San Francisco vs. Chicago

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Congratulations to the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for having the character and conviction to name Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as their Best Picture of 2007. As opposed to, for example, the divided Chicago Film Critics who put up Zodiac's David Fincher as a Best Director contender but lacked the intestinal fortitude to nominate Zodiac -- a film that deserves to be honored as much if not more than any other '07 film -- for Best Picture.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 11, 2007 at 12:10 PM

comment #1

K. Bowen says ...

Great news!

Posted by K. Bowen at December 11, 2007 12:41 PM

comment #2

lazarus says ...

Let's also give credit to the Chicago Critics for being the first ones, if I'm not mistaken, to mention Leslie Mann for Knocked Up. Would have thought BFCA would have done so, but apparently not.

Posted by lazarus at December 11, 2007 12:42 PM

comment #3

Nick J says ...

Jesse James was truly the best film to come out this year. I believe it's one of the great films, on the level of Apocalypse Now or 2001, and history will recognize this.

Posted by Nick J at December 11, 2007 12:50 PM

comment #4

Nick J says ...

Jesse James was truly the best film to come out this year. I believe it's one of the great films, on the level of Apocalypse Now or 2001, and history will recognize this.

Posted by Nick J at December 11, 2007 12:51 PM

comment #5

Nick J says ...

Jesse James was truly the best film to come out this year. I believe it's one of the great films, on the level of Apocalypse Now or 2001, and history will recognize this.

Posted by Nick J at December 11, 2007 12:52 PM

comment #6

Nick J says ...

Jesse James was truly the best film to come out this year. I believe it's one of the great films, on the level of Apocalypse Now or 2001, and history will recognize this.

Posted by Nick J at December 11, 2007 12:53 PM

comment #7

PerfectTommy says ...

I was very surprised by this because the SF Chronicle review (by Peter Hartlaub, not the main critic Mick LeSalle) was meh; the little man sitting, staring in his chair.

And I think you're right, NickJ. "Jesse James" will be remembered as a great film. Especially if we repeat that statement again and again.

Posted by PerfectTommy at December 11, 2007 12:56 PM

comment #8

Walter Sobchak says ...

"Zodiac -- a film that deserves to be honored as much if not more than any other '07 film -- for Best Picture."
- according to Jeffrey Wells (we get it, already....you REALLY like "Zodiac")

One of the things I like about this site is finding out that I am not, in fact, the ONLY person to have seen "...Jesse James", even though I often feel like I am.

GREAT movie. Might be my favorite. (still got a couple more to see and re-see before my verdict comes down)

Posted by Walter Sobchak at December 11, 2007 12:58 PM

comment #9

actionman says ...

This is awesome...wish it was the NY or LA critics though...but Jesse will take what Jesse can get!

Posted by actionman at December 11, 2007 12:58 PM

comment #10

Aguirre says ...

wow, a rare quadruple post. and jeff, zodiac is a great movie, but get off it. it doesn't require a certain degree of intestinal fortitude to nominate it for best picture... i'd take there will be blood, no country, atonement (you heard me), secret sunshine, 4 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days, over zodiac any day, with jesse james, the band's visit, persepolis and lust/caution being on par with it... and my intestines are plenty strong, thank you very much. that being said... i'm gonna provide the michael clayton brigade with a big ol' WTF.

Posted by Aguirre at December 11, 2007 1:08 PM

comment #11

Nick J says ...

Jesse James was truly the best film to come out this year. I believe it's one of the great films, on the level of Apocalypse Now or 2001, and history will recognize this.

Posted by Nick J at December 11, 2007 1:09 PM

comment #12

Mike Schaefer says ...

"I was very surprised by this because the SF Chronicle review (by Peter Hartlaub, not the main critic Mick LeSalle) was meh; the little man sitting, staring in his chair"

Tommy: LaSalle mentioned in his blog today that he only recently caught up with TAOJJBTCRF -- he says he "avoided" it at Cannes and finally gave in before it disappeared locally. And was glad he did because he loved it.

On the other hand, he HATED I'm Not There and also mentioned hating There Will Be Blood, tho' that post has been taken down, presumably because TWBB hasn't opened in SF yet. Of course, LaSalle had Click on his Ten Best List last year...

Posted by Mike Schaefer at December 11, 2007 1:23 PM

comment #13

PerfectTommy says ...

And Mike, don't forget Mick gave a positive review to Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer.

Posted by PerfectTommy at December 11, 2007 1:38 PM

comment #14

Nick J says ...

Well, I don't know what happened there. Sorry about that. If you didn't notice, I quite liked the film.

Posted by Nick J at December 11, 2007 2:02 PM

comment #15

PastePotPete says ...

Yeah I was thrilled to hear about this award... I think years from now the movies people will be still watching are Assassination of Jesse James, Zodiac, and No Country for Old Men. That only one of those is getting the acclaim it deserves is disappointing to say the least.

I'm sick of the Academy choosing films that, although worthy, are pretty forgettable and not ultimately an active part of the discussion. But that's nothing new. How Green Was My Valley, for example, was an excellent film, but it's not Citizen Kane.

The last film to win Best Picture that I don't think people regret is probably Unforgiven.

Of course by writing that the five people in the world who think it was overrated will come out now.

Posted by PastePotPete at December 11, 2007 2:12 PM

comment #16

GlassFamily says ...

They got this right... this is absolutely the best film I've seen this year.

Posted by GlassFamily at December 11, 2007 2:20 PM

comment #17

PerfectTommy says ...

Paste - The year after Unforgiven was Schinler's List which most (except maybe the keeper of this site) would agree was a pretty solid choice. Since then they have mainly been argument starters.

Posted by PerfectTommy at December 11, 2007 2:25 PM

comment #18

Doug Pratt says ...

The San Francisco critics, however, are the one group that ought to have named Zodiac the best film, just as in 2003 when the Boston critics recognized Mystic River, not so much because it deserved it on a wider scale, but because it was the contender that best made use their hometown setting.

Posted by Doug Pratt at December 11, 2007 2:32 PM

comment #19

truefaith says ...

Leave it to San Francisco to give the Best Picture honors to LITTLE CHILDREN last year and JESSE JAMES this year (when hardly anyone else did). They've got good taste in films that require the audience to actually think.

Posted by truefaith at December 11, 2007 2:48 PM

comment #20

BurmaShave says ...

Jesse James was truly the best film to come out this year. I believe it's one of the great films, on the level of Apocalypse Now or 2001, and history will recognize this.

Posted by BurmaShave at December 11, 2007 4:14 PM

comment #21