OFCS members don’t just write film reviews. Here are several articles you might find interesting.
Best of Lists
Beast of Burden: Top 10 Human-Animal Combinations in the Movies
Frank Ochieng @ Sound on Sight
The Best (and worst) Films of 2014 . . . so far!
Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: The trend thus far in the year is that indie films seem to be flourishing while Hollywood continues to tread safe waters of brand names and reliable genres. With four-and-a-half months to go, this list will inevitably change.
Getting on Track: Top 10 Films About Trains
Frank Ochieng @ Sound on Sight
Holy Criminal Reincarnation! : Top 10 Underused TV Batman Villains Repackaged in the Movies
Frank Ochieng @ Sound on Sight
The Top 10 Trivial Tidbits About Robin Williams (1951-2014)
Frank Ochieng @ Sound on Sight
Tributes
He Really Was One of a Kind: Robin Williams (1951-2014)
Lauren Bacall
Tony Dayoub @ Cinema Viewfinder
RIP Lauren Bacall
Robert Cashill @ Biography.com
- Excerpt: Obit for Biography.com.
Robin Williams
Tony Dayoub @ Cinema Viewfinder
- Excerpt: Williams’ comedy felt at once manic and cynical. But most of all, it was relatable; at least it was if you could imagine giving your id license to run free and uncensored in and around your loved ones, like a cute but particularly cutting 4-year-old trying to grab everyone’s attention any way he could, even if it meant pooping on the couch.
Robin Williams, Beloved Actor and Comedian, Dies at 63
Awards Coverage
Oscar Preview: Weekend of Aug. 8-10, 2014
- Excerpt: Looking at the Oscar chances of “Into the Storm”
Television
The Knick
- Excerpt: That Soderbergh had to give up on the movies and go to pay cable to tell adult stories for adult audiences is a sad commentary on where we’re headed, but make no mistake: cinema’s loss is Cinemax’s gain.
Essays
An Attempt to Explain the Utterly Inexplicable San Diego Comic-Con
- Excerpt: “OK, so let me see if I’ve got this straight: people pay good money and put themselves through great personal discomfort so they can smash themselves into a convention hall, where they are shown a commercial for a movie, and then they sit and listen to people sell them the movie?”
Destroy All Monsters: Come Back, Damon Lindelof
Jim Jarmusch: Expect the Unexpected
- Excerpt: The deflation of expectations is Jarmusch’s stock and trade: for his myopic outsiders and befuddled innocents, simple survival often replaces wish fulfillment as the immediate goal.
That Female-Led ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot Is a Dumb Idea, But Not for the Reason Dumb People Think
- Excerpt: There are all sorts of reasons to let the Ghostbusters franchise lie, and we’ve discussed them before: too much time has passed, too much of its magic was rooted in its original moment, too many of the key players aren’t interested, too much of the film smacks of being a “filmed deal,” made solely to generate truckloads of money from goodwill and nostalgia. Those are the reasons we should hope the Feig Ghostbusters never gets past the rumors stage — not some misplaced, bullshit notion that girls can’t play too.
This New Study on Racial Diversity in Hollywood Isn’t Depressing At All!
- Excerpt: The studio releases are the movies that dominate the conversation, and the people who greenlight those films and make them are continuing to ghettoize non-white actors and filmmakers. It’s bad business, in every sense of the phrase — not just a monetary loss, but a cultural one as well.
Reviews of Short Films
La Boca del León
Paulo Peralta @ CinEuphoria [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Spanish Short Film Review
Game
Paulo Peralta @ CinEuphoria [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Canadian Short Film Review
The Gunfighter
Paulo Peralta @ CinEuphoria [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: US Short Film Review
The Little Mermaid
Paulo Peralta @ CinEuphoria [Portuguese]
- Excerpt: Canadian Short Film Review
Other Articles
Filmmaker Misha Zubarev and It Had To Be Us
Betty Jo Tucker @ Movie Addict Headquarters
- Excerpt: Podcast discussion about a book-to-screen adaptation.
The Morning After: Aug. 11, 2014
- Excerpt: Short review of “The Bridges of Madison County”
