January 8th , 2012

The page for our picks for the Best Releases of 2011 is up!
Check it out here.

January 1st , 2012

2011 was possibly one of the greatest years of change and instability in the history of the film industry.
I hope for a more settled feeling this year.

Since it is the end of one year and the start of another we are busy here at Pic A Flic compiling our Best Of 2011 lists and for me, it was one of the toughest times I've ever had getting 10 movies that I truly loved onto one list.
I just found that most of the films I watched--the fiction films anyway--were unremarkable. Fine diversions and decent entertainments but not much more than that.
I think it was simply a case of thin material being released and that was perhaps a symptom of an industry reeling. They're afraid to put money behind anything they don't see as a "sure thing" and sadly, these sure things consist largely of high-octane shoot-em-ups and superhero franchise pictures that they know will draw the young demographic.
We are in a period where adolescent dollars have reached their highest purchasing power/influence since the 1960s. As the studios race to grab this market--which is also a shrinking customer base due to downloading becoming more common place etc--they tailor their artistic output so it skews ever-younger. So you get films that are more shallow and very few singular, auteur-like, visions. No chances are taken.
I really hope this is a temporary slide and not the final death rasp of what was once one of the most daring art systems in the world.

Now, I mentioned that it was fictional films that were tough for me to find the gems in but documentary film was alive and very well in 2011. My list reflects this as you will see when I post the page later this month. I almost couldn't choose 10 films that weren't all documentaries! That has never happened before, so yay for that.

Thanks for reading,
Rob