2018 Academy Award predictions

Another year, another set of Oscar predictions.  This year's Best Picture race is as wide-open as it's been in a very long time, so I'm very worried about how I'll fare.  Either way, it should be a fun ride.

My 20 Favorite Films of 2017

When it came to movies, 2017 was more wide than deep.  There were a ton of good films, and what was refreshing is that the type of good films we got was so varied.  There were multiple big budget blockbuster films that were good, a ruminative sci-fi epic, outside-the-box horror films, Classic Hollywood films that don't get made anymore, a gritty exploitation piece, and charming indies.  But there weren't as many outright excellent films.  I'm proud of my top 20, but I'd say that only that two of these films are five star achievements, whereas last year had more than twice that.

Of course, it could be that I just haven't seen the masterpieces yet.  As always, I must issue the caveat that since I'm not a big fancy critic, I don't get access to the movies that are released at the very end of the year for extremely limited screenings, in order to qualify for the Oscars.  That includes major contenders like Phantom Thread and The Post, but also foreign films like Thelma that weren't easily accessible during the year.

Still, even with those caveats, it was a good year to be a cinephile.  Here's to another year of movies!

The rules: As long as a film got an official release in 2017, it was eligible for placement on this list.  This is an important thing to remember, since some of the films that appear in my top 20 premiered at film festivals in 2016, but didn't get released in theaters until this year.  And in the case where a film got no theatrical release, then a VOD debut in 2017 will make it eligible.

2016 Academy Award Predictions

Tonight is the 88th Academy Awards, and what better way to celebrate this bizarre circus by making predictions about who will win?  I usually am pretty good at predicting these categories -- I've gotten at least 19 out of 24 picks correct in the last few years -- but I don't know how to feel about this year's odds.  It seems like for a long time there was no narrative to the award season, so it was hard to tell who the favorites for some of the big categories were, especially Best Picture.  It should make for a fun award show -- well, as fun as these can be -- but a possibly ugly ballot.

My 20 Favorite Films of 2015

I start my best films of the year list the same way every year, by mentioning the movies I had no capability of seeing and therefore weren't eligible for this list.  Many of the year's best and most acclaimed films often get released late in December in New York and Los Angeles only, in order to qualify for awards season.  Because critics get early screenings for these films, they appear on end of the year lists, but I'm not an official critic so I don't get that luxury!  It's very frustrating.  So here are some movies that could have possibly made my list were it not for the fact that they're not truly out yet: Anomalisa, 45 Years, The Look of Silence, James White, The Revenant, The Assassin.

Due to having less time this year and trying to focus more on older films, I saw slightly less new movies than I did in 2014, but enough to say with confidence that 2015 was a fantastic year for film.  We got great films of all shapes and sizes: blockbusters, animated films, foreign films, middle budget movies, horror, non-theatrical releases.  There were some massive disappointments -- looking at you, Spectre! -- but 2015 batted a pretty high average overall.  Here's to hoping 2016 is even better.

The rules: As long as a film got an official release in 2015, it was eligible for placement on this list.  This is an important thing to remember, since many of the films that appear in my top 20 premiered at film festivals in 2014, but didn't get released in theaters until this year.  And in the case where a film got no theatrical release, then a VOD debut in 2015 will make it eligible.  Now that all of that has been cleared up, on to the actual list...