Sunday Matinee (Dec. 15 - Dec. 22)

Not half the price, just half the work.

The holidays are here, and I have some links to a few mainstream best-of lists below. I have yet to read anything from non-mainstream, independent bloggers, but I'll link to those whenever they show up. I'll be traveling the next few weeks, but still posting, so check back for new content, including: It's a Wonderful Life, a new installment of Sound Savour, and an essay of what to expect here in '09.

So without further ado...

• There's a great debate over at Cinema Viewfinder on style versus substance in cinema (or is that just a stylistically superficial way to describe the debate?).

• Nick at Fataculture has a review for Wendy and Lucy.

• Coleman's Corner discusses Barbara Stanwyck and Christmas in Connecticut.

• Over at Wonders in the Dark, Allan Fish has a conversational essay about what it means to be noir and how we can step outside the box when it comes to style definitions.

• The Stop Button and From the Front Row both have exultant reviews of Gran Torino.

• In the wake of Yes Man, The Film Doctor examines The Truman Show.

• The Dancing Image has a string of "Quick One" reviews of several recently seen films. (Also: while you're over there – because you really should be – check out his essay in response to Newsweek's recent feature on art under the Bush administration.)

• Farzan reviews Milk and finds it to be "easily one of the year's best."

• A flurry of Best-Of Lists:
¶ Manohla Dargis;
¶ A.O. Scott;
¶ Roger Ebert's top ten foreign films;
¶ The AV Club's compendium (and individual lists);
¶ Peter Travers;
¶ Glenn Kenny; and
¶ Kris Tapley.

And if you haven't seen them already...
The next two weeks on Turner Classic Movies:

• Celebrate Humphrey Bogart's birthday (Dec 25) with a marathon. Casablanca (1942), The Big Sleep (1946), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The African Queen (1951), and High Sierra (1941).
• Annie Hall (1977), Dec 27
• Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953), Dec 29
• Stagecoach (1939), Dec 31
• It Happened One Night (1934), Jan 1
• King Kong (1933), Jan 1
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Jan 3
• Modern Times (1936), Jan 3