“Stockholm, Pennsylvania” by Nikole Beckwith (mother-daughter relationships 29b/29)

“Stockholm, Pennsylvania”
by Nikole Beckwith (USA, 2015)

First Feature

Good dialogues, images, and music
Excellent script, personages, and direction
Top gender content, message, and expression

A girl who has been kidnapped at a very young age and has spent all of her childhood with her abductor is suddenly ‘freed’ (now aged 22) and returns to her parents who are total strangers to her… She is lost and feels completely abandoned. Her mother who has lost her once realizes that she’s losing her a second time…
SPOILER ahead! To get her daughter back, the mother recreates the condition of dependence and attachment that the abductor had created in the first place in order to develop in her daughter a second Stockholm syndrome.
Great acting

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 4,6
Metascore 4,7
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,0
IMDB 6,0
TMDB 5,4
Critics average 4,7
Audience average 5,8

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Isaacs
Director: Nikole Beckwith
Writer: Nikole Beckwith
Music by Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum, Brian McOmber
Cinematography by Arnaud Potier
Film Editing by Joe Klotz

“Born in Flames” by Lizzie Borden (1983)

Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#4)

First Feature

Good script and dialogues
Excellent direction and images
Top music, gender content, minority representation and message

In New York in the 1980s, a group of women fights for equality and freedom and promote an egalitarian feminist revolution, but they have first to get women to understand their second class citizen position in society and the oppression they support by remaining silent. Excellent political content

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,8
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,8
IMDB 6,4
TMDB 6,4
Average critics 6,8
Average public 6,5

Cast: Honey, Adele Bertei, Jean Satterfield
Director: Lizzie Borden
Writer: Ed Bowes
Cinematography by Ed Bowes, Al Santana
Film Editing by Lizzie Borden

“The Proposition” by Lesli Linka Glatter (1998)

Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#5)

Good script and humor
Excellent dialogues, images, gender content, and expression
Top personages, direction and message

An ambitious movie that realizes much of its potential. Its Shakespearean plot and twists are never too stretched to become ridiculous, especially since it is set in the 1920s, mainly because of the strongly delineated personages and excellent acting.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 4,5
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,4
IMDB 6,2
TMDB 5,8
Average critics 4,5
Average public 6,1

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe, William Hurt
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter
Writer: Rick Ramage
Music by Stephen Endelman
Cinematography by Peter Sova
Film Editing by Jacqueline Cambas

“Closet Land” by Radha Bharadwaj (1991)

Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#6)

First Feature

Good dialogues, music, gender content and minority representation
Excellent script
Top direction, images and message

A very unusual movie about resisting torture with the strength of one’s mind, about refusing lies (very timely), about sticking to one’s values… Great acting and decors!
Not a critics’ favorite…

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 4,6
Metascore 0,0
Roger Ebert 3,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,4
IMDB 7,0
TMDB 6,9
Average critics 2,8
Average public 7,4

Cast: Madeleine Stowe, Alan Rickman
Director: Radha Bharadwaj
Writer: Radha Bharadwaj
Photographed by Bill Pope
Edited by Lisa Churgin
Music by Richard Einhorn

“Polis” by Maïwenn (2011)

Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#8)

Good script, dialogues and images
Excellent personages
Top direction, gender content, minority presence and message

Raw, documentary-like movie inside a Paris police force that deals with sex offenders and minors
Strong emotions, not for the fainthearted

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,8
Metascore 7,4
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 6,8
Average public 7,5

Original title: Polisse

Cast: Karin Viard, JoeyStarr, Marina Foïs, Maïwenn, Emmanuelle Bercot
Director: Maïwenn
Writers: Maïwenn (screenplay), Emmanuelle Bercot (screenplay)
Music by Stephen Warbeck
Cinematography by Pierre Aïm
Film Editing by Yann Dedet, Laure Gardette

“Eve’s Bayou” by Kasi Lemmons (1997)

Favorite 52 movies screened between Aug 20 and May 21 (#9)

First Feature

Good dialogues, music and minorities presence
Excellent script, personages, direction, images,
gender content and message

The complex story of two sisters (14 and 10) who have put their father on a pedestal and cannot accept the fact that he is but just a man.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,5
Metascore 7,8
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 8,4
Average public 8,0

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writer: Kasi Lemmons
Music by Terence Blanchard
Cinematography by Amy Vincent
Film Editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire

“In Between” by Maysaloun Hamoud (2016)

A week of first features

A Weekend Treat!

