Keith Moncrief

10. Inglorious Basterds
9. Watchmen
8. Up In The Air
7. District 9
6. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince
5. Sherlock Holmes
4. Star Trek
3.The Hangover
2. UP
1. James Cameron’s Avatar

For the last twenty years, Keith Moncrief has worked to bring film and television production to Southwest
Missouri. With credits that have allowed him to work for the Sci-fi Channel, CMT cable network and Fremantle Media (the company behind American Idol). In 1997 Keith met up with Kevin Howard of Alice 95.5fm
and was dubbed “The Movie Geek”. Which has afforded him the opportunity to review films and events in pop as well as geek culture for the Morning Show with Kevin & Liz radio show. (Some of the biggest celebs on the planet identify themselves as Geeks.  They even have their own magazine called “Geek”!)

When not spending time with family or his many production projects, Keith can be found on Twitter following the rest of the “Geeks” that seem to spend alot of time there. Hmmmmmm.

And now to my favorite U.S. drama without any movie stars at all: Winter’s Bone, directed by Debra Granik from a screenplay she cowrote with Anne Rosellini and based on a novel by Daniel Woodrell, is set in the Ozarks, where a very different teenaged girl, played with star-making self-possession by Jennifer Lawrence (left), is stretched to her limits. She’s protective guardian of her young siblings and caregiver to her incapacitated mother while her own crystal-meth-making daddy has skipped bail, having put the family home up for bond. Poverty is familiar to this young lioness, but without a home, she knows the family will fall apart . And as she sets out to find her father, this stark, underplayed, regionally authentic drama becomes a Western, a tribal saga, a mythic tale. Granik (whose fine 2004 drama Down To the Bone provided a breakthrough role for Vera Farmiga) works with the kind of commitment to narrative truth and attention to regional authenticity that characterized the earliest movies in Sundance’s long and lively history. I have no doubt Winter’s Bone will be picked up soon, if it hasn’t already. But you’ll have to seek this one out, because it’s quiet, and serious, and bleak. Do: It’s also another wonderful Sundance discovery, glinting like the silver that used to be mined in these Utah mountains.

from Entertainment Weekly, Sundance: ‘The Kids Are All Right,’ ‘Winter’s Bone,’ and films from around the world by Lisa Schwarzbaum

An elegant, soft spoken noir, Debra Granik’s “Winter’s Bone” exudes desolation. Adapting Daniel Woodrell’s novel of the same name, Granik simultaneously develops a dreary backwoods environment while situating her layered story of deceit within it. Set in the heart of Missouri’s Ozark woods, the movie revolves around despondent teenager Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence, in a focused, incessantly serious performance), whose father vanishes after selling their house as jail bond. Serving as a surrogate mother for her two younger siblings, Ree begins a trenchant investigation into her father’s whereabouts, desperately seeking to keep her family from losing the only shelter available to them. Her determination, emboldened by the discouragement of those around her, drives the narrative forward with pulsating momentum.

From Indiewire: REVIEW | Drama in Absence: “Winter’s Bone” by Eric Kohn

As the 2010 Sundance Film Festival closes in on its final weekend, indieWIRE‘s poll of dozens of Park City-present critics and bloggers is quickly making clear the best and worst of this year’s fest. The following is a list of the top ten films in both competition and non-competition programs (that have received 3 or more grades apiece). It will be updated throughout the coming days. For a full list of all grades click here.

Ten Best Competition Films
1. Gasland (Josh Fox, U.S. Doc)
2. 12th & Delaware (Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, U.S. Doc)
3. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, U.S. Dramatic)
4. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, U.S. Doc)
5. Last Train Home (Lixin Fan, World Doc)
6. Waiting For Superman (Davis Guggenheim, U.S. Doc)
7. Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, U.S. Dramatic) film page
8. Restrepo (Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, U.S. Doc)
9. Animal Kingdom (David Michôd, World Dramatic)
10. The Oath (Laura Poitras, U.S. Doc)

From Indiewire: Highs & Lows of Sundance: “Gift Shop,” “GasLand” Lead Critics Poll

TAG MovieBuffs - Brett Johnston, Chris DeRosier, Scott Perket

When I tallied up the 2009 released I saw it came to 9, and that would have meant including Transformers 2 and My Bloody Valentine 3-D. I can’t put either of those on my best-of list in good conscience, so I called in the rest of the TAG crew for an assist. What follows is the list Brett, Scott and I (Allen doesn’t see movies in the theater, so he bowed out) came up with after voting and deliberating:

1. Up – Maybe the first children’s animation about an old man. Incredible with enough humor for adults to enjoy along with the kids.

