On Dec. 20, 1990, Francis Ford Coppola unveiled The Godfather: Part III at its premiere at the Academy Theater in Beverly Hills. The film went on to gross $136 million globally and nab seven Oscar nominations at the 63rd Academy Awards. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:
It’s business, and personal. A complex depiction of Michael Corleone’s dying-days attempt to cement the family in the “legitimate” business world and attain spiritual redemption, this third installment of the Corleone Family chronicle is a full-bodied, albeit somber dramatic orchestration.
However, legitimacy has its price — respectability exacts a grayness and a tempering of one’s style and substance — and this splendidly conceived, although often confusing saga, is itself vulnerable to the dramatic doldrums of Michael’s venture into “respectable” dominions.
The Godfather, Part III does not go to the mattresses, it goes to the boardroom, and mainstream viewers after being served up...
It’s business, and personal. A complex depiction of Michael Corleone’s dying-days attempt to cement the family in the “legitimate” business world and attain spiritual redemption, this third installment of the Corleone Family chronicle is a full-bodied, albeit somber dramatic orchestration.
However, legitimacy has its price — respectability exacts a grayness and a tempering of one’s style and substance — and this splendidly conceived, although often confusing saga, is itself vulnerable to the dramatic doldrums of Michael’s venture into “respectable” dominions.
The Godfather, Part III does not go to the mattresses, it goes to the boardroom, and mainstream viewers after being served up...
- 12/20/2023
- by Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist–moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As our year-end coverage continues, we must pay dues. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the examples that have most impressed us this year.
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Jomo Fray)
Raven Jackson’s directorial debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt slows down the cycle of life. The camera rests on hands, on backs, on people connected through touch, sound, and smell. There isn’t any rush, any intention to leave these moments. Jackson and cinematographer Jomo Fray find beauty, grace, and life in two people holding hands, dancing, skinning a fish, and the trees passing while a family drives down the road. The film doesn’t just feel like a...
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Jomo Fray)
Raven Jackson’s directorial debut All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt slows down the cycle of life. The camera rests on hands, on backs, on people connected through touch, sound, and smell. There isn’t any rush, any intention to leave these moments. Jackson and cinematographer Jomo Fray find beauty, grace, and life in two people holding hands, dancing, skinning a fish, and the trees passing while a family drives down the road. The film doesn’t just feel like a...
- 12/6/2023
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
There was a time when a great many people would proclaim Francis Ford Coppola's mob masterpiece "The Godfather" as the greatest American film of the last 50 years. Those people can't do that anymore. It isn't because the movie has lost any of its artistic power or breathtaking cinematic invention. It's simply because "The Godfather" is now 51 years old, having been released back in 1972. The film is now closer to 1922, five years prior to the popularization of synchronized sound in film, than it is to today, and that gap will only continue to grow thanks to the inevitable march of time.
Because of that time, we have lost so many people involved in the making of the picture, including Mario Puzo, the film's co-writer and author of the original novel, and Gordon Willis, the cinematographer who crafted the signature dark look of the picture. Also gone are many of the film's cast members,...
Because of that time, we have lost so many people involved in the making of the picture, including Mario Puzo, the film's co-writer and author of the original novel, and Gordon Willis, the cinematographer who crafted the signature dark look of the picture. Also gone are many of the film's cast members,...
- 10/31/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
This story about “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
The last time Davis Guggenheim interviewed Michael J. Fox for the documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” it came at the end of a three-year period in which the filmmaker of “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for ‘Superman’” had spent time with the actor as he reflected on his life and battled Parkinson’s disease. He left Fox’s home exhausted by the lengthy interview — “interviews are super intense and I’m hyper-focused” — but also feeling as if he’d really gotten to know the 62-year-old actor who’d become a star in his 20s with “Family Ties” and “Back to the Future.”
It was a beautiful spring day, so Guggenheim decided to walk back to his hotel, which was two miles away.
The last time Davis Guggenheim interviewed Michael J. Fox for the documentary “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” it came at the end of a three-year period in which the filmmaker of “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for ‘Superman’” had spent time with the actor as he reflected on his life and battled Parkinson’s disease. He left Fox’s home exhausted by the lengthy interview — “interviews are super intense and I’m hyper-focused” — but also feeling as if he’d really gotten to know the 62-year-old actor who’d become a star in his 20s with “Family Ties” and “Back to the Future.”
It was a beautiful spring day, so Guggenheim decided to walk back to his hotel, which was two miles away.
- 8/14/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The new Pixar and Disney animated feature “Elemental” has several classic film inspirations behind it, ranging all the way from the 1967 romantic drama “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” to 1974’s “Godfather 2” (you read that right).
For director Peter Sohn, no film was off-limits for a story that held deep personal connection to him. “Films that took cities and made them into characters. The beautiful Gordon Willis cinematography of ‘Manhattan’ or ‘Annie Hall.’ ‘Amelie,’ how they made Paris into a postcard, but then love stories from ‘Sense and Sensibility’ to ‘Moonstruck,'” Sohn told TheWrap.
But whether the film is considered a romantic comedy is a point of contention between the cast and the writers. “Whenever people call this a rom-com — not to disagree, there are obviously romantic elements — but, for me, this movie has been always primarily about family,” said Mamoudou Athie, who plays Wade in the film.
John Hoberg and Kat Likkel,...
