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Frederick Wiseman has made first-rate documentaries on his own terms for a half century, delving into the nuances of institutions and communities from the inside out. From his seminal 1967 portrait of a mental hospital in “Titicut Follies” to last year’s “Ex Libris: The New York Public Library,” the 88-year-old non-fiction legend continues to shoot and edit his sprawling portraits with a slow-burn, inquisitive style unparalleled in his field. You don’t watch Wiseman movies, which are often distinguished by epic running times, so much as you live in them.

Read More:‘Ex Libris — The New York Public Library’ Review: The Best Thing to Happen to Libraries Since the Dewey Decimal System

“Ex Libris” is no exception, but recent events turned this 197-minute deep-dive into the functions of the city’s literary institution brought a whole new context to the project, even to the filmmaker himself.

“Trump made it a political film because it represents,...

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, also known as the “Main Branch” of the New York Public Library, is located at 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, next to Bryant Park. Almost 150 years ago that was the setting of the Murray Hill Reservoir, which supplied drinking water for most of the city through the end of the 19th century. It’s perhaps no coincide that the Nypl’s headquarters are located there, since they have taken on the duty of supplying the city with knowledge and culture, elements which are as essential to New Yorkers as water. The iconic building is at the center of Frederick Wiseman’s Ex Libris, an enthralling documentary that chronicles the work the Nypl continues to do since its inception in 1911.

Wiseman’s enlightening, often quite moving film, explores the Nypl’s reach beyond 42nd Street, through its almost 90 branches, which provide courses, talks and, of course,...

Amazon Studios, which is releasing about a film a month, led the fall season specialized release barrage with Mike White college comedy “Brad’s Status,” starring Ben Stiller. Annapurna’s second release scored $25,000 per theater in two cities for a credible start.

“Brad’s Status” was one of four Toronto International Film Festival 2017 titles released while the festival is wrapping up (compared to only one last year). The others include Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” (Paramount), which flopped in wide release with $7.5 million and a rare F Cinemascore (they poll mass-audience theaters and the scores don’t reflect all reactions). Frederick Wiseman’s library documentary “Ex Libris” (Zipporah) got a decent result in its exclusive New York run, and Angelina Jolie’s “First They Killed My Father” debuted on Netflix along with a smattering of theatrical dates (grosses hidden per usual).

Opening

Brad’s Status (Annapurna) – Metacritic: 70; Festivals include: Toronto 2017

$100,179 in...

You probably haven’t been thinking about libraries a lot recently, what with all the politics and genocide and hurricanes. But then, you may not have been thinking about the University of California, Berkeley, or London’s National Gallery or the northwestern Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights much either, unless you’re one of the small but growing number of devoted fans of documentarian Frederick Wiseman. His run of late-period docu-epics “At Berkeley,” “National Gallery” and “In Jackson Heights” continued in Venice last week with the premiere of his latest, “Ex Libris: New York Public Library,” which is already out in limited release.

Continue reading Frederick Wiseman’s Intensely Rewarding, Humane ‘Ex Libris: New York Public Library’ [Review] at The Playlist.

Interview: Daniel Kasman | Video: Kurt WalkerAmerica's greatest living filmmaker, Frederick Wiseman, returns to the city of New York after the Queens borough collage In Jackson Heights (2015) with another opus that looks at a dense, living ecosystem, seeing it as a embodiment of an American ideal and struggle. Where the great documentarian’s 2015 picture surveyed the melting pot of the Jackson Heights neighborhood, finding within an exemplary diversity of race, nationality, religion and sexual orientation, all inextricably intertwined with threats of gentrification, discrimination, and commercialization, Wiseman’s new work, Ex Libris, explores New York’s public library system to find a complex, contradictory model for democratic thought.“A library is not about books—that’s what a lot of people think, that it’s a storage place for books,” says Francine Houben, the creative director of the firm chosen to re-envision and remodel New York’s iconic, lion-guarded Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

Ex LibrisDear Fernando—and welcome Kelley!This year at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) I thank our lucky stars that we have a third and new member among our correspondents: Fernando, meet Kelley; Kelley, Fernando. Ironically, as we add a new critic, Tiff is subtracting films, for it was announced back in February that this autumn festival would lose something like 20% of its massive lineup, which numbered 296 features last year. The number of features cut isn't quite that high, but any regular Tiff-goer certainly knows that this festival's identity—note, not brand—is mostly founded on numerical plethora rather than a notable curatorial perspective on the year's movies.The most obvious result of the culling in the 2017 lineup is that the Vanguard and City to City sections are gone, and the absolutely essential Wavelengths—the defining program of Toronto’s festival and key to its current reputation alongside the...