Good script, humor, images and music
Excellent personages, dialogues, direction, minority presence and message
Top gender content

The various facets of the patriarchal world experienced by three Israeli Palestinian women
“… an actual fatwa was issued against Hamoud—the first against a Palestinian in 70 years—for her depictions of homosexuality, intoxication and drug use. That—combined with no less than Isabelle Huppert declaring the women featured in “In Between” as “heroines of our time” while presenting an award at Cannes last year—is as good a recommendation you can get.” Susan Wloszczyna

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,7
Metascore 7,8
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,4
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 8,1
Average public 7,4

Original title: Bar Bahar

Cast: Mouna Hawa, Shaden Kanboura, Sana Jammalieh, Mahmoud Shalaby
Director: Maysaloun Hamoud
Cinematographer: Itay Gross
Editor: Nili Feller, Lev Goltser
Composer: M.G. Saad

“Born in Flames” by Lizzie Borden (1983)

A Weekend Treat!

First Feature

Good script and dialogues
Excellent direction and images
Top music, gender content, minority representation and message

In New York in the 1980s, a group of women fights for equality and freedom and promote an egalitarian feminist revolution, but they have first to get women to understand their second class citizen position in society and the oppression they support by remaining silent. Excellent political content

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,8
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,8
IMDB 6,4
TMDB 6,4
Average critics 6,8
Average public 6,5

Cast: Honey, Adele Bertei, Jean Satterfield
Director: Lizzie Borden
Writer: Ed Bowes
Cinematography by Ed Bowes, Al Santana
Film Editing by Lizzie Borden

“The Proposition” by Lesli Linka Glatter (1998)

Two features by Lesli Linka Glatter (2/2)

A Weekend Treat!

Good script and humor
Excellent dialogues, images, gender content, and expression
Top personages, direction and message

An ambitious movie that realizes much of its potential. Its Shakespearean plot and twists are never too stretched to become ridiculous, especially since it is set in the 1920s, mainly because of the strongly delineated personages and excellent acting.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 4,5
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,4
IMDB 6,2
TMDB 5,8
Average critics 4,5
Average public 6,1

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe, William Hurt
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter
Writer: Rick Ramage
Music by Stephen Endelman
Cinematography by Peter Sova
Film Editing by Jacqueline Cambas

“Closet Land” by Radha Bharadwaj (1991)

a week of first features

a weekend treat!

Good dialogues, music, gender content and minority representation
Excellent script
Top direction, images and message

A very unusual movie about resisting torture with the strength of one’s mind, about refusing lies (very timely), about sticking to one’s values… Great acting and decors!
Not a critics’ favorite…

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 4,6
Metascore 0,0
Roger Ebert 3,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,4
IMDB 7,0
TMDB 6,9
Average critics 2,8
Average public 7,4

Cast: Madeleine Stowe, Alan Rickman
Director: Radha Bharadwaj
Writer: Radha Bharadwaj
Photographed by Bill Pope
Edited by Lisa Churgin
Music by Richard Einhorn

“Eve’s Bayou” by Kasi Lemmons (1997)

Best movies seen in 2020

First Feature

Good dialogues, music and minorities presence
Excellent script, personages, direction, images,
gender content and message

The complex story of two sisters (14 and 10) who have put their father on a pedestal and cannot accept the fact that he is but just a man.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,5
Metascore 7,8
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 8,4
Average public 8,0

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writer: Kasi Lemmons
Music by Terence Blanchard
Cinematography by Amy Vincent
Film Editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire

“Bandits” by Katja von Garnier (1997)

Best movies seen in 2020

First Feature

Good script and images
Excellent personages, direction, music and message
Top humor and gender content

A classic jail break + pursuit story… of four female detainees who accumulates surprise after surprise!
First of all, there are only 2 male roles: a cop and an hostage. The cop thinks and acts as a man to whom things are due and that no one can resist. The hostage is attractive (that’s why he’s taken hostage, of course) and can be used for sex. He enjoys the female attention he gets until the women get tired of him and let him lose. He becomes angry, because, just like the cop, he thought he had everything under control 🙂
But this movie goes further and beyond these simple gender stereotypes, for it shows how differently these female escapees think and react from the way men react in the classic jail escape and pursuit movies. A real treat!
Besides a wink to Godard, I also had to think of Sergio Leone but you would have then to replace “the good,  the bad, and the ugly” by “the hysterical, the nun, the mother, and the whore”. Enjoy!

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,0
Metascore 5,3
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 6,5
Average critics 6,2
Average public 7,4

Cast: Katja Riemann, Jasmin Tabatabai, Nicolette Krebitz
Director: Katja von Garnier
Writers: Uwe Wilhelm, Katja von Garnier
Music by Udo Arndt, Volker Griepenstroh, Peter Weihe
Cinematography by Torsten Breuer
Film Editing by Hans Funck

“Sand Storm” by Elite Zexer (2016)

Best movies seen in 2020

Excellent script, personages, dialogues, direction and images
Top gender content, minority presence and message