For director Peter Sohn, no film was off-limits for a story that held deep personal connection to him. “Films that took cities and made them into characters. The beautiful Gordon Willis cinematography of ‘Manhattan’ or ‘Annie Hall.’ ‘Amelie,’ how they made Paris into a postcard, but then love stories from ‘Sense and Sensibility’ to ‘Moonstruck,'” Sohn told TheWrap.
But whether the film is considered a romantic comedy is a point of contention between the cast and the writers. “Whenever people call this a rom-com — not to disagree, there are obviously romantic elements — but, for me, this movie has been always primarily about family,” said Mamoudou Athie, who plays Wade in the film.
John Hoberg and Kat Likkel,...
- 6/15/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
In 1997, Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford teamed up for what should have been an easy win in The Devil’s Own. Well, turns out, behind the scenes was as twisty as the movie’s plot. Script? Tossed out. Schedule? Tripled.
What unfolded was a Hollywood rollercoaster ride, a tale of on-the-fly rewrites, accent trials, and two movie titans learning to see eye to eye. Get ready for an inside look into the chaos and creativity that brought The Devil’s Own to life.
Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt | Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images Brad Pitt reveals ‘The Devil’s Own’ script was thrown out during filming
The release of Ford and Pitt’s first film together, The Devil’s Own, in 1997 had movie enthusiasts eagerly waiting. Little did they know, there was some major drama unfolding behind the scenes.
According to Fandom Wire, Pitt revealed in a 2011 interview that...
What unfolded was a Hollywood rollercoaster ride, a tale of on-the-fly rewrites, accent trials, and two movie titans learning to see eye to eye. Get ready for an inside look into the chaos and creativity that brought The Devil’s Own to life.
Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt | Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images Brad Pitt reveals ‘The Devil’s Own’ script was thrown out during filming
The release of Ford and Pitt’s first film together, The Devil’s Own, in 1997 had movie enthusiasts eagerly waiting. Little did they know, there was some major drama unfolding behind the scenes.
According to Fandom Wire, Pitt revealed in a 2011 interview that...
- 6/11/2023
- by Perry Carpenter
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Curated by the IndieWire Crafts team, Craft Considerations is a platform for filmmakers to talk about recent work we believe is worthy of awards consideration. In partnership with HBO, for this edition, we look at how the team behind “White House Plumbers” found a way to marry comedy, history, and the paranoid atmosphere of 1970s political thrillers.
There’s a scene in Episode 4 of “White House Plumbers” where Howard Hunt (Woody Harrelson), one of the masterminds behind the Watergate break-in, receives a call from reporter Bob Woodward. It’s the other side of the exact phone call dramatized from Woodward’s perspective in “All the President’s Men” — the 1976 movie about how Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s reporting helped bring down Hunt, his partner-in-crime G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux), and the Nixon White House.
“I like to think of [‘White House Plumbers’] as existing almost in parallel to ‘All the President’s Men,’” said director...
There’s a scene in Episode 4 of “White House Plumbers” where Howard Hunt (Woody Harrelson), one of the masterminds behind the Watergate break-in, receives a call from reporter Bob Woodward. It’s the other side of the exact phone call dramatized from Woodward’s perspective in “All the President’s Men” — the 1976 movie about how Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s reporting helped bring down Hunt, his partner-in-crime G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux), and the Nixon White House.
“I like to think of [‘White House Plumbers’] as existing almost in parallel to ‘All the President’s Men,’” said director...
- 5/31/2023
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Douglas C. Hart, an assistant camera operator on more than 50 feature films including Kramer vs. Kramer and such Woody Allen movies as Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Zelig, died Tuesday while under hospice care at an assisted living facility in New York City. He was 73.
His death was announced by the Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600. No official cause was given, but Hart suffered a brain aneurism last year and another crippling health event this week. His family said he died peacefully with his brother Randy and close friend, Gabor Kover, by his side
“As a member of the camera local, Doug was one of our finest camera technicians, working with many of the best camera crews in our business on over 50 feature films, many commercials and several documentaries,” the guild wrote. “Perhaps most notably, he was the ‘A’ Camera First Assistant on ten...
His death was announced by the Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600. No official cause was given, but Hart suffered a brain aneurism last year and another crippling health event this week. His family said he died peacefully with his brother Randy and close friend, Gabor Kover, by his side
“As a member of the camera local, Doug was one of our finest camera technicians, working with many of the best camera crews in our business on over 50 feature films, many commercials and several documentaries,” the guild wrote. “Perhaps most notably, he was the ‘A’ Camera First Assistant on ten...
- 5/17/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Now playing in theaters, Universal’s Renfield uses the original Universal Monsters classic Dracula (1931) as the jumping off point for a brand new adventure, dissecting the not-quite-healthy relationship between Dracula and his loyal servant, R.M. Renfield. But the original Dracula isn’t the only fanged horror classic that Renfield pays loving homage to.
An early scene in Renfield shows Nicolas Cage’s Dracula taking a vaporous form and entering the body of an elderly priest through the mouth, quite literally exploding the priest’s body apart. What you may not have noticed is that the ill-fated priest was played by the star of another classic vampire movie. Yes, that’s William Ragsdale, star of 1985’s Fright Night!
Ragsdale of course played Charley Brewster in Tom Holland’s original Fright Night, who survives a nightmarish encounter with the vampire Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon). Ragsdale’s “Older Priest” (his official credit...
