The Filmic 5
Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley
I. Film I Am Loving This Week
ANORA (Dir. Sean Baker)
The most politically consequential film since PARASITE and unequivocally the best film of 2024. Sean Baker has long proven to be our most vital (and empathetic) American Neorealist- but this anti-capitalist masterwork finally maneuvers the guillotine under the neon glow- and I say about damn time.Mikey Madison is an unstoppable force and deserves every award she wins- AND every award they will be too afraid to give her. Easily the best performance of the year- male or female.
This is Baker’s most accomplished and important film in a daring canon of accomplished and important films with heartfelt and devastating nods to the auteurs who paved the way- from Fellini and De Sica to our own Cassavetes.There have been only three films in my last 25 years as a critic that have moved me to a stunned, tearful silence and compelled me to light up a long-ago banished cigarette...and ANORA was one of them
II. Film Event I Am Excited About This Week
I am tremendously proud to invite our West Coast readers to attend a little project that I was fortunate enough to be a small part of- THE INDIES AWARDS presented by Slamdance Film Festival!
JOIN US ON DEC. 9th TO CELEBRATE THE FUTURE OF INDEPENDENT FILM at the DGA in Los Angeles for Slamdance’s inaugural Indie Awards, honoring fearless creators shaping the future of cinema.AND REMEMBER- this isn’t just an awards show—it’s ALSO a fundraiser supporting Slamdance's year round programs that amplify underrepresented voices and empower emerging filmmakers.
It perhaps has NEVER been more important to be supporting our independent films and filmmakers. Click the link below to get your tickets now...and LONG LIVE INDEPENDENT CINEMA!
https://slamdance.com/indie-awards-tickets/
III. Trailer That Is Giving Me Hope This Week
I never had "...a brilliant new film starring Pamela Anderson" on my bingo card- and that makes me EXCEEDINGLY happy. REALLY rooting for her and this film. Check out the trailer below.
IV. Film Article That I Found Interesting This Week
Writer and stat geek Daniel Parris attempts to use statistical data to settle a long-debated critical question: what exactly makes a movie HATEABLE? This fascinating exercise is the result of the author running "...20,000 online reviews through a sentiment analysis algorithm and then highlighting the terms disproportionately used in positive and negative writing."
Click HERE to read this eye-opening article. Enjoy.
V. Film Video That I Found Informative This Week
"Hollywood has long been synonymous with filmmaking, but how did it rise to such heights? It all began in 1887 when Hollywood was registered as a small town before merging with Los Angeles in 1910. Filmmakers moved west to avoid Thomas Edison’s patent lawsuits, and the sunny California climate provided the perfect setting for year-round production. By the 1910s, studios like Paramount and Warner Bros. established themselves, and Hollywood's global dominance was cemented during its “Golden Age” from the 1930s to the 1950s. Today, we're diving into the origins of Hollywood and how it became the hub of the entertainment world."
That's all for this week. Get out there and watch something LIFE-CHANGING.
Jack Hanley is a Boulder-based film scholar, podcaster, and critic. He is a programmer with the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Boulder International Film Festival. He is one-half of Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast and Flicker with Jack and Scott on YouTube. Find him at Kinophilia on Medium and at HanleyOnFilm.com