Critics' Choice 10 Best

Behind the Critics' Choices

Joey Berlin
President, Broadcast Film Critics Association

Every year, a handful of films emerge as standouts among the crowded
release schedule, earning praise from cinephile groups throughout the
land. The Broadcast Film Critics Association has chosen its Ten Best
and is proud to present them as part of the Critics' Choice Ten Best
Fest. The films are shown in a theatrical setting that honors the
filmmakers vision; a post screening Q&A session provides the
audience...
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TABLE OF
CONTENTS

Making
Samurai
If the devil is in the details, then there was plenty of devil in
The Last Samurai.As director Edward Zwick explains, his decision
to commit the film to historically accurate visuals at an epic-like
scale meant an almost unending research...
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High
Seas Filmmaking
To work as envisioned by director Peter Weir, Master and Commander:
The Far Side of the World required a particularly grueling
production by any standard. Weir's insistence on historical accuracy
bordered...
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Shooting Horses on Courses
Production of Seabiscuit, a period piece based on Laura
Hillenbrand's novel about the rise of the legendary and unlikely 1930s
horseracing champion, illustrates the clever lengths to which some
modern filmmakers will go...

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Finishing Cold Mountain
Director Anthony Minghella decided early in prepa-ration for Cold
Mountain that the production and postproduction of the movie would
be unorthodox in several respects. He decided principal photography on
the Civil War-era piece would...

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Gritty
Mystic Mood
Director of photography Tom Stern is smart enough to point at his boss,
Clint Eastwood, whenever any discussion of Mystic River's
critical success is raised. The riveting and disturbing story of
murder, betrayal, and revenge is among the most...
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Read
about the other nominees
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PDF of entire BFCA supplement

For more information on the
Broadcast Film Critic Association's 10 Best Fest, click here.