What Was 2013's Best Movie Scene?

Whoops, the picture gave it away, huh? Well, you might as well read on to see what I thought of Gravity's stunning opening.

I Had Lunch With James Rocchi

I was quite honored to be invited to be on fellow film critic James Rocchi's podcast The Lunch. We chatted about current movies, including Captain Phillips, Gravity, 12 Years a Slave, All Is Lost and Dallas Buyers Club. And we also sang the praises of some overlooked movies from the first part of 2013. A lot of fun all around. You can hear it here.

In Praise of Alfonso Cuaron

With Gravity about to come out, it's hard not to be impressed by the career of its director, Alfonso Cuaron. He's made all types of films, everything from Children of Men to A Little Princess, but he's consistently delivered movies that weren't quite what they seemed. It may have hurt him commercially some, but the results? Well, the results speak for themselves. I sing the man's praises over at Deadspin.

Toronto 2013: The Rankings

Another Toronto Film Festival is in the books. Here now are my rankings, from worst to best, of what I saw from the festival. Several of these films were screened in advance or at other festivals (Sundance, Cannes). Links lead to individual reviews. 

35. Words and Pictures
34. Proxy
33. McCanick
32. Third Person
31. Sapi
30. Hateship Loveship
29. Parkland
28. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
27. The Fifth Estate
26. Don Jon
25. Bends
24. The Last of Robin Hood
23. The Stag
22. Going Away
21. Lucky Them
20. Young & Beautiful 
19. Philomena
18. August: Osage County
17. Only Lovers Left Alive
16. Ida 
15. Sarah Prefers to Run
14. Ilo Ilo 
13. Closed Curtain
12. The Missing Picture 
11. Enough Said
10. All Is By My Side
9. 12 Years a Slave  
8. A Touch of Sin
7. Labor Day 
6. Like Father, Like Son
5. The Past
4. Gravity
3. Bastards
2. Night Moves
1. Blue Is the Warmest Color

Toronto 2013: 'Gravity' Review

The Toronto Film Festival offers so many kinds of movies that you could meet 10 different festivalgoers and their choices might not match up all that much. But just about everyone I knew was excited to see Gravity. I caught the film on my last day at the festival. Count me among the people who are incredibly, incredibly impressed with the movie but still have a few reservations. My review is up at Paste.

Let's Face It: The Razzies Are Dumb

I understand that it's fun to goof on bad movies -- hey, I do it with Showgirls and Dog Lover's Symphony -- but to spend as much time as the Razzies spend doing it? Frankly, I just think it's lame. You can read my reasoning here.

(And if you don't know, yes, that's Sandra Bullock accepting her Worst Actress prize a few years ago for All About Steve.)