2. The Hangover – Brett’s stomach hurts from remembering how hard he laughed. Scott calls it the best comedy he has seen in more than a decade.

3. Watchmen – All three of us saw it, and we all thought it was miscast in trailers as a typical comic-book movie. The book wasn’t a typical comic book, either. The movie didn’t live up to that, but that was impossible, anyway.

4. The Road – A tense story showing man at its worst and Viggo Mortensen’s acting at its best.

5. Where the Wild Things Are – No movie I have ever seen captures what it is to be a kid, with all the imagination and intense emotionality involved, as beautifully or clearly.

6. Inglorious Basterds – Trademark Tarantino: vice-grip tension with moments of brilliantly subtle humor to take the edge off. Yes, humor and Nazis fit into the same movie. Credit Brad Pitt for making that happen.

7. Food, Inc. – A must-view for every American, Brett says. A very well-produced documentary, though not in the same vein as Michael Moore. It will light a fire under you.

8. The Soloist – Jamie Foxx played an insane man and Robert Downey, Jr. played a sane one. By the end of the movie, you can relate to Foxx’s rationality and to Downey’s crazy whims–NOT an easy feat.

9. Public Enemies – Even better than Michael Mann’s handheld camera use was how he captured the media frenzy that accompanied outlaws in John Dillinger’s era. It was nice to see Johnny Depp not wear an eyepatch, too.

10. I Love You Man – A comedy with the clever slant of dudes courting dudes. Hilarious concept, and it worked.

This sparked so much discussion we’re thinking of doing a podcast about it. If you’d like we can send you that when it’s done, too. Thanks again, Steve! This was really fun!

TAG Magazine’s four staffers–Chris DeRosier, Brett Johnston, Scott Perket and Allen Vaughan–are veterans of covering entertainment in Springfield, whether it be music, sports, arts, movies or more. Combining the forces of popular local sites The FourFour, Res Specs Online and S.A.U.C.E. Magazine, the staff is dedicated to bringing you everything fun to experience in the city–from the inside. They have more than a little fun doing it, too.

Winters Bone director, Debra Granik

“Winter’s Bone” is the best film I’ve seen this Festival and also one of the best films I’ve seen in the past year, a drama I appreciated more as I became increasingly immersed in its unique world.

From the Fien Print, Inside TV+Movies with Daniel Fienberg, Sundance Review: ‘Winter’s Bone’ Posted on Sunday, Jan 24, 2010

The strongest competition film is Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone, a hillbilly noir set in the Ozarks, featuring an absolutely stunning performance by Jennifer Lawrence. I liked Granik’s Down to the Bone, with Vera Farmiga, which premiered six years ago, but this is really something to see. It mixes styles and tones beautitfully, and it’s colored by some beautiful uses of music, folklore and the down low. It’s the kind of film where every single performance feels note perfect. I’ll have more about it later.

From Light Sensitive, Sundance: part one by Patrick Z. McGavin

The Sundance premiere of Winter’s Bone was sort of everything good about film festivals in a nutshell. I’d gone to see The Company Men, a big-deal kind of festival movie because it has Ben Affleck and Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones in it, knowing I probably wouldn’t get in. When my suspicions were confirmed, I went into second-choice Winter’s Bone completely cold, seeing a movie I’d never heard of without movie stars or a provocative premise. And you know what? It kicked my ass.

From Filmdrunk.com WINTER’S BONE WILL TORCH YR METH LAB Hat tip to Matt “America” Darst for the pointer to the review

Sparely adapted by Granik and producer Anne Rosellini from a novel by Daniel Woodrell, the film amply confirms the low-budget artistry and skill with actors Granik evinced in her coincidentally similar-in-title debut, “Down to the Bone,” which won the directing award at Sundance in 2004. In its frigid rural setting (the Missouri Ozarks, where the film was entirely shot) and its story of a woman prepared to cross social and legal boundaries to keep her house and family intact, “Winter’s Bone” also bears a resemblance to another Sundance prize winner, 2008′s “Frozen River.”

