On Tuesday evening, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Peter MacNicol hosted a special screening of Sophie’s Choice at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, presented by Lanvin, in celebration of the recent 40th anniversary of Alan J. Pakula’s seminal work.
“We’re a few of the only ones standing that made this film,” Streep said when introducing the movie alongside her co-stars. “There are a few still here: my hair and makeup artist, Jo. Roy Helland, and I believe my wardrobe woman, the great Alba Schipani. But the visionaries for Sophie’s Choice are not: the great writer William Styron, the beautiful soul that was Alan Pakula, and the master of light, Nestor Almendros, cinematographer, not here.”
MacNicol then shared a surprising anecdote about Almendros. “[He] was legally blind and wore eyeglasses that were as thick as Coke bottles,” the actor recalled. “I used to go up to the Thalia...
“We’re a few of the only ones standing that made this film,” Streep said when introducing the movie alongside her co-stars. “There are a few still here: my hair and makeup artist, Jo. Roy Helland, and I believe my wardrobe woman, the great Alba Schipani. But the visionaries for Sophie’s Choice are not: the great writer William Styron, the beautiful soul that was Alan Pakula, and the master of light, Nestor Almendros, cinematographer, not here.”
MacNicol then shared a surprising anecdote about Almendros. “[He] was legally blind and wore eyeglasses that were as thick as Coke bottles,” the actor recalled. “I used to go up to the Thalia...
- 2/7/2024
- by Tatiana Tenreyro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Like much better dressed students, Ethan Hawke, Cate Blanchett, Claire Danes, Holland Taylor and Sarita Choudhury filed into the basement theater at the Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday to honor an acting legend. It was the fortieth anniversary of “Sophie’s Choice,” the movie that helped launch Meryl Streep into the cinematic firmament. It was a role that she campaigned for, learned to speak note-perfect German and Polish for and, somehow, managed to completely transform into another person for, in this case a refuge who can’t escape the horrors of the Holocaust even as she tries to establish a new life for herself in Brooklyn.
And there Streep was, flanked by her co-stars Peter MacNicol and Kevin Kline, to reminisce about making the movie and to honor their late collaborators. It was a trio of fallen friends that included Alan J. Pakula, the film’s director, producer and writer,...
And there Streep was, flanked by her co-stars Peter MacNicol and Kevin Kline, to reminisce about making the movie and to honor their late collaborators. It was a trio of fallen friends that included Alan J. Pakula, the film’s director, producer and writer,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
To hell with equivocation: Days of Heaven is the greatest film ever made. And let the word “film” be emphasized, since Terrence Malick’s sophomore feature earns this exalted designation from its position as a work of pure cinema, a concoction of sound and image so formally sumptuous and yet effortlessly poignant that, when I first saw it as a high schooler, it shattered my previous preconceptions about the possibilities afforded by the art form.
To an extent far greater than in his exceptional 1973 debut feature, Badlands, what Malick does in Days of Heaven is convey virtually everything of import through visual and sonic means, his tale, often denigrated as sketchy, left purposely simple and slender so that it might be elevated to the realm of timeless archetype via plaintive aestheticism. Malick’s directorial gestures wholly meld with the story, as every dramatically tangential stare at the vast 1920 Texas panhandle landscape,...
To an extent far greater than in his exceptional 1973 debut feature, Badlands, what Malick does in Days of Heaven is convey virtually everything of import through visual and sonic means, his tale, often denigrated as sketchy, left purposely simple and slender so that it might be elevated to the realm of timeless archetype via plaintive aestheticism. Malick’s directorial gestures wholly meld with the story, as every dramatically tangential stare at the vast 1920 Texas panhandle landscape,...
- 12/14/2023
- by Nick Schager
- Slant Magazine
Veteran cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s versatility could not be more evident than in his most recent work, which called for filming a 1920s Osage Nation in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and shooting the candy-colored Barbie Land of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Born in Mexico City to a bicultural family (his mom is an American from Montana), Prieto caught the cinematography world’s attention in 2000 when he won the Camerimage Golden Frog for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Amores Perros. Since moving to the U.S., he continued lensing for Iñárritu while also collaborating with Pedro Almodóvar, Oliver Stone, Ben Affleck (on the Oscar best picture winner Argo) and Ang Lee, whose Brokeback Mountain delivered the Dp the first of his three Academy Award nominations. Pietro, who is also this month’s THR Titan, has also earned Oscar noms for two Scorsese movies (Killers is their fourth collaboration). The filmmaker calls Prieto,...
- 11/11/2023
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
John Bailey, the cinematographer on Ordinary People, Groundhog Day, As Good as It Gets and dozens of other notable films who endured two “stressful” terms as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, died Friday. He was 81.
Bailey died in Los Angeles, his wife, Oscar-nominated film editor Carol Littleton (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), announced.
”It is with deep sadness I share with you that my best friend and husband, John Bailey, passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning,” she said in a statement. “During John’s illness, we reminisced how we met 60 years ago and were married for 51 of those years. We shared a wonderful life of adventure in film and made many long-lasting friendships along the way. John will forever live in my heart.”
They worked on more than a dozen features together.
The Southern California-raised Bailey served as the director of photography for...
Bailey died in Los Angeles, his wife, Oscar-nominated film editor Carol Littleton (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), announced.
”It is with deep sadness I share with you that my best friend and husband, John Bailey, passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning,” she said in a statement. “During John’s illness, we reminisced how we met 60 years ago and were married for 51 of those years. We shared a wonderful life of adventure in film and made many long-lasting friendships along the way. John will forever live in my heart.”
They worked on more than a dozen features together.
The Southern California-raised Bailey served as the director of photography for...
- 11/11/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Lyrical” is often used to describe poet-turned-filmmaker Raven Jackson’s first feature film, “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.” Inspired by Terence Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s collaboration on “Tree of Life,” Jackson and cinematographer Jomo Fray wanted to make a film that had a unified aesthetic that came through process and principles rather than rehearsal and refining of the camera work.
“Jomo and I started off talking about the emotionality of the film before we were thinking visually,” Jackson told IndieWire. “What feelings we were aiming to evoke with the images. And eventually Jomo had a suggestion to do a manifesto.”
Before shooting every day of production on the decades-spanning exploration of a woman’s life in the South, Jackson and Fray read aloud their 12-point manifesto. Although the collaborators had a shot list and a visual language for the film, the manifesto served as a way of...
“Jomo and I started off talking about the emotionality of the film before we were thinking visually,” Jackson told IndieWire. “What feelings we were aiming to evoke with the images. And eventually Jomo had a suggestion to do a manifesto.”
Before shooting every day of production on the decades-spanning exploration of a woman’s life in the South, Jackson and Fray read aloud their 12-point manifesto. Although the collaborators had a shot list and a visual language for the film, the manifesto served as a way of...
- 11/9/2023
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
François Truffaut goes deep and morbid adapting a Henry James story about a man who chooses to ‘devote himself to his beloved dead.’ He builds an altar-shrine to a departed bride and comrades that didn’t survive the Great War. A sympathetic woman considers aiding him, but his obsession keeps choosing life-negating directions. It’s a weird, morbid but highly understandable tale from the edge of the fantastic. The cinematographer is Néstor Almendros; the film is part of a 4-title François Truffaut Collection.
The Green Room
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
Part of Kino’s François Truffaut Collection, with The Wild Child, Small Change and The Man Who Loved Women
1978 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date February 14, 2023 / La chanbre verte, The Vanishing Fiancée / available through Kino Lorber / 59.95
Starring: François Truffaut, Nathalie Baye, Jean Dast´, Patrick Maléon, Jeanne Lobre, Antoine Vitez, Jean-Pierre Moulin, Serge Rousseau, Annie Miller, Nathan Miller, Marcel Berbert.
Cinematography:...
