Filmcap: The week of Dec 25-Jan 1

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the first season of Homeland finish up one year of filmcaps on this blog, while also being the last one. From now on, you will only blog posts for individual films because that seems like a much easier format. Also, I am now only one month behind on posts, which is actually something I can live with. Here's to 2012. 

Filmcap: The week of Dec 18-25

Shame is the only film that will be reviewed in this post. I will likely be switching to a one-movie-per-post format after I finish up with all the filmcaps for the year 2011, which is just one more after this post. You can also look for my long-awaited best films of 2011 very soon, working on that now. 

Filmcap: The week of Dec 11-18

Meek's Cutoff, Poetry, and Circumstance are a few of the films reviewed this week. I took a look at a couple 2011 releases that were some of the best I've seen of the year. Also included are a couple films on social issues, one is physician-assisted suicide, and the other is gay rights in Iran. Only one was successful. Many many more 2011 movies coming up.

My Favorite Television Shows of 2011

Everyone knows by now that television is now a completely serious and important art form. While many desire to compare film and television, I think that television has now reached a point where it no longer needs to be compared to film because it is now a distinct art form that has its own advantages, and this was well displayed in this years crop of television.

My list of my five favorite television shows (with the next five in unranked order) represents the diversity of styles that television now offers. Not only did we get smart versions of familiar genres, but we also got a show that delivers some of that incredible tension that only television can induce, and also a show that highlights perfectly a singular point-of-view of an auteur.

Because I believe that season by season judgement is the best way to judge television shows, I only counted the shows that had seasons that ended in 2011, which also means I tried my best not to consider the ongoing seasons of shows like Parks & Recreation when judging the season that ended in 2011. There also a couple of shows that I did watch that I feel I may have had merited serious considerations if I had watched them. The most notable of those are Treme and Justified (currently catching up with that one). I've also included links to the original reviews of the shows if they have been written about previously. For the shows without links, reviews are probably forthcoming.

Filmcap: The week of Dec 4-11

Raise the Red Lantern. Certified Copy, and Sideways are some of the films reviewed this week. I continue my catch up on 2011 films and I find one true masterpiece as well as two interesting but a bit standard works. In addition, I check out two films by renowned directors, one American and one Chinese, both with new films out this year. In this post you'll find films about second chances, coming together in the face of hardship, and why authenticity may not matter. 

Filmcap: The week of Nov 28-Dec 4

Old Joy, and Aguirre: The Wrath of God are the two films that get reviewed in this post. Two absolutely wonderful movies that capture nature and all its beauty through the theme of friendship in one, and the theme of madness in the pursuit of power in the other. 

My Eight Favorite Albums of 2011

Contrary to every post I have posted, this is not exclusively a movie blog, and because the name is Being Samir I can post whatever I want, so here is my favorite music of 2011. I am not an expert on music and I never write about music but I hope readers find some music in this list that they have not heard before and end up taking a listen to. Coming up in the next couple weeks is my favorite of TV in 2011 and my favorite movies of 2011.

Filmcap: The week of Nov 21-28

Many 2011 movies in this post, including Melacholia, Hugo, and Take Shelter. There will be many many more movies from 2011 that you can expect in the coming posts, because I certainly had a lot to watch at this point to make sure I can do a good top movies of 2011 list. This post has some movies that are highly likely to appear on that list. Included in this post are discussions of depression, obsession, and madness, but also two works that celebrate old masters of filmmaking. 

Filmcap: The week of Nov 13-20

Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry and Scorsese's New York, New York both feature in this post that also includes a Thai movie with a very long name by a director who also has a very long name. In this post you will read about Scorsese's epic experiment, the similarities between the movies of Marvel Studios, and how a movie that makes very little sense can still be completely magical. 

Filmcap: The week of Nov 6-13

Breathless, Breaking the Waves, and All About My Mother are some of the movies from this week. The first two are masterpieces and if you read the reviews of those films will have you read about why the famous jump cuts in Breathless actually add to the subtext of the movie and why Breaking the Waves is one of the best examples of an great ambitious film done on a small budget while also featuring one of the best performances of all time. Also in this post is what I believe to be two of the most under-appreciated films of 2011.