Jan 8, 2017

Out of 75 movies seen, my list of favorite movie stuff from 2016:

Favorite Films
1. Toni Erdmann
2. Right Now, Wrong Then
3. OJ: Made in America
4. Moonlight
5. Paterson
6. Silence
7. Elle
8. Manchester by the Sea
9. The Lobster
10. The Witch

Honorable Mention:
The Measure of a Man, Demon, Everybody Wants Some!!, Sunset Song, Cemetery of Splendor, The Fits, Under the Shadow, The Handmaiden, Love and Friendship, Sully

Key Films Not Seen: Cameraperson, The Love Witch, Aquarius, Chevalier, Neon Bull, Kaili Blues, Fences, 20th Century Women, Edge of Seventeen, Cosmos

Best Actor:
1. Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
2. Peter Simonischek, Toni Erdmann
3. Vincent Lindon, The Measure of Man
4. Andrew Garfield, Silence
5. Tom Hanks, Sully

Best Actress
1. Isabelle Huppert, Elle
2. Kate Beckinsale, Love and Friendship
3. Sandra Huller, Toni Erdmann
4. Emma Stone, La La Land
5. Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch

Best Supporting Actor
1. Glen Powell, Everybody Wants Some!!
2. Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
3. Andre Holland, Moonlight
4. Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
5. Jeff Bridges, h--- or High Water

Best Supporting Actress
1. Lily Gladstone, Certain Women
2. Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
3. Kristen Stewart, Café Society
4. Janelle Monae, Moonlight
5. Jena Malone, Neon Demon

Best Director: Maren Ade, Toni, Erdmann; Runner-Up: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Best Screenplay: Maren Ade, Toni Erdman; Runner-Ups: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight; Whit Stillman, Love & Friendship

Best Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, Silence; Runner-Ups: James Laxton, Moonlight; Diego Garcia, Cemetery of Splendor

Best Score: Yeong-wook Jo, The Handmaiden; Runner-Ups: Mica Levi, Jackie; David Wingo, Midnight Special

Favorite Scenes:
1. Birthday Party, Toni Erdmann
2. The Greatest Love of All, Toni Erdmann
3. Black Philip Speaks, The Witch
4. Horseback Ride, Certain Women
5. Diner Scene, Moonlight

Most Anticipated 2017
1. Untitled PTA Movie
2. Wonderstruck
3. Beguiled
4. The Lost City of Z
5. Okja
6. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
7. Song to Song
8. A Quiet Passion
9. Sierranevada
10. Logan Lucky

Full list of Movies Seen: http://letterboxd.com/aversaci/list/2016-ranked/

@Vahn @FilmAndWhisky @Papa Andy @Dew @Charlie Work @Pinhead @BobbyDigital @Swizz

 

Feb 17, 2017

 

Jan 9, 2017

This is my current list, which I used for Next Projection's awards, published today: http://nextprojection.com/2017/01/08/2016-next-projection-awards/

I Intend to publish an article on finalized selections at the end of the month after I catch up on some films I have yet to see.
My letterboxd ranking is here: https://letterboxd.com/kamahmed/list/2016-ranked-watchlist/


Best Films of 2016:
1. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
2. Manchester By The Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)
3. Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt)
4. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
5. La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
6. Silence (Martin Scorsese)
7. Things to Come (L’avenir, Mia Hansen-Love)
8. KONELINE: our land beautiful (Nettie Wild) (Canadian release only)
9. Elle (Paul Verhoeven)
10. Hello Destroyer (Keven Funk) (Canadian release only)

My list is comprised of films released commercially in their Country of Origin during 2016. I have not included some of my favourite films seen in 2015 which were 2016 releases within the U.S., though I recognize that some critics use American dates as their reference point. To acknowledge this, I share here a select list of late 2015/America 2016 films which would otherwise compete for my top 10.

1. Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
2. Right Now, Wrong Then (Sangsoo, Hong)
3. Embrace of the Serpent (Ciro Guerra)
4. Murmur of the Hearts (Sylvia Chang) –YET TO BE RELEASED IN NORTH AMERICA.
5. Louder Than Bombs (Joachim Trier)
6. Human (Yann Artrus-Bertrand)

A few Honorable Mentions of the regular kind: Everybody Wants Some, Spirit Unforgettable (Pete McCormack), Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick), Arrival (Denis Villaneuve), A Quiet Passion (Terence Davies), Aquarius (Kieber Mendonca Filho), Maliglutit (Zacharias Kunuk), Sunset Song (Terrence Davies), Old Stone (Johnna Ma), Green Room (Jeremy Saulnier), The Other Half (Joey Klein), Werewolf (Ashley McKenzie).

Also a shout out to Eoin Duffy’s short I Am Here, an animated masterpiece of cinematic audiovisual ecstasy.

There are some major films I have yet to see, such as: Sieranevada, Cameraperson, O.J: Made in America, Austerlitz, Death of Louis XIV, Personal Shopper, I, Daniel Blake, and Paterson.

Best Films Without Distribution:

I was involved this year with programming of Canadian Features for the Vancouver International Film Festival. As a result, I’m aware of some incredible work coming out of my under represented home nation which has seen little to no commercial distribution.

1. Maudite Poutine (Karl Lemieux)
2. Lost Solace (Chris Scheurman) – Distributed within Canada by Raven Banner/Northern Banner
3. 1:54 (Yann England) – Distributed within Canada by eOne

Two of my favourite films of the year have yet to see distribution outside of Canada, in spite of receiving grand critical acclaim and awards within the nation: KONELINE: our land beautiful, Hello Destroyer. Some other great films from Canada, such as Okita’s Lockpicker, McKenzie’s Werewolf, and Bohdanowicz’ Never Eat Alone are still seeking international distribution.

Worst Film of the year:

1. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
2. Sausage Party
3. Loving – Seems to be the most overrated.


Best Foreign Language Film:

1. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
2. Things To Come (Mia Hansen-Love)
3. Elle (Paul Verhoeven)

Best Director:

1. Kelly Reichardt (Certain Women)
2. Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
3. Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann)

Best Screenplay:
1. Manchester By The Sea
2. Silence
3. Certain Women

Best Actor:

1. Peter Simonischek (Toni Erdmann)
2. Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea)
3. Andrew Garfield (Silence)

Best Actress:

1. Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
2. Emma Stone (La La Land)
3. Cynthia Nixon (A Quiet Passion)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
2. Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
3. Ashton Sanders (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Kristen Stewart (Certain Women)
2. Michelle Williams (Certain Women)
3. Deragh Campbell (Never Eat Alone)

Best Cinematographer:

1. James Laxton (Moonlight)
2. Van Royko (KONELINE: our land beautiful)
3. Mathieru Laverdiere (Maudite Poutine)

Best Youth Performance:

1. Sunny Pawar (Lion)
2. Madina Nalwanga (Queen of Katwe)
3. Alex R. Hibbert (Moonlight)

Best Animated

1. Mixed Match (Jeff Chiba Stearns) – (Partially Animated)
2. Zootopia (Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush
3. Sausage Party (Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon)

Best Comedy:

1. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
2. Everybody Wants Some (Richard Linklater)
3. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (Akiva Shaffer, Jorma Taccone)

Best Romance:

1. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)
2. La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
3. The Other Half (Joey Klein)

Best Horror:

1. Elle ( Paul Verhoeven) – In its own psychological way
2. 10 Cloverfield Land (Dan Trachtenberg)
3. Cadence (Alex Lasheras) – Film Without Distribution

Best Action:

1. Maliglutit (Searchers) (Zacharias Kunuk)
2. Captain America: Civil War (Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)
3. War Dogs (Todd Phillips)

Best Science Fiction

1. Arrival (Denis Villaneuve)
2. The Unseen (Geoff Redknap) – Film Without Distribution
3. 10 Cloverfield Lane (an Trachtenberg)

Best Documentary:

1. KONELINE: our land beautiful (Nettie Wild)
2. Spirit Unforgettable (Peter McCormack)
3. City 40 (Samira Goetschel

Most Anticipated of 2017:

1. The Lost City of Z (James Gray)
2. Untitled Hong Sangsoo Project with Isabelle Huppert and Min-hee Kim
3. Song To Song (Terrence Malick)


@Vahn @Twan @Papa Andy @Dew @Charlie Work @Pinhead @BobbyDigital @Swizz

 

Aug 8, 2016

Here's the trailer for my film guys, enjoy and share if you'd like

 

Dec 15, 2014

I actually saw The Theory of Everything (lols) for that same reason.. honestly, it's my favorite film of the year.