An early scene in Renfield shows Nicolas Cage’s Dracula taking a vaporous form and entering the body of an elderly priest through the mouth, quite literally exploding the priest’s body apart. What you may not have noticed is that the ill-fated priest was played by the star of another classic vampire movie. Yes, that’s William Ragsdale, star of 1985’s Fright Night!
Ragsdale of course played Charley Brewster in Tom Holland’s original Fright Night, who survives a nightmarish encounter with the vampire Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon). Ragsdale’s “Older Priest” (his official credit...
- 4/18/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
For all the twists and turns in Sharper, what stands out the most is the film’s aesthetic: often beautiful to observe but also diverse in its rendering of different sections of its New York setting. Director Benjamin Caron and cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen tap into the labyrinthian quality of the space. There are secrets in alleys and skyscrapers alike.
What a pleasure it was, then, to speak with Caron about the decisions behind these choices. Not to mention the challenges of directing an A-list cast of actors while maintaining the illusions inherent in a confidence game.
The Film Stage: How does this movie come together? How do you find yourself directing all these great people in this cool movie?
Benjamin Caron: I was finishing working on Andor and I had a film that that we were going to make in the [United Kingdom] with Vanessa Kirby, but because of the pandemic...
What a pleasure it was, then, to speak with Caron about the decisions behind these choices. Not to mention the challenges of directing an A-list cast of actors while maintaining the illusions inherent in a confidence game.
The Film Stage: How does this movie come together? How do you find yourself directing all these great people in this cool movie?
Benjamin Caron: I was finishing working on Andor and I had a film that that we were going to make in the [United Kingdom] with Vanessa Kirby, but because of the pandemic...
- 2/14/2023
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
I love a good con film. "The Crown" and "Andor" director Benjamin Caron has delivered a new one as his feature directorial debut in the form of "Sharper," a twisty Apple TV+ neo-noir about a bunch of people in New York City who are angling to get what they want. Con men, billionaires, gold diggers, and victims collide in this fascinating examination of the lengths people will go for greed, and it has a killer cast: Julianne Moore, John Lithgow, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, and the stellar Briana Middleton, who not only hangs with these relative veterans, but practically leaps off the screen. In a movie full of theft, the most impressive one of all is how Middleton steals this movie with her performance.
I had the chance to speak with Caron in the lead-up to his film's release, and ask him about his influences, how he kept the audience surprised,...
I had the chance to speak with Caron in the lead-up to his film's release, and ask him about his influences, how he kept the audience surprised,...
- 2/9/2023
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
Gordon Willis is considered by many to be one of the greatest cinematographers in the history of cinema, with his work on films like "The Godfather" trilogy, "Annie Hall," "Manhattan," and "Klute" hailed as the definitive cinematic look of the late 1970s. Willis was given the nickname "The Prince of Darkness" by fellow cinematographer Conrad Hall, a reference to Willis' sophisticated use of shadow and underexposed film. Think of Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in "The Godfather," often cloaked in shadow just as dark as his pitch-black tuxedo jacket.
Willis' skills were on another level, and in our current era where everything seems to be plagued by a curse of darkness, it's a shame that more cinematographers aren't looking toward his example. Fortunately, director Benjamin Caron of "Andor" fame specifically wanted to channel the work of Gordon Willis for his upcoming A24 thriller with Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan, "Sharper.
Willis' skills were on another level, and in our current era where everything seems to be plagued by a curse of darkness, it's a shame that more cinematographers aren't looking toward his example. Fortunately, director Benjamin Caron of "Andor" fame specifically wanted to channel the work of Gordon Willis for his upcoming A24 thriller with Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan, "Sharper.
- 2/8/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Look over the list of Best Picture winners over the years and you realise that almost every film selected is still in circulation.
William Wellman’s Wings, the very first winner in 1927, is readily available on DVD and Blu-Ray, as are such other early winners as Cimarron and Broadway Melody.
Most of the other Best Picture winners are titles that any film lover will recognise instantly. The blind spots are obvious. The Academy never chooses foreign language titles. In recent years, it has shunned comedies.
The Shape of Water may have won in 2018, but voters are generally wary about genre pictures. You don’t see many sci-fi or martial arts titles on the list.
There is a growing divide between what wins at the Oscars and what makes the money at the box office. Even so, the est Picture Oscar remains one of the most reliable bellwethers for films that will have an afterlife.
William Wellman’s Wings, the very first winner in 1927, is readily available on DVD and Blu-Ray, as are such other early winners as Cimarron and Broadway Melody.
Most of the other Best Picture winners are titles that any film lover will recognise instantly. The blind spots are obvious. The Academy never chooses foreign language titles. In recent years, it has shunned comedies.
The Shape of Water may have won in 2018, but voters are generally wary about genre pictures. You don’t see many sci-fi or martial arts titles on the list.
There is a growing divide between what wins at the Oscars and what makes the money at the box office. Even so, the est Picture Oscar remains one of the most reliable bellwethers for films that will have an afterlife.
- 2/2/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- The Independent - Film
Look over the list of Best Picture winners over the years and you realise that almost every film selected is still in circulation.
William Wellman’s Wings, the very first winner in 1927, is readily available on DVD and Blu-Ray, as are such other early winners as Cimarron and Broadway Melody.
Most of the other Best Picture winners are titles that any film lover will recognise instantly. The blind spots are obvious. The Academy never chooses foreign language titles. In recent years, it has shunned comedies.
The Shape of Water may have won in 2018, but voters are generally wary about genre pictures. You don’t see many sci-fi or martial arts titles on the list.