Even at age 87, legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman shows no signs of slowing down — or resting on his laurels after finally, finally getting some love from the Academy in the form of his honorary Oscar given to him last year.

His next film — his forty-second in a long, storied career — has now landed an early fall date, perfect for the kind of awards attention Wiseman seems mostly uninspired by. “Ex Libris: New York Public Library,” which mainly focuses on the sprawling New York Public Library located on Fifth Avenue, will bow at New York’s own Film Forum on September 13, with a theatrical rollout to follow throughout the season, thanks to Wiseman’s company, Zipporah Films. The doc will also play at select film festivals this fall.

Read More: Frederick Wiseman’s Next Documentary Will be ‘Ex Libris – New York Public Library’

Per the film’s official synopsis: “The legendary filmmaker...

Acclaimed documentarian Frederick Wiseman has directed observational portraits of social institutions for almost fifty years, and at the age of 86, he shows no signs of stopping. His last film “In Jackson Heights,” which focuses on the diverse Queens neighborhood, garnered widespread acclaim for its humanistic depiction of cultural difference. Now, Wiseman has received a grant from the Sundance Institute to finish his next documentary “Ex Libris — New York Public Library,” which examines in depth how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution. Sundance funded Wiseman’s new film at the “post-production” stage.

Read More: Frederick Wiseman on ‘In Jackson Heights’ and Finding Meaning Through Editing

Wiseman has directed over 40 documentaries since 1967, including films about mental institutions, high schools, the American Ballet Theatre and the National Gallery. He has won multiple awards, such as three Primetime Emmys and a Peabody. This year,...

Cinema Eye has named 10 filmmakers and 20 films that have been voted as the top achievements in documentary filmmaking during the past 10 years. Founded in 2007 to “recognize and honor exemplary craft and innovation in nonfiction film,” Cinema Eye polled 110 members of the documentary community to determine the winning films and filmmakers just as the organization kicks off its tenth year.

Read More: Behind the Scenes of Cinema Eye’s Secret Field Trip for Nominees

Among the films chosen are Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Act of Killing,” Laura Poitras’ Oscar-winning “Citizenfour” and Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” Poitras and Oppenheimer were both also named to the list of the top documentary filmmakers, joining Alex Gibney, Werner Herzog and Frederick Wiseman, who recently won an honorary Oscar and will be saluted at the annual Governors Awards on November 12.

“It’s fantastic that he is being recognized by the Academy for a...

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted Tuesday night (August 30) to present Honorary Awards to actor Jackie Chan, film editor Anne V. Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 8th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday, November 12, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.

“The Honorary Award was created for artists like Jackie Chan, Anne Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman – true pioneers and legends in their crafts,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “The Board is proud to honor their extraordinary achievements, and we look forward to celebrating with them at the Governors Awards in November.”

After making his motion picture debut at the age of eight, Chan brought his childhood training with the Peking Opera to a distinctive international career. He starred in – and sometimes wrote,...

Every year, industry folks lobby the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with their candidates for honorary Oscar winners at the annual Governors Awards. And sometimes they get their way. Over the years Mike Kaplan, a publicists branch Academy member, has successfully lobbied for Lillian Gish, Robert Altman and John Ford’s favorite actress Maureen O’Hara, who happily collected her gold man the year before she died.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Board of Governors voted Tuesday night on the 2016 (un-televised) Governors Awards, which often including the coveted producer’s award, the Thalberg, and the Hersholt humanitarian award. You know what they’re looking for: someone who is still respected — if not revered. Francis Ford Coppola, John Calley and Dino DeLaurentiis have collected the Thalberg in recent years; Harry Belafonte, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie have accepted the Hersholt.

Every year, industry folks lobby the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with their candidates for honorary Oscar winners at the annual Governors Awards. And sometimes they get their way. Over the years Mike Kaplan, a publicists branch Academy member, has successfully lobbied for Lillian Gish, Robert Altman and John Ford’s favorite actress Maureen O’Hara, who happily collected her gold man the year before she died.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Board of Governors voted Tuesday night on the 2016 (un-televised) Governors Awards, which often including the coveted producer’s award, the Thalberg, and the Hersholt humanitarian award. You know what they’re looking for: someone who is still respected — if not revered. Francis Ford Coppola, John Calley and Dino DeLaurentiis have collected the Thalberg in recent years; Harry Belafonte, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie have accepted the Hersholt.