I'm joking.. or am I?

I am.

 

Mar 5, 2018

Blessed image

 

Jan 6, 2018

There are still some movies I'm catching up on, but if I had a critic's ballot for 2017 like @Papa Andy, mine would look something like this...(along with some brief words gushing about Twin Peaks)

Best Film
1. Personal Shopper
2. A Ghost Story
3. Song to Song
4. Columbus
5. Call Me By Your Name
6. The Square
7. Good Time
8. On the Beach At Night Alone
9. Marjorie Prime
10. Lady Bird

Honorable Mention: Graduation, Faces Place, By The Time It Gets Dark, Nocturama, The Phantom Thread, The Salesman, The Florida Project, The Work, The Untamed, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

Full List: https://letterboxd.com/aversaci/list/2017-ranked/

Key Films Not Seen: Dawson City: Frozen Time; BPM (Beats Per Minute); Star Wars: The Last Jedi; The Big Sick; Princess Cyd; Coco; Beach Rats; It; Human Surge

Best Actor
1. Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
2. Robert Pattinson, Good Time
3. Claes b---, The Square
4. Daniel Day Lewis, Phantom Thread
5. Adam Sandler, The Meyerowitz Stories

Best Actress
1. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
2. Kristen Stewart, Personal Shopper
3. Kim Min-hee, On the Beach At Night Alone
4. Rooney Mara, Song to Song
5. Margot Robbie, I Tonya

Best Supporting Actor
1. Armie Hammer, Call me By Your Name
2. Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name
3. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
4. Jason Mitchell, Mudbound
5. Tim Robbins, Marjorie Prime

Best Supporting Actress
1. Geena Davis, Marjorie Prime
2. Lois Smith, Marjorie Prime
3. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
4. Hong Chau, Downsizing
5. Michelle Pfeiffer, Mother!

Best Director
1. Olivier Assayas, Personal Shopper
2. Terrence Malick, Song to Song

Best Score
1. Good Time
2. A Ghost Story

Best Screenplay
1. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
2. James Ivory, Call Me By Your Name

Best Cinematography
1. Emmanuel Lubezki, Song to Song
2. Sean Price Williams, Good Time

Most Anticipated of 2018
The Irishman (Martin Scorsese) (If it comes out early)
Annette (Leos Carax)
High Life (Claire Denis)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Coen Brothers)
Radegund (Terrence Malick)
You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)
Beach Bum (Harmony Korine)
Ad Astra (James Gray)
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan (Xavier Dolan)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)

Favorite Moving Image Work of Narrative Fiction: Twin Peaks: The Return

Perhaps scarred from Hollywood’s glut of reboots and sequels, I kept my expectations low for Twin Peaks: The Return, concerned that the revival could turn out to be an exercise in nostalgia or a pastiche of the superficially “quirky” elements that fans grew to love. However, in just the first episodes, those concerns proved entirely unwarranted. From its deliberate pacing and its flights of surrealism to its tendency to indulge in narrative asides tangential to the plot, it was distinctly Lynch and unlike anything else on TV. With its longform format, Twin Peaks: Return represented both a career summation, featuring both familiar faces and motifs from prior works, as well as an evolution, a broader canvas at once messier and more sprawling than that of his features. For over 3 months, Twin Peaks: The Return, from week to week and even from moment to moment, alternated between the terrifying (e.g. The monster in the glass box), the heartbreaking (Hawk’s phone call with Margaret), the absurdly comic (Dougie!), the bewildering (Audrey’s entire plotline) and the purely awe-inspiring (Episode 8). It quite simply occupied my headspace more than other movie or TV show in 2017, and I’m sure I'll continue to revisit and uncover new layers long after all of the year-end awards and lists have been disseminated.