A movie that shows the gender divide in a Bedouin village where men “have to” obey the rules and codes of honor that they have themselves elaborated and that deprive them of any possible empathy on one side, and women on the other side, emphatic but enslaved, who have to obey the rules imposed on them and are deprived of all weapons that could help them fight back
A movie that shows the absurdity of patriarchy, here set in the Bedouin culture but that can be found in most contexts dominated by the religions of the Book, whatever which ‘Book’ it is.
Excellent acting by Rub Blal.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,2
Metascore 7,4
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 6,8
Average critics 7,0
Average public 7,2

Cast: Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal, Hitham Omari
Director: Elite Zexer
Writer: Elite Zexer (screenplay)
Music by Ran Bagno
Cinematography by Shai Peleg
Film Editing by Ronit Porat

“Misbehaviour” by Philippa Lowthorpe (2020)

Best movies seen in 2020

Good dialogues, humor, images and music
Excellent script, personages and direction
Top gender content, minority presence and message

Miss World competition, London 1970
The movie brings the organizers, the participants, and the protesters together, without neglecting some of the complexities of the time (apartheid, sexism…)
A historical piece of the ‘women’s lib’ era (second wave), its universal connotations having not lost its implications for us today

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,5
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,8
IMDB 6,0
Average critics 6,5
Average public 6,4

Cast: Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Writers: Rebecca Frayn (story written by), Rebecca Frayn | 1 more credit »
Music by Dickon Hinchliffe
Cinematography by Zac Nicholson
Film Editing by Úna Ní Dhonghaíle

“The Secret Life of Words” by Isabel Coixet (2005)

Best movies seen in 2020

Good personages, dialogues, music and message
Excellent script and images
Top direction and gender content

Beautiful but painful movie in which a man and a woman share their deepest secrets. Sharing brings them a form of redemption, an opening to escape the past, and a possible future. An unforgettable movie!

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,2
Metascore 6,8
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 7,5
Average critics 4,3
Average public 7,9

Cast: Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, Sverre Anker Ousdal
Director: Isabel Coixet
Writer: Isabel Coixet
Cinematography by Jean-Claude Larrieu
Film Editing by Irene Blecua

“Chocolat” by Claire Denis (1988)

Best movies seen in 2020

Good dialogues, music and gender content
Excellent script, personages, images and message
Top direction and minority presence

A movie about people who do not belong to where they are
A movie with one of the weirdest ending that gives its message a definitive perspective
“a film of infinite delicacy” [Roger Ebert]

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,1
Metascore —
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,1
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 8,6
Average public 7,2

Cast: Isaach De Bankole, Giulia Boschi, Francois Cluzet, Jean-Claude Adelin
Directed by Claire Denis
Written by Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau
Photographed by Robert Alazraki
Edited by Claude Merlin
Music by Abdullah Ibrahim

“Clemency” by Chinonye Chukwu (2019)

Best movies seen in 2020

Good script, personages, humor, music
Excellent dialogues and images
Top direction, minority presence and message

One of the best movie against death penalty, if only because it’s not about guilt but about compassion
A very ‘mature’ direction for a second (almost first) feature

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,7
Metascore 7,7
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,0
IMDB 6,6
Average critics 8,5
Average public 6,8

Cast: Alfre Woodard, Wendell Pierce, Aldis Hodge, Richard Schiff
Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Writer: Chinonye Chukwu
Cinematographer: Eric Branco
Editor: Phyllis Housen
Composer: Kathryn Bostic

“A Question of Silence” by Marleen Gorris (1982)

Best movies seen in 2020

A weekend treat!

First Feature

Good humor, images, music and message
Excellent personages, dialogues and minority presence
Top script, direction and gender content

A very intelligent (and subversive) story in which a psychiatrist is asked to evaluate three women who have committed a murder without any reason and who refuse any attempt to reduce their ‘culpability’… 

IMDB 6,4

Original title: De stilte rond Christine M…

Cast: Edda Barends, Nelly Frijda, Henriëtte Tol
Director: Marleen Gorris
Writer: Marleen Gorris
Music by Lodewijk de Boer, Martijn Hasebos
Cinematography by Frans Bromet
Film Editing by Hans van Dongen

“Place Publique” by Agnes Jaoui (2018)

Best movies seen in 2020

Good script and gender content
Excellent dialogues, humor, images, music
Top personages, direction

Agnes Jaoui’s most accomplished film with a host of strong and entertaining characters defined by pungent dialogues and brought together by a scenario structured around the three unities of the classical tragedy (action, place, time)
Smart (diegetic) use of music

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,0
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 5,9
Average critics 6,0
Average public 6,1

Cast: Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Léa Drucker
Director: Agnès Jaoui
Writers: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui
Music by Fernando Fiszbein
Cinematography by Yves Angelo
Film Editing by Annette Dutertre

“Polis” by Maïwenn (2011)

Tribute to Maïwenn (2/3)

Good script, dialogues and images
Excellent personages
Top direction, gender content, minority presence and message

Raw, documentary-like movie inside a Paris police force that deals with sex offenders and minors
Strong emotions, not for the fainthearted

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,8
Metascore 7,4
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 6,8
Average public 7,5

Original title: Polisse

Cast: Karin Viard, JoeyStarr, Marina Foïs, Maïwenn, Emmanuelle Bercot
Director: Maïwenn
Writers: Maïwenn (screenplay), Emmanuelle Bercot (screenplay)
Music by Stephen Warbeck
Cinematography by Pierre Aïm
Film Editing by Yann Dedet, Laure Gardette

“The Secret Life of Words” by Isabel Coixet (2005)

A weekend treat!

