Lists and awards, 1/12.

By David Hudson on 01/12/2009

"Yojiro Takita's 'Departures,' Japan's contender for the foreign-language Oscar, was named best Japanese pic of 2008 at the 82nd Kinema Junpo Awards," reports Mark Schilling for Variety. "Takita also scooped director honors, while Kundo Koyama won the screenplay award and star Masahiro Motoki took actor honors for the tale, set in a funeral parlor.... Sponsored by Kinema Junpo, Japan's oldest film mag, the awards are considered the most prestigious in the Japanese biz."

Mike D'Angelo lists ten favorites seen "for the first time over the just-completed calendar year." #1: Nagisa Oshima's "Violence at Noon."

"In the great tradition of our yearly 11 Offenses column, the absolute bottom of the shit pile (this year, 'Towelhead'; in the past, 'Trade,' 'The Quiet' and 'London') is left off, partly because we've already said all that needs to be said, but also because lending more brainpower to such soul-sucking experiences would do neither us nor the perpetrators of this refuse any good." Reverse Shot cuts loose: "[T]here was a surfeit of cinematic swill in 2009, and as usual, it oozed throughout action blockbusters, greedy Oscar grabbers, and foreign imports alike. You know you've been waiting for it: here are eleven headache-inducing horrors."

AJ Schnack lists 15 or so of the best nonfiction films of the year "as well as some of the moments and exceptional artistic achievements in some of my other favorites."

"The Playlist's Best Soundtracks, Score & Movie Music Moments Of 2008."

Online viewing tips. "Top Videos_08," from Stéphane Delorme for Cahiers du cinéma.

[Photo: "Departures," ContentFilm International, 2008]

Tags: Lists