Jackie Chan is getting his golden moment. The popular international star is set to receive an honorary Oscar at this year's Governors Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Aside from the Rush Hour actor, other honorees will include veteran documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, film editor Anne V. Coates and casting director Lynn Stalmaster. The awards will be handed out on Nov. 12 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland. "The Honorary Award was created for artists like Jackie Chan, Anne Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman - true pioneers and legends in their crafts,...

Every week, the CriticWire Survey asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday morning. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?” can be found at the end of this post.)

This week’s question: What movie gives you hope for the future?

Miriam Bale (@mimbale), Freelance

No movie gives me hope for the future right now. What a question! Is that what movies are supposed to do?

But this is the most important piece of film criticism I’ve read this year, and the writing gives me some kind of hope for intellectual direction in what may be revolutionary times.

Charles Bramesco (@intothecrevasse), Rolling Stone

As my sweet mama used to tell me as I slumbered in my crib, “Hope is for dopes!” The vast majority of movies that aim for a hopeful aftertaste...

Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.NEWSLiam Neeson in Martin Scorsese's SilenceWe're still waiting for Martin Scorsese's new film set in 17th century Japan, Silence (an adaptation of the same book Masahiro Shinoda's 1971 film is based on), but things may be moving quickly for his next project, the long-in-gestation The Irishman, set to star Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. We'll believe it when we see it, but we sure want to see it!Cannes begins! If this week's Rushes seems a bit threadbare, it's because we've arrive at the Cannes Film Festival and can't think of anything else. Stay tuned on the Notebook for our festival coverage.Recommended VIEWINGOur very favorite video essayist, Tag Gallagher, has made a new one for Sight & Sound on Raoul Walsh's classic noir western,...

Michael Almereyda will be in Berlin and discuss Experimenter on the opening night of the eighth edition of Unknown Pleasures, the festival of American Independent Film. Brigitta Wagner will be on hand for screenings of Rosehill with Kate Chamuris and Josephine Decker and Patrick Wang will be in town for the first screening of The Grief of Others. There'll be a special program of films by Ed Pincus plus Frederick Wiseman's In Jackson Heights, Travis Wilkerson's Machine Gun or Typewriter?, Thom Andersen's Juke: Passages from the Films of Spencer Williams, Stephen Cone's Henry Gamble's Birthday Party, Paul Thomas Anderson's Junun and Nathan Silver's Stinking Heaven. » - David Hudson...

Michael Almereyda will be in Berlin and discuss Experimenter on the opening night of the eighth edition of Unknown Pleasures, the festival of American Independent Film. Brigitta Wagner will be on hand for screenings of Rosehill with Kate Chamuris and Josephine Decker and Patrick Wang will be in town for the first screening of The Grief of Others. There'll be a special program of films by Ed Pincus plus Frederick Wiseman's In Jackson Heights, Travis Wilkerson's Machine Gun or Typewriter?, Thom Andersen's Juke: Passages from the Films of Spencer Williams, Stephen Cone's Henry Gamble's Birthday Party, Paul Thomas Anderson's Junun and Nathan Silver's Stinking Heaven. » - David Hudson...

Last week, actress Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy) asked her Twitter followers, “Can anyone recommend a film that will persuade me to move to New York?” Most people answered with Woody Allen films, Meg Ryan romantic comedies and Ghostbusters. I personally suggested the recent Frederick Wiseman documentary In Jackson Heights, because why not be truthful in a great way? Some people named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which could have been a joke, or those people could have worked for the city’s tourism board. NYC & Company, the organization in charge of marketing the Big Apple as a tourist destination, has named the Tmnt characters as the “Official NYC Family Ambassadors.” Technically it has nothing to do with the movies, instead being more tied to the current Nickelodeon animated series, but it’s no coincidence that this decision arrives at the same time the “Heroes in a Half Shell” also have a new live-action theatrical feature, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows...

Spotlight more or less ran the table at the Independent Spirit Awards last Saturday night in Santa Monica, picking up honors for Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing, as well as the Robert Altman Award for best ensemble cast. Brie Larson picked up yet another trophy for her great performance in Room, and Son of Saul, as expected, won for Best International Film. But this year the Independent Spirit Awards weren’t just a liquored-up predictor of what would happen the following night at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Whether or not Spirit voters took it as their charge to pointedly honor the diversity that was so lacking in the roster of Oscar nominees this year, few could find fault when both Abraham Attah (Best Male Lead) and Idris Alba (Best Supporting Male) for Beasts of No Nation, and especially Mya Taylor from Tangerine, took to...

Nathaniel, Nick, Katey, and Joe discuss their individual top ten lists. (There was a lot to cram in so your host apologizes for some ungraceful edits.)