There is a growing divide between what wins at the Oscars and what makes the money at the box office. Even so, the est Picture Oscar remains one of the most reliable bellwethers for films that will have an afterlife.
William Wellman’s Wings, the very first winner in 1927, is readily available on DVD and Blu-Ray, as are such other early winners as Cimarron and Broadway Melody.
Most of the other Best Picture winners are titles that any film lover will recognise instantly. The blind spots are obvious. The Academy never chooses foreign language titles. In recent years, it has shunned comedies.
The Shape of Water may have won in 2018, but voters are generally wary about genre pictures. You don’t see many sci-fi or martial arts titles on the list.
There is a growing divide between what wins at the Oscars and what makes the money at the box office. Even so, the est Picture Oscar remains one of the most reliable bellwethers for films that will have an afterlife.
- 2/2/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- The Independent - Film
“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist–moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As we continue our year-end coverage, one aspect we must highlight is, indeed, cinematography. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the examples that have most impressed us this year.
Aftersun (Gregory Oke)
It’s been seven months since I unassumingly saw Aftersun at an unspeakable morning hour in the Director’s Fortnight sidebar at Cannes, and I haven’t stopped thinking about that polaroid shot. Just after a photo is taken, the camera cuts to a long, still take of the polaroid image slowly apparating. It’s the shot I’ve thought about most this year (and not just because it’s clever). In narrative context it delivers a heavyweight moment. But in...
Aftersun (Gregory Oke)
It’s been seven months since I unassumingly saw Aftersun at an unspeakable morning hour in the Director’s Fortnight sidebar at Cannes, and I haven’t stopped thinking about that polaroid shot. Just after a photo is taken, the camera cuts to a long, still take of the polaroid image slowly apparating. It’s the shot I’ve thought about most this year (and not just because it’s clever). In narrative context it delivers a heavyweight moment. But in...
- 12/14/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
.
Where do you look when trying to reinvent “Pinocchio?” How do you bring Carlo Collodi’s novel to the modern world when another, beloved animated version has existed for over 80 years? You look outside of animation, of course. For “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” cinematographer Frank Passingham took inspiration from live-action to give a brand new look to the the tale of a wooden boy brought to life.
“There was one film in particular I wanted my lighting camera people to watch, and that was ‘The Godfather,'” Passingham told IndieWire. “I’m a big fan of Gordon Willis because he has a very naturalistic approach that emphasizes and brings out drama.” For Passingham, Willis’ work on Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” and its sequel became the key to subverting what audiences expect “Pinocchio” to look and feel like. Though the film still features a talking cricket, magical beings,...
Where do you look when trying to reinvent “Pinocchio?” How do you bring Carlo Collodi’s novel to the modern world when another, beloved animated version has existed for over 80 years? You look outside of animation, of course. For “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” cinematographer Frank Passingham took inspiration from live-action to give a brand new look to the the tale of a wooden boy brought to life.
“There was one film in particular I wanted my lighting camera people to watch, and that was ‘The Godfather,'” Passingham told IndieWire. “I’m a big fan of Gordon Willis because he has a very naturalistic approach that emphasizes and brings out drama.” For Passingham, Willis’ work on Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” and its sequel became the key to subverting what audiences expect “Pinocchio” to look and feel like. Though the film still features a talking cricket, magical beings,...
- 12/9/2022
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Indiewire
Looking back on his 35-year career at the Red Sea Film Festival, Andy Garcia noted how far things had changed since he started out as a Cuban American actor. “When I started there were no opportunities. Only gang members.” He would tell casting directors: “I didn’t study Latin acting 101, I studied Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams.” Has the situation improved? Garcia offered qualified optimism: “It’s gotten better, especially in the casting. Not so much in the stories.”
His career has included working alongside stars like Sean Connery, Al Pacino and George Clooney, and under the direction of top helmers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma and Steven Soderbergh.
“It was a dream for me to be an actor and work on films. I’ve really been blessed, but I’m still dreaming. There are a lot of things I want to do, but I’ve had a...
His career has included working alongside stars like Sean Connery, Al Pacino and George Clooney, and under the direction of top helmers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma and Steven Soderbergh.
“It was a dream for me to be an actor and work on films. I’ve really been blessed, but I’m still dreaming. There are a lot of things I want to do, but I’ve had a...
- 12/5/2022
- by John Bleasdale
- Variety Film + TV
The marketing for "Devotion" is bound to play up the fact that, just like the recent mega-hit "Top Gun: Maverick," this is yet another Navy pilot movie that co-stars Glen Powell. But while that may put butts in seats, it also does a disservice to J. D. Dillard's more intimate war flick. While there are several great IMAX-enhanced moments of aerial combat, "Devotion" is far more interested in what's happening on earth rather than in the sky. It's a character drama with occasional bursts of action, and while there's certainly nothing wrong with that, the film ends up rather muddled. You can see the bones of something greater here, and Dillard remains a filmmaker worth paying attention to. But even at oddly-paced 138 minutes, "Devotion" feels as if it's lacking something — as if entire scenes have been trimmed to get to the flying moments faster.
This is disappointing, because not only is Dillard's direction strong,...
This is disappointing, because not only is Dillard's direction strong,...
- 9/13/2022
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
“His influence will never wane; there simply isn’t anyone who’s any good who isn’t standing on his shoulders.”
