My Best Picture Ballot for the 2015 Oscars

On Sunday, the 87th Academy Awards will be held here in Los Angeles. If I was a member of the Academy, this would be how I rank my Best Picture ballot. (As a reminder, the Oscars use a preferential voting system to determine what movie walks away with the top prize.) To be clear, this isn't a prediction of how it will play out, merely how I would vote if I could....

1. Boyhood
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Birdman
4. The Theory of Everything
5. Selma
6. The Imitation Game
7. American Sniper
8. Whiplash

Actual predictions will be coming later this week.

The Best Movies of the Decade (so far): My Ballot

You may remember the other day I mentioned that The Dissolve had asked me and other critics to contribute ballots to their poll of the best films of the decade (2010-2014). (You can see the master list, with write-ups, of Nos. 50-26 here. Nos. 25-1 are right here.)

For those interested, I decided to publish my ballot below.

Doing some quick number-crunching, I see that 10 of my Top 20 films ended up in the overall Dissolve Top 50. If some of my picks surprise you, well, they surprised me, too -- but I decided to go by instinct and not overthink my choices. If nothing else, this will help give me a guide for "Best of the Decade" lists in about four years, which will be here quicker than you think.

1. Inside Llewyn Davis
2. The Turin Horse
3. The Master
4. Boyhood
5. City of Life and Death
6. Lourdes
7. Shutter Island
8. Elena (the Andrei Zvyagintsev film)
9. It's Such a Beautiful Day
10. The Social Network
11. The Clock
12. Compliance
13. Let the Fire Burn
14. Blue Is the Warmest Color
15. Shame
16. Leviathan (the Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel film)
17. Upstream Color
18. Take Shelter
19. Room 237
20. Before Midnight

SAG Foundation: My Conversation With Ellar Coltrane and Richard Linklater

I have had a very fun year interviewing the folks from Boyhood. First, I talked to Richard Linklater for a Backstage cover story. Then, I conducted a Q&A with Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Ellar Coltrane. (Sorry, no video for that.) Then, for the SAG Foundation, I spoke with just Arquette and Hawke. Then, in December, I conducted a Q&A with the film's casting director (Beth Sepko), co-production designer (Rodney Becker) and editor (Sandra Adair). (Sorry, no video for that.) And then on Wednesday, right before I left for Sundance, I chatted with Coltrane and Linklater for the SAG Foundation. I never get tired of hanging out with these people.

In this conversation, I wanted to talk about what the experience has been like for them since Boyhood premiered a little over a year ago at Sundance. Coltrane is especially interesting when he talks about how he's tried to cope with the rush of attention he's received. But both men are warm and engaging, as always. (And Linklater's right in his response to my observation that his movies celebrate families.)

SAG Foundation: My Conversation With Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke

Yesterday, I conducted a Q&A with two of Boyhood's stars, Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke, for the SAG Foundation. This is actually the second time I've chatted with them in connection to this film. (Back in August, I moderated a panel with those two, as well as Richard Linklater and Ellar Coltrane.) So I already knew what to expect from them, which is that they're total pros who don't need much guidance. Just ask them a solid question, and they'll take it from there. This Q&A was a delight, and the crowd loved them. You can watch our talk below, where we discussed the challenges of making a film over 12 years, Linklater's creative process, and why neither actor really wanted to ever share Boyhood with audiences. (Also, Hawke pokes a little fun at Daniel Day-Lewis.)



Oh, and a personal highlight before our conversation: Hawke telling me he liked my outfit.

My Interview With Richard Linklater

Back in mid-June, I spoke with Richard Linklater during the height of the Boyhood promotion. (He had photo shoots and interviews morning until night that day.) The time between speaking with him and writing the cover story for Backstage allowed me an opportunity to reflect on the movie and our talk -- plus, it gave me a chance to make sure I didn't just repeat everything he said in every other interview. I'm grateful: I'm pleased with how this piece turned out and the topics it covers. I hope you enjoy, too.

Let's Rank Richard Linklater's Films

Over at Deadspin, Will and I put together a list that ranks all of Richard Linklater's films, from worst to best. Where did Boyhood end up? Check it out.

True/False 2014: The Wrap-Up

About a month ago, I attended True/False for the second year in a row. One of the world's major documentary film festivals, True/False runs four days and serves as an excellent primer for what's going on in the world of nonfiction filmmaking. Like last year, I wrote an epic piece for Paste about my experience at the festival, but I'd also like now to do my ranking of the films I saw. This includes ones screened before and after the festival. (Links go to individual reviews.)

18. Tim's Vermeer
17. Private Violence
16. Dusty Stacks of Mom
15. 20,000 Days on Earth
14. E-Team
13. Particle Fever
12. Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
11. Happy Valley
10. Jodorowsy's Dune
9. Concerning Violence 
8. Killing Time
7. Rich Hill
6. Actress
5. Approaching the Elephant
4. Manakamana
3. The Overnighters
2. Boyhood
1. The Unknown Known

Sundance 2014: Ranking the Best and Worst of the Festival

The more I go to Sundance, the more frustrated I get that I can't see everything I want to catch during the festival. Assignments and scheduling can be blamed up to a point, but still I'm sad I didn't have the opportunity to see The Overnighters, Rich Hill, Love Is Strange and several others. (As a side note, because I have an editor who is a producer on Life Itself, I declined to review the Roger Ebert documentary. I look forward to seeing the film soon and am gladdened by the number of glowing reviews it got at the festival.)

Below is my ranking of Sundance 2014, including films I saw prior to the festival. Links lead to individual reviews. You'll notice there are no documentaries on the list. Thank goodness I'll be attending True/False next month to do some catch-up.

28. Hits
27. God's Pocket
26. Infinitely Polar Bear   
25. Frank
24. Laggies
23. Ernest & Celestine
22. Wish I Was Here
21. Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead    
20. Ping Pong Summer
19. Land Ho!
18. Young Ones
17. Song One
16. The Voices
15. Happy Christmas
14. Ida
13. The One I Love
12. Whiplash
11. Only Lovers Left Alive
10. Blind
9. The Trip to Italy
8. Blue Ruin
7. I Origins
6. Stranger by the Lake
5. Listen Up Philip
4. Calvary
3. A Most Wanted Man
2. Boyhood
1. The Raid 2

And one final note. My head tells me that Boyhood is going to eventually overtake The Raid 2 on my end-of-the-year list. Linklater's film feels like one for the ages, while Gareth Evans's achievement may diminish with multiple viewings. They couldn't be more different films: Boyhood caresses the heart, while The Raid 2 pummels the senses and rearranges your nervous system -- and for this moment in time, it's the grander achievement. But ask me again in about 11 months.

Sundance 2014: 'Boyhood' Review

Richard Linklater has never made a movie over two hours long. That's now no longer the case: Boyhood is about 160 minutes, and it justifies its running time. The movie may seem like a gimmick -- he and his cast shot the film in pieces over the span of years to capture the process of a boy's coming-of-age -- but it's wonderfully emotional and thoughtful. My rave review is over at Paste.