Category Archives: Films

There Will Be Blood’s Kubrick References

Not that this short video goes very deep into the similarities between Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and Kubrick’s films (specifically 2001: A Space Odyssey), but it does illuminate some of the fun visual references. More so than … Continue reading

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Cassavetes and Rowlands in the Edit Room

No adequate words can describe a rare photo of these two greats. As good an on-set director as John Cassavetes was, his documentary style of constructing films from tremendous amounts of raw footage is the stuff of legend. Perhaps it … Continue reading

Posted in Criterion Collection, Films, John Cassavetes, Movies, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

OSCAR FORECAST: Best Director 2013

Best Director Predictions (as of 12-10-12): Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty Steven Spielberg, Lincoln Ben Affleck, Argo David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild Now that significant critics groups have had their say, Zero … Continue reading

Posted in Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin, Films, Foreign Films, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Movies, News, Oscar Talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Conversation’s Swirling, Lonely Piano

I’ve always felt that the piano score for The Conversation might be the film’s most innovative, and its most driving, aspect. Much has been written about Walter Murch’s use of sound, Gene Hackman’s aggressively pained/paranoid performance (and the invention of … Continue reading

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Paul Thomas Anderson, Amy Adams + The Dirk Diggler Story

For a moment there it looked like The Master might be the most revered film of 2012. Some even believed it had the might to get into the Oscar race for Best Picture. Now that critics and audiences have had … Continue reading

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Scoring Beasts of the Southern Wild

While I wasn’t as gaga over Beasts of the Southern Wild as some, I did respect the film a great deal. It’s impressive for multiple reasons, not least of which is the fact that it actually got made at all. … Continue reading

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REVIEW: Killing Them Softly

Nowhere in the overwhelming political commentary that plays through every scene in Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly do we hear the words “choice” or “mistake.” Two constructs that have become favorites for politicians, the notion of freedom to choose and … Continue reading

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A Bond Newbie’s Thoughts on 007: Licence to Kill

Short Take: Dark, simplified, and bloody, Licence to Kill is a fresh take on James Bond that doesn’ t fully follow-through on its noir promise. Where The Living Daylights trapped Timothy Dalton, a dour though compelling Bond, into a plot … Continue reading

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Thoughts on Tarantino and Morals

As I was eating dinner with friends, a casual conversation of upcoming movies led to the topic of Quentin Tarantino and his films (Django Unchained comes out later this month).  One friend, Lyndsey, exclaimed a personal love of Inglorious Basterds.  … Continue reading

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Best Feature Documentary Oscar Shortlist

This would have been an excellent list of nonfiction selections had The Central Park Five not been inexplicably left out. I guess it wouldn’t be the Documentary Oscar category without a few egregious snubs (see: Steve James). I need to … Continue reading

Posted in Detropia, Documentary, Errol Morris, Films, Movies, Oscar Talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments