Martin Scorsese once stated, “I used to think of Godard and Antonioni as the great modern visual artists of cinema—great colorists who composed frames the way painters composed their canvases.” While that can be true of Godard, many of his films also have a stripped-down feel that is still beautiful. With Antonioni, I find that it applies to him about as much as it does to any filmmaker of the second half of the 20th century.
Read MoreAll around polyglot French poet Jean Cocteau made Beauty and the Beast right at the very end of World War II and the beginning of the peace in pretty meager conditions. The studio itself had spotty electricity and no heating. The actors reportedly huddled together to keep warm. But you’d never know it.
Read MoreThere are many, many versions of Emma: there's Gwyneth's, Kate Beckinsale's, a couple of BBC miniseries, and, of course, Clueless. But the thing about Jane Austen, like Shakespeare, is that there is always room for a new version…
Read MoreFor the final two entries in this series, which will almost certainly conclude next week, I have selected my favorite short films. I came across The Adventure after seeing the director, Mike Brune’s, sole feature, Congratulations! at a film festival in probably 2012. Going in, I knew nothing about that film however the capsule summary piqued my attention to the max:
“Congratulations! is an absurdist crime-thriller-comedy about Detective Dan Skok of the Missing Persons Bureau and the unusual case of Paul Ryan Gray, a boy who goes missing in his own house.”
Read MoreItalian director Luchino Visconti once stated, “I like melodrama because it is situated just at the meeting point between life and theater.” Visconti, who like Elia Kazan in America had his origins in theater, would then go on to begin his film career in the 40s, becoming one of the pioneers of Italian neorealism along with Vittorio De Sica, and Roberto Rossellini, and making such classics as Ossession, and La Terra Trema. In these films he provided us with the workings of everyday people - with casts consisting of non-professional actors - and he filmed on basic locations.
Read MoreThis piece isn’t to argue that Fritz Lang’s and Thea Von Harbou’s and Peter Lorre’s M (1931, dir by Fritz Lang, Germany) is an underrated masterpiece.
Most everyone has to see it in film school. And it ranks 56th and 75th respectively in the critics’ and directors’ 2012 Sight and Sound Poll of the top 100 movies of all time.
But this piece is here to argue that even that feels off. M may be one of the top 10 greatest movies of all time. At least in this programmer’s opinion.
And ultimately, this piece is really just a two arm grabbing, slightly jostling plea for you to watch it again. As soon as possible. It may just…
Read MoreMae West was very unusual for the time in that she was her own screenwriter, and was the complete creator of the Mae West character for 20 years in the theatre before she got anywhere near movies. Of course, she had to wait for the movies to not only be invented, but be talkies - she would not have fared well in the silent cinema.
Read MoreThe first question asked about Black Girl (at least in this column) must be “Is this really a short film?” At just under one hour, it’s definitely a short film but is that too long to consider it a Short Film? Where’s the breaking point?…
Read MoreWhen I was re-watching last year’s Licorice Pizza, something came across my mind that hadn’t on the previous viewings, and that’s the influence of Jonathan Demme on Paul Thomas Anderson. When Pizza was first released, I read one review comparing it to Robert Altman - as has happened with so many of his films - along with Martin Scorsese. These are two auteurs who have very distinct and obvious styles, and they’re two of his favorite filmmakers. But Anderson’s favorite is Jonathan Demme, whose style isn’t quite as overt.
Read MoreLuis Buñuel famously said “Thank God I’m still an athiest.”
I respond, “Thank God for atheist filmmakers like Luis Buñuel”
This isn’t meant to be glib. I make this statement with the hope of…
Read MoreLast week, here in Los Angeles, we had the 21st Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, or LALIFF, which was five days of features, shorts, animation, and music. My friend, Pamela Ribon, who co-wrote Ralph Breaks the Internet and Moana, amongst many other things, had a short in the festival called My Year of Dicks,, so I went to see that as part of an evening of shorts that were really universally top notch.
Read MoreIn an effort to showcase the wide range of short film forms, previous installments in this series have discussed a handmade special effects extravaganza (Tango), a traditionally-structured horror narrative (La Cabina), and an absolute enigma (Who is on First?) This week’s selection, A Sense of History, offers another distinct approach: monologue.
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