Tag: Free Solo

@fogoftruth Episode 503: 2019 Oscar-Nominated Documentaries and THE SILENCE OF OTHERS

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This week we talk Oscars with a brief discussion of the documentary-feature nominees and a more intensive review of each nominated short, as well as kvetch generally about the complicated relationship between documentary films and Oscar, and also interview Robert Bahar, co-director of The Silence of Others.

Oscar Shorts Reviewed:

To see the video that accompanies our interview with Bing Liu – from the 2018 AFI DOCS festival – go to our “video extras” page. As always, you can find the audio of the episode on our “episodes” page, on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher, and anywhere podcasts are generally available. Enjoy!

Mr. Reed’s Metaphysical Neighborhood Presents the Best Technical and Artistic Film Work of 2018

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On December 26, 2018, I published my list of best (and worst) films of the year, and then on January 14, 2019, I published my list of best actors. Now, here is my list of the (often) unsung artists and craftspeople who are essential to the filmmaking process: the writers, cinematographers, editors, production designers, visual-effects artists, and music composers. As with my other lists, the hyperlinked movie title will take you to my review, if one exists (or the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page, if one does not). In addition, I hyperlink the artists’ names to IMDb (if they have previous credits) or,  for the composers, to their own personal websites (or some  such thing), so you can see what other work they have produced over their careers. If they have no previous work credited, then I leave their names unlinked. For the composers list, I link to the movie’s actual soundtrack, as well, on a site where you can hear it.

In each category, I have chosen only five (however hard that may be – and it is hard), in alphabetical order. These are the films where I thought that the work in that particular area truly enhanced the quality of the movie. If a film is not on this list, I may still really like the work within it, but not as much as my top five. Enjoy!

Best Screenplay (adapted and original, combined):

Best Cinematography:

Best Editing:

Best Production Design:

Best Visual Effects:

[Too many people to mention all, so I have simply hyperlinked, next to the title, to the movie’s crew page on IMDb page, where you can look at the multitude of people involved in the many visual-effects teams]

Best Original Score:

[Again, here the movie titles are linked directly to the soundtrack, and here the artists’ names take you to their personal websites or the closest thing]

Mr. Reed’s Metaphysical Neighborhood Presents the Best (and Worst) Films of 2018

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[For an explanation of my blog-post title, check out my “best of” list from 2013.]

Below, you will find lists of my favorite films of the year, divided by documentary (nonfiction) and narrative (fiction) formats. Not all the movies mentioned have received a significant release in 2018, though many of them did; the others may still be making the festival rounds, or may have only been released abroad, or only online (something evermore common, so almost not worth mentioning). Where I have previously written reviews of a movie (whether for Film Festival Today or Hammer to Nail), the title of that movie is hyperlinked to my original review. In the case of the one film among my Top 20 choices which I did not review, I include a brief capsule description of it, here (and link to its distributor’s website). Where, in the “honorable mentions” section, I have not reviewed a film, I have hyperlinked the title to the movie’s IMDb page. Continue reading →