THE GOLD RUSH (1925, Chaplin)
Okay, just one more Chaplin post! This is the ur-famous moment from The Gold Rush, a bit so well received that, it is reported, when it first unspooled in Berlin, the applauding opening-night crowd demanded the projectionist rewind the film
PAY DAY (1922, Chaplin)
For a very short time, I was possibly the world's leading expert on Chaplin's work. I was making my silent, 1918-period film War Story, an homage to Chaplin's oeuvre, though with a modern twist (you can see my post on it
THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY (1966, Leone)
Sergio Leono is every bit the master of suspense as Hitchcock. He's one of my all-time favorite directors (possibly my very favorite dead director), because of his boldness, funk, imagination and the cinematic weight his work always displays. In today's
HARD PILL
This is a shot from my dogme-styled feature, a oner that was inspired by the lateness of the day and the large number of actors in the scene, like my theory in the previous post on Willy Wonka. In the
WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971, Stuart)
So glad to finally get Gene Wilder onto the blog. There are so many great quotes from this film, and this clip has one of my favorites, as much for the performance as for the line. And it's a double treat,
SEVEN SAMURAI (1954, Kurosawa)
This film has yielded so much influence, from Lucas' space operas to Leone's macaroni westerns (as, fittingly, the Japanese referred to them). And today's shot is just one breathtaking moment from the old master, Akira Kurosawa, in a film packed
THE CAT’S MEOW (2001, Bogdanovich)
I really like this underrated film from Peter Bogdanovich, which seems to have slipped through the cracks since its release. While I believe its a wonderfully crafted and engaging film, I have to admit I'm biased because I love this
THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980, Lynch)
Today's shot is from the most famous scene of David Lynch's horrifying and heartbreaking Oscar-nominated film The Elephant Man and it demonstrates what I love about a really calculated and restrained use of the Close Up. It's often said that
A STAR IS BORN (1954, Cukor)
Okay, this apparently is musicals week (what can I say, Outfest just opened). One of the most remade stories ever is A Star is Born. Just as seismologists warn us we are overdue for a Los Angeles earthquake, likewise, by
FUNNY GIRL (1968, Wyler)
There are two amazing shots, both using the same technique, in this sequence from William Wyler's Funny Girl. But I'm mostly impressed today with the man who actually shot them, Nelson Tyler. Not only did he run the camera but