Amidst the brouhaha going on, in the fake world of Twitter, over my reporting on the NYFCC runners-up, what struck me most is how herd mentality has infected American film criticism over these last five or so years.

Guillermo del Toro is telling IndieWire that a Black and White cut for "Nightmare Alley" exists, which he "hopes can be seen."

I was doing a bit of sleuthing last night, asking around about what was in contention at the New York Film Critics Circle. Of course, the group doesn’t reveal the runners-up, but I personally know a few members from the group who were happy to divulge some details.

MovieMaker’s Caleb Hammond has been all over this newly revealed Paul Verhoeven project titled “Young Sinner.” The film is said to be an Erotic Thriller set in Washington. Hammond, a reader of this site, sent over more details about the film last night.

I agree with many of the choices made today by the New York Film Critics Circle, even the ones I wasn’t so warm on had some kind of merit and substance-filled thinking behind them. All, except for Lady Gaga’s win for “House of Gucci.”

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s exquisite “Drive My Car” pulled off a shocker win this afternoon. The New York Film Critics Circle Named Hamaguchi’s 3-hour opus the Best Film of the year.

Sight & Sound‘s newly unveiled list of the best films of 2021 polled more than 100 voters.

Paul Verhoeven has his excellent “Benedetta” being released today, but the 83-year-old director isn’t slowing down.

Despite its tepid box-office numbers, Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” is absolutely killing it on the iTunes movie charts. It’s currently the top rental of the week. I know a few people who finally saw the film over the weekend and absolutely loved it. Word-of-mouth is strong with this one.

What does the National Board of Review picking Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza mean for the Oscar race? Well, we’re not entirely sure. If you remember, last year Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” was named Best Picture by the same voting group.

Everything has screened, I think. Unless “The Matrix Resurrections” of “A Journal for Jordan” turn out to be masterful. What are the chances of that happening?

The Berlin Film Festival is contemplating delayed their upcoming February edition due to the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, according to Variety.

Variety confirmed the new this afternoon. However, it looks as though Gary Oldman, who had originally been cast, is now replaced by the always-reliable Kevin Kline.

You can direct the hell out a movie, like Joe Wright does with his musical “Cyrano,” and still miss the mark. Not to mention full-blooded performances from Peter Dinklage as Cyrano de Bergerac and the wonderful Haley Bennett as his secret crush.

I didn’t tackle this topic yesterday, if anyone has read some of yesterday’s reactions, Spielberg’s “West Side Story” was purposefully made to completely omit the English subtitles during the Spanish spoken scenes.

It’s become a sort of annual tradition over here to post John Waters’ annual list of the best films of the year.

It’s absolutely fascinating getting to know the behind-the-scenes drama that happens at film festivals. This year, I was lucky enough to befriend a person deeply ingrained inside the Venezia selection committee and he’s been spilling the beans on the 2021 selection process ever since.