43 minutes

We discuss a lot of different titles including but not limited to: The Martian, Creed, Mistress America, Room, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Son of Saul, Spotlight, The Look of Silence and In Jackson Heights.

Related Reading:

• 15 Best of '15 -Nathaniel's Writeup

• Carol Podcast 1 & Carol Podcast 2 Icymi. it's high on our lists but we don't discuss it much this time due to time constraints

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes soon.

The more “international” body of tastemaker critics have anointed Todd Haynes’ Carol, Hou Hsaio-Hsien’s The Assassin, George Miller’s Mad Max, Sean Baker’s Tangerine and Bruno Dumont’s Li’l Quinquin as the better film items for 2015 and top vote getters with the most noms for 2016 Ics Awards. Winners of the 13th Ics Awards will be announced on February 21, 2016. Here are the noms and all the categories.

Picture

• 45 Years

• Arabian Nights

• The Assassin

• Carol

• Clouds of Sils Maria

• The Duke of Burgundy

• Inside Out

• Li’l Quinquin

• Mad Max: Fury Road

• A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

• Tangerine

Director

• Sean Baker – Tangerine

• Bruno Dumont – Li’l Quinquin

• Todd Haynes – Carol

• Hou Hsaio-Hsien – The Assassin

• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

Film Not In The English Language

• Amour Fou

• Arabian Nights

• The Assassin

• Hard to Be a God

• Jauja

• La Sapienza

• Li’l Quinquin

• Phoenix

• A...

The major retrospective of the 2016 International Film Festival Rotterdam is dedicated to the Barcelona school of filmmaking in the 1960s and 1970s, with Catalonian master Pere Portabella’s body of work—and his new film—serving as a figurehead. Nearly completely unknown in the United States—where critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has been a beacon of support and revelation—insomuch as Portabella is known in the film community it is for his film Vampir-Cuadecuc, which hijacks the production of Christopher Lee and Jesús Franco’s Count Dracula (1970) for its own ends and exhilaratingly exposes this documentarian’s acute analysis of and play with the subject of his films. (I will note here that Mubi has shown a great deal of Portabella’s work in the past, including this 1970 horror film.) This is hardly a lone accomplishment; in 1961 he helped produce Luis Buñuel's masterpiece Viridiana, and the director has been a strident voice in documentary,...

Each weekend we highlight the best repertory programming that New York City has to offer, and it’s about to get even better. Opening on February 19th at 7 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side is Metrograph, the city’s newest indie movie theater. Sporting two screens, they’ve announced their first slate, which includes retrospectives for Fassbinder, Wiseman, Eustache, and more, special programs such as an ode to the moviegoing experience, and new independent features that we’ve admired on the festival circuit (including Afternoon, Office 3D, and Measure of a Man).

Artistic and Programming Director Jacob Perlin says in a press release, “Jean Eustache in a Rocky t-shirt. This is the image we had in mind while making this first calendar. Great cinema is there, wherever you can find it. The dismissed film now recognized as a classic, the forgotten box-office hit newly resurrected, the high and the low,...

“Our point of view follows a trajectory to become the vanishing point of our own failure.” —Jacques Lacan“Who plunged this place of light into darkness?” asks with a heavy heart an Iraqi actor sifting through the bombed ruins of what had once been Iraq's film office and archives. Though rhetorical and sappy it may sound, the question epitomizes the visual dilemma Abbas Fahdel's documentary expands on. At the very centre of Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) are in fact questions of representation, of cultural perspective and omission of the visible. The film, divided into two parts, follows the director's extended family and friends in the run-up to the American invasion of Iraq (“Before the Fall”) and in its fatal aftermath (“After to the Battle”). Presumably due to the family's temporary move to a countryside house during the bombing of Baghdad, the war itself—that is, the military invasion of...

This is definitely the time of year when film critic types (I’m sure you know who I mean) spend an inordinate amount of time leading up to awards season—and it all leads up to awards season, don’t it?—compiling lists and trying to convince anyone who will listen that it was a shitty year at the movies for anyone who liked something other than what they saw and liked. And ‘tis the season, or at least ‘thas (?) been in the recent past, for that most beloved of academic parlor games, bemoaning the death of cinema, which, if the sackcloth-and-ashes-clad among us are to be believed, is an increasingly detached and irrelevant art form in the process of being smothered under the wet, steaming blanket of American blockbuster-it is. And it’s going all malnourished from the siphoning off of all the talent back to TV, which, as everyone knows,...

