Montrose man earns a spot in film critics society
Movie studios showered James Cole Clay with 60 DVDs last month, hoping to win his favor as a voter in the 2016 Houston Film Critics Society awards.
The Montrose resident, who juggles jobs as a part-time movie critic and part-time dog walker, won membership in the HFCS this year by reviewing several films each week for the Dallas-based website, freshfiction.tv.
“It’s the first critics’ group I’ve gotten into, so it was a pretty big milestone,” said Clay, 28.
“It’s fantastic — I am now a peer — I’m hanging out with the hogs.”
That includes appearing Jan. 9 at the annual awards ceremony of the group of about 30 Houstonarea print, broadcast and Internet film critics.
At the ceremony, Clay announced Oscar winner Matt Damon as winner of the HFCS’s Humanitarian Award for his work to address the world’s water crisis.
Damon, a co-founder of water.org, uses the power of celebrity to bring attention to a serious situation, said Clay.
Also receiving a special award from the HFCS was Dennis Quaid, cited for his “lifetime achievement” working on more than 70 films.
The Houston native, who attended Bellaire High School and the University of Houston, gave star-making performances in “Breaking Away” (1979) and “The Right Stuff” (1983) before being named best supporting actor by the prestigious New York Film Critics’ Circle as Frank Whitaker in for “Far from Heaven” (2002).
“As the film society of our city, we are thrilled to honor a ‘native son’ for a career filled with memorable moments on film,” said the group’s president, Joshua Starnes, a Spring resident who works in downtown Houston.
HFCS winners were also announced in other categories, including best picture of the year.
“The number one film was pretty easy for me,” said Clay. “I picked ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and director George Miller.”
His second choice was the science-fiction movie, “Ex Machina,” which Clay described as a cautionary tale about the effect that technology and artificial intelligence can have on a society.
“Both of my favorites came out earlier in the year, which is surprising because a lot of films that are jockeying for places on Top 10 lists or critics’ awards usually come out October through December,” he said.
To remind critics of films that might have been overlooked or forgotten, studios send out DVDs hoping to attract year-end honors that can be parlayed into Oscar nominations announced Jan. 14.
“We weren’t able to see ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ before we voted,” said Clay, “but I expect it to get some nominations from the Academy Awards. It’s a hell of a movie.”
Clay grew up in Waco, becoming a film fan after seeing Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” he said, “at far too young an age.”
“In the ’90s, when we got our first multiplex, I was about 16, and I would go to the movies three or four times a week,” said Clay. “That was a lot of my education in pop culture.”
At the University of North Texas in Denton, Clay earned a bachelor’s degree in radio-television-film with particular emphasis on film history and criticism.
“That was cool because we learned how film noir and the French New Wave informed independent films in American cinema,” he said.
Clay hooked up with freshfiction.tv before moving to Houston for a marketing job.
“That was not the right fit, so I did some radio-producing,” he said, before settling into part-time work with Houston Dog Walkers, as well as reviewing movies.
“I have a romance with going to the movies,” said Clay, who tends to avoid watching films that stream online.
“Going to the movies is really special and not something that we should take for granted.”
In addition to voting on year-end awards, the HFCS encourages area filmmakers and students through outreach programs, said Starnes.
For more information, visit houstonfilmcritics.org.
For further information about the Academy Awards, visit www.oscars.org.