That’s what Steven Soderbergh wrote about Gordon Willis, the cinematographer who changed the American cinema forever with his work on Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather.” Though other filmmakers had used some of the same techniques as Willis — John Ford and Gregg Toland made extensive use of practically motivated light sources on “The Long Voyage Home,” and many noir films experimented with placing their characters in darkness — the revolution didn’t really take hold until he applied the approach to what became one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies of all time.
“The Godfather” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and Willis’ work continues to inform the ways in which cinematographers approach their work; look no further than Greig Fraser’s character and psychology-driven lighting on “The Batman” for proof.
That’s what Steven Soderbergh wrote about Gordon Willis, the cinematographer who changed the American cinema forever with his work on Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather.” Though other filmmakers had used some of the same techniques as Willis — John Ford and Gregg Toland made extensive use of practically motivated light sources on “The Long Voyage Home,” and many noir films experimented with placing their characters in darkness — the revolution didn’t really take hold until he applied the approach to what became one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies of all time.
“The Godfather” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and Willis’ work continues to inform the ways in which cinematographers approach their work; look no further than Greig Fraser’s character and psychology-driven lighting on “The Batman” for proof.
- 4/14/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
The next episode of our series, ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot,’ arrives tomorrow night. It’s focused on The Godfather on the occasion of its new restoration. You still have time to participate. For now, as something of a preview, here’s Cláudio’s entry.
The Godfather is one of those canonized classics about which there is nothing new to say. Its themes and visual strategies have been overanalyzed ad nauseam across decades, from Coppola's Viscontian staging to Gordon Willis's shadowy cinematography. Choosing the best shot from such masterpiece and justifying that choice is thus a complicated exercise where one risks obsolescence, repetition, utter failure. Indeed, of this season's best shot challenges, this was the hardest...
The Godfather is one of those canonized classics about which there is nothing new to say. Its themes and visual strategies have been overanalyzed ad nauseam across decades, from Coppola's Viscontian staging to Gordon Willis's shadowy cinematography. Choosing the best shot from such masterpiece and justifying that choice is thus a complicated exercise where one risks obsolescence, repetition, utter failure. Indeed, of this season's best shot challenges, this was the hardest...
- 4/7/2022
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
‘The Godfather’ at 50: Robert Duvall, James Caan, Talia Shire Reflect on the Making of a Mob Classic
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 50 years since Francis Ford Coppola’s”The Godfather” made moviegoers an offer they couldn’t refuse.
The film was a sensation when it debuted in March 24, 1972, setting box office records, revitalizing the career of Marlon Brando, launching the likes of Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan onto the A-list, and scoring an Oscar for Best Picture. But things could have gone very differently. Coppola, an up-and-coming director tasked with bringing Mario Puzo’s best-selling novel to the screen, was hardly the studio’s first choice for the task (Paramount production chief Robert Evans preferred Costa-Gavras). And things didn’t improve when cameras started rolling, with Paramount openly flirting with firing the filmmaker at several key points.
Somehow, however, Coppola persevered and delivered a masterpiece. In the five decades since the epic story of a criminal family whose ambitions to achieve...
The film was a sensation when it debuted in March 24, 1972, setting box office records, revitalizing the career of Marlon Brando, launching the likes of Al Pacino, Robert Duvall and James Caan onto the A-list, and scoring an Oscar for Best Picture. But things could have gone very differently. Coppola, an up-and-coming director tasked with bringing Mario Puzo’s best-selling novel to the screen, was hardly the studio’s first choice for the task (Paramount production chief Robert Evans preferred Costa-Gavras). And things didn’t improve when cameras started rolling, with Paramount openly flirting with firing the filmmaker at several key points.
Somehow, however, Coppola persevered and delivered a masterpiece. In the five decades since the epic story of a criminal family whose ambitions to achieve...
- 3/22/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount:
Paramount Pictures Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Francis Ford Coppala's Cinematic Masterpiece
Hollywood, Calif. – March 1, 2022 — In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s Academy Award®-winning* masterwork The Godfather, Paramount Pictures will be releasing all three films in the epic trilogy on 4K Ultra HD for the first time ever on March 22, 2022, with all the films having been meticulously restored under the direction of Coppola.
“I am very proud of The Godfather, which certainly defined the first third of my creative life,” said Francis Ford Coppola. “With this 50th anniversary tribute, I’m especially proud Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone is included, as it captures Mario and my original vision in definitively concluding our epic trilogy. It’s also gratifying to celebrate this...
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Paramount:
Paramount Pictures Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Francis Ford Coppala's Cinematic Masterpiece
Hollywood, Calif. – March 1, 2022 — In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s Academy Award®-winning* masterwork The Godfather, Paramount Pictures will be releasing all three films in the epic trilogy on 4K Ultra HD for the first time ever on March 22, 2022, with all the films having been meticulously restored under the direction of Coppola.
“I am very proud of The Godfather, which certainly defined the first third of my creative life,” said Francis Ford Coppola. “With this 50th anniversary tribute, I’m especially proud Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone is included, as it captures Mario and my original vision in definitively concluding our epic trilogy. It’s also gratifying to celebrate this...
- 3/20/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Warner Bros. has officially, successfully rebooted the Batman franchise with “The Batman,” which has earned glowing notices from audiences and critics alike and is dominating the box office. And while it will surely be some time before a sequel is ready to go before cameras let alone unleashed on the public, there are plenty of films that influenced “The Batman” that should whet audiences’ appetites – and may expand their cinematic horizons in the process.
Co-writer and director Matt Reeves has made no secret of the fact that several films influenced his dark, “urban noir” take on the Caped Crusader for “The Batman.”