Read More: Frederick Wiseman's 'In Jackson Heights' Explores One of the Most Diverse Neighborhoods in the World Frederick Wiseman's "In Jackson Heights" was one of the most acclaimed documentaries of 2015, though watching it on the big screen proved challenging as it only screened for a very limited time in select theaters. New York City moviegoers who missed the nonfiction feature at Film Forum over the summer are getting a treat, thanks to the Museum of the Moving Image, which will host an exclusive theatrical run of the film from January 15 through January 31 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. "We're very proud that this incredibly diverse and vibrant section of Queens is the subject of one of the year’s most acclaimed films," said Chief Curator David Schwartz. "We're glad to have the opportunity to present the film to our local audience." In typical Wiseman fashion, "In Jackson Heights...

Glenn here looking at each of the 15 films on the Academy’s documentary finalists which, five of which will be shortlisted for nominations on January 14th

The documentary finalist list announced last month does us a small bit of good. While it was sad to see such excellent feats of non-fiction filmmaking as The Pearl Button, In Jackson Heights, Sherpa and Stray Dog (to name just a few) removed from contention, reducing the astronomically long submission list of 124 down to a more manageable 15 titles does help us out dramatically in being able to not only get a grasp on the category for 2015, but also to give us a sample of what the Academy’s doc branch thought of the documentaries of any given year beyond the five eventual nominees. This year’s finalist list has its regular faces, but wasn't entirely devoid of surprises and many of the year’s...

In the new issue of Film Comment, Alejandro González Iñárritu discusses The Revenant. Plus, Matías Piñeiro on Candice Bergen in George Cukor's Rich and Famous and a piece on the work of Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt, Benjamin Crotty and Alexander Carver. Also in today's roundup: Frederick Wiseman's In Jackson Heights tops Reverse Shot's best-of-2015 list. Barry Jenkins on Steven Soderbergh's The Knick and Terence Nance on Spike Lee's Chi-Raq. And the Hollywood Reporter's Director Roundtable: Iñárritu, Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight), Tom Hooper (The Danish Girl), Ridley Scott (The Martian), Danny Boyle (Steve Jobs) and David O. Russell (Joy). » - David Hudson...

In the new issue of Film Comment, Alejandro González Iñárritu discusses The Revenant. Plus, Matías Piñeiro on Candice Bergen in George Cukor's Rich and Famous and a piece on the work of Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt, Benjamin Crotty and Alexander Carver. Also in today's roundup: Frederick Wiseman's In Jackson Heights tops Reverse Shot's best-of-2015 list. Barry Jenkins on Steven Soderbergh's The Knick and Terence Nance on Spike Lee's Chi-Raq. And the Hollywood Reporter's Director Roundtable: Iñárritu, Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight), Tom Hooper (The Danish Girl), Ridley Scott (The Martian), Danny Boyle (Steve Jobs) and David O. Russell (Joy). » - David Hudson...

Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.Vilmos ZsigmondNEWSVilmos Zsigmond, 1930 - 2016: In December we lost Haskell Wexler, and now another one of cinema's great photographers has passed. Zsigmond was paramount to such films as Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Spielberg's Close Encounter of the Third Kind, Cimino's Heaven's Gate, De Palma's Blow Out, and many more. Keyframe has a roundup.After many, many years under construction the new home of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Bampfa) will open in Berkeley, CA on January 31. "For the first time in sixteen years, Bampfa film screenings will take place under the same roof as the institution’s art galleries." Included in the announcement is the terrific news that the Pfa "will expand the number of film screenings it presents, hosting programs 52 weeks per year." Retrospectives devoted to Maurice Pialat,...

The National Society of Film Critics has announced the winners of their annual awards and Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight" emerged as the Best Picture winner! In the acting categories, Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for "Creed" while the Best Actress award went to Charlotte Rampling for "45 Years."

Mark Rylance for "Bridge of Spies" took home the Best Supporting Actor trophy while Kristen Stewart for "Clouds of Sils Maria" won the Best Supporting Actress award! Way to go Kristen!

The National Society of Film Critics dedicated their meeting to pick the winners to the "late Richard Corliss, longtime critic at Time magazine, not just a writer of extraordinary intelligence, wit, and energy, but also a generous friend and colleague."

Here are the winners of the National Society of Film Critics awards (winners are bolded and includes the number of votes):

Best Actor:

*1. Michael B. Jordan (Creed) 29 points

Geza Rohrig...

The National Society of Film Critics announced its annual cinema superlatives this weekend, and while its selections indicate a strong frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar, its other honorees once again signify the ever-widening pool of potential nominees that could be called when Academy Award nominations are announced on January 14.

