With Silence out soon, it’s Martin Scorsese season. This video essay by Cole Smith looks at Elia Kazan’s approach to staging interior and urban spaces in films such as A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront, then moves on to consider his influence on Scorsese’s The Departed. New Yorkers: the film shows on 35mm this Saturday at the Museum of the Moving Image.
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 12, 2016Brian De Palma has been accused by detractors of being nothing more than a shameless Hitchcock imitator. Peet Gelderblom’s video essay puts that to the test, using De Palma’s beloved split screen to compare and contrast shots from both director’s films. Hitchcock is on the left, De Palma on the right.
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 8, 2016This video from Blank on Blank animates excerpts from a fairly heavy interview with Francis Ford Coppola that touches on death, loneliness and solitude. It was conducted in 1996 while Coppola was promoting, of all things, Jack. He also discusses changing reception of his films over time, with an emphasis on Apocalypse Now.
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 7, 2016Following the announcement of its competition, NEXT, New Frontier, premieres, midnight, kids, spotlight and special events slates, Sundance rounds out its slate with a list of the shorts to be shown during the festival. Some quick highlights: Come Swim, Kristen Stewart’s first narrative short; Fish Story, the new short by documentary filmmaker Charlie Lyne (Beyond Clueless), who’s also been a contributor to Filmmaker; and a new film from Jim Cummings, winner of last year’s Short Film Grand Jury Prize for Thunder Road. He returns with The Robbery, whose one-line synopsis is unimprovable: “Crystal robs a liquor store—it goes pretty OK.” U.S. NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS American Paradise / […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 6, 2016David Ehrlich’s justly popular annual supercut of his personal choices for the 25 best films of the year is here. From Weiner at #25 to Moonlight at #1, it’s a solid list, but the meat, as always, is in the editing, which finds many points of association between these disparate films.
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 6, 2016In partnership with IFP, Filmmaker‘s parent organization, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment has announced this year’s ten projects to be chosen for Made in NY Fellowships. The projects, which span documentary and narrative filmmaking as well as gaming, post-production, animation, VR and media/technology platforms, will receive yearlong incubator positions at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP. Read the full press release below. NEW YORK, NY – Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) Commissioner Julie Menin and the Made in NY Media Center by IFP today announced the recipients of the second year of Made in NY Fellowships, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 5, 2016Isabelle Huppert is unquestionably one of the world’s great actresses. She is also, to put it mildly, not known for the warmth or jollity of her roles — she’s played many tough, complicated women utterly unconcerned with being “likable,” and her complex part in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle is no exception. It’s delightful, and completely out of literal character, to see her smiling and laughing in genuine surprise as she accepted the best actress award at last night’s Gothams for the film. “I didn’t expect that to happen, I promise,” she explains. “They all told me, “It’s a very American award, very New […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 29, 2016“Holy shit, man” — Barry Jenkins kicked off his Best Feature acceptance speech with a few words of thanks to the IFP and the Gothams, then enthused from the heart. “It’s so humbling to be nominated in a category with people like Kelly Reichardt,” he said. “I’ve seen Meek’s Cutoff at least 7,000 damn times.” He thanked the cast, his producers, his third grade teacher (the first person who told him his story was worth telling), his “friend and confidante on this tour” Mike Mills (director of the forthcoming 20th Century Women). Then he alluded to the unignorable reality of this political moment: “The […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 29, 2016No stranger to branded content, Wes Anderson’s latest effort in this area is a four-minute short for H&M, whose logo bookends the film. It’s appropriately seasonally themed and features some very cool lighting effects.
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 28, 2016Rob Ager’s video essay tackles a particular question: what role does the color red symbolically serve in Blade Runner, as manifest in the red-eye effect attached to the replicants? Connections are made to other sci-fi films with a fondness for the red-eye effect, like HAL 9000’s artificial eye in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 21, 2016