holy Motors by Leos Carax and Cosmopolis by Canada's David Cronenberg. Both films premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival.

The list includes two films by Abel Ferrara. 4:44 Last Day on Earth tied for 4th place with 다른 나라에서 (In Another Country) and Take Shelter, while Go Go Tales followed in seventh spot. The latter film played at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival before languishing without distribution.

Interestingly, the Palme d'Or winner this past year Amour by Michael Haneke is nowhere to be found on the list. Also absent are any Hollywood studio films such as last year's inclusion of Super 8.

2012 Sight & Sound lists of greatest films according to critics and directors

Sight & Sound released the results of their latest poll which is taken every ten years to determine the "greatest" films as chosen by critics and directors. The critic's poll was decided by 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors. The directors' poll was taken from the responses of 358 directors.

Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane is no longer the reigning champion. Although it was not among the top ten of the first critics' list in 1952, it assumed the number one spot in 1962 and then remained there for the next five lists up to 2002. It was chosen number one on the first directors' list in 1992 and was also number one for the directors' 2002 list.

But it has now been replaced on both lists. For the director's list, the number one film is now Ozu's Tokyo Story while on the critics' list the top film is now Hitchcock's Vertigo. Citizen Kane is number two on the critics' list and tied for second with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey on the directors' list.

Possible Worlds' top 100 list of Canadian films

Possible Worlds, the Australian Canadian Film Festival, has unveiled their selection of the top 100 Canadian films from the last 30 years.

Their choice for the number one Canadian film was the directorial debut of actress Sarah Polley Away From Her. The film earned Polley an Oscar nomination for Adapted Screenplay and a Best Actress nomination for Julie Christie. It also topped Playback Magazine's 2010 list of top Canadian films of the decade.

The rest of the top ten from the list consisted of The Sweet Hereafter, Last Night, Incendies, Jesus of Montreal, My Winnipeg, The Barbarian Invasions, Videodrome, Exotica and My Life Without Me.

Time Out Hong Kong's list of top 100 Hong Kong films

To commemorate Hong Kong's 100 years of cinema and their 100th issue, Time Out Hong Kong's film editor Edmund Lee and his team of critics have assembled a list of their top 100 films (though really 102 since a couple of choices are two-part films).

It's very pleasing to see the Wong Kar-wai gem 花樣年華 (In the Mood for Love) at the number one position atop the list. It is a lovely and subtle masterpiece that has influenced many other filmmakers.

Rounding out the top ten are Ann Hui's 投奔怒海 (Boat People), John Woo's 英雄本色 (A Better Tomorrow), Li Han-hsiang's 梁山伯與祝英台 (The Love Eterne), Wong Kar-wai's 阿飛正傳 (Days of Being Wild), Ang Lee's 臥虎藏龍 (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Cecile Tang Shu-shuen's 董夫人 (The Arch), Michael Hui's 半斤八両 (The Private Eyes), Johnnie To's 黑社會：以和為貴 (Election 2), and Johnny Mak's Long Arm of the Law 省港旗兵.

My top ten films of 2011

I think I've gotten around to most of the prominent films that have turned up in discussions of the year's best. Contrary to many naysayers, I think there were a pretty good number of excellent films this year. The difference this year is that there isn't as much consensus as there has been in year's past.

Last year was especially clear cut. It was fascinating and bizarre how the critics lined up behind The Social Network and both the general public and the film industry lined up behind The King's Speech. This year's films seem to be more diverse and polarizing. Almost every one of the critically acclaimed films has some vocal haters who have nothing good to say about it.

I myself tend to like polarizing films, so I have enjoyed most of the films being talked about during this awards season. I try to view films through the eyes of the artists' intentions. There is only one of the awards-contending films that I dislike. I've written that The Help is a terrible disappointment, a mediocre film that has an inherent racism that undercuts its supposed anti-racist message.