"Spotlight" took the Nsfc's top prize of 2015, winning Best Picture as well as Best Screenplay honors. The drama that tells the story of the Boston Globe's unveiling of the Catholic Church abuse scandal has been raking in accolades and nominations since awards season began, and is currently positioned as the favorite to nab the Best Picture trophy at the Oscars -- but based on how this season has unfolded so far, nothing is a sure thing just yet.

In fact, the conflict over the Nsfc's Best Director prize makes that point quite clear: "Spotlight" director Tom McCarthy earned the same...

Todd Haynes' "Carol" has been receiving a lot of love from various critics groups and this time, it topped the ranking of the year's best films at the annual Film Comment magazine poll!

Take a look at the complete list below and then wonder, didn't these critics see "Star Wars: The Force Awakens?"

Film Comment's Top 20 Films of 2015

1. "Carol"

2. "The Assassin"

3. "Mad Max: Fury Road"

4. "Clouds of Sils Maria"

5. "Arabian Nights"

6. "Timbuktu"

7. "Spotlight"

8. "Phoenix"

9. "Inside Out"

10. "The Look of Silence"

11. "Hard to Be a God"

12. "Anomalisa"

13. "In Jackson Heights"

14. "Son of Saul"

15. "Horse Money"

16. "Jauja"

17. "Tangerine"

18. "Brooklyn"

19. "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

20. "Bridge of Spies"

Film Comment's Best Undistributed Films of 2015

1. "Right Here, Right Now"

2. "Chevalier"

3. "The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers"

4. "The Academy of Muses"

5. "Don't Blink . Robert Frank"

6. "Cosmos"

7. "Journey to the Shore"

8. "Happy Hour"

9. "Lost and...

At the halfway point of December, there are, to put it lightly, many end-of-year lists hitting the web, and few publications have round-ups as consistently excellent as Film Comment‘s. (“Consistently excellent” translates to “aligns with my specific taste,” of course.) Their 20-film selection represents the year rather nicely, from the widely seen and frequently listed (e.g. Mad Max: Fury Road and Inside Out) landing among some of our limited-release favorites, including Timbuktu, The Assassin, and Jauja. As editor Gavin Smith says, “That balance, which happens to be encapsulated in the top five in micro form, feels about right for the agenda of this magazine, which, since the very beginning, has been to champion the best in cinema wherever it hails from, all creatures great and small. Since we managed to run features on 11 of these and sung the praises of another five, it’s a pleasure to close...

New York Film Critics Awards: Best Film winner 'Carol' with Cate Blanchett. 2015 New York Film Critics Awards have enlivened Oscar race Catching up with previously announced awards season winners that will likely influence the 2016 Oscar nominations. Early this month, the New York Film Critics Circle announced their Best of 2015 picks, somewhat unexpectedly boosting the chances of Todd Haynes' lesbian romantic drama Carol, Clouds of Sils Maria actress Kristen Stewart, and László Nemes' Holocaust drama Son of Saul. Below is a brief commentary about each of these Nyfcc choices. 'Carol' Directed by Todd Haynes, starring two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, Blue Jasmine) and Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and adapted by Phyllis Nagy from Patricia Highsmith's 1952 novel The Price of Salt,[1] Carol won a total of four New York Film Critics awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay,...

Though beaten to the "best films of the year" punch by the National Board of Review, The New York Film Critics Circle is not far behind, staking its place as one of the first major critics groups to unveil their best of the year. Unfortunately, the group is once again using Twitter to announce every step of the results of its voting, and I half wonder when they'll just move on to Tinder style swiping with some kind of app. but I digress.

Todd Haynes' "Carol" has won big in the Nyfcc poll, taking Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. However, in the acting categories, the Nyfcc has divided the awards between four different pictures. Generally speaking, the Nyfcc has little to no bearing on the Oscars, but this perhaps indicates the field is still very wide open, with no certainties among the contenders.

Read More:...

The New York Film Critics Circle voted today at the Film Society of Lincoln Center for their 2015 awards winners. The awards will be handed out during their annual ceremony on Monday, January 4th at Tao Downtown.

Carol was awarded Best Picture and Todd Haynes was named Best Director. Saoirse Ronan was selected as Best Actress for her role in Brooklyn, and Michael Keaton was chosen as Best Actor for Spotlight.

Carol

Two Special Awards were given, honoring the legacy of William Becker and Janus Films and Ennio Morricone for his extraordinary contribution to the language of cinema. Full list of winners below.

Says 2015 Nyfcc Chairman, Star Magazine’s Marshall Fine, “This group is known for inserting films into the awards conversation and this year was no different. I’m particularly pleased at how New York-centric so many of the films are, representing many parts of the city, as well as several different eras.