The Green Room
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
Part of Kino’s François Truffaut Collection, with The Wild Child, Small Change and The Man Who Loved Women
1978 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date February 14, 2023 / La chanbre verte, The Vanishing Fiancée / available through Kino Lorber / 59.95
Starring: François Truffaut, Nathalie Baye, Jean Dast´, Patrick Maléon, Jeanne Lobre, Antoine Vitez, Jean-Pierre Moulin, Serge Rousseau, Annie Miller, Nathan Miller, Marcel Berbert.
Cinematography:...
- 2/25/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
American show business lore famously suggests that few actors can make the leap from television to cinema. There are exceptions, like the occasional Bruce Willis or Clint Eastwood, but this jump, so memorably portrayed in "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood," is one many actors have failed to land. But not John Travolta.
By the end of Travolta's breakout years in the late 1970s, it's hard to imagine anybody associating him exclusively with "Welcome Back, Kotter," which premiered in 1975. The warm-hearted sitcom about a teacher returning to his alma mater to teach a group of remedial students, the Sweathogs, featured Travolta, who had then landed just a few small film roles, in a major role. There he played Vinnie Barbarino, an Italian-American kid whose good looks and magnetism made him wildly popular. But Travolta had his sights set higher than the constraints of a sitcom.
Stardom was in his sights.
By the end of Travolta's breakout years in the late 1970s, it's hard to imagine anybody associating him exclusively with "Welcome Back, Kotter," which premiered in 1975. The warm-hearted sitcom about a teacher returning to his alma mater to teach a group of remedial students, the Sweathogs, featured Travolta, who had then landed just a few small film roles, in a major role. There he played Vinnie Barbarino, an Italian-American kid whose good looks and magnetism made him wildly popular. But Travolta had his sights set higher than the constraints of a sitcom.
Stardom was in his sights.
- 1/16/2023
- by Anthony Crislip
- Slash Film
This story about the best international film schools first appeared in the College Issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Australian Film, Television And Radio School
Sydney, Australia
“Aftrs was perfect because it was…practical,” says songwriter Christine Kirkwood, who graduated from Australia’s national screen and broadcast school after a six-month government program to train women in filmmaking. Her fellow alums include Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce, who were in the school’s first graduating class in 1973, as well as Jane Campion, Cate Shortland and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. Located near the Fox Studios in Sydney, the campus includes studios, post-production facilities and an extensive library.
Aftrs has a robust First Nations and Outreach program for indigenous students, and in early 2023 a new partnership with Industrial Light & Magic will allow the school to begin offering a two-semester Graduate Diploma in Visual Effects program. Other new offerings include a Screen Warriors program that will recruit,...
Australian Film, Television And Radio School
Sydney, Australia
“Aftrs was perfect because it was…practical,” says songwriter Christine Kirkwood, who graduated from Australia’s national screen and broadcast school after a six-month government program to train women in filmmaking. Her fellow alums include Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce, who were in the school’s first graduating class in 1973, as well as Jane Campion, Cate Shortland and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. Located near the Fox Studios in Sydney, the campus includes studios, post-production facilities and an extensive library.
Aftrs has a robust First Nations and Outreach program for indigenous students, and in early 2023 a new partnership with Industrial Light & Magic will allow the school to begin offering a two-semester Graduate Diploma in Visual Effects program. Other new offerings include a Screen Warriors program that will recruit,...
- 11/2/2022
- by TheWrap Staff
- The Wrap
Mubi's retrospective Spotlight on Barbet Schroeder is showing summer 2020 - spring 2021.Above: Barbet SchroederTrying to situate Barbet Schroeder on the film world-trend-map of the past six decades can be a tricky task. Coming on the scene as part of the MacMahonist group1, writing for Cahiers du cinéma mostly about American cinema in the late 1950s, Schroeder should be correctly considered a direct descendant of the politique des auteur. However, unlike other acknowledged “sons” of the New Wave, such as Jean Eustache and Philippe Garrel, this inheritance was not directly passed on to Schroeder when he began producing-directing his own stories, following the steps of his much admired Otto Preminger—in fact, his affective bonds with Cahiers didn’t protect him from the occasional scolding from the magazine’s “third-generation” critics: Serge Daney accused Schroeder of turning the subject of his documentary General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (1974) into a stereotype,...
- 8/20/2020
- MUBI
To say that two-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto is in demand would be an understatement. Prieto has been a frequent collaborator with directors Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Ang Lee, Julie Taymor and Oliver Stone and has worked with Curtis Hanson, Cameron Crowe and Pedro Almodóvar. He has shot Martin Scorsese’s past three films: “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Silence” (earning an Oscar nom) and this year’s “The Irishman.” He talked with Variety about the demands and rewards of shooting the current film.
What was the biggest challenge?
I think the schedule. It was well beyond 300 scenes, and we shot for 108 days. So we had to move frequently, often several times in one day. Add to that, roughly half the movie has visual effects with the de-aging techniques. That required a rig that we created for the three cameras needed, which created a lot of logistical questions on how to light the actors.
What was the biggest challenge?
I think the schedule. It was well beyond 300 scenes, and we shot for 108 days. So we had to move frequently, often several times in one day. Add to that, roughly half the movie has visual effects with the de-aging techniques. That required a rig that we created for the three cameras needed, which created a lot of logistical questions on how to light the actors.
- 12/19/2019
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSFirst Case, Second Case (1979)A restoration of Abbas Kiarostami's banned 1979 film First Case, Second Case will premiere at this year's edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato. Ehsan Khoshbakht writes that the unseen film is a "testimony to [Kiarostami's] seldom acknowledged political shrewdness and his objective, complex perspective on the tumultuous events of the late 70s in Iran." Studio Ghibli has announced plans for a "Ghibli Park" to be built by 2023. The park will be divided into several themed "lands" as seen in My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Kiki's Delivery Service. Last week a meme of what appeared to some to be a real video of a man abandoning his family in light of an approaching avalanche took hold of social media—the clip was actually from Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure...
- 6/14/2019
- MUBI
In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the American Society of Cinematographers has released a list of the 100 best shot films of the 20th century.
This list was released to "showcase the best of cinematography as selected by professional cinematographers.” Here's how the list was put together:
The process of cultivating the 100 films began with Asc members each submitting 10 to 25 titles that were personally inspirational or perhaps changed the way they approached their craft. “I asked them — as cinematographers, members of the Asc, artists, filmmakers and people who love film and whose lives were shaped by films — to list the films that were most influential,” Fierberg explains. A master list was then complied, and members voted on what they considered to be the most essential 100 titles.
Here's a little sizzle reel that was cut together showcasing some of the films on the list:
It's hard to argue with the Top 10 films,...
This list was released to "showcase the best of cinematography as selected by professional cinematographers.” Here's how the list was put together:
The process of cultivating the 100 films began with Asc members each submitting 10 to 25 titles that were personally inspirational or perhaps changed the way they approached their craft. “I asked them — as cinematographers, members of the Asc, artists, filmmakers and people who love film and whose lives were shaped by films — to list the films that were most influential,” Fierberg explains. A master list was then complied, and members voted on what they considered to be the most essential 100 titles.
Here's a little sizzle reel that was cut together showcasing some of the films on the list:
It's hard to argue with the Top 10 films,...
- 1/9/2019
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) this year, they’ve polled their members to determine 100 milestone films in the art and craft of cinematography of the 20th century. Topping the list is David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia, shot by Freddie Young. Also in the top ten is Blade Runner (Jordan Cronenweth), The Conformist (Vittorio Storaro), Days of Heaven (Néstor Almendros), and more.
Organized by Steven Fierberg, he said “Asc members wanted to call attention to the most significant achievements of the cinematographer’s art but not refer to one achievement as ‘better’ than another. The selected films represent a range of styles, eras and visual artistry, but most importantly, it commemorates films that are inspirational or influential to Asc members and have exhibited enduring influence on generations of filmmakers.”
See the top 10 below, along with the full list.
1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Freddie Young,...
Organized by Steven Fierberg, he said “Asc members wanted to call attention to the most significant achievements of the cinematographer’s art but not refer to one achievement as ‘better’ than another. The selected films represent a range of styles, eras and visual artistry, but most importantly, it commemorates films that are inspirational or influential to Asc members and have exhibited enduring influence on generations of filmmakers.”