From Variety Sundance – Winter’s Bone By JUSTIN CHANG

James Owen, local Broadcast Film Critics Association member

I will give two lists, although a “Moxie” list and a “non-Moxie” list is a bit tricky. Some mainstream films started at the multiplexes but ended up with more successful runs at The Moxie. Some films playing at the big theaters should be considered indies. But here’s how I am going to break it down. (Hey, this sounds like a good topic already!) Here we go:

Top Ten Mainstream Films

1. Inglorious Basterds
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Away We Go
4. Up in the Air
5. The Informant!
6. Public Enemies
7. Where the Wild Things Are
8. Adventureland
9. Watchmen
10. The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Top Ten Indie Films

1. A Serious Man
2. Two Lovers
3. Sugar
4. Forbidden Lie$
5. The Road
6. Sin Nombre
7. Big Fan
8. In the Loop
9. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
10. Burma VJ

From his BFCA bio – James Owen has a long background in film criticism, most recently working as the on-air film critic for KY3. He brings a unique and quasi-academic approach to talking about movies. Prior to his move to TV, he was the film columnist for Springfield Go! and a freelance writer for 417 Magazine. Until recently, James was co-editor and writer for www.filmsnobs.com. The site, which he co-created, was subject to profile in the Lawrence (KS) Journal-World and the Kansas City Star. Additionally, the Star named James one of the Top 30 Artists Under the Age of 30 in the KC Metro area in 2004. While on Filmsnobs, he was a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Association and the Online Film Critics Circle and was featured at www.rottentomatoes.com. James also worked as a Judge for the short-lived Springfield International Film Festival.

In his spare time, James is an associate attorney with Hosmer, King, & Royce, LLC in Springfield.

Chris Louzader with Tom Cruise

My choices below are made from a pure movie lovers point of view

MAINSTREAM:
1. THE BLIND SIDE
2. UP IN THE AIR
3. INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
4. PUBLIC ENEMIES
5. STATE OF PLAY
6. SHERLOCK HOLMES
7. STAR TREK
8. DUPLICITY
9. TAKEN
10. HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU

HONORABLE MENTIONS: THE HANGOVER (finally a good comedy) & AVATAR (ground
breaking film making)

NON-MAINSTREAM:
1. THE HURT LOCKER
2. PRECIOUS
3. FOOD INC.
4. AN EDUCATION
5. PIRATE RADIO
HONORABLE MENTION: MICHAEL JACKSON THIS IS IT (impressive)

WORST MOVIE OF 2009: 2012

What are your faves????

Background information from Chris’s bio at the Broadcast Film Critics Association website – Chris “The Critic” Louzader has loved movies since the first movie she ever saw in a theatre, GREASE! Since graduation from Missouri State University (formerly SMSU) with an emphasis on Film Studies, Chris has been giving her opionion on movies to anyone and everyone.

Chris began her career in Springfield, Missouri in radio in 1993 at KTTS-FM as a commercial writer and “Christine the Movie Queen.” Her first formal review was 1996′s MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, starring her favorite actor, Mr. Tom Cruise.

Chris now covers lots of airwaves, still in Springfield at MidWest Family Broadcasting. Chris has a weekday entertainment segment, STARWATCH, at 4:20pm on KOSP STAR 105.1, as well as FRIDAY FLIX at 8:40am – www.star1051.fm. Another weekday entertainment segment airs at 8:50am on KOMG 92.9 BASS COUNTRY – www.basscountry.fm. CHRIS THE CRITIC can ALSO be heard on Fridays at 10:30am on KQRA Q102.1 SPRINGFIELD’S NEW ROCK ALTERNATIVE – wwwq1021.fm.

NOW, CHRIS THE CRITIC can even be seen every Thursday at 7:40am and 9:40pm on FOX FLIX on KSFX FOX 27.

Just remember, Chris says the greatest movie of all time is SILENCE OF THE LAMBS!