@Vahn @Dew @FilmAndWhisky @Pinhead @Charlie Work @Swizz @King V

 

Jul 22, 2017

wow this conversation is f---ing boring, folks

now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch my favorite horror film

 

Feb 7, 2017

For f---'s sake...

https://thefilmstage.com/news/jack-nicholson-to-return-with-hollywood-remake-of-toni-erdmann/

Movie pitch: A remake of Silence where I'm the Andrew Garfield character and the film is a depiction of my struggle with God's silence in the face of a Hollywood Toni Erdmann remake.

 

Sep 28, 2016

Wrote about the history of presidential biopics -- with southside with you already out and Jackie/LBJ on the way + the actual election . Dig in pigeons:

https://psmag.com/presidential-movies-a-flattery-scale-c321e2351ec6#.ie316uuv8

@MovieSXN @BigCountry @CODEiNE DEMON @Dew @Radeem @Michael Myers

 

Jul 11, 2016

New film alert






I started shooting this last night with @Old_Parr and I'm feeling really good about it. This is just a little taste of what we've got so far, I'm probably going to take my time with this one but I hope to have it ready sometime in September.

 

Feb 26, 2015

I was about to see Bandlands and while i was preparing for it i started to think about Malick's other films, The Tree of Life came to my mind, for some reason i kept thinking about it and suddenly i saw myself preparing everything to see for a 3rd time The Tree of Life, a film i've openly said that it is a good film but it's just not my thing.

Now i openly say i don't know what was i thinking when i said that, The Tree of Life gave me the greatest spiritual journey you can get from a fim, it is so powerful that it could be a life changing experience. To those who still are not into this, try to catch the pace, believe me, you'll be in shock at the end.

I'm not going to go deep into reviewing this film mainly because I'm not a good film critic but also because finding words to describe this must be really hard. This is one of those movies you love a lot and in your head you have it all clear but when it comes to explaining others why you like it nothing comes out.

This is pure emotion to me, Beautiful story told through Visual poetry accompanied by astonishing music.

10/10. Would i include The Tree of Life in my Top 20 of all time, f--- yeah, Top 10 perhaps

 

Feb 5, 2015

This is fun.

These are some of my favorites of the decade so far. They aren't all necessarily 10/10s.

The Social Network
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Heartbeats
Blue Valentine
The Tree of Life
Drive
Meek's Cutoff
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
The Master
Laurence Anyways
Before Midnight
Spring Breakers
To the Wonder
Boyhood
The Immigrant
Under the Skin

 

Jan 19, 2015

If anyone's interested...

I did a presentation at a Graduate Student Conference at Harvard a couple years ago. The paper has finally been published.

My paper for Harvard University’s Mahindra Center for the Humanities 2013 Graduate Student conference, “Imaging the Ineffable: Representation and Reality in Religion and Film” is now published. Visit the site for papers and keynote address by filmmaker Nathaniel Dorsky and Harvard Professor Charles Hallisey. My paper is entitled "Materiality & Immateriality: Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Decalogue and Cinema’s Capacity to Evoke the Inexpressible"

http://www.alayafilm.com/

 

Jan 13, 2015

Rough list... ordering would most likely change if I thought about it some more.

1.) The Shining (1980)
2.) Martyrs (2008)
3.) Videodrome (1982)
4.) Kairo (2001)
5.) The Thing (1982)
6.) Let the Right One In (2008)
7.) The Descent UK Cut (2005)
8.) Audition (1999)
9.) A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
10.) Antichrist (2009)
11.) Frontière(s) (2007)
12.) Ringu (1998)
13.) An American Werewolf In London (1981)
14.) The Orphanage (2007)
15.) The Devil's Backbone (2001)
16.) Scream (1996)
17.) k--- List (2011)
18.) Trick 'r Treat (2007)
19.) The Host (2006)
20.) Eden Lake (2008)
21.) The Ring (2002)
22.) [REC] 2
23.) Maniac (2012)
24.) The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
25.) Haute tension (2003)
26.) Dog Soldiers (2002)
27.) [REC] (2007)
28.) Wolf Creek (2005)
29.) À l'intérieur (2007)
30.) The House of the Devil (2009)