"The New York Film Critics Circle named Carol the best movie of 2015, with Todd Haynes, Phyllis Nagy and Ed Lachman receiving awards for best director, screenplay, and cinematographer," reports Sam Adams at Criticwire. "No other film won more than a single award." Best Actress goes to Saoirse Ronan for her performance in Brooklyn, Best Actor to Michael Keaton for Spotlight; Best Supporting Actress to Kristen Stewart and Clouds of Sils Maria and Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies. Best Non-fiction Film: Frederick Wiseman's In Jackson Heights. Best Foreign Language Film: Timbuktu. Best Animated Feature: Inside Out. Best First Film: László Nemes for Son of Saul. » - David Hudson...

"The New York Film Critics Circle named Carol the best movie of 2015, with Todd Haynes, Phyllis Nagy and Ed Lachman receiving awards for best director, screenplay, and cinematographer," reports Sam Adams at Criticwire. "No other film won more than a single award." Best Actress goes to Saoirse Ronan for her performance in Brooklyn, Best Actor to Michael Keaton for Spotlight; Best Supporting Actress to Kristen Stewart and Clouds of Sils Maria and Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies. Best Non-fiction Film: Frederick Wiseman's In Jackson Heights. Best Foreign Language Film: Timbuktu. Best Animated Feature: Inside Out. Best First Film: László Nemes for Son of Saul. » - David Hudson...

"Carol" was the big winner at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, winning Best Film, Best Director for Todd Haynes, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. This gives the lesbian drama another boost in the Oscar race, after netting a leading six Independent Spirit Award nominations last week. "Carol" star Cate Blanchett lost out, however, in the Best Actress category to Saoirse Ronan for "Brooklyn."

Michael Keaton took home the trophy for Best Actor for his role in "Spotlight," while Kristen Stewart revved up her awards buzz by winning Best Supporting Actress for "Clouds of Sils Maria."

The Nyfcc awards are a good indicator of the movies and performances likely to get nominated for an Oscar. Last year, they named "Boyhood" as Best Film, and honored eventual Oscar winners J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette.

Here's the full list of Nyfcc winners:

Best Film

"Carol"

Best Director

Todd Haynes, "Carol"​

Best Screenplay

Phyllis Nagy,...

"Carol" cleaned up at this year's New York Film Critics Circle awards, the sumptuous 1950s lesbian romance drama nabbing four top honors including Best Picture, Best Director (Todd Haynes), Best Cinematographer (Edward Lachman) and Best Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy).

No other film won more than one award each. Acting honors went to Michael Keaton ("Spotlight") and Saoirse Ronan ("Brooklyn") for the leading roles, while Mark Rylance ("Bridge of Spies") and Kristen Stewart ("Cloulds of Sils Maria") took supporting nods.

Also winning were "Inside Out" for best animated film, "In Jackson Heights" for best documentary, "Timbuktu" for best foreign language film and "Son of Saul" for best first feature.

Source: Nyfcc...

Two months after seeing it at the New York Film Festival, I haven’t budged much in my conviction that László Nemes‘ Son of Saul — as praised as any debut feature in recent years — is of little note, even with its occasional inventiveness being recognized. But many will disagree, some rather strongly, and it’s (I suppose) to this movie’s credit that one really should see it for themselves. No matter the feelings that end up emerging, you’ll at least know you’ve experienced something different.

You’ll also be witness to a burgeoning career. As is to be expected of a director who makes waves right out of the gate Nemes has started setting up his sophomore feature, Sunset, a thriller which Screen Daily tells us is “among several titles to win funding at this week’s 8th TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event.” (Is said event like a cinematic Running Man?...

Remember yesterday when I mentioned that Carol was one of those films you shouldn’t count out of the race just because the National Board of Review ignored it? Well, today the New York Film Critics Circle showed just why by declaring it the best film of 2015, along with awarding it Best Director (Todd Haynes), Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. The win hardly comes as a surprise as the film is one of the most critically-praised of the year, scoring a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and an astonishing 95/100 on Metacritic.

Looking at the rest of their winners, we have only a couple of surprises, including a victory for Kristen Stewart for Best Supporting Actress in Clouds of Sils Maria and a win for Michael Keaton for Best Actor in Spotlight. The former had won the Caesar Award (the French Academy Award) for her performance, but it wasn’t really thought that...