Below, we’ve rounded up a handful of films that served as touchstones for the new Batman film that are well worth seeking out to enjoy more of what made “The Batman” so special. Whether you were thrilled by the detective angle of the film, the hard-boiled noir...
Co-writer and director Matt Reeves has made no secret of the fact that several films influenced his dark, “urban noir” take on the Caped Crusader for “The Batman.”
Below, we’ve rounded up a handful of films that served as touchstones for the new Batman film that are well worth seeking out to enjoy more of what made “The Batman” so special. Whether you were thrilled by the detective angle of the film, the hard-boiled noir...
- 3/18/2022
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” cinematographer Ricardo Diaz knew he would pay homage to the original film while working on the 2022 sequel. Teaming with director David Blue Garcia and Mark Burnham, who plays the iconic movie slasher, Diaz took on recreating Leatherface’s famous dance… in one take.
Diaz spoke with Variety about pulling off that feat in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” offering insight into the horror film’s cinematography.
What it was like shooting the iconic Leatherface dance, and how did you execute it in one take?
David Blue Garcia and I have a shorthand because of our years-long friendship — we went to film school together — and he also came up in the business as a cinematographer. We essentially speak the same language both technically and artistically. So, collaborating with him was so effortless. Having both come up in independent film, we were also uniquely able to work quickly and create on our feet,...
Diaz spoke with Variety about pulling off that feat in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” offering insight into the horror film’s cinematography.
What it was like shooting the iconic Leatherface dance, and how did you execute it in one take?
David Blue Garcia and I have a shorthand because of our years-long friendship — we went to film school together — and he also came up in the business as a cinematographer. We essentially speak the same language both technically and artistically. So, collaborating with him was so effortless. Having both come up in independent film, we were also uniquely able to work quickly and create on our feet,...
- 2/25/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Woody Allen’s breakthrough film is a finely observed romance, a surreal time-traveling autobiography and a stand-up comedy confessional. With the help of cinematographer Gordon Willis and editor Ralph Rosenblum, Allen juggles those disparate elements with the skill of a Houdini. Diane Keaton’s exquisitely flakey and funny performance was rewarded by the Academy who named her the Best Actress of 1977.
Here’s Bob Weide with more thoughts on Woody Allen.
The post Annie Hall appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
Here’s Bob Weide with more thoughts on Woody Allen.
The post Annie Hall appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 2/16/2022
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Update: The Godfather Trilogy in 4K Uhd and a special Collector’s Edition are now available to pre-order.
Considering how many re-issues and restorations there have been for Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy, Paramount certainly wasn’t going to skimp on the 50th anniversary of the American classic, which was released on March 24, 1972. The studio has now announced its plans to celebrate the major milestone with new restorations of all three films under Coppola’s direction. First up, beginning on February 25, The Godfather will return to theaters, exclusively in Dolby Cinema at AMC Theatres in the U.S., as well as in international territories around the world. Then, on March 22, the films will be made available for the first time ever in 4K Ultra HD.
“I am very proud of The Godfather, which certainly defined the first third of my creative life,” said Francis Ford Coppola. “With this 50th anniversary tribute,...
Considering how many re-issues and restorations there have been for Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy, Paramount certainly wasn’t going to skimp on the 50th anniversary of the American classic, which was released on March 24, 1972. The studio has now announced its plans to celebrate the major milestone with new restorations of all three films under Coppola’s direction. First up, beginning on February 25, The Godfather will return to theaters, exclusively in Dolby Cinema at AMC Theatres in the U.S., as well as in international territories around the world. Then, on March 22, the films will be made available for the first time ever in 4K Ultra HD.
“I am very proud of The Godfather, which certainly defined the first third of my creative life,” said Francis Ford Coppola. “With this 50th anniversary tribute,...
- 1/13/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
At any given moment the most titillating movie intrigues are not about star salaries or director firings, but rather about those grisly details that are well below the radar.
“The blood doesn’t look right to me. We need believable blood. Blood that coagulates. Get me better blood.”
Those were the demands of one filmmaker who was prepping an especially violent scene on an important movie. Though he abhorred violence, he was determined to deliver memorable murders.
Production strategizing usually remains secretive, with the exception of Alec Baldwin’s Rust, which seems grist for endless litigation. On most studio films, however, the cone of silence remains intact.
The vintage example is The Godfather: Though much has been written about that movie, some pre-production conflicts have lately been revisited in Mark Seal’s new book Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, which relies in part on two previously unknown documents.
“The blood doesn’t look right to me. We need believable blood. Blood that coagulates. Get me better blood.”
Those were the demands of one filmmaker who was prepping an especially violent scene on an important movie. Though he abhorred violence, he was determined to deliver memorable murders.
Production strategizing usually remains secretive, with the exception of Alec Baldwin’s Rust, which seems grist for endless litigation. On most studio films, however, the cone of silence remains intact.
The vintage example is The Godfather: Though much has been written about that movie, some pre-production conflicts have lately been revisited in Mark Seal’s new book Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, which relies in part on two previously unknown documents.
- 12/30/2021
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist–moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As we continue our year-end coverage, one aspect we must highlight is, indeed, cinematography. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the examples that have most impressed us this year. Check out our rundown below.