See the top 10 below, along with the full list.
1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Freddie Young,...
- 1/9/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The American Society of Cinematographers, in celebration of the organization’s 100th anniversary, has revealed its list of 100 milestone films in the art and craft of cinematography from the 20th century. The list culminates with a top 10, topped by Freddie Young’s lensing of David Lean’s Oscar-winning 1962 epic “Lawrence of Arabia.”
Jordan Cronenweth’s work on Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi standard “Blade Runner” came in at number two. Celebrated cinematographer Roger Deakins finally won an Oscar last year for the film’s sequel, “Blade Runner 2049.”
Vittorio Storaro rounded out the top three for Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam odyssey “Apocalypse Now.” He, Conrad Hall and Gordon Willis each appeared on the overall list five times, leading the pack. John Alcott, Caleb Deschanel and Haskell Wexler each lensed four.
Organized by Steven Fierberg, Asc (“The Affair”) and voted on by Asc members, the milestones list is the first of...
Jordan Cronenweth’s work on Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi standard “Blade Runner” came in at number two. Celebrated cinematographer Roger Deakins finally won an Oscar last year for the film’s sequel, “Blade Runner 2049.”
Vittorio Storaro rounded out the top three for Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam odyssey “Apocalypse Now.” He, Conrad Hall and Gordon Willis each appeared on the overall list five times, leading the pack. John Alcott, Caleb Deschanel and Haskell Wexler each lensed four.
Organized by Steven Fierberg, Asc (“The Affair”) and voted on by Asc members, the milestones list is the first of...
- 1/8/2019
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Variety Film + TV
The American Society of Cinematographers (Asc), an elite organization of cinematographers at the top of their field, is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding today. What better way to honor that milestone than to create a list of 100 milestone films known for the art and craft of cinematography in the 20th century, and they call it the Best Shot Films Of All Time.
Asc says this is the first time a list like this has been compiled, at least by a group of pros who should know what they are talking about. The list culminates in a Top 10 (the other 90 are unranked). The Top 10 Best Shot Films Of All Time are:
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), shot by Freddie Young, Bsc (Dir. David Lean) Blade Runner (1982), shot by Jordan Cronenweth, Asc (Dir. Ridley Scott) Apocalypse Now (1979), shot by Vittorio Storaro, Asc, Aic (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola) Citizen Kane (1941), shot by Gregg Toland,...
Asc says this is the first time a list like this has been compiled, at least by a group of pros who should know what they are talking about. The list culminates in a Top 10 (the other 90 are unranked). The Top 10 Best Shot Films Of All Time are:
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), shot by Freddie Young, Bsc (Dir. David Lean) Blade Runner (1982), shot by Jordan Cronenweth, Asc (Dir. Ridley Scott) Apocalypse Now (1979), shot by Vittorio Storaro, Asc, Aic (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola) Citizen Kane (1941), shot by Gregg Toland,...
- 1/8/2019
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) celebrates its 100th anniversary on Tuesday by unveiling two lists devoted to 20th century visual achievements: the 100 Milestone Films and the top 10 Best-Shot Films, led by “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Freddie Young.
The rest of the Top 10 list includes sci-fi classics “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), shot by Geoffrey Unsworth, and “Blade Runner” (1982), shot by Jordan Cronenweth; two from director Francis Ford Coppola: “The Godfather” (1972), shot by Gordon Willis, and “Apocalypse Now” (1979), shot by Oscar-winner Vittorio Storaro; two black-and-white entries: “Citizen Kane” (1941), shot by Gregg Toland, and “Raging Bull” (1980), shot by Michael Chapman; “Days of Heaven” (1978), shot by Oscar winner Néstor Almendros; and “The French Connection” (1971), shot by five-time Oscar nominee Owen Roizman.
Alas, there are no silent movies in the top 10. And there’s no representation of the ’30s; ‘the ’50s; or the ’90s.
The lists were voted on by...
The rest of the Top 10 list includes sci-fi classics “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), shot by Geoffrey Unsworth, and “Blade Runner” (1982), shot by Jordan Cronenweth; two from director Francis Ford Coppola: “The Godfather” (1972), shot by Gordon Willis, and “Apocalypse Now” (1979), shot by Oscar-winner Vittorio Storaro; two black-and-white entries: “Citizen Kane” (1941), shot by Gregg Toland, and “Raging Bull” (1980), shot by Michael Chapman; “Days of Heaven” (1978), shot by Oscar winner Néstor Almendros; and “The French Connection” (1971), shot by five-time Oscar nominee Owen Roizman.
Alas, there are no silent movies in the top 10. And there’s no representation of the ’30s; ‘the ’50s; or the ’90s.
The lists were voted on by...
- 1/8/2019
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
When David Schwartz started working as a curator at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, there was no Netflix or MoviePass: Cinema faced a different sort of change. It was 1985, and with the twin effects of home video and New York real estate prices, some of the best arthouses in town had gone out business. “It wasn’t as crowded a scene as it is now,” said Schwartz, who ended his tenure as the museum’s chief curator last month. “There was definitely a need for more alternative programming at the time we opened.”
Over the decades, Schwartz met that challenge with a cinephilic feast of repertory programming and daring avant-garde offerings that did much to cultivate audiences through the decades. Nevertheless, the specifics of Schwartz’s departure are murky: Some sources said he received a two-week notice after 33 years at the museum, while others said it was by mutual agreement.
Over the decades, Schwartz met that challenge with a cinephilic feast of repertory programming and daring avant-garde offerings that did much to cultivate audiences through the decades. Nevertheless, the specifics of Schwartz’s departure are murky: Some sources said he received a two-week notice after 33 years at the museum, while others said it was by mutual agreement.
- 1/7/2019
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Terrence Malick’s magnum opus fully expresses what might be called his ‘Unified Theory’ of cinema — which embraces the human experience from the core of family life to the creation and destruction of the universe. Even Stanley Kubrick didn’t go that far: he never filmed merciful dinosaurs or anything as simple as a mother who experiences rapture rolling in the grass with her young sons.
The Tree of Life
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 942
2011 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 139, 179 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 11, 2018 / 49.95
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan.
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Film Editors: Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa
Original Music: Alexandre Desplat
Production Design by Jack Fisk
Produced by DeDe Gardner, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad
Written and Directed by Terrence Malick
I’ve wanted to review The Tree of Life ever since it came out.
The Tree of Life
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 942
2011 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 139, 179 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 11, 2018 / 49.95
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan.
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Film Editors: Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber, Mark Yoshikawa
Original Music: Alexandre Desplat
Production Design by Jack Fisk
Produced by DeDe Gardner, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad
Written and Directed by Terrence Malick
I’ve wanted to review The Tree of Life ever since it came out.
- 9/8/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a precedent! Barbet Schroeder’s documentary gets up close and personal with a narcissistic dictator consumed by his own ego. Idi Amin rants and raves incoherently and demands to be the center of all attention while taking his country down a road to ruin. This is Africa in 1973, where Uganda has been converted into ‘The Idi Amin Reality Show’ — and where a minion in disfavor might be fed to the crocodiles.
General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 153
1974 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 90 min. / Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 12, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Idi Amin
Cinematography: Néstor Almendros
Film Editor: Denise de Casabianca
Original Music: Idi Amin
Produced by Jean-Francois Chauvel, Charles-Henri Favrod and Jean-Pierre Rassam
Written and Directed by Barbet Schroeder
Criterion’s decision to bump Barbet Schroeder’s daring 1970s documentary to Blu-ray at this...
General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 153
1974 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 90 min. / Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 12, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Idi Amin
Cinematography: Néstor Almendros
Film Editor: Denise de Casabianca
Original Music: Idi Amin
Produced by Jean-Francois Chauvel, Charles-Henri Favrod and Jean-Pierre Rassam
Written and Directed by Barbet Schroeder
Criterion’s decision to bump Barbet Schroeder’s daring 1970s documentary to Blu-ray at this...
- 12/5/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Need a break from violence, misery, and injustice? Or maybe just the network TV news? Billy Wilder’s last great comic romance is an Italian vacation soaked in music, food, scenery and sunshine. It’s the best movie ever about Love and Funerals.
Avanti!
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color/ 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Harry Ray, Guidarino Guidi, Franco Acampora, Sergio Bruni, Ty Hardin.
Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller
Film Editor: Ralph Winters
Art direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti
Music Arranger: Carlo Rustichelli
Italian standards by Gino Paoli, Giuseppi Capaldo, Vittoriao Fassone, Don Backy, Detto Mariano, Sergio Brui, Salvatore Cardillo, Umberto Bertini, Paolo Marchetti.
Written by I.A.L Diamond and Billy Wilder from a play by Samuel L. Taylor
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
When Billy Wilder was reaching advanced old age, good friends rallied to make sure...
Avanti!
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color/ 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Harry Ray, Guidarino Guidi, Franco Acampora, Sergio Bruni, Ty Hardin.
Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller
Film Editor: Ralph Winters
Art direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti
Music Arranger: Carlo Rustichelli
Italian standards by Gino Paoli, Giuseppi Capaldo, Vittoriao Fassone, Don Backy, Detto Mariano, Sergio Brui, Salvatore Cardillo, Umberto Bertini, Paolo Marchetti.
Written by I.A.L Diamond and Billy Wilder from a play by Samuel L. Taylor
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
When Billy Wilder was reaching advanced old age, good friends rallied to make sure...
- 10/7/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Piano Teacher
Blu-ray
Criterion
2001 / 1:85 / Street Date September 26, 2017
Starring Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel, Annie Girardot
Cinematography: Christian Berger
Film Editor: Monika Willi, Nadine Muse
Produced by Veit Heiduschka
Music: Martin Achenbach
Directed by Michael Haneke
Her serene face a fragile mask just waiting to crack along with her sanity, the tortured spinster at the center of The Piano Teacher is a Blanche Dubois for the S&M set.
Her name is Erika Kohut, a brilliant but merciless tutor entrenched in a swank Viennese conservatory where she brings a surgical precision to her teaching (while leaving the anesthesia at home). She’s a harsh mistress, no doubt, but she’s merely assumed the mantle of her mother, a clinging horrorshow who monitors her middle-aged daughter’s every move while provoking nightly brawls that begin in the living room and end in the bedroom; a sick parody of a bad marriage.
Blu-ray
Criterion
2001 / 1:85 / Street Date September 26, 2017
Starring Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel, Annie Girardot
Cinematography: Christian Berger
Film Editor: Monika Willi, Nadine Muse
Produced by Veit Heiduschka
Music: Martin Achenbach
Directed by Michael Haneke
Her serene face a fragile mask just waiting to crack along with her sanity, the tortured spinster at the center of The Piano Teacher is a Blanche Dubois for the S&M set.
Her name is Erika Kohut, a brilliant but merciless tutor entrenched in a swank Viennese conservatory where she brings a surgical precision to her teaching (while leaving the anesthesia at home). She’s a harsh mistress, no doubt, but she’s merely assumed the mantle of her mother, a clinging horrorshow who monitors her middle-aged daughter’s every move while provoking nightly brawls that begin in the living room and end in the bedroom; a sick parody of a bad marriage.
- 9/23/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
This past weekend, the American Society of Cinematographers awarded Greig Fraser for his contribution to Lion as last year’s greatest accomplishment in the field. Of course, his achievement was just a small sampling of the fantastic work from directors of photography, but it did give us a stronger hint at what may be the winner on Oscar night. Ahead of the ceremony, we have a new video compilation that honors all the past winners in the category at the Academy Awards
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...
- 2/6/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
For as accomplished as Joel and Ethan Coen’s debut film Blood Simple comes across to any viewer, like any director, they can’t help but recognize their flaws. That’s not to say their newly restored first film, now available on The Criterion Collection, doesn’t look and sound gorgeous — every bead of sweat dripping down M. Emmet Walsh’s face and every gun blow feels like you’re right there in the sweltering Texas landscape — but there’s an undeniable charm in their recounting of the making of the film.
With it being the first time most of the major talent involved was doing their specific job, it was a learning experience through and through, which makes the special features on new release all the more informative and entertaining. The most substantial feature on the disc is a 70-minute discussion with the directors and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld as...
With it being the first time most of the major talent involved was doing their specific job, it was a learning experience through and through, which makes the special features on new release all the more informative and entertaining. The most substantial feature on the disc is a 70-minute discussion with the directors and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld as...
- 9/20/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then there will never be a definitive list of the greatest cinematography, but for our money, one of the finest polls has been recently conducted on the matter. Our friend Scout Tafoya polled over 60 critics on Fandor, including some of us here, and the results can be found in a fantastic video essay below. Rather than the various wordless supercuts that crowd Vimeo, Tafoya wrestles with his thoughts on cinematography as we see the beautiful images overlaid from the top 12 choices.
“I’ve been thinking of the world cinematographically since high school,” Scout says. “Sometime around tenth grade I started looking out windows, at crowds of my peers, at the girls I had crushes on, and imagining the best way to film them. Lowlight, mini-dv or 35mm? Curious and washed out like the way Emmanuel Lubezki shot Y Tu Mamá También,...
“I’ve been thinking of the world cinematographically since high school,” Scout says. “Sometime around tenth grade I started looking out windows, at crowds of my peers, at the girls I had crushes on, and imagining the best way to film them. Lowlight, mini-dv or 35mm? Curious and washed out like the way Emmanuel Lubezki shot Y Tu Mamá También,...
- 4/28/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It’s hard to argue with the programming behind the newest art house theater making cinephiles across the country wish they lived in New York City. Opening earlier this month in the Big Apple, The Metrograph has instantly become one of the new hotspots in NYC, with everything ranging from a film like Carol being presented in gorgeous 35mm to a new, week-long run of legendary cult classic from unsung director Stephanie Rothman, The Student Nurses. However, it’s their first major retrospective that has film nerds buzzing.
Marking the first career-spanning retrospective for the director in over a decade, The Metrograph is launching, this week, a lengthy dive into the career of filmmaker Jean Eustache. Much of French cinema history revolves around the New Wave filmmakers ranging from Jean-Luc Godard to Agnes Varda, but with names like Chantal Akerman and Philippe Garrel marking the heights of the filmmakers just a generation removed,...
Marking the first career-spanning retrospective for the director in over a decade, The Metrograph is launching, this week, a lengthy dive into the career of filmmaker Jean Eustache. Much of French cinema history revolves around the New Wave filmmakers ranging from Jean-Luc Godard to Agnes Varda, but with names like Chantal Akerman and Philippe Garrel marking the heights of the filmmakers just a generation removed,...
- 3/10/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Biopics are best when focused on segmented portions of emotional turmoil, professional escalation or some perfect combination of the two, rather than trying to collapse entire lives into just a couple hours time. Hal Ashby’s 1976 retelling of Woody Guthrie’s popular ascent from dust bowl deadbeat to socially conscious folk music figurehead in Bound For Glory coolly pursues the latter with genuinely endearing, authentic feeling results. With David Carradine aptly filling the role of the humbly charismatic, musically driven drifter and a fully stocked catalog of Guthrie songs adapted for the screen by Leonard Rosenman, Ashby’s oddly conventional mid-period picture was in competition for the Palme d’Or, but ultimately lost to Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Padre Padrone.
The film was shot by the late, great Haskell Wexler the very same year he took over principal photography from Néstor Almendros on Malick’s golden glazed Days of Heaven...
The film was shot by the late, great Haskell Wexler the very same year he took over principal photography from Néstor Almendros on Malick’s golden glazed Days of Heaven...
- 2/23/2016
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Haskell Wexler and Seamus McGarvey at Edinburgh International Film Festival in June. Photo: Lloyd Smith, © Eiff, Edinburgh International Film Festival All Rights Reserved Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler - whose films included One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf - has died at age 93.
