• Karina Longworth holds her nose and writes about Oscar, but makes a compelling case for “Avatar” as the “timeliest” film of the season. [Little Gold Men]
• The film’s star, Zoe Saldana, on the state of women in Hollywood. [Speakeasy]
• Charting the best music documentaries of the decade. [The Playlist]
• Tom O’Neil recollects an interesting theory from Ron Howard on the dearth of blockbuster Best Picture nominees as of late, and how it could be all Harvey Weinstein’s fault. [Gold Derby]
• Patrick Goldstein is stoked at the critics’ awards haul for “The Hurt Locker” so far. [The Big Picture]
• Chris O’Donnell and Michelle Monaghan will announce Thursday’s list of SAG nominees. [Associated Press]
• Pete Hammond ponders the significance of the Critics’ Choice nominees. [Notes on a Season]
3 responses so far
1 12-15-2009 at 10:25 am
Robert Hamer said...
This may be a strange place to write this, but nice work on your write-up of the best films of 2009, though I wish I liked as many films this year as you did (I’m sad to say I have to agree with Nathaniel on The Lovely Bones).
I was sort of surprised to see Avatar, “the most amazing cinematic experience” you’ve ever had, all the way down at #5, but it’s also hard to argue with A Serious Man at the top spot.
2 12-15-2009 at 11:17 am
Ali E. said...
I saw Avatar today. Wow! Great film… Had its problems with the script, which you start to notice even more when you talk about the movie with friends aferwards. But it’s a great movie experience nonetheless.
3 12-15-2009 at 12:49 pm
SHAAAARK said...
James Cameron should never direct his own scripts. Pair him with a writer who could rein in his absurd dialogue and derivative plotting, and we might have something there.