Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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Watch: Breathless and How World War II Changed Film History
This is a solid nine-minute look at Breathless and how it grapples with Hollywood’s influence on the film industry. Beginning with Quentin Tarantino’s oft-noted quote that he “outgrew” Godard after being initially inspired to make movies by him, this video from The Nerdwriter breaks down how WWII led to an influx of Hollywood films in France, the way Breathless grapples with this legacy, the specter of Humphrey Bogart, Lacan’s mirror stage and much more. Hat-tip to David Hudson at Keyframe Daily.
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 9, 2015 -
(Misleading) Trailer Watch: Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s Stop-Motion Feature
Here we have a first trailer for Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s keenly anticipated stop-motion animation romance/drama/something Anomalisa. By all accounts, this trailer is wildly misleading about the movie’s depressive tone: on Twitter, Brick/Looper director Rian Johnson observed that “It’s a little like that recut The Shining trailer awhile back, which I think is great.” The movie comes out in limited NY/LA release on December 30, with a platform expansion to follow.
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 2, 2015 -
Watch: Effectively, Spike Lee’s Feature-Length Animated Film For NBA 2K16
It’s been a busy year for Spike Lee, whose Da Sweet Blood of Jesus came out earlier this year and who will bookend the year with his Chicago gang violence film Chi-Raq, out December 4. It turns out that his feature film release count for the year is actually three if you put together all the cut scenes for NBA 2K16, which clock in at nearly two hours. Hat-tip to Nick Newman over at The Film Stage for sharing this odd little item. As he notes: It might make sense if Lee took the time to craft 10-20 minutes of generic cut scenes for a […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 30, 2015 -
Watch: “Why Props Matter”
What are props, and how do they work? Rishi Kaneria’s video essay considers the many functions props serve: as symbols of death (The Godfather‘s oranges), as ways to transition from one scene to another (Lawrence of Arabia‘s famous match cut), as objects indelibly associated with their characters (Indiana Jones’ bullwhip), and — of course — as weapons.
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 28, 2015 -
Toronto, Camden and Venice
TORONTO by Scott Macaulay High Rise has long been considered one of the J.G. Ballard’s most “adaptable” books, with the author’s dispassionate meditations on disassociation, inner and outer space, and the psychologies and paraphilias unleashed by 20th-century life encased within the sturdy confines of a modern apartment building and a class-based tale of survival. Nonetheless, High Rise has taken decades to reach the screen, despite the attachments of numerous directors, including Vincenzo Natali, Bruce Robinson and, revealed producer Jeremy Thomas at a talk at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, interest from Nicolas Roeg. Premiering at the festival in Platform, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 28, 2015 -
Super 8: Class Action
Fox 100th By the time you read this, Fox will be well underway with its “Fox 100th” initiative. To commemorate its 100 years, 20th Century Fox is making 100 of its films available for digital rental (and, in many cases, purchase) in HD. Taking a deep approach to its catalogue rather than focusing on the most obvious titles, the Fox 100 body of titles is overwhelmingly slanted to films made before 1950. Some of these have never been available on home video before, like Raoul Walsh’s vibrantly racist, rowdy and essential 1933 pre-Code drama The Bowery; classic film buffs will […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 28, 2015 -
Dark in the Daytime
Blue City The 1986 release Blue City might not be one of the best movies Walter Hill ever had his name on, but it’s certainly one of the most fascinating from an auteurist standpoint, despite the fact that Hill isn’t even its auteur. That credit goes to Michelle Manning, who got the job while still in her mid-20s after her former boss, Ned Tanen, took over as head of Paramount. Manning’s early career trajectory was swift: fresh out of University of Southern California film school, she rose from Zoetrope production assistant to a position as Tanen’s associate producer on a […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 28, 2015 -
Gothams Announce Nominations for New Long- and Short-form Breakthrough Series Categories
Here’s the final piece of the Gothams nominations. The previous nominations can be found here, but this time around we have the nominations for two new categories honoring long- and short-form breakthrough series. For the full press release, click here. Breakthrough Series – Long Form* A continuing or limited series with episodes running 30 minutes or longer. Jane the Virgin, Jennie Snyder Urman, Creator (The CW) Mr. Robot, Sam Esmail, Creator (USA Network) Transparent, Jill Soloway, Creator (Amazon) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Creators (Netflix) UnREAL, Marti Noxon, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, Creators (Lifetime) *Additional nominee credits to be […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 27, 2015 -
Watch: “Alfred Hitchcock’s Close-Ups”
Jorge Luengo Ruiz’s straightforwardly titled supercut breaks down Hitchcock’s close-ups (from Rebecca to Family Plot; the British films await their own supercut) by category: hands, money, letters, paintings. Brisk work.
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 27, 2015 -
Mira Nair, Debra Granik To Screen Their Films and Speak at Made in NY Media Center
As part of the “Gothams Classics” event series celebrating the Gotham Independent Film Awards awarded annually by IFP (Filmmaker‘s parent organization), directors Mira Nair and Debra Granik will be in conversation at the Made in NY Media Center following screenings of two of their films. Tonight, Mira Nair will be speaking in between screenings of two of her best known films, Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake; more information on that event can be found here. Tomorrow night, acclaimed narrative and documentary filmmaker Debra Granik will speak after screenings of Down to the Bone and Winter’s Bone; more information on that event can be found here. […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Oct 26, 2015