His death was confirmed by a post on http://haskellwexler.com/">his blog. The Chicago born filmmaker - who took part in an In Person event with fellow cinematographer Seamus McGarvey at Edinburgh Film Festival this June - also wrote and directed films including Who Needs Sleep? and Medium Cool. He won Oscars for Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf and Hal Ashby's Woody Guthrie biopic Bound For Glory and contributed to Terrence Malick's Days Of Heaven, for which Nestor Almendros was awarded the cinematography Oscar.
Other films in his long career, included In The Heat Of The Night and The Thomas Crown Affair...
His death was confirmed by a post on http://haskellwexler.com/">his blog. The Chicago born filmmaker - who took part in an In Person event with fellow cinematographer Seamus McGarvey at Edinburgh Film Festival this June - also wrote and directed films including Who Needs Sleep? and Medium Cool. He won Oscars for Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf and Hal Ashby's Woody Guthrie biopic Bound For Glory and contributed to Terrence Malick's Days Of Heaven, for which Nestor Almendros was awarded the cinematography Oscar.
Other films in his long career, included In The Heat Of The Night and The Thomas Crown Affair...
- 12/27/2015
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In 1962, two filmmakers met in a room at Universal Studios to discuss (what else?) cinema. Those directors were François Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock. (Providing assistance was French-language translator Helen Scott.) Together, they talked for over 50 hours, poring over every film the old master ever made. In 1967, Truffaut published what has universally come to be known as an essential text, titled Hitchcock/Truffaut, which contains rich and detailed transcripts of the extraordinary conversation.
Filmmaker Kent Jones‘ documentary about this historic meeting of the minds is now out, which inspired The Film Stage to look back at some of the forgotten, overlooked, and underrated films from these two beloved directors. The following ten titles contain all of the nuance, mystery and joy that we’ve come to expect from Hitchcock and Truffaut, with many overlapping themes and stylistic sensibilities.
Please enjoy the list, and don’t forget to suggest your own favorites in the comments.
Filmmaker Kent Jones‘ documentary about this historic meeting of the minds is now out, which inspired The Film Stage to look back at some of the forgotten, overlooked, and underrated films from these two beloved directors. The following ten titles contain all of the nuance, mystery and joy that we’ve come to expect from Hitchcock and Truffaut, with many overlapping themes and stylistic sensibilities.
Please enjoy the list, and don’t forget to suggest your own favorites in the comments.
- 12/7/2015
- by Tony Hinds
- The Film Stage
Film Movement brings Eric Rohmer’s classic period film The Marquise of O… to Blu-ray, the first time the title is made available in the Us (previously, it was sandwiched into a Region 2 Rohmer collection, the same set which features another rare title, 1982’s A Good Marriage). Awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival (it tied with Carlos Saura’s Cria Cuervos), it would be the only accolade the famed filmmaker would collect from the event and it was his last time in competition.
It’s one of Rohmer’s earliest historical dramas (he would continue in this vein intermittently, with titles like Perceval and The Lady and the Duke), and initially seems like a black comedy on social mores before it seeps into a . A German co-production, the film is based on a short story by Heinrich von Kleist (Jessica Hausner’s 2014 film Amour Fou documents the writer’s curious denouement,...
It’s one of Rohmer’s earliest historical dramas (he would continue in this vein intermittently, with titles like Perceval and The Lady and the Duke), and initially seems like a black comedy on social mores before it seeps into a . A German co-production, the film is based on a short story by Heinrich von Kleist (Jessica Hausner’s 2014 film Amour Fou documents the writer’s curious denouement,...
- 11/10/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
A Death in the Family: Pialat’s Subtle Masterpiece of Familial Anguish
French auteur Maurice Pialat, the famed Palme d’Or winner who resisted being defined by a particular time, movement, or theme, receives another retrospective in 2015. Of the ten titles in his filmography, five have been chosen on this tour, several of them notable restorations of works that have become increasingly difficult to track down over the years. While more notable titles, like 1983’s A nos amours and his 1968 debut L’enfance Nue have received widespread recuperations (thanks in part to their placement within the Criterion collection), Cohen Media Group resuscitates some lesser known works. One of the most exciting of these is his 1974 title The Mouth Agape, a portrait of familial woe a bit less histrionic than other examples of societal strains evidenced on Pialat’s famous nuclear units and troubled couples. Documenting the death of a mother,...
French auteur Maurice Pialat, the famed Palme d’Or winner who resisted being defined by a particular time, movement, or theme, receives another retrospective in 2015. Of the ten titles in his filmography, five have been chosen on this tour, several of them notable restorations of works that have become increasingly difficult to track down over the years. While more notable titles, like 1983’s A nos amours and his 1968 debut L’enfance Nue have received widespread recuperations (thanks in part to their placement within the Criterion collection), Cohen Media Group resuscitates some lesser known works. One of the most exciting of these is his 1974 title The Mouth Agape, a portrait of familial woe a bit less histrionic than other examples of societal strains evidenced on Pialat’s famous nuclear units and troubled couples. Documenting the death of a mother,...
- 9/25/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
You no doubt know of a crazy local or two that mills around your town in a daze, occasionally causing disturbances, but otherwise remains fairly harmless. If you stop to think about it, it’s possible that they may have had an entirely different life with a past rich with fame, fortune and family, but sadly, their final warped reality is often the result of something as tragic as mental illness. In the case of François Truffaut‘s true to life telling of French literary master Victor Hugo’s increasingly demented daughter’s obsessive breakdown in The Story of Adèle H., the vagabond fate stems from haughty infatuation and swiftly disintegrates into detached delirium not unlike those familiar empty faces asking for bus fare or something to eat on your local street corner.
The Story of Adèle H. followed Truffaut’s Best Foreign Picture winning Day For Night, gleaning its...
The Story of Adèle H. followed Truffaut’s Best Foreign Picture winning Day For Night, gleaning its...
- 6/16/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
When she decided to start an all-girls school in a remote village in Afghanistan, a few elders came to Razia Jan asking her to start a boys school instead. "Don't you know that boys are the backbone of Afghanistan?" they asked her. "Well, girls are the eyes of this country, and till they are educated you will all be blind," she retorted. Beth Murphy's What Tomorrow Brings is not just about Razia, the courageous woman who stood up against the men in her village to ensure that every girl gets an education. It is about the young women of Afghanistan, who seek refuge from the imprisonment of their own religion and the highly patriarchal society. After the Taliban's ban on girls education, the village wakes up to heart-wrenching radio bulletins about grenade and poison attacks at other schools in and around Afghanistan. Here, going to school is in itself a huge risk.
- 6/11/2015
- by Monty Majeed
- MUBI
“A 19th Century Stalker”
By Raymond Benson
The youngest daughter of the great French author, Victor Hugo, was a victim of schizophrenia. Although she was devastatingly beautiful, history tells us that Adèle Hugo was seriously disturbed.
Around the time of America’s Civil War, Adèle became fixated on a British soldier, one Lieutenant Pinson. She followed him across the Atlantic to Nova Scotia, where he was stationed, for she was convinced that he loved her and would marry her. In fact, the couple had experienced a brief relationship in England (while Victor Hugo was living in Guernsey, in exile from France), but Pinson ultimately rejected Adèle and wanted no more to do with her. Even though he was obviously a rakish cad, the girl became obsessed with the man and went to great lengths to pursue him.
These days we would call it stalking.
François Truffaut’s The Story of Adèle H.
By Raymond Benson
The youngest daughter of the great French author, Victor Hugo, was a victim of schizophrenia. Although she was devastatingly beautiful, history tells us that Adèle Hugo was seriously disturbed.
Around the time of America’s Civil War, Adèle became fixated on a British soldier, one Lieutenant Pinson. She followed him across the Atlantic to Nova Scotia, where he was stationed, for she was convinced that he loved her and would marry her. In fact, the couple had experienced a brief relationship in England (while Victor Hugo was living in Guernsey, in exile from France), but Pinson ultimately rejected Adèle and wanted no more to do with her. Even though he was obviously a rakish cad, the girl became obsessed with the man and went to great lengths to pursue him.
