We don't want to ruin the surprise of Francois Ozon's wondrous new film Ricky, and we won't. The gist: an ordinary woman falls in love with an ordinary man. They live in French housing a project, work together in a factory, and to their surprise, they produce an extraordinary baby. Ricky.

Ozon's film contains moments of real grit, but also a dose of otherworldly magic that only cinema can provide. Ricky is currently playing at the IFC Center in New York. Read Marcy's review.

Fashion designer Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man, adapted from Christopher Isherwood's 1964 novel, tells the story of George Falconer (Colin Firth), an English professor grieving the loss of his long term partner Jim (Matthew Goode). The film starts with a moody shot of George, naked, drowning, and the piercing sounds of a car crash. The film takes place over a single day in George's life in Los Angeles in 1962 -- the day when George Falconer can no longer see into his future.

A Single Man opened in limited release on Friday. Guest Reviewer Peter Richter sees Oscar nominations in the film's future. Read his review.

James Cameron's upcoming special effects juggernaut Avatar was named Best Picture of 2009 by New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) this afternoon. Best Director honors went to Katheryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. The group, which includes your guides Marcy Dermansky and Jürgen Fauth, gave the most awards to Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, including Cinematography, Screenplay, and both Best Supporting Actor and Breakout Performance for Christoph Waltz.

Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) narrowly beat out Tilda Swinton (Julia) in a dramatic tie-breaker vote for Best Actress. Best Supporting Actress went to Precious' Mo'Nique, and Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for the country music drama Crazy Heart. Crazy Heart also won Best Music/Score.

Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon won the award for Best Foreign Film, The Cove for documentary, and Pixar's Up was named Best Animated Feature. The cast of Aramando Iannucci's In the Loop was awarded Best Ensemble, and Marc Webb won Debut Director for (500) Days of Summer.

NYFCO's best 11 films of the year, in alphabetical order: Adventureland, Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The Messenger, Precious, A Serious Man, Two Lovers, Up, and Up in the Air.

Previous Years: 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003

The Last Station, directed by Michael Hoffman (A Midsummer Nights Dream, One Fine Day) is the story of how one person's beliefs can influence the people around them. We witness this in the most grand scale, through the connection between Russian author Leo Tolstoy's (Christopher Plummer) teachings and his disciples. We also witness this on a more intimate scale in Tolstoy's relationship with his wife, Countess Sofya Andreyevna (Helen Mirren). Hoffman's script allows us insight into the last days of Tolstoy and the controversy that followed him as he struggled to manage the duality of his private and public life.

The Last Station, also with Anne-Marie Duff and Paul Giamatti, opens today. Read the review by Peter Richter.

Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker won Best Feature last night at the 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards held at New York City's Cipriani Wall Street. Bigelow's suspenseful Iraqi drama also took the prize for Best Ensemble Performance. The talented cast included Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty and Evangeline Lilly.

Best Documentary went to Robert Kenner's Food, Inc. The Breakthrough Director Award went to Robert Siegel for Big Fan. Catalina Saaverda received the Breakthrough Actor Award for her performance in The Maid. Ry Russo-Young's You Won't Miss Me took the prize for Best Film Not Playing At A Theater Near You.

For more news of the night: http://gotham.ifp.org

A new Pedro Almodovar film starring the talented and gorgeous Penelope Cruz is bound to be a treat, and Broken Embraces is just that. Cruz stars as Lina, as the woman caught between the desires of a filmmaker and a powerful financier.

A closing night selection at the New York Film Festival, Broken Embraces is currently playing in theaters. Read Marcy's review.

Nicolas Cage plays a bug-eyed cop with a drug problem and a broken moral compass in Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, a fascinatingly complex film ripe with intoxicating cross-currents of cynicism, tragedy, and absurdity. With Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, and Fairuza Balk.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans opens tomorrow in New York and Los Angeles, with more cities to follow. Read Jürgen's review.

What a fantastic idea it was for Wes Anderson to adapt Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anderson and his co-conspirator Noah Baumbach holed away in Dahl's cottage in England to write the screenplay, fleshing out the classic children's story into an animated feature length-film. While the result may certainly please kids (though in some instances there is cause for genuine alarm), it's cinema-candy for grown-ups. I left the screening room thinking, I want to see this movie again.

The fantastic cast of voices includes George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Wes Anderson regulars Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman.

Fantastic Mr. Fox opens today in New York and Los Angeles, before going wide on November 25. Read Marcy's review.

The title might make you think you're in for something raunchy, but Josiane Balasko's bittersweet film is anything but. The always wonderful Nathalie Baye stars as Judith, an independent woman who is pragmatic about the difference between love and sex and willing to pay to fulfill her desire. Eric Caravaca co-stars as Marco, a hard working professional caught between the needs of young wife and his favorite client.

A French Gigolo was a box office hit in its native France and debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. In the U.S., the film will make a modest debut as part of the IFC Festival Direct program. It's available for download beginning today.

Set during World War II in Tunis, Karin Albou's The Wedding Song is the story of a friendship between adolescent girls tested by drastic circumstances. The second film by the director of the award-winning Little Jerusalem, starring Olympe Borval and Lizzie Brochere, opens today in New York.

Read Marcy's review.