Like most people who spend a lot of time watching movies, I was overcome with mixed emotions when I read the recent news story about the Philadelphia moviegoer  who, disturbed by talkative audience members in the next row, took it upon himself to quiet them down – by shooting one of them.

On the one hand, I mentally went through the whole liberal litany: about the epidemic of gun violence in this country and its sorry legacy, etc.

On the other hand, I thought, Perhaps arming moviegoers IS the answer to bad movie manners. (More…)

When I assembled my 10-best films of the year, I did so with an eye on mainstream films. The year was so strong in that regard that it was still difficult to stop at 10 – and what got put aside were things like foreign-language and nonfiction films.

However, unlike the days when I worked for a newspaper, space on the Internet is not limited by physical constraints. So it’s possible to create more than one Top-10 list.

Instead of picking and choosing among all documentaries and foreign films to find a representative one or two for my Top 10, I have created an alternative Top 10 – five nonfiction and five foreign-language. (And even then I cheated a little.) Here goes: (More…)

THE BEST

For a change, the holiday movie rush has brought an embarrassment of riches – so much so that the year’s earlier contenders may get shunted to the side.

Not that anyone will forget “WALL-E,” a lock for the year’s best animated feature. But all that summer-time talk about the computer-animated comedy as a best-picture nominee has been pushed aside as a dazzling crop of year-end winners move into the theaters (except, of course, to the L.A. Film Critics).

Indeed, out of my top 10, seven have been released since the beginning of October – and six since Thanksgiving. As of this writing, four of them aren’t even out yet.

Talk about a seasonal assortment. When I was voting yesterday at the New York Film Critics Circle for best actor, there were at least six different candidates for whom I could have voted in good conscience – and felt bad I could only vote for three at a time.

It’s a strong year-end crop of films, full of serious, thought-provoking movies that challenge and entertain at the same time. They mark 2008 as one of the movies’ better vintages, full of outstanding performances and movies that will stand the test of time.

1. “Revolutionary Road”: Director Sam Mendes returns to suburbia circa 1956 and reteams Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in this film version of Richard Yates’ novel. The acting is terrific – nuanced yet passionate – and Mendes captures the novel’s era-defining feeling of seekers putting their dreams on hold to chase conventional success. (More…)

Now that’s how you end a TV series.

When we caught our final glimpse of former L.A. police detective Vic Mackey, played with bullet head and laser eyes by Michael Chiklis on the final episode of “The Shield,” he was buried alive, caught in a trap of his own making. Though he’d ensured his immunity from prosecution – even at the expense of best friend Ronnie Gardocki (David Rees Snell) – he’d outsmarted himself. So there he was, stuck in a desk job in a federal office, where he must spend his time writing reports for the next three years. Oh, and he has to wear a suit and tie to work.

It’s absolute justice – more so than a term in prison or a violent death, self-inflicted or otherwise. Through seven seasons of the gritty FX network series, Mackey was the ultimate loose cannon, ready to roll at a moment’s notice, striking first and devising excuses afterward. And now the wheel rolled around finally to Mackey, leaving him friendless, isolated, cut off from his children, trapped in a job he hates but has to perform – or face criminal charges for the things he did for which he tricked the feds into granting him immunity. (More…)