By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Film Critics Vote For Men With Guns, Lady With Crown
Boston film critics go gangster, Los Angeles’ like hell in the Pacific, the New York online critics bowed to a Queen. New York’s – after five ballots — went for UNITED 93.
Here are the four movies that the major critics’ groups went for (See David Polands chart for full details.)
UNITED 93: New York, Washington, D.C.
THE DEPARTED: Boston.
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA: L.A.
THE QUEEN: N.Y. Online
But there’s one movie that that film critics agree on: ARMY OF SHADOWS. Made in 1969 but released in the U.S. only this year, this is a dark, uncompromising WWII thriller about the exploits of a band of French resistance fighters in German-occupied Paris. Director Jean-Pierre Melville died in 1973 at the age of 1955, but many of his films are available on DVD and VHS through Rialto Pictures. Army of Shadows is booked at Manhattan’s Film Forum from Dec. 29-Jan. 11 and moves to Symphony Space in January for the Thalia Film Classics series; check the Rialto website to see which other cities will get it.)
BOSTON:
I heard a few Boston critics wondering whether ARMY OF SHADOWS should be up for a special award or a foreign language film award.The New York Film Critics Circle decided it ought to be viewed as 2006 foreign film.
There was also some support for LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA.
Most surprising result, to me: That Judi Dench came second a few Best Actress polls to Helen Mirren. She’s great in NOTES ON A SCANDAL. She’s always great. But the film relies so much on her main character’s frosty voice-over narration that her performance doesn’t resonate as strongly Penelope Cruz‘s warm, graceful embodiment of a woman in trouble in VOLVER. NOTES ON A SCANDAL was screened in Boston just four days before the critics voted. Maybe the early autumn wave of Penelope-and-Almodovar love had receded by then.
Where did the Best Picture love go?
BABEL (Paramount Vantage)
“A genuine masterpiece. The best film of 2006.” (Rex Reed, The New York Observer)
“Deserves an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.” (Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times)
“An unqualified triumph from Alexander Gonzalez Innaritu.” (Pete Hammond, Maxim)
DREAMGIRLS (Dreamgirls/Paramount)
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (Dreamworks). Ahem…Adam Beach. Remember him?
“Stands with the best movies of this young century and the old one that preceded it: It’s passionate, honest, unflinching, gripping, and it pays respects. The flag raising on Iwo might have indeed become a pseudo-event as it was processed for goals, but there was nothing pseudo about the courage of the men who did it.” (Stephen Hunter, Washington Post.)
“It is one of the year’s best films and perhaps the finest modern film about World War II.” (Claudia Puig, USA Today)
WORLD TRADE CENTER (Paramount)