Good personages, dialogues, music and message
Excellent script and images
Top direction and gender content

Beautiful but painful movie in which a man and a woman share their deepest secrets. Sharing brings them a form of redemption, an opening to escape the past, and a possible future. An unforgettable movie!

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,2
Metascore 6,8
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 7,5
Average critics 4,3
Average public 7,9

Cast: Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, Sverre Anker Ousdal
Director: Isabel Coixet
Writer: Isabel Coixet
Cinematography by Jean-Claude Larrieu
Film Editing by Irene Blecua

“Sand Storm” by Elite Zexer (2016)

Facets of Patriarchy

First Feature

Excellent script, personages, dialogues, direction and images
Top gender content, minority presence and message

A movie that shows the gender divide in a Bedouin village where men “have to” obey the rules and codes of honor that they have themselves elaborated and that deprive them of any possible empathy on one side, and women on the other side, emphatic but enslaved, who have to obey the rules imposed on them and are deprived of all weapons that could help them fight back
A movie that shows the absurdity of patriarchy, here set in the Bedouin culture but that can be found in most contexts dominated by the religions of the Book, whatever which ‘Book’ it is.
Excellent acting by Rub Blal.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,2
Metascore 7,4
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 6,8
Average critics 7,0
Average public 7,2

Cast: Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal, Hitham Omari
Director: Elite Zexer
Writer: Elite Zexer (screenplay)
Music by Ran Bagno
Cinematography by Shai Peleg
Film Editing by Ronit Porat

“Eve’s Bayou” by Kasi Lemmons (1997)

A weekend treat!

First Feature

Good dialogues, music and minorities presence
Excellent script, personages, direction, images,
gender content and message

The complex story of two sisters (14 and 10) who have put their father on a pedestal and cannot accept the fact that he is but just a man.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,5
Metascore 7,8
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 8,4
Average public 8,0

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writer: Kasi Lemmons
Music by Terence Blanchard
Cinematography by Amy Vincent
Film Editing by Terilyn A. Shropshire

“Sand Storm” by Elite Zexer (2016)

First Feature

Excellent script, personages, dialogues, direction and images
Top gender content, minority presence and message

A movie that shows the gender divide in a Bedouin village where men “have to” obey the rules and codes of honor that they have themselves elaborated and that deprive them of any possible empathy on one side, and women on the other side, emphatic but enslaved, who have to obey the rules imposed on them and are deprived of all weapons that could help them fight back
A movie that shows the absurdity of patriarchy, here set in the Bedouin culture but that can be found in most contexts dominated by the religions of the Book, whatever which ‘Book’ it is.
Excellent acting by Rub Blal.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,2
Metascore 7,4
Roger Ebert 6,3
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 6,8
Average critics 7,0
Average public 7,2

Cast: Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal, Hitham Omari
Director: Elite Zexer
Writer: Elite Zexer (screenplay)
Music by Ran Bagno
Cinematography by Shai Peleg
Film Editing by Ronit Porat

“Bandits” by Katja von Garnier (1997)

A German week

The work of Katja von Garnier (4/4)

First Feature

Good script and images
Excellent personages, direction, music and message
Top humor and gender content

A classic jail break + pursuit story… of four female detainees who accumulates surprise after surprise!
First of all, there are only 2 male roles: a cop and an hostage. The cop thinks and acts as a man to whom things are due and that no one can resist. The hostage is attractive (that’s why he’s taken hostage, of course) and can be used for sex. He enjoys the female attention he gets until the women get tired of him and let him lose. He becomes angry, because, just like the cop, he thought he had everything under control 🙂
But this movie goes further and beyond these simple gender stereotypes, for it shows how differently these female escapees think and react from the way men react in the classic jail escape and pursuit movies. A real treat!
Besides a wink to Godard, I also had to think of Sergio Leone but you would have then to replace “the good,  the bad, and the ugly” by “the hysterical, the nun, the mother, and the whore”. Enjoy!