These days we would call it stalking.
François Truffaut’s The Story of Adèle H.
- 4/24/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Stumbling across that list of best-edited films yesterday had me assuming that there might be other nuggets like that out there, and sure enough, there is American Cinematographer's poll of the American Society of Cinematographers membership for the best-shot films ever, which I do recall hearing about at the time. But they did things a little differently. Basically, in 1998, cinematographers were asked for their top picks in two eras: films from 1894-1949 (or the dawn of cinema through the classic era), and then 1950-1997, for a top 50 in each case. Then they followed up 10 years later with another poll focused on the films between 1998 and 2008. Unlike the editors' list, though, ties run absolutely rampant here and allow for way more than 50 films in each era to be cited. I'd love to see what these lists would look like combined, however. I imagine "Citizen Kane," which was on top of the 1894-1949 list,...
- 2/4/2015
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Meryl’S Masterpiece
By Raymond Benson
In 1982, Meryl Streep had already made a big splash in the motion picture industry, having won a Supporting Actress Oscar for 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer, and securing a Supporting Actress nomination prior to that for 1978’s The Deer Hunter and a Best Actress nomination for 1981’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman. With Sophie’s Choice, the actress snapped up the Best Actress Oscar pretty much without a contest—everyone knew that if she didn’t win, then a terrible crime had been committed by the Academy. In short, in this reviewer’s opinion, Streep’s performance in Sophie’s Choice is one of the greatest pieces of acting ever presented on the silver screen. Period. Since then, Streep has gone on to prove, over and over, that she is arguably the most talented actress in the history of cinema, but Sophie remains her masterpiece.
By Raymond Benson
In 1982, Meryl Streep had already made a big splash in the motion picture industry, having won a Supporting Actress Oscar for 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer, and securing a Supporting Actress nomination prior to that for 1978’s The Deer Hunter and a Best Actress nomination for 1981’s The French Lieutenant’s Woman. With Sophie’s Choice, the actress snapped up the Best Actress Oscar pretty much without a contest—everyone knew that if she didn’t win, then a terrible crime had been committed by the Academy. In short, in this reviewer’s opinion, Streep’s performance in Sophie’s Choice is one of the greatest pieces of acting ever presented on the silver screen. Period. Since then, Streep has gone on to prove, over and over, that she is arguably the most talented actress in the history of cinema, but Sophie remains her masterpiece.
- 7/5/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Anyone who’s seen Sophie’s Choice knows the scene. A frightened Polish mother stands in line for the German concentration camps, holding her young daughter while her young son huddles closely against her. A rapacious Nazi officer makes some lurid remarks and then demands that Sophie choose which of her children will survive. Only one. The other will die. Sophie protests. She screams. And then… she decides.
If that scene — punctuated by Meryl Streep’s silent scream — is forever branded on the back of your skull, imagine if you were the girl being ripped from Streep’s arms. Jennifer Lawn...
If that scene — punctuated by Meryl Streep’s silent scream — is forever branded on the back of your skull, imagine if you were the girl being ripped from Streep’s arms. Jennifer Lawn...
- 4/25/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Today is the 20th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, and in commemoration we're proud to present Anne Aghion's acclaimed My Neighbor, My Killer world wide. Filmed over the course of a decade, the film follows the Gacaca Tribunals—community-run courts where citizens judge their neighbors and perpetrators. The film has screened at numerous festivals such as Cannes, the San Francisco and Vancouver International Film Festivals, and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, where Aghion won the Néstor Almendros award for courage in filmmaking. My Neighbor, My Killer is a powerful inside look at a people’s attempt to rebuild their nation.
"Anne Aghion asks a lot of tough questions in My Neighbor, My Killer, the fourth and last in her series of films about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. But the most difficult, posed on the posters for her new film, may be this: after the killing has ceased, and order has been restored,...
"Anne Aghion asks a lot of tough questions in My Neighbor, My Killer, the fourth and last in her series of films about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. But the most difficult, posed on the posters for her new film, may be this: after the killing has ceased, and order has been restored,...
- 4/7/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Elitist and pretentious, or an endangered species? Whatever your feelings, there's no doubt that arthouse movies are among the finest ever made. Here the Guardian and Observer critics pick the 10 best
• Top 10 romantic movies
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 comedy movies
• Top 10 horror movies
• Top 10 sci-fi movies
• Top 10 crime movies
Peter Bradshaw on art movies
This is a red rag to a number of different bulls. Lovers of what are called arthouse movies resent the label for being derisive and philistine. And those who detest it bristle at the implication that there is no artistry or intelligence in mainstream entertainment.
For many, the stereotypical arthouse film is Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin was a classic art film from the 1920s and Luis Buñuel investigated cinema's potential for surreality like no one before or since. The Italian neorealists applied the severity of art to a representation...
• Top 10 romantic movies
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 comedy movies
• Top 10 horror movies
• Top 10 sci-fi movies
• Top 10 crime movies
Peter Bradshaw on art movies
This is a red rag to a number of different bulls. Lovers of what are called arthouse movies resent the label for being derisive and philistine. And those who detest it bristle at the implication that there is no artistry or intelligence in mainstream entertainment.
For many, the stereotypical arthouse film is Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin was a classic art film from the 1920s and Luis Buñuel investigated cinema's potential for surreality like no one before or since. The Italian neorealists applied the severity of art to a representation...
- 10/21/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Nestor Almendros has quite the filmography: most of Eric Rohmer’s films, a good amount of Francois Truffaut’s, Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, and Days of Heaven (often considered one of the most beautiful films ever made). No big deal. You’d think that a cinematographer of his pedigree would be technically proficient and incredibly exacting in his approach. This couldn’t be less true. His approach to cinematography was incredibly intuitive. Directors and cinematographers alike could learn a lot from Almendros’ process, particularly when working on lower budgets and tighter schedules. Lighting Must Be Justified. Almendros believed that lighting exists for the actors, […]...
- 8/30/2013
- by Shaun Seneviratne
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Nestor Almendros has quite the filmography: most of Eric Rohmer’s films, a good amount of Francois Truffaut’s, Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, and Days of Heaven (often considered one of the most beautiful films ever made). No big deal. You’d think that a cinematographer of his pedigree would be technically proficient and incredibly exacting in his approach. This couldn’t be less true. His approach to cinematography was incredibly intuitive. Directors and cinematographers alike could learn a lot from Almendros’ process, particularly when working on lower budgets and tighter schedules. Lighting Must Be Justified. Almendros believed that lighting exists for the actors, […]...
- 8/30/2013
- by Shaun Seneviratne
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Press Release: Champaign, Ill. -- Terrence Malick's 1978 film "Days of Heaven" won an Oscar for best cinematography, and Roger Ebert likely found that no surprise. It is "above all one of the most beautiful films ever made," Ebert said in a 1997 review. So it's only appropriate that the film will open the 15th annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival on April 17 in the big-screen, newly renovated Virginia Theater in downtown Champaign.
Also among the 12 features and two shorts to be screened during the five-day "Ebertfest" -- running through April 21 at the Virginia and at the University of Illinois -- will be a kabuki-inspired drama from Japan; a recent silent film from Spain that deserved as much attention as "The Artist," according to Ebert; a sympathetic take on the "mad" painter Vincent Van Gogh, directed by frequent festival guest Paul Cox; and a documentary, which will close the festival, about...
Also among the 12 features and two shorts to be screened during the five-day "Ebertfest" -- running through April 21 at the Virginia and at the University of Illinois -- will be a kabuki-inspired drama from Japan; a recent silent film from Spain that deserved as much attention as "The Artist," according to Ebert; a sympathetic take on the "mad" painter Vincent Van Gogh, directed by frequent festival guest Paul Cox; and a documentary, which will close the festival, about...