Honorable mentions: Re-Animator, The Return of the Living Dead, Evil Dead II, The Fly, Day of the Dead, The Evil Dead, Hellraiser, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Lake Mungo, The Devil's Rejects, Dawn of the Dead 04, Saw, Triangle, The Poughkeepsie Tapes.

Films that other people call horror that might be on the list if I did too: Oldboy, I Saw the Devil, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Manhunter, Dead Ringers, Angst, Jacob's Ladder, Silence of the Lambs, Confessions.

 

Dec 29, 2014

Listen to my Top Five films of the year list on WEMF: http://wemfradio.com/2014/12/22/sunday-morning-renegades-12-21-14-listen-here/

@wemfradio

 

Nov 23, 2014

Not gonna lie, I was more disappointed about losing the film discussion section than I was the rest of the site.

 

Aug 3, 2019

Great to see familiar faces in here... @Twan @Papa Alpha Andy @Worm @Swizz @Pinhead @Charlie Work . I spoke with Vahn recently and thought about this forum. Be safe!

 

Dec 31, 2018

I know there isn't as much activity here, but since it's the last day of the year, here's my list of favorite movie stuff of 2018.

Best Film
1. First Reformed
2. Zama
3. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
4. Shoplifters
5. The House That Jack Built
6. The Favourite
7. Burning
8. Leave No Trace
9. Happy as Lazzaro
10. Eighth Grade

Honorable Mention: Western, The Rider, Ismael’s Ghosts, The Day After, Support the Girls, Roma, Where is Kyra?, You Were Never Really Here, Sorry to Bother You, Shirkers

Full List: https://letterboxd.com/aversaci/list/2018-ranked/

Key Films Not Seen: The Mule, Vice, Minding the Gap, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Old Man and the Gun, Bisbee 17, 24 Frames, Paddington 2, Green Book

Best Actor
1. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
2. Matt Dillon, The House That Jack Built
3. Ben Foster, Leave No Trace
4. Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
5. Lakeith Stanfield, Sorry to Bother You

Best Actress
1. Olivia Colman/Emma Stone/Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
2. Thomasin McKenzie, Leave No Trace
3. Regina Hall, Support the Girls
4. Michelle Pfeiffer, Where is Kyra?
5. Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline

Best Supporting Actor
1. Steven Yeun, Burning
2. Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther
3. Bill Heck, Ballad of Buster Scruggs
4. Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade
5. Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Supporting Actress
1. Sakura Ando, Shoplifters
2. Elizabeth Debicki, Widows
3. Rachel McAdams, Game Night
4. Jong-seo Jun, Burning
5. Shayna McHale, Support the Girls

Best Director
1. Paul Schrader, First Reformed
2. Lucretia Martel, Zama

Best Score
1. Annihilation, Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow
2. You Were Never Really Here, Jonny Greenwood

Best Screenplay
1. Paul Schrader, First Reformed
2. Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite

Best Cinematography
1. Zama
2. Burning

Favorite Scenes
Magical Mystery Tour, First Reformed
Dance at Sunset, Burning
Daniel’s Monologue, If Beale Street Could Talk
The Ambush, Zama
Car conversation, Widows

Most Anticipated of 2019
The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
Radegund (Terrence Malick)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
Ad Astra (James Gray)
Uncut Gems (Safdie Brothers)
Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)
The Dead Don’t Die (Jim Jarmusch)
Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven)
Nighthawk (Kleber Mendonca Filho)
The Truth (Hirokazu Koreeda)

 

Jul 9, 2017

August 2017

@FilmAndWhisky @Twan @Charlie Work @Pinhead @coil @Radeem @RobTheDude @King V @Old_Parr @Moon Age @Sp00ky

My film club mans might find some interest.