Left to my own devices

Last month, I announced the nominees for the 26th annual  Matt Awards , where I highlight my favorites in film from the preceding year. And now, finally (we're pretty late with these this year), here are the winners for the 2022  Matt Awards ! They are... 

The first Matt Awards were dispensed in early 1998 (now a quarter-century ago). By me. On my trusty old Brother word processor. No one else really knew about them. I might have read them off to my mom, or my friend Terry, but they were really for me. They were born out of frustration for how the Oscars typically doled-out awards. Basically, I wanted to have my own opinions about movies - something I do regularly over on the Mashley at the Movies podcast . An annual occurrence since they began, I enjoy doing the Matt Awards each year. Sometimes, I do both nominations and then, a few weeks later, pick the winners. Some years, I just go straight to the winners circle. This year, I'm really late - later than I've probably ever been - on getting to these awards. Life's been a bit busy. So, here's what we're doing: This post will be the list of nominations for the 2023 Matt Awards . Then, in a few days, I'll make another blog post with the winners. Sound ok? Cool, ...

Having been a big Leonardo DiCaprio fan since the mid-1990s, I was disappointed when he wasn't nominated for an Oscar for his role in  Titanic  (as in, I-was-about-to-riot disappointed). Thus, in early 1998, I began what was to become an annual tradition --   The Matt Awards . Perhaps one of the most egotistical things on God's green earth, every year I proceed to select the best in movie making, as a sort of consolation for the fact that very rarely do the Academy Awards align with my own yearly favorites. I used to do both nominations and then, a few weeks later, pick the winners. After awhile I just went straight to the winners circle. This year, however, with the Oscars being pushed back a bit, and having been able to see a lot of really good films, I wanted to at least acknowledge several films and filmmakers with nominations. In a few weeks (before the Oscars ceremony), I will make announce the winners of The Matt Awards . No doubt you will all be on tenterhooks wai...

While many of us remember our first kiss, or falling in love for the first time, how many times have we been convinced of witnessing the depiction of those same emotions on the silver screen? Granted, it may not be something a lot of folks think about, but for me, romance in the movies can have the power to incredibly stir the soul, make me flinch awkwardly in my seat, or just flat-out laugh. After recently viewing the wonderful new movie Lady Bird , and being completely swept-up in the fledgling  romance of the title character and her classmate Danny, it reminded me of how I'm a sucker for a well-done movie romance. In order for me to be convinced of the  adoration onscreen, pretty much everything has to be right -- the script, the acting, the score, the direction, editing, etc. It all has to set the right mood and believability. That isn't always an easy task. Most films run between 90 and 120 minutes. That isn't a terribly long time to introduce us to characters,...

IndieWire recently featured an article asking if movie tickets should cost less for independent films than they do for high-profile blockbusters. You know the type of movies we're taking about: a low-budget flick that may or may or not feature big name talent, often made outside one of the major studios, featuring careful pacing, lots of scenes where characters talk with one another, a discernible plot, and not very many (if any) things getting blowed-up real good. In other words, a movie that requires thought and careful viewing by the cinema-goer, which is probably why such films don't often rake-in the dough. A lot of people seem to want a movie-going experience to be some sort of escapism. Indeed, much of cinema is exactly that. Documentaries aside, a majority of films take us to the fictional lives of others, allowing us a window into their goings-on, glimpsing -- if only for a couple of hours -- the situations they encounter and how they grapple with them. And t...

This year's TCM Classic Film Festival will feature, among other things, a Q&A with actor Michael Douglas, following a screening of his 1979 film The China Syndrome . Also scheduled are interviews with the casts of Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) and Best In Show (2000). Now, I haven't seen Kentucky Fried Movie , but China Syndrome and Best In Show are fine films. But are they classics? Eh... The Oxford English dictionary defines 'classic' as "judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind." The phrase "period of time" is meaningless. It can be stretched to mean anywhere from five years to fifty. The three films mentioned in regards to the TCM festival range from 17 to 40 years in age. 17 years seems, at least to my mind, a tad too recent to consider classic status, though 40 years would seem to be long enough ago.

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, for the movies that were released in 2015. I therefore thought it would be a good occasion to update my Top 10 Films of the Year list. There are still a few movies I'd like to see from 2015, but this list feels pretty solid for the time being. 1. Spotlight 2. It Follows 3. Brooklyn 4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens 5. Mad Max: Fury Road 6. Magic Mike XXL 7. Grandma 8. The Martian 9. Bridge of Spies 10. Room I hope to see The Revenant this weekend. I've long been a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio.

I don't know exactly how to write this entry, except to start off with the fact that I miss Roger Ebert. It's difficult to put into words, mostly because Mr. Ebert is a man I never knew personally. Our physical paths crossed a time or two during his annual film festival in Champaign-Urbana, but we never spoke, we never e-mailed, we never directly communicated in any way. My relationship with him was as a kid watching him spar with Gene Siskel on an old TV in my bedroom, engrossed in their conversations about movies. And then, as an adult, enjoying his written film reviews, his tweets, and his blog entries.

It's easy to be subjective. Quick, name your five favorite movies. Or simply five films that you really quite enjoy. Now, try and be objective . Name what you think are the five best movies that have ever been made. It's never been an easy task for me, hence why, despite a fondness for list-making, I've never attempted to create a list of what I objectively consider to be the best films of all-time. But now, after nearly a week of great movies at the Roger Ebert Film Festival , plus a bit of perusing the Sight & Sound once-per-decade greatest films poll , I'm ready to sit down and do the list. Here, then, are what I consider to be the Top Ten Best Movies Ever Made.