About Endlessness (Gergely Pálos)
Working with close collaborator Gregory Palos, director Roy Andersson rids About Endlessness of any color contrast (there are almost no shadows too) to create a surreal but superficial uniformity implying the banality of everyday tasks. The film’s use of static one-shots over a series of vignettes paints life in a period of stasis. Andersson’s aesthetic choices give the film a sense of transcendence while uncovering the dark humor of everyday life while still looking gorgeous,...
About Endlessness (Gergely Pálos)
Working with close collaborator Gregory Palos, director Roy Andersson rids About Endlessness of any color contrast (there are almost no shadows too) to create a surreal but superficial uniformity implying the banality of everyday tasks. The film’s use of static one-shots over a series of vignettes paints life in a period of stasis. Andersson’s aesthetic choices give the film a sense of transcendence while uncovering the dark humor of everyday life while still looking gorgeous,...
- 12/22/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Stephen Karam’s claustrophobic family drama “The Humans” takes place in what, to a non-New Yorker, might resemble the most terrifying and uninhabitable apartment on the market: The paint’s peeling, light fixtures dangle precariously from the ceiling, and the only natural light seeps in through dirty windows looking out on the most depressing airshaft of all time. It makes Catherine Deneuve’s flat in “Repulsion” look like a luxury condo.
But the two-story, ground-level duplex is actually a pretty cush Lower East Side unit, and for Karam, who wrote and directed the film from his own 2016 play, it’s not so bad. That’s because he more or less lived in this place during his starving-artist days in New York City.
“The reason I was able to afford it as a playwright [with a] day job working as an assistant [was because] I lived in the basement. My roommate lived on the ground floor.
But the two-story, ground-level duplex is actually a pretty cush Lower East Side unit, and for Karam, who wrote and directed the film from his own 2016 play, it’s not so bad. That’s because he more or less lived in this place during his starving-artist days in New York City.
“The reason I was able to afford it as a playwright [with a] day job working as an assistant [was because] I lived in the basement. My roommate lived on the ground floor.
- 11/28/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
A warning, to be issued immediately and upfront: You might not want to see The Humans directly before or after a holiday dinner. Should potential viewers still be suffering from Ptsd regarding their Turkey Day get-together, or spend the bulk of their weekly therapy sessions dreading the thought of a Christmas spent in the company of relatives, this movie will be triggering. The filmmakers can not be held liable for any uncontrollable shaking, faintness of breath, numbness in extremities, loss of consciousness and/or bracing moments of clarity and recognition...
- 11/26/2021
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Licorice Pizza cinematographer Michael Bauman, editor Andy Jurgensen and production designer Florencia Martin said director Paul Thomas Anderson used 1970s processes to create the MGM/United Artists Releasing film. The trio spoke about the upcoming pic, about coming of age in the San Fernando Valley in that same era, during Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles award-season event Sunday at the DGA Theater.
“Most of the time you’re using more modern glass, you get a sharper image,” Bauman said. “That was the exact opposite of what we’re doing here. We had a set of lenses Gordon Willis used from the ‘70s. The C Series is a very old series of lenses too. It adds that texture in the image.”
Jurgensen said Anderson shot Licorice Pizza on 35mm film, already a rarity in 2021 Hollywood; 70mm prints are blown up from 35.
Bauman said he screened film dailies every day, like...
“Most of the time you’re using more modern glass, you get a sharper image,” Bauman said. “That was the exact opposite of what we’re doing here. We had a set of lenses Gordon Willis used from the ‘70s. The C Series is a very old series of lenses too. It adds that texture in the image.”
Jurgensen said Anderson shot Licorice Pizza on 35mm film, already a rarity in 2021 Hollywood; 70mm prints are blown up from 35.
Bauman said he screened film dailies every day, like...
- 11/14/2021
- by Fred Topel
- Deadline Film + TV
The Oscars was only two months ago, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences already was working on the next recipients of the most desired award in the motion picture industry. At Tuesday night’s Board meeting, Danny Glover, Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann became the latest chosen to receive Honorary Oscars, which will be presented at the long-delayed 12th annual Governors Awards now set for Saturday, January 15, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood.
Glover will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” said Academy President David Rubin. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress,...
Glover will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” said Academy President David Rubin. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The Parallax View Soundtrack by Michael Small will be available Coming Friday May 7th from Cinema Paradiso Recordings on limited edition color vinyl and deluxe bundles.
“Michael Small’s score raises the spectre of all that is hidden in American history, and superimposes them in a collage that reveals itself to be the unseen hands that shape it.” – Jim O’Rourke
Cinema Paradiso Recordings is proud to announce the release of the soundtrack to the motion picture ‘The Parallax View’, on vinyl for the first time ever, this coming May 7th 2021. Based on the book by Loren Singer, The Parallax View is directed and produced by Alan J Pakula as the second installment of his Political Paranoia trilogy – alongside Klute (1971) and All the President’s Men (1976). With cinematography by Gordon Willis and starring Warren Beatty, this political thriller from 1974 is perhaps even more relevant today than it was back then. The...
“Michael Small’s score raises the spectre of all that is hidden in American history, and superimposes them in a collage that reveals itself to be the unseen hands that shape it.” – Jim O’Rourke
Cinema Paradiso Recordings is proud to announce the release of the soundtrack to the motion picture ‘The Parallax View’, on vinyl for the first time ever, this coming May 7th 2021. Based on the book by Loren Singer, The Parallax View is directed and produced by Alan J Pakula as the second installment of his Political Paranoia trilogy – alongside Klute (1971) and All the President’s Men (1976). With cinematography by Gordon Willis and starring Warren Beatty, this political thriller from 1974 is perhaps even more relevant today than it was back then. The...