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,0
Metascore 5,3
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 6,5
Average critics 6,2
Average public 7,4

Cast: Katja Riemann, Jasmin Tabatabai, Nicolette Krebitz
Director: Katja von Garnier
Writers: Uwe Wilhelm, Katja von Garnier
Music by Udo Arndt, Volker Griepenstroh, Peter Weihe
Cinematography by Torsten Breuer
Film Editing by Hans Funck

“An Inspector Calls” by Aisling Walsh (2015)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good humor and images
Excellent personages and direction
Top script + content

An excellent adaptation of J.B. Priestley’s classic play about class, responsibility, guilt, honesty, and…
A world that will need a most terrible war to (almost) disappear

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,0
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 7,7
Average critics 8,0
Average public 8,0

Cast: Sophie Rundle, Lucy Chappell, Miranda Richardson
Director: Aisling Walsh
Writers: J.B. Priestley (based on the play by), Helen Edmundson (adapted by)
Music by Dominik Scherrer
Cinematography by Martin Fuhrer
Film Editing by Alex Mackie

“Gully Boy” by Zoya Akhtar (2019)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good personages, humor and images
Excellent dialogues, direction and content
Top script and music

A movie that shows the struggles that young people in India endure to change the deeply anchored traditions of their parents
Great story and great music!

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,4
Metascore 6,5
Roger Ebert 0,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 8,2
Average critics 4,6
Average public 8,4

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Writers: Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti
Music by ishQ Bector, Karsh Kale, Jasleen Royal
Cinematography by Jay Oza
Film Editing by Nitin Baid

“A Question of Silence” by Marleen Gorris (1982)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

First Feature

Good humor, images, music and message
Excellent personages, dialogues and minority presence
Top script, direction and gender content

A very intelligent (and subversive) story in which a psychiatrist is asked to evaluate three women who have committed a murder without any reason and who refuse any attempt to reduce their ‘culpability’… 

IMDB 6,4

Original title: De stilte rond Christine M…

Cast: Edda Barends, Nelly Frijda, Henriëtte Tol
Director: Marleen Gorris
Writer: Marleen Gorris
Music by Lodewijk de Boer, Martijn Hasebos
Cinematography by Frans Bromet
Film Editing by Hans van Dongen

“Misbehaviour” by Philippa Lowthorpe (2020)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good dialogues, humor, images and music
Excellent script, personages and direction
Top gender content, minority presence and message

Miss World competition, London 1970
The movie brings the organizers, the participants, and the protesters together, without neglecting some of the complexities of the time (apartheid, sexism…)
A historical piece of the ‘women’s lib’ era (second wave), its universal connotations having not lost its implications for us today

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,5
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,8
IMDB 6,0
Average critics 6,5
Average public 6,4

Cast: Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Writers: Rebecca Frayn (story written by), Rebecca Frayn | 1 more credit »
Music by Dickon Hinchliffe
Cinematography by Zac Nicholson
Film Editing by Úna Ní Dhonghaíle

“Place Publique” by Agnes Jaoui (2018)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good script and gender content
Excellent dialogues, humor, images, music
Top personages, direction

Agnes Jaoui’s most accomplished film with a host of strong and entertaining characters defined by pungent dialogues and brought together by a scenario structured around the three unities of the classical tragedy (action, place, time)
Smart (diegetic) use of music

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,0
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 5,9
Average critics 6,0
Average public 6,1

Cast: Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Léa Drucker
Director: Agnès Jaoui
Writers: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui
Music by Fernando Fiszbein
Cinematography by Yves Angelo
Film Editing by Annette Dutertre

“Chocolat” by Claire Denis (1988)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good dialogues, music and gender content
Excellent script, personages, images and message
Top direction and minority presence

A movie about people who do not belong to where they are
A movie with one of the weirdest ending that gives its message a definitive perspective
“a film of infinite delicacy” [Roger Ebert]

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,1
Metascore —
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,1
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 8,6
Average public 7,2

Cast: Isaach De Bankole, Giulia Boschi, Francois Cluzet, Jean-Claude Adelin
Directed by Claire Denis
Written by Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau
Photographed by Robert Alazraki
Edited by Claude Merlin
Music by Abdullah Ibrahim

“The Souvenir” by Joanna Hogg (2019)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good script
Excellent personages, dialogues, direction, music and gender content
Top images and minority presence

On the track of Exhibition, a very complex and extremely dense love story presented in an erupted form (thanks to Joanna Hogg’s long collaboration with editor Helle le Fevre)
Intelligent use of a rich musical score (Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Verdi’s La Forza del Destino)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,1
Metascore 9,1
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 4,8
IMDB 6,5
Average critics 9,1
Average public 5,7

Cast: Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke, Tilda Swinton
Director: Joanna Hogg
Writer: Joanna Hogg
Cinematographer: David Raedeker
Editor: Helle le Fevre

“Thirst” by Svetla Tsotsorkova (2015)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

First Feature

Good images and music
Excellent script, personages, dialogues, direction, gender content and minority presence
Top message

 

A movie about climate change and environmental damage, but the title “Thirst” does not only refer to the lack of water but also to sexual thirst
Great direction: the Images do not need dialogues to say a lot. An exceptionnal first feature!

