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 This is a web site built around original video essays and critical, personal writing about movies, TV, music, comics and whatever else interests its contributors. It is published by Matt Zoller Seitz, TV critic for New York Magazine and overseen by editor-in-chief Kevin B. Lee.

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OSCARS DEATH RACE: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2

Blogs
I haven't had much to do with the "Harry Potter" series; maybe one of these days I'll get around to reading the books, but to date, I've seen the films nominated for Oscars during the Death Races, and that's about it. …Wait, I saw the first film on a plane and liked it fine.
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  • By Sarah D. Bunting
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  • February 22, 2012
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  • 0 Comments
More: Sarah D. Bunting, Oscars Death Race 2012, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2

'SHOULD WIN' VIDEO ESSAY SERIES: Best Picture TREE OF LIFE

Video
All of the 2011 Best Picture nominees have their merits, but one towers above the rest: "The Tree of Life," writer/director Terrence Malick's film about...well what is "The Tree of Life" about, anyway? For a free-associative non-linear movie that skips back and forth through time and space, and that includes a lengthy early section recounting the creation of the universe, the movie was a surprising commercial success, dominating discussion among cinephiles throughout a summer moviegoing season that is usually overshadowed by much louder, dumber movies. And at the center of the discussion were very basic questions about writing and direction – about storytelling generally – that cut to the heart of what movies are and what they can be.
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  • By Matt Zoller Seitz & Serena Bramble
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  • February 21, 2012
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  • 15 Comments
More: Terrence Malick, Tree of Life, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Should Win, Academy Awards, Matt Zoller Seitz, Serena Bramble, video essay

VIDEO ESSAY: Outstanding Collaborative Performance: The Fly (1986)

Video
David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of "The Fly" would have been a shoo-in for a theoretical best collaborative performance Oscar. What makes it truly special is its empathy for its arrogant scientist hero, Seth Brundle, who tests his revolutionary new matter transporter on himself and becomes genetically fused with a fly that was not supposed to be in the telepod with him. Jeff Goldblum’s performance as Seth Brundle is a nexus point for all the film’s creative elements: direction, writing, acting, makeup, optical effects, miniatures and puppetry. Goldblum’s work here brings everything together. It’s kind of a thespian telepod.
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  • By Matt Zoller Seitz and Steven Santos
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  • February 21, 2012
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  • 0 Comments
More: Matt Zoller Seitz, Steven Santos, video essay, The Fly, David Cronenberg

OSCARS DEATH RACE: TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

Blogs
I had to watch the second "Transformers" for a previous Death Race iteration, so I thought I knew what to expect -- i.e., not much, but perhaps a faint hope that the formidable Julie White would return as Sam Witwicky's mom.
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  • By Sarah D. Bunting
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  • February 21, 2012
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  • 0 Comments
More: Oscars Death Race 2012, Sarah D. Bunting, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Michael Bay

VIDEO ESSAY And the Oscar for Outstanding Collaborative Performance goes to...

Video
Why hasn't Andy Serkis won an Oscar yet? Will his achievements as an actor ever be recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? Should they be recognized? Is Serkis an actor, or is his physical performance in a CGI-assisted role just a rough guide for a movie's digital effects?
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  • By Matt Zoller Seitz & Steven Santos
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  • February 21, 2012
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  • 6 Comments
More: Matt Zoller Seitz, Best Collaborative Performance, Yoda, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Frank Oz, Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Fly, E.T., Adventures of Tintin, video essay, Steven Santos

FESTIVALS - Berlinale 2012 Final Report: The Tantalizing and the Taboo

Festivals
What does it take to get your film into a world class festival? That's the question asked with gleeful irreverence by "The Woman in the Septic Tank," which screened at the recently concluded 2012 Berlinale, one of the world's foremost festivals. This hilarious satire of international art filmmaking finds two aspiring auteurs sitting in a Manila café, jealously regarding a rival's Facebook photos taken at the Venice film fest. They vow to devise the ultimate movie to win festival audiences and prizes: a single mother of five suffering in the slums is forced to sell her son to a rich pedophile. But like Mel Brooks' "The Producers," the project gets out of hand, and before we know it we're watching a musical version with the pedophile singing "Is this the boy / who'll bring me endless hours of joy?" It's one of many delightful detours taken by these filmmakers seeking the road to art house glory.
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  • By Kevin B. Lee
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  • February 21, 2012
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  • 0 Comments
More: Berlinale, Kevin B. Lee

OSCARS DEATH RACE: RANGO

Blogs
The trailer for "Rango" made the movie look unappealing, and I didn't have high hopes when I threw it in the DVD player. Oops: it's awesome.
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  • By Sarah D. Bunting
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  • February 21, 2012
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  • 2 Comments
More: Johnny Depp, Rango, Oscars Death Race 2012, Sarah D. Bunting

ADWEEK INTERVIEW: New York Magazine TV critic Matt Zoller Seitz takes a tough stand on reality TV shows

Blogs
I don’t feel like Indiana Jones in front of the boulder at New York magazine. Everything that happened at [ex-employer] Salon is like what happened on the island of Lost. There were people who would comment on everything. On one level it was terrifying, but it was kind of nice. There were people who cared about every little thing.
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  • By Adweek
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  • February 20, 2012
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  • 0 Comments
More: Interviews, Television, Matt Zoller Seitz

REDLETTERMEDIA VIDEO: Hey, kids! It's every face punch in ROADHOUSE

Video
[EDITOR'S NOTE: The comic geniuses over at Redlettermedia have created this forensic catalog of every right cross, chambered strike, backfist, hammerfist, haymaker, shovel hook, uppercut, trachea rip and jab thrown in Patrick Swayze's classic "Roadhouse." You have to admire the sheer length of this — 45 seconds of distilled violence. I suppose we should call this piece a somewhat circuitious tribute to the late Ben Gazzara — who died this month at the age of 81. His gratuitously evil turn as Brad Wesley transforms a bad movie into a good-bad movie. Watching him get his ass kicked in this film is transforming. Thanks, Ben. And thanks to everyone at Redlettermedia for creating and posting it.]
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  • By Redlettermedia
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  • February 20, 2012
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  • 1 Comment
More: Redlettermedia, Roadhouse, Patrick Swayze

OSCARS DEATH RACE: Surveying the race for Best Supporting Actor

Blogs
Not much of a race here, I'd say; one guy's had it sewn up for months now. Doesn't mean we can't discuss it, though.
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  • By Sarah D. Bunting
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  • February 20, 2012
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  • 1 Comment
More: Oscars Death Race 2012, Sarah D. Bunting, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow, Nick Nolte

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Another great case for who 'Should Win' the Oscar -- this time for Best Documentary

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