Mid-December has arrived, and with that comes the inevitable flood of best-of lists. The Washington Area Film Critics’ Association has, for the previous five years of its existence, been in the habit of trying to get their own list out ahead of most of the other critics’ societies. We can’t really blame them. Considering the fact that none of the critics from the city’s biggest newspaper are members, not to mention the fact that the…

It must be hard out there for a Washington film critic. You’ve got big-city cinema dreams, but you’re stuck in a town where politics is usually the order of the day. The number of people who turn to you as the last word in quality filmmaking is probably frustratingly small considering the size of the media market you’re working in. So what are our humble D.C. area film critics to do? Well, as we’ve noted…

We suppose the awards season has officially begun when the ‘Best Of’ lists start arriving in our mailbox, though it certainly feels like the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association has managed to get theirs out at a conspicuously early time each year since it began giving awards in 2002. Maybe they’re just trying to be the first out of the gate, and thus guaranteeing themselves a little ink in the inevitable pre-Oscar roundups. Or…

End of the year picks, pans, and best of lists are starting to leak out and soon will be flooding that dead air between Christmas and the New Year. The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association got a head start and just released their “Best Of” list for 2004. Surprisingly, Michel Gondry’s surreal “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” claimed top honors as Best Film. Gondry also won for Best Director. The DC critics collective…