SEVEN SAMURAI part 2 (1954, Kurosawa)
This post would have come a lot sooner had I not been locked in mortal combat with YouTube; it's getting harder to find clips I can comment on or post without being blocked. (I've appealed and hopefully "fair use" will
THE KING OF COMEDY (1982, Scorsese)
I love the ending to Scorsese's hilarious dark comedy The King of Comedy. The film is a fascinating, entertaining, and hilarious examination of a man's obsessive ambition to be a famous comedian, even though he doesn't nearly have the chops to
VERTIGO (1958, Hitchcock)
Like the previous post about Scorsese, this shot is staged with great originality and really bares the stamp of the director. Kim Novak's famous entrance in the film is so simple, restrained, elegant, and full of weight. The placement of
MAD MEN: AN APPRECIATION
In honor of, nay, in grieving for, the final episode of MAD MEN, I wanted to post about what the show has meant to me. As luck would have it (for this blog post, at least), watching the show from
SPIELBERG ONERS (Zhou, 2014)
I really enjoy the work that Tony Zhou does with his Every Frame a Painting video essays. They're informative, well considered and presented, insightful, and super educational for even the seasoned filmmaker. Whether you've never thought of a particular idea before or
BACK TO THE FUTURE (Zemeckis, 1985)
Couldn't have done this better myself, so I post it here. This by the same guy, Jamie Benning, who created the fantastic "filmumentaries" on JAWS, RAIDERS, and STAR WARS, by exhaustively collecting existing interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, alternate takes, etc, and cutting them
SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO PEOPLE (Murnau, 1927)
Watched this movie the other night on a beautifully restored blu-ray transfer. For its time, the visuals in this film must have been startling and arresting. In fact, it won an Oscar at the first Academy Awards, for "Unique and
ICONIC oner
This shot is a no-brainer post, that is, I had to post it, because of its brilliance both in conception and execution. And what's more, we get to see exactly how it was shot. A little master class. Iconic images
Directors Guild Panel 2013
I got my annual front and center seats to the DGA panel of nominated best directors. This year was a great line-up: Tom Hooper (Les Miz), Ben Affleck (Argo), Katheryn Bigelow (Zero Dark 30), Ang Lee (Life of Pi) and
FRANKLIN & BASH (2011, Ensler)
I wanted to share some of my experiences on the show and showcase an impressive shot from the F&B pilot that has a wonderfully gripping behind-the-scenes tale to go with it, straight from the mouth of the shot's director &