I do this for fun. This year, my most fun at the movies happened at film festivals (Cinequest, San Francisco International Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, Noir City), the SFFS French Cinema Now film series and my movie club, the Camera Cinema Club.
These gave me an early look at some of the Best Movies of 2014 – Ida at Cinequest, Dear White People and Calvary at SFIFF and Alive Inside at Camera Cinema Club. The screening of Dear White People, with a packed, appreciative audience and a Q&A with writer-director Justin Simien, was a howl! And I hope that two foreign films from Cinequest, Heavenly Shift and Class Enemy, will become available – on DVD or VOD – to US audiences.
And I always value my steady companion Turner Classic Movies. TCM always turns me on to new favorites in film noir; this year TCM introduced me to Pitfall with Dick Powell and I Wake Up Screaming with Victor Mature and the irreplaceable Laird Cregar.