- 5/3/2013
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Press Release: Champaign, Ill. -- Terrence Malick's 1978 film "Days of Heaven" won an Oscar for best cinematography, and Roger Ebert likely found that no surprise. It is "above all one of the most beautiful films ever made," Ebert said in a 1997 review. So it's only appropriate that the film will open the 15th annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival on April 17 in the big-screen, newly renovated Virginia Theater in downtown Champaign.
Also among the 12 features and two shorts to be screened during the five-day "Ebertfest" -- running through April 21 at the Virginia and at the University of Illinois -- will be a kabuki-inspired drama from Japan; a recent silent film from Spain that deserved as much attention as "The Artist," according to Ebert; a sympathetic take on the "mad" painter Vincent Van Gogh, directed by frequent festival guest Paul Cox; and a documentary, which will close the festival, about...
Also among the 12 features and two shorts to be screened during the five-day "Ebertfest" -- running through April 21 at the Virginia and at the University of Illinois -- will be a kabuki-inspired drama from Japan; a recent silent film from Spain that deserved as much attention as "The Artist," according to Ebert; a sympathetic take on the "mad" painter Vincent Van Gogh, directed by frequent festival guest Paul Cox; and a documentary, which will close the festival, about...
- 3/23/2013
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Octogenarian French acting legends Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva give stunning, energetic performances as a married couple facing the bitter end in Michael Haneke's critically lauded, multi-awarded "Amour." Below, a look at some of the classic films that put Trintignant and Riva on the map. Our Toh! interview with Haneke is here, and the recent New York Times profile of Riva is here. 1. “My Night at Maud’s” (1969) Trintignant stars as Jean-Louis, an engineer loner living in the wintry bourgeois provinces in Eric Rohmer’s elegant, talky portrait of relationships and chance. A devout Catholic, Jean-Louis has his ideal future mapped out with alarming certitude -- right down to the pretty blonde stranger he plans to marry. His unshirking path is impeded, however, when he spends Christmas night with a sexually confident, cards-on-the-table divorcee (Francoise Fabian). Nestor Almendros’ crisp black-and-white cinematography...
- 1/3/2013
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
'Elliot Loves' (Isa:tla Releasing) by Gary Terracino is a true American independent, made completely outside of any system, largely self financed, crowd funded, sponsored even, you name it - by any means necessary. It's a story that anyone from any walk of life can relate to; ultimately when love sucks, it F-in sucks. But when it's beautiful...
'Elliot Loves' had distribution offers on the table by the Friday before it's Sunday world premiere at 2012 The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival where it would go on to win the Audience Award for Best Feature and Tla would announce worldwide rights to 'Elliot Loves' at Cannes. With screenings lined up across the States and Europe, this is merely the beginning of an illustrious career for Terracino. I had the pleasure (and anxiety attacks) to take the journey with Terracino. So I thought I'd catch up with him as he takes the film globally.
LatinoBuzz:Who introduced you to your earliest memory of film?
Gary Terracino:When I was four years old, my mother saw "Jaws" without taking me (and my two sisters) with her. Even at that age, I can remember being pissed at her. Well, the movie terrified her and for the rest of that summer she would not take us to the beach! Whenever we begged her she said, "But you'll be eaten by sharks!" I distinctly recall a neighbor saying to her, "Rhina, you're crazy! It's only a movie. There are no sharks swimming off of Coney Island!"
So my first memory of a movie is, naturally,of one I wasn't allowed to see!
LatinoBuzz:You are an independent filmmaker in it's truest form, making Elliot Loves by hook and crook - what's the most beautiful moment you took away from making the film in this manner?
Gary Terracino: My producing partner (Juan Caceres) and I had tried to make "Elliot Loves" for Six years: companies optioned our rights -- then went under (happened twice); experienced producers lectured us that "Elliot" was too complicated and too ambitious to ever happen; and various production companies dangled large budgets in front of me if only I made huge compromises -- as in, shoot in La, not New York; make it less Latino -- a little more white; lose the scenes of violence with the child; make it less gay; make it gayer... On our very first day of shooting, we were shooting the scene when 11 year-old Quentin Davis Araujo (playing 9-year-old "Elliot") is sitting in a bubble bath with a cigarette in his mouth and a turban on his head as he talks to the camera and narrates his life. Standing there, holding the cigarette and turban, I froze. I thought, "He's never going to do this; he'll panic and flip out." All of a sudden, Quentin reached out from the tub, grabbed the cig and the turban from me and said, "Let's get started. I'm ready and this water is cold!" At that moment, I knew from there on in, we'd be fine. And might I add that at 11 years old, Quentin Davis Araujo had bigger balls and greater vision than all the "experienced" producers and production companies who failed to come though for us?!
LatinoBuzz:The film that closely resembles the world you would like to live in?
Gary Terracino:I would marry "The Wizard of Oz" with "The 400 Blows." If I were God, I would mandate that all films be made in black and white -- and in French! And have one Technicolor flying sequence. That's what my ideal world looks and sounds like.
Time Machines are on sale at Sears next to the AC's; as a Director, If you could bring two actors together to make the perfect love story who are they? Who wrote the screenplay? What's the plot and who's the Dp? (everyone has to be dead)
Marilyn Monroe is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. She falls for rich, dashing Cary Grant. Her brother is a young, starving artist played by River Phoenix. He's in love with a painter, played by Johnny Sheffield ("Boy" from the 1930's "Tarzan" films). Their wacky and overbearing mother is played by Ruth Gordan. Marilyn's best friend is a showgirl, played by Lucille Ball. River's sidekick is wisecracking Eve Arden. The script is written by Francois Truffaut, Madelyn Davis and Bob Caroll, Jr. Nestor Almendros is the Dp. It's in black and white but there is one Technicolor dream sequence in which River Phoenix and Johnny Sheffield fly in the sky and speak French. The ending is sad yet uplifting. May I add that Pauline Kael comes back from the dead and gives it a rave review?
LatinoBuzz:If you were given a song to write the screenplay to; which song is it?
Gary Terracino:The day I first heard Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under The bridge" I started to scribble notes for "Elliot Loves." There you have it!
LatinoBuzz: What are the most striking differences between American Latinos and Latin American filmmakers for you?
Gary Terracino: Latin American filmmakers tend to have greater resources, whereas American Latino filmmakers have to be scrappier. Latin American filmmakers, however, work with a greater scope and vision; they're less self-absorbed and more expansive in their subject matter.
LatinoBuzz:Anything you deplore in filmmaker?
Gary Terracino:Dishonesty of any kind, on or off screen.
Follow 'Elliot Loves' at on.fb.me/MxsZRg for screenings, reviews and news!
'Elliot Loves' had distribution offers on the table by the Friday before it's Sunday world premiere at 2012 The Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival where it would go on to win the Audience Award for Best Feature and Tla would announce worldwide rights to 'Elliot Loves' at Cannes. With screenings lined up across the States and Europe, this is merely the beginning of an illustrious career for Terracino. I had the pleasure (and anxiety attacks) to take the journey with Terracino. So I thought I'd catch up with him as he takes the film globally.
LatinoBuzz:Who introduced you to your earliest memory of film?
Gary Terracino:When I was four years old, my mother saw "Jaws" without taking me (and my two sisters) with her. Even at that age, I can remember being pissed at her. Well, the movie terrified her and for the rest of that summer she would not take us to the beach! Whenever we begged her she said, "But you'll be eaten by sharks!" I distinctly recall a neighbor saying to her, "Rhina, you're crazy! It's only a movie. There are no sharks swimming off of Coney Island!"
So my first memory of a movie is, naturally,of one I wasn't allowed to see!
LatinoBuzz:You are an independent filmmaker in it's truest form, making Elliot Loves by hook and crook - what's the most beautiful moment you took away from making the film in this manner?