IMDB 6,8

Original title: Jajda

Cast: Monika Naydenova, Alexander Benev, Svetlana Yancheva
Director: Svetla Tsotsorkova
Writers: Svetoslav Ovtcharov, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Ventsislav Vasilev
Music by Hristo Namliev
Cinematography by Vesselin Hristov
Film Editing by Nina Altaparmakova, Svetla Tsotsorkova

“Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem” by Ronit & Shlomi Elkabetz (2014)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good humor, images, minority presence and message
Excellent direction
Top script, personages, dialogues and gender content

An extraordinary movie about a woman who wants to divorce her husband according to Jewish religious law

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,5
Metascore 9,0
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 7,7
Average critics 9,2
Average public 7,9

Cast: Ronit Elkabetz, Simon Abkarian, Menashe Noy, Gabi Amrani, Dalia Beger
Director: Ronit Elkabetz. Shlomi Elkabetz
Writer: Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz
Director of Photography: Jeanne Lapoirie

“Meditation Park” by Mina Shum (2017)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Great script, humor, and images
Excellent personages, dialogues, and direction
Top gender content, minority presence and message

For her third feature, Mina Shum tackles again the problem of integration, this time, she takes the point of view of an older Chinese woman in Toronto who is kept subjugated by her husband. One day, she discovers that he cheats on her and decides to set herself free.
A warm and very real woman who belongs to the ‘forgotten’ individuals of our society; A husband who is prisoner of his Confucian values; and their children as mixed second-generation couples. All these aspects characterize Mina Shum’s work.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,7
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,4
IMDB 7,2
Average critics 7,7
Average public 7,8

Cast: Pei-Pei Cheng, Tzi Ma, Sandra Oh
Director: Mina Shum
Writer: Mina Shum
Music by Andrew Lockington
Cinematography by Peter Wunstorf
Film Editing by Daria Ellerman

“Wrestling Ernest Hemingway” by Randa Haines (1993)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good script, dialogues, humor, music and message
Excellent direction and minority presence
Top personages and images

Two retired men in Florida form a friendship despite their differences
A touching movie on old age and loneliness / Great acting

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 5,9
Metascore —
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 8,1
Average critics 6,7
Average public 7,9

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Robert Duvall, Shirley MacLaine, Richard Harris, Piper Laurie
Directed by Randa Haines
Music by Michael Convertino
Cinematography by Lajos Koltai
Film Editing by Paul Hirsch

“Clemency” by Chinonye Chukwu (2019)

My Year’s Favorites (Aug. 2019-July 2020)

Good script, personages, humor, music
Excellent dialogues and images
Top direction, minority presence and message

One of the best movie against death penalty, if only because it’s not about guilt but about compassion
A very ‘mature’ direction for a second (almost first) feature

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,7
Metascore 7,7
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,0
IMDB 6,6
Average critics 8,5
Average public 6,8

Cast: Alfre Woodard, Wendell Pierce, Aldis Hodge, Richard Schiff
Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Writer: Chinonye Chukwu
Cinematographer: Eric Branco
Editor: Phyllis Housen
Composer: Kathryn Bostic

“Misbehaviour” by Philippa Lowthorpe (2020)

The work of Philippa Lowthorpe (3/3)

Good dialogues, humor, images and music
Excellent script, personages and direction
Top gender content, minority presence and message

Miss World competition, London 1970
The movie brings the organizers, the participants, and the protesters together, without neglecting some of the complexities of the time (apartheid, sexism…)
A historical piece of the ‘women’s lib’ era (second wave), its universal connotations having not lost its implications for us today

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,5
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,8
IMDB 6,0
Average critics 6,5
Average public 6,4

Cast: Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Writers: Rebecca Frayn (story written by), Rebecca Frayn | 1 more credit »
Music by Dickon Hinchliffe
Cinematography by Zac Nicholson
Film Editing by Úna Ní Dhonghaíle

“Reinventing Marvin” by Anne Fontaine (2017)

Teens & Sex

Great humor, music, gender content and message
Excellent script, personages, dialogues, direction and images
Top minority presence

A young gay man stages a theater play about his youth, which enables him to distance himself from the environment where he grew up and allows him to come to term with it / Excellent scenario “like a postmodern collage” [Diego Semerene] 

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 5,7
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,4
IMDB 7,0
Average critics 5,7
Average public 7,2

Cast: Finnegan Oldfield, Grégory Gadebois, Vincent Macaigne
Director: Anne Fontaine
Writers: Pierre Trividic, Anne Fontaine
Cinematography by Yves Angelo
Film Editing by Annette Dutertre

“The Miseducation Of Cameron Post” by Desiree Akhavan (2018)

 

Teens & Sex

Great dialogues
Excellent script, personages, direction, images, music and minority presence
Top gender content and message

