The Cove News

A warning sign near the cove in Taiji is glimpsed in "The Cove," a documentary about dolphin-killing that will be shown at the Auburn Public Theater.

In our annual "best" and "worst" lists, Weekly film critics Jeanne Aufmuth, Peter Canavese and Susan Tavernetti give the lowdown on the good and the rotten in 2009's movies.

We're coming to the end of the year in movies, and I'm going to be posting lots of these Top 10 lists to the blog in the days ahead, in addition to my usual Top 10 movies of the year list.

We've already unveiled the first clutch of films to get a Dazzle Award - see which films made the cut here! Now it's on with the awards... Docos had a good year as well - but there are three which stand head and shoulders above the rest.

If you wanted to escape in 2009, you weren't alone. In a year of recession, war and melting polar ice caps, audiences sought relief - if only for a few hours - at the movies.

Australia's prime minister threatened legal action against Japan on Friday if it does not stop its research whaling program that kills up to 1,000 whales a year.

Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg battle the summertime blues in 'Adventureland.' Courtesy Miramax This has been heralded as the year of the animated movie, and with good reason: Fantastic Mr.

What strikes you about the individual lists of The Hollywood Reporter film critics' top 10 films for 2009 is the wide range of styles, genres and commercial appeal in these choices.

It's weird to think Japanese director Takashi Miike, the madman behind Audition, Ichi the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris , is bigger in America than his native land.

Julie and Julia, Harry Potter and The Cove, along with the return of Chris Brown.

Pick of the week: "The Cove" Louie Psihoyos' chronicle of activist and former Flipper trainer Ric O'Barry's efforts to capture video of the slaughter of thousands of dolphins in a remote Japanese cove is clearly biased - the director also co-founded the ocean preservation group that produced the documentary.

Julie & Julia Sony , $28.96; Blu-ray , $39.95 *** The "Julia" half of Nora Ephron 's comedy is absolute- ly wonderful, casting Meryl Streep as Julia Child and showing how the beloved TV chef developed an interest in French cooking .

The Hurt Locker This successful Iraq movie has been gaining steam in the awards circuit, especially for director Kathryn Bigelow and lead Jeremy Renner.

Canuck-China coproduction "Last Train Home," about a Chinese migrant worker family, topped the 22nd Intl.

For Oregon journalist Paul Linnman, covering a story about blowing up a giant sperm whale with a ton of dynamite was just another day on the beat.

Richard O'Barry found fame and fortune as the man who selected and trained five dolphins for the 1960s television series "Flipper." But one of those dolphins died in his arms, depressed over its conditions in captivity, O'Barry says.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their list of the final group of 15 films that will contend for the Best Documentary Feature award this week, and with said announcement comes a twinge of bittersweetness.

Of the 89 documentary films eligible for Oscar consideration this year, "The Cove," directed by Dubuque native Louie Psihoyos, was among the 15 selected on a short list of potential nominees, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced.

Part of me wants to believe that the Academy is ahead of the curve and that they do their best to look past current flings to try and find films that will make lasting impressions on the industry.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards .