TOP 10 SHOTS from "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

Apologies for the two day delay, but I deeply had my work cut out for myself when I took on this week's Top 10 Shots piece, mostly because I had to figure out something appropriate for the week, despite "Bombay Beach" being unavailable for relation to "Mayley", another documentary of exceptional cinematography. That fell through, so I thought long and hard on what to branch out to, and there's really nothing out this weekend that even connects to something of strong enough quality for dissection. So I turned my gaze towards something outside the realm of theatrical cinema, and instead went towards the world of television for guidance, as many of us often do.

You may already have heard about "Girls", Lena Dunham's television debut after having success with "Tiny Furniture" on the indie market. I felt somewhat compelled to seek out "Tiny Furniture" itself, but it apparently takes time to get Criterion DVDs shipped out to the local library. Who knew? That might have been the end of it, but the cinematographer on both Dunham's series and film had another prolific cinematography venture this past year in the form of "Martha Marcy May Marlene", directed by Sean Durkin. So if you haven't seen the film, I caution SPOILERS TO ALERT, since I will be getting into details about the film following the jump. In other words, GET THE FUCK OUT THERE AND SEE IT!

AWARDS 2011: "Artist" & "Moneyball" take Boston critics

Boston may have been the first of today's critics awards to start voting, but they certainly have taken the longest of the three. The winners have been predictable to say the least, but it is worth mentioning that they were the first to get it right as far as Best New Filmmaker is concerned. Take a look at the whole list of winners below.

BEST PICTURE: "The Artist"

BEST DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")

BEST SCREENPLAY: "Moneyball"

BEST ACTRESS: Michele Williams ("My Week with Marilyn")

BEST ACTOR: Brad Pitt ("Moneyball")

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids")

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks ("Drive")

BEST ENSEMBLE: "Carnage"

BEST NEW FILMMAKER: Sean Durkin ("Martha Marcy May Marlene")

BEST USE OF MUSIC: "The Artist"/"Drive"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: "The Tree of Life"

BEST DOCUMENTARY: "Project Nim"
BEST FOREIGN FILM: "Incendies" 

For Your Anticipation: A Teacher and a Leader

Clearly, there are films that I'd much rather be seeing this weekend than "Paranormal Activity 3", and this one is near to the top of that list. When you hear a lot about a film for the entire year, you'll come to that level of anticipation. "Martha Marcy May Marlene" has brewed controversy and acclaim from the expected sectors for each. Every piece of promotion has been holding back a bloodcurdling scream that I can't wait to hear in full. Probably won't get that opportunity until next month, I hear it's well worth the wait.