Film Comment. Jan/Feb 06.

Even those sick unto death of lists by now are going to want to give Film Comment's "End-of-Year Critics Poll" a once-over at least. And scan the names of the participants, too. Since there's considerable overlap with voters in the Village Voice "Take 7" poll, it's not terribly surprising that the top three films - in order, A History of Violence, 2046 and Kings and Queen - sit in the same positions and at a comfortable distance from each other, points-wise, on both lists. From there down, the reshuffling begins. Caché, last month's cover subject, scores higher on the FC list, for example. Munich, much higher.

Same page, further down, is a list of the best unreleased films of 2005, with Hou Hsiao-hsien's Three Times at the top of it.

But onto the online features from the new issue. Exclusively online, in fact, is the uncut version of editor Gavin Smith's interview with Claire Denis, lingering a while in the 70s before moving on up to L'Intrus.

Regular Lovers needs a distributor, argues Michael Chaiken. Of director Philippe Garrel, he writes, "It's hard to imagine a filmmaker more deserving of major reconsideration by serious students and enthusiasts of film art."

In conjunction with the series, An/Other Spanish Cinema: Film in Catalunya, 1906–2006, running January 27 through February 14 at the Walter Reade, Spanish critic Manuel Yáñez Murillo offers a historical primer.

Another online exclusive: Stefan Grissemann talks with Lars von Trier about Manderlay and the Washington trilogy as a whole, Dear Wendy, Dogme, Dancer in the Dark (he's still pretty ticked at Björk) and two abandoned projects.

Frédéric Bonnaud: "[W]hat's most unforgivable to Battle in Heaven's detractors is the lyricism that is set free in the film. If [Carlos] Reygadas were a true young Marxist, he'd be given a lot more leeway."

Again, only online: Eliza Subotowicz assesses the current state of Polish cinema: "In the communist era, Polish cinema had a mission - to be a filmmaker was to be politically active.... And then, after the fall of communism in 1989, filmmakers suddenly became unnecessary." But then! "Polish cinema turned a corner in the late 90s."

Posted by dwhudson at January 11, 2006 7:17 AM