"Carol" dominated the New York Film Critic Circle's annual awards voting today, winning four prizes: Best Cinematography (Edward Lachman), Best Screenplay (Phyllis Nagy), Best Director (Todd Haynes), and Best Picture. No other film nabbed more than one prize. Among the surprises were Best Actress Saoirse Ronan, for "Brooklyn"—beating out "Carol" co-leads Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett—and Best Actor Michael Keaton, singled out for his performance in the ensemble drama "Spotlight." Read the full list of winners below: Best First Film László Nemes, "Son of Saul" Best Foreign Film "Timbuktu" Best Supporting Actress Kristen Stewart, "Clouds of Sils Maria" Best Supporting Actor Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies" Best Cinematography Edward Lachman, "Carol" Best Screenplay Phyllis Nagy, "Carol" Best Nonfiction Film "In Jackson Heights" Best Animated...

The New York Film Critics Circle has restored momentum to Carol’s awards season run, awarding four prizes to Todd Haynes’ romantic drama.

Carol won best film, director, screenplay and cinematography on Wednesday, while Michael Keaton and Saoirse Ronan earned lead acting wins for Spotlight, Brooklyn.

Mark Rylance and Kristen Stewart won supporting acting awards for Bridge Of Spies and Clouds Of Sils Maria, respectively, while Son Of Saul was named best first film and Timbuktu won best foreign film.

The awards will be presented on January 4, 2016.

Full list of winners:

Best picture: Carol

Best director: Carol, Todd Haynes

Best actor: Michael Keaton, Spotlight

Best actress: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best supporting actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies

Best supporting actress: Kristen Stewart, Clouds Of Sils Maria

Best screenplay: Carol, Phyllis Nagy

Best cinematography: Carol, Edward Lachman

Best animation: Inside Out

Best first film: Son Of Saul

Best foreign film: Timbuktu (Mauritania)

Best non-fiction film (documentary): [link...

Carol has taken best screenplay and cinematography, while Mark Rylance is named best supporting actor for Bridge Of Spies.

The winners so far:

Best supporting actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge Of Spies

Best supporting actress: Kristen Stewart, Clouds Of Sils Maria

Best screenplay: Carol, Phyllis Nagy

Best cinematography: Carol, Edward Lachman

Best first film: Son Of Saul

Best foreign film: Timbuktu (Mauritania)

Best non-fiction film (documentary): In Jackson Heights...

 The New York Film Critics Circle takes their sweet time each year debating their "bests" and shouldn't we all? Nevertheless it's agony for awards addicts like us, the excruciating wait times that commence between 9 Am Est and continue for hours. With lunch break. If you want to have a laugh at my expense I tried to predict the winners as part of the Gurus of Gold chart this week (update: This year they wrapped up by 1:00 Pm though so all is well. The only thing i got right in my predictions was Carol for Film/Director)

A bit of Oscar adjacent history: In the past 20 years of their long long history (they're octogenarians now!) they've selected 4 films that went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, 11 more that were nominated and 5 that were critical darlings and eventual Oscar players but were shut out of the big race (Leaving Las Vegas,...

Could Marlon Brando return to the Oscars posthumously? The documentary Listen to Me Marlon made the finals for the Best Documentary Oscar even though documentaries about Hollywood stars and movies aren't typically so favorited. Note that Ingrid Bergman's documentary --also famously "in her own words" -- and the enjoyable Tab Hunter: Confidential and the Sundance sensation The Wolfpack about living through the movies weren't as lucky and did not make the finals.

The 15 Finalists

Amy (PGA nominee, Ida nominee, Nbr winner) Best of Enemies (Nbr top 5, Spirit nominee) Cartel Land (Gotham nominee) Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief He Named Me Malala Heart of a Dog (Gotham nominee, Spirit nominee) The Hunting Ground (PGA nominee) Listen to Me Marlon (Ida nominee, Nbr top 5, Gotham nominee)

The Look of Silence (PGA nominee, Ida nominee, Nbr top 5, Gotham winner, Spirit nominee) Meru (PGA nominee, Spirit nominee) 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten...

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week […]

The post This Week In Trailers: Killing Them Safely, Rolling Papers, Starship Christmas, In Jackson Heights, Snervous appeared first on /Film.

New York is a one in a million type city. A melding of nationalities, races, religions, sexual orientations, New York City is the rare city that is both shockingly intimidating and yet singularly alluring and inviting. However, even it has seen a dramatic change in the face of rampant gentrification, leading to many lifelong New Yorkers to reminisce about a New York they now don’t recognize.

And the cinema surrounding New York City is showing this evolution as it seems to happen. Just a few weeks ago, Fredrick Wiseman’s In Jackson Heights delved deep into the titular neighborhood in the legendary city, a neighborhood that is as diverse as they come, yet is pushing people further and further away with oncoming gentrification. Now, thanks to Oscilloscope Laboratories, one of the great documents of the rough New York people lament about having lost is finally available in a new limited edition DVD box set.