David Ansen is a contributing editor and film critic for Newsweek, where he has been reviewing movies since 1977. He's written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Film Comment and Interview. He is the artistic director of the Los Angeles Film Festival. Since he was 12, he has kept a list of every movie he has ever seen.

HIGHLIGHTS

Since 1998 Newsweek has hosted an Oscar roundtable with some of Hollywood's best performers talking about the craft of acting. Here are some of the big surprises from this year’s lineup, from George Clooney and Michael Fassbender on trailer envy to Christopher Plummer's shocking comments on the director he’ll never work with again.

Sapphic Cinema

Denounced in Iran, a winner at Sundance, Maryam Keshavarz’s film ‘Circumstance’ stunningly captures the love affair of two 16-year-old Iranian girls.