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Article snippet: The New York Times chief film critics, Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott, share their favorite pictures of the year. In March, the producer-director Brett Ratner said that the website Rotten Tomatoes “was the worst thing we have in today’s movie culture,” directly blaming it for “the destruction of our business.” It isn’t common practice for industry influencers to go after critics, but sometimes desperation wins out. That perhaps also explains why in August, Harvey Weinstein wrote a column in Deadline flacking his much-delayed, soon-to-be flop “Tulip Fever,” admitting that “writing this article is probably akin to putting a target on my back.” In early October, Mr. Weinstein was accused by several women of sexual harassment and assault; in November, Mr. Ratner was facing serious allegations about sexual harassment and misconduct, and it was evident that these two power brokers had been living in a very different world — almost a parallel universe, really — with very different concerns, rules and ethics than many of us. The charges against them and the allegations leveled against other influential men in the entertainment industry and outside it are the cultural story of 2017. They will remain the story for some time. Perhaps that’s why I’m especially grateful for this year’s good and great movies. Filmmakers make movies despite often-crushing odds, and some make movies while also struggling against entrenched prejudices. The revelations of the past few months — and ... Link to the full article to read more