Gary Terracino: My producing partner (Juan Caceres) and I had tried to make "Elliot Loves" for Six years: companies optioned our rights -- then went under (happened twice); experienced producers lectured us that "Elliot" was too complicated and too ambitious to ever happen; and various production companies dangled large budgets in front of me if only I made huge compromises -- as in, shoot in La, not New York; make it less Latino -- a little more white; lose the scenes of violence with the child; make it less gay; make it gayer... On our very first day of shooting, we were shooting the scene when 11 year-old Quentin Davis Araujo (playing 9-year-old "Elliot") is sitting in a bubble bath with a cigarette in his mouth and a turban on his head as he talks to the camera and narrates his life. Standing there, holding the cigarette and turban, I froze. I thought, "He's never going to do this; he'll panic and flip out." All of a sudden, Quentin reached out from the tub, grabbed the cig and the turban from me and said, "Let's get started. I'm ready and this water is cold!" At that moment, I knew from there on in, we'd be fine. And might I add that at 11 years old, Quentin Davis Araujo had bigger balls and greater vision than all the "experienced" producers and production companies who failed to come though for us?!
LatinoBuzz:The film that closely resembles the world you would like to live in?
Gary Terracino:I would marry "The Wizard of Oz" with "The 400 Blows." If I were God, I would mandate that all films be made in black and white -- and in French! And have one Technicolor flying sequence. That's what my ideal world looks and sounds like.
Time Machines are on sale at Sears next to the AC's; as a Director, If you could bring two actors together to make the perfect love story who are they? Who wrote the screenplay? What's the plot and who's the Dp? (everyone has to be dead)
Marilyn Monroe is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. She falls for rich, dashing Cary Grant. Her brother is a young, starving artist played by River Phoenix. He's in love with a painter, played by Johnny Sheffield ("Boy" from the 1930's "Tarzan" films). Their wacky and overbearing mother is played by Ruth Gordan. Marilyn's best friend is a showgirl, played by Lucille Ball. River's sidekick is wisecracking Eve Arden. The script is written by Francois Truffaut, Madelyn Davis and Bob Caroll, Jr. Nestor Almendros is the Dp. It's in black and white but there is one Technicolor dream sequence in which River Phoenix and Johnny Sheffield fly in the sky and speak French. The ending is sad yet uplifting. May I add that Pauline Kael comes back from the dead and gives it a rave review?
LatinoBuzz:If you were given a song to write the screenplay to; which song is it?
Gary Terracino:The day I first heard Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under The bridge" I started to scribble notes for "Elliot Loves." There you have it!
LatinoBuzz: What are the most striking differences between American Latinos and Latin American filmmakers for you?
Gary Terracino: Latin American filmmakers tend to have greater resources, whereas American Latino filmmakers have to be scrappier. Latin American filmmakers, however, work with a greater scope and vision; they're less self-absorbed and more expansive in their subject matter.
LatinoBuzz:Anything you deplore in filmmaker?
Gary Terracino:Dishonesty of any kind, on or off screen.
Follow 'Elliot Loves' at on.fb.me/MxsZRg for screenings, reviews and news!
- 6/23/2012
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
Over two decades, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (Twist of Faith) has explored edge territory in sex, art, and philosophy with films like Private Practice: The Story of a Sex Surrogate, Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist, and Derrida, a playful portrait of the impish French poststructuralist thinker riffing on life and language during his tenure in New York City. In recent years, Dick and his producing partner Amy Ziering have zeroed in on institutional power, scrutinizing the hypocrisies and often dangerous doublespeak of powerful, secret-shrouded entities like the MPAA (This Film Is Not Yet Rated) and the Catholic Church (Twist of Faith), as well as closeted Congressional members who use their position to lobby for anti-gay statutes (Outrage). Such concerns find new expression with The Invisible War, a heartbreaking investigation into the systemic rape of servicewomen in the Us military, which won the 2012 Nestor Almendros Award...
- 6/20/2012
- by Damon Smith
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The strength of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival is also its weakness. This year’s 23rd edition boasts 16 doc and fiction flicks from 12 countries – yet most fall firmly in the category of solid Itvs fare (in fact, only three are narrative features). Like with the agribusiness detailed in Micha X. Peled’s Bitter Seeds, about the epidemic of farmer suicides in India, variety is often an illusion – especially when U.S. or U.S. co-productions are in the majority. This is another way of saying that, yes, the chances of seeing a stinker at Hrwff are slim, but there’s also not much in the way of stay-with-you cinematic experience on display, magical discoveries worth dragging yourself up to the Film Society of Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater for, rather than just wait until the likely PBS broadcast and see it for free. Fortunately, after viewing more than half...
- 6/12/2012
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Above: Harris Savides doing his “Nestor Almendros on a date with Gordon Willis” thing with the Arri Alexa.
“The Alexa is a game-changer. This moment has been coming for a long time, really, but with the Alexa I believe digital has finally surpassed film in terms of quality. What is quality? It’s really in the eye of the viewer, but to me, the Alexa’s tonal range, color space and latitude exceed the capabilities of film. This is not to say that I don’t still love film — I do. I love its texture and grain, but in terms of speed, resolution and clarity of image, there is no question in my mind that the Alexa produces a better image. There is a beautiful roll-off between highlights and shadows [on the Alexa] that I haven’t seen before. There’s a subtlety in color rendition that is fantastic. I tested it in candlelight,...
“The Alexa is a game-changer. This moment has been coming for a long time, really, but with the Alexa I believe digital has finally surpassed film in terms of quality. What is quality? It’s really in the eye of the viewer, but to me, the Alexa’s tonal range, color space and latitude exceed the capabilities of film. This is not to say that I don’t still love film — I do. I love its texture and grain, but in terms of speed, resolution and clarity of image, there is no question in my mind that the Alexa produces a better image. There is a beautiful roll-off between highlights and shadows [on the Alexa] that I haven’t seen before. There’s a subtlety in color rendition that is fantastic. I tested it in candlelight,...
- 11/5/2011
- MUBI
Currently the subject of a retrospective at the National Film Theatre and riding high on the strength of The Tree of Life, his fifth film in 37 years and winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, Terrence Malick is an American visionary and cinematic poet. His work recalls the great Hollywood silent films of Griffith, Sjöström and Murnau. All his movies are set in the past, going back in the case of The New World to the first English settlement of Virginia at the beginning of the 17th century, and they're deeply spiritual, biblically tinged stories of escape, exploration, transgression, and our individual and collective transactions with the land we walk on and the world we inhabit.
Days of Heaven, which brought Malick the best director award at Cannes in 1979 and is arguably his finest film, is being reissued in a new print that does justice to Néstor Almendros's magnificent...
Days of Heaven, which brought Malick the best director award at Cannes in 1979 and is arguably his finest film, is being reissued in a new print that does justice to Néstor Almendros's magnificent...
- 9/3/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Terrence Malick's first film wowed audiences; his second, Days of Heaven, set a rapturous new standard in cinema aesthetics. David Thomson shines a light on its legacy
Terrence Malick's 1978 movie Days of Heaven was never a huge hit, but it was such a departure and so deliberate an attempt to have the audience stirred by beauty that it felt calming and inspiring. Without shame or caution it was trying to address the pre-modern era of American history, the natural conflict between landowners and newcomers. But it was just as interested in the vanity of men and women trying to tame and organise the wild parts of the country. Beyond that, was this perhaps the most beautiful picture ever made? Second films are famously hard, but with Days of Heaven, Malick was announcing that he would do things his way.
By common consent, his first film, Badlands (1973), was one...
Terrence Malick's 1978 movie Days of Heaven was never a huge hit, but it was such a departure and so deliberate an attempt to have the audience stirred by beauty that it felt calming and inspiring. Without shame or caution it was trying to address the pre-modern era of American history, the natural conflict between landowners and newcomers. But it was just as interested in the vanity of men and women trying to tame and organise the wild parts of the country. Beyond that, was this perhaps the most beautiful picture ever made? Second films are famously hard, but with Days of Heaven, Malick was announcing that he would do things his way.
By common consent, his first film, Badlands (1973), was one...
- 9/1/2011
- by David Thomson
- The Guardian - Film News
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