A magnificent illustration of the conflicts teenagers can have between what society and religion impose on them – who they should be and not be – and the identity they feel they possess
Another look on identity conflicts – See Appropriate Behavior

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,5
Metascore 6,9
Roger Ebert 8,8
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,6
IMDB 6,6
Average critics 7,7
Average public 7,1

Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, Jennifer Ehle, John Gallagher Jr., Owen Campbell, Quinn Shephard
Director: Desiree Akhavan
Writer (novel): Emily M. Danforth
Writer: Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele
Cinematographer: Ashley Connor
Editor: Sara Shaw
Composer: Julian Wass

“Meditation Park” by Mina Shum (2017)

Tribute to Mina Shum (3/3)

Great script, humor, and images
Excellent personages, dialogues, and direction
Top content

For her third feature, Mina Shum tackles again the problem of integration, this time, she takes the point of view of an older Chinese woman in Toronto who is kept subjugated by her husband. One day, she discovers that he cheats on her and decides to set herself free.
A warm and very real woman who belongs to the ‘forgotten’ individuals of our society; A husband who is prisoner of his Confucian values; and their children as mixed second-generation couples. All these aspects characterize Mina Shum’s work.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,7
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,4
IMDB 7,2
Average critics 7,7
Average public 7,8

Cast: Pei-Pei Cheng, Tzi Ma, Sandra Oh
Director: Mina Shum
Writer: Mina Shum
Music by Andrew Lockington
Cinematography by Peter Wunstorf
Film Editing by Daria Ellerman

“Clemency” by Chinonye Chukwu (2019)

2019 was a good year!

Good script, personages, humor, music (8)
Excellent dialogues, images and content (9)
Top direction (10)

One of the best movie against the death penalty, if one thing, because it’s not about guilt but about compassion
A very ‘mature’ direction for it being Chukwu’s second (almost first) feature

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,7
Metascore 7,7
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,0
IMDB 6,6
Average critics 8,5
Average public 6,8

Cast: Alfre Woodard, Wendell Pierce, Aldis Hodge, Richard Schiff
Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Writer: Chinonye Chukwu
Cinematographer: Eric Branco
Editor: Phyllis Housen
Composer: Kathryn Bostic

“Chocolat” by Claire Denis (1988)

A Weekend Treat!

Good dialogues and music (8)
Excellent script, personages, images and content (9)
Top direction (10)

A movie about people who do not belong to where they are
A movie with one of the weirdest ending that gives its message a definitive perspective
“a film of infinite delicacy” [Roger Ebert]

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,1
Metascore —
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 7,1
IMDB 7,3
Average critics 8,6
Average public 7,2

Cast: Isaach De Bankole, Giulia Boschi, Francois Cluzet, Jean-Claude Adelin
Directed by Claire Denis
Written by Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau
Photographed by Robert Alazraki
Edited by Claude Merlin
Music by Abdullah Ibrahim

“Elizabeth Is Missing” by Aisling Walsh (2019)

2019 was a good year!

Good humor, music, content (8)
Excellent dialogues, direction, images (9)
Top personages (10)

An older woman gradually loses touch with the present, but the memories of her past help solve a crime
The script could have been less anecdotic but what Walsh has built around it makes one easily forget its shortcomings
Fantastic Glenda Jackson playing a very difficult personage
(no poster yet…)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,7
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience —
IMDB 7,9
Average critics 8,7
Average public 7,9

Cast: Glenda Jackson, Maggie Steed, Sophie Rundle
Director: Aisling Walsh
Writers: Andrea Gibb (adaptation), Emma Healey (novel)
Music by Dominik Scherrer
Cinematography by Lukas Strebel
Film Editing by Alex Mackie

“The Souvenir” by Joanna Hogg (2019)

2019 was a good year!

Good script and content (8)
Excellent personages, dialogues, direction and music (9)
Top images (10)

On the track of Exhibition, a very complex and extremely dense love story presented in an erupted form (thanks to Joanna Hogg’s long collaboration with editor Helle le Fevre)
Intelligent use of a rich musical score (Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Verdi’s La Forza del Destino)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,1
Metascore 9,1
Roger Ebert 10,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 4,8
IMDB 6,5
Average critics 9,1
Average public 5,7

Cast: Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke, Tilda Swinton
Director: Joanna Hogg
Writer: Joanna Hogg
Cinematographer: David Raedeker
Editor: Helle le Fevre

“Gully Boy” by Zoya Akhtar (2019)

2019 was a good year!

Good personages, humor and images (8)
Excellent dialogues, direction and content (9)
Top script and music (10)

A movie that shows the struggles that young people in India endure to change the deeply anchored traditions of their parents
Great story and great music!

