As I have grown in press credentials and professional affiliations nationally, I have found myself landing in circles with other film critics of various levels. Recently, I was included in a poll with over 110 voting critics by Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel, a fellow Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. His survey tallying votes for our choices for the best Martin Scorsese films. He asked for our Top 3 and did the math from there. It’s an honor to be invited and included!
Read MoreAs I have grown in press credentials and professional affiliations nationally, I have found myself landing in circles with other film critics of various levels. Recently, I was included in a poll for voting critics for Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel, a fellow Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. His survey was to collect votes for the single best Christopher Nolan from over 110 critics and other industry folk. I was honored to chime in with my vote of Memento to be included with some very high professional company. Enjoy the article and list. Check out your boy!
Read MoreAs I have grown in press credentials and professional affiliations nationally, I have found myself landing in circles with other film critics of various levels. Recently, I was included in a poll for voting critics for Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel, a fellow Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. His survey was to collect the best films from the first half of 2023 from over 100 critics and other industry folk. I was honored to chime in with my top five selections to be included with some very high professional company. Enjoy the article and list. Check out your boy!
Read MoreClosing a year, as usual, means getting out the scorecard and making a “10 Best” list. This one didn’t take much agony and neither will my second year of voting for the Critics Choice Awards and Hollywood Film Critic Awards and seventh year with my own Chicago Indie Critics group with many of these movies in mind. I’ve had this list up on Letterboxd and presented them on TikTok, but the homebase deserves its annual post.
Read MoreIn an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year. When measuring back as far as twenty years or more, I feel like “favorites” that have stood the test of time have aged to become some level of “best.” I feel like a bunch of those populate my reflective look back at the best of the rest of 2002.
Read MoreIn an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year. When measuring back as far as twenty years or more, I feel like “favorites” that have stood the test of time have aged to become some level of “best.” I feel like a bunch of those populate my reflective look back at the best of 2002.
Read MoreNevertheless, the day job work was harder, family life was harder, the balance between them both was harder. It was all wonderful, but harder. Compared to 94 published reviews on Every Movie Has a Lesson in 2020, I only published 67 this past year (with a good two dozen still in the draft folder), including my 1000th on this site in its 11th year of service. Even with a lower written output, the personal growth of it all hasn’t stopped.
Read MoreIn an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year. When measuring back as far as twenty years or more, I feel like “favorites” that have stood the test of time have aged to become some level of “best.” I feel like a bunch of those populate my reflective look back at the best of the rest of 2000.
Read MoreIn an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year. When measuring back as far as twenty years or more, I feel like “favorites” that have stood the test of time have aged to become some level of “best.” I feel like a bunch of those populate my reflective look back at the best of 2001.
Read MoreNothing seems to define 2020 like a long sigh and a deep breath. This past year likely makes the record books with all kinds of trivia nuggets and asterisks. Folks didn’t get to see all the movies they hoped for, but I’ve been telling people all year that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The last movie I saw in a theater was Onward on March 2nd, adding up to 304 days (and counting since) without a visit to the big screen. Sure, I miss it as a guy that used to go out 2-3 times a week, but movies can wait and so will I. After all, we’re surviving a pandemic and movies count as #firstworldproblems.
Read MoreDespite the overall crappiness of this year, 2020 has been the 10th anniversary of this website Every Movie Has a Lesson. I didn’t start this endeavor until May of 2010 and, when the end of the year rolled around, I didn’t have a complete “sample size” or body of work, so to speak, to write a proper “10 Best” list. Missing that chance has always bothered the completist in me. I’ve been meaning to fix that and this little anniversary seemed like the right time, especially after charting a “best of the decade” list a year ago at the close of the 10s. So, turning back the clock a decade, here are my “10 Best Films of 2010.”
Read MoreIn an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year. When measuring back as far as twenty years or more, I feel like “favorites” that have stood the test of time have aged to become some level of “best.” I feel like a bunch of those populate my reflective look back at the best of the rest of 2000.
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