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,4
Metascore 6,5
Roger Ebert 0,0
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,6
IMDB 8,2
Average critics 4,6
Average public 8,4

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Writers: Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti
Music by ishQ Bector, Karsh Kale, Jasleen Royal
Cinematography by Jay Oza
Film Editing by Nitin Baid

See also

“Let The Heart Beat” by Zoya Akhtar (2015)

“You Don’t Get Life a Second Time” by Zoya Akhtar (2011)

Luck By Chance” by Zoya Akhtar (2009)

“Even The Rain” (Tambien la lluvia) by Icíar Bollaín (2010)

The Work of Iciar Bollain (3)

Good script and music (8)
Excellent personages, dialogues, direction, images and content (9)

Iciar Bollain and writer Paul Laverty build their stories on many levels
A film with many layers and complex interactions

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 7,0
Metascore 6,9
Roger Ebert 7,5
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,0
IMDB 7,4
Average critics 7,1
Average public 7,7

Cast: Gael García Bernal, Luis Tosar, Karra Elejalde
Director: Icíar Bollaín
Writer: Paul Laverty
Music by Alberto Iglesias
Cinematography by Alex Catalán
Film Editing by Ángel Hernández Zoido

“A Question of Silence” by Marleen Gorris (1982)

A Tribute to Marleen Gorris (1/5)

First Feature

Good humor, images and music (8)
Excellent personages, dialogues and content (9)
Top script and direction (10)

A very intelligent (and subversive) story in which a psychiatrist is asked to evaluate three women who have committed a murder without any reason and who refuse any attempt to reduce their ‘culpability’… 

Rotten Tomatoes Critics —
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience —
IMDB 6,4

Cast: Edda Barends, Nelly Frijda, Henriëtte Tol
Director: Marleen Gorris
Writer: Marleen Gorris
Music by Lodewijk de Boer, Martijn Hasebos
Cinematography by Frans Bromet
Film Editing by Hans van Dongen

“Place Publique” by Agnes Jaoui (2018)

(great) Movies with Humor (3/5)

Good script (8)
Excellent dialogues, humor, images, music (9)
Top personages, direction (10)

Agnes Jaoui’s most accomplished film with a host of strong and entertaining characters defined by pungent dialogues and brought together by a scenario structured around the three unities of the classical tragedy (action, place, time)
Smart (diegetic) use of music

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,0
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 5,9
Average critics 6,0
Average public 6,1

Cast: Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Léa Drucker
Director: Agnès Jaoui
Writers: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui
Music by Fernando Fiszbein
Cinematography by Yves Angelo
Film Editing by Annette Dutertre

“Elizabeth Is Missing” by Aisling Walsh (2019)

A British week: Aisling Walsh (3/3)

Good humor, music, content (8)
Excellent dialogues, direction, images (9)
Top personages (10)

An older woman gradually loses touch with the present, but the memories of her past help solve a crime
The script could have been less anecdotic but what Walsh has built around it makes one easily forget its shortcomings
Fantastic Glenda Jackson playing a very difficult personage
(no poster yet…)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,7
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience —
IMDB 8,1
Average critics 8,7
Average public 8,1

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,7
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience —
IMDB 8,1
Average critics 8,7
Average public 8,1

Cast: Glenda Jackson, Maggie Steed, Sophie Rundle
Director: Aisling Walsh
Writers: Andrea Gibb (adaptation), Emma Healey (novel)
Music by Dominik Scherrer
Cinematography by Lukas Strebel
Film Editing by Alex Mackie

“An Inspector Calls” by Aisling Walsh (2015)

A British week: Aisling Walsh (2/3)

Good humor and images (8)
Excellent personages and direction (9)
Top script + content (10)

An excellent adaptation of J.B. Priestley’s classic play about class, responsability, guilt, honesty, and…
A world that will need a most terrible war to (almost) disappear

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 8,0
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 8,2
IMDB 7,7
Average critics 8,0
Average public 8,0

Cast: Sophie Rundle, Lucy Chappell, Miranda Richardson
Director: Aisling Walsh
Writers: J.B. Priestley (based on the play by), Helen Edmundson (adapted by)
Music by Dominik Scherrer
Cinematography by Martin Fuhrer
Film Editing by Alex Mackie

“Place Publique” by Agnes Jaoui (2018)

The films of Agnès Jaoui (4/4)

Good script (8)
Excellent dialogues, humor, images, music (9)
Top personages, direction (10)

Agnes Jaoui’s most accomplished film with a host of strong and entertaining characters defined by pungent dialogues and brought together by a scenario structured around the three unities of the classical tragedy (action, place, time)
Smart (diegetic) use of music

Rotten Tomatoes Critics 6,0
Metascore —
Roger Ebert —
Rotten Tomatoes Audience 6,2
IMDB 5,9
Average critics 6,0
Average public 6,1

Cast: Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Léa Drucker
Director: Agnès Jaoui
Writers: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui
Music by Fernando Fiszbein
Cinematography by Yves Angelo
Film Editing by Annette Dutertre