- 5/4/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
A corporation devoted to political assassinations?! What seemed pretty far out to some critics in 1974 doesn’t look quite so crazy 40 years later. The second entry in what has been called Alan Pakula’s political paranoia trilogy (following Klute and preceding All the President’s Men) benefits from striking Gordon Willis camerawork and a sharp script co-written by an uncredited Robert Towne.
The post The Parallax View appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post The Parallax View appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 4/30/2021
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Though he’s been active in the industry for nearly two decades, cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt made his feature film debut last year with David Fincher’s silvery period drama “Mank.” Messerschmidt’s credits include television work in projects as diverse as “Everybody Hates Chris,” Ridley Scott’s “Raised by Wolves,” and Fincher’s “Mindhunter.” Fincher, in fact, had hired Messerschmidt three years ago to lens his sequel to “World War Z,” but after that project was cancelled in early 2019, the director called the cinematographer with a different proposal.
“David said, ‘I’ve got this black and white movie I’m thinking about. Do you want to do it?” Messerschmidt recalled to TheWrap. “He’s kind of coy like that. So I didn’t really know anything about what the film was. But I said, ‘Sure.'”
The film, of course, was Fincher’s biopic of “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz...
“David said, ‘I’ve got this black and white movie I’m thinking about. Do you want to do it?” Messerschmidt recalled to TheWrap. “He’s kind of coy like that. So I didn’t really know anything about what the film was. But I said, ‘Sure.'”
The film, of course, was Fincher’s biopic of “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz...
- 4/14/2021
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
Paranoia strikes deep! Alan J. Pakula made The Watergate-era conspiracy creepshow in this sinister extrapolation of political trends. Warren Beatty’s investigative reporter thinks he has an inside track to expose and destroy what looks like a shadow assassination bureau. If the technology of 1974 could be made this efficient, our own Brave New World of ‘truth control’ seems even scarier. Pakula and cameraman Gordon Willis found a Panavision style that fully expresses the faceless corporate menace; the ‘Parallax Recruitment Montage’ is still the most terrifying piece of psych-out Agit-prop ever assembled.
The Parallax View
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1064
1974 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 102 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 9, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Jo Ann Harris, Walter McGinn, Jim Davis, Stacy Keach Sr., Ford Rainey, Richard Bull, Kenneth Mars, Bill McKinney, Craig R. Baxley, Anthony Zerbe.
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Film Editor: John W. Wheeler...
The Parallax View
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1064
1974 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 102 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 9, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Jo Ann Harris, Walter McGinn, Jim Davis, Stacy Keach Sr., Ford Rainey, Richard Bull, Kenneth Mars, Bill McKinney, Craig R. Baxley, Anthony Zerbe.
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Film Editor: John W. Wheeler...
- 2/9/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist–moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As we continue our year-end coverage, one aspect we must highlight is, indeed, cinematography. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the examples that have most impressed us this year. Check out our rundown below.
An Easy Girl (Georges Lechaptois)
The French Riviera is the fitting location for this tale of sexual discovery and class criticism. Georges Lechaptois’ frames are gorgeous not just because of the landscape––we have reoccurring overhead shots of the crystal-blue tides rustling against the beach where characters lay––but the juxtaposition of the quiet life out on the sea. The sun-soaked vistas at lunch are as lively as the quiet, sensuous nights the lovers spend in their dimly lit...
An Easy Girl (Georges Lechaptois)
The French Riviera is the fitting location for this tale of sexual discovery and class criticism. Georges Lechaptois’ frames are gorgeous not just because of the landscape––we have reoccurring overhead shots of the crystal-blue tides rustling against the beach where characters lay––but the juxtaposition of the quiet life out on the sea. The sun-soaked vistas at lunch are as lively as the quiet, sensuous nights the lovers spend in their dimly lit...
- 12/22/2020
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Stars: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy Garcia, Sophia Coppola | Written by Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola | Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Let’s take a cheeky rare trip down memory lane as Paramount Entertainment prepare to release Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo’s The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone… My first ever experience with The Godfather trilogy was as a young lad when I discovered the old man’s 4-part VHS box set whereby it was edited chronological, from a young Vito through to an old Michael! This for me is far and away the best way to watch the movies. As a burgeoning filmaholic I had never seen movies like this before. People talking for days, ceremony sequences that literally take up 40-50 minutes of the movie, very little action and insane performances that from top to bottom deserve Oscars. All I really knew...
Let’s take a cheeky rare trip down memory lane as Paramount Entertainment prepare to release Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo’s The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone… My first ever experience with The Godfather trilogy was as a young lad when I discovered the old man’s 4-part VHS box set whereby it was edited chronological, from a young Vito through to an old Michael! This for me is far and away the best way to watch the movies. As a burgeoning filmaholic I had never seen movies like this before. People talking for days, ceremony sequences that literally take up 40-50 minutes of the movie, very little action and insane performances that from top to bottom deserve Oscars. All I really knew...
- 12/1/2020
- by Kevin Haldon
- Nerdly
Poor “Godfather III.” It’s a film that was never up to the impossible task of carrying the banner for its two predecessors, movies whose impact on cinema and on the culture in general remain undiminished nearly 50 years later. “The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone” (opening in limited release Friday before coming to Blu-ray and digital December 8) may be the best version yet of this third entry in the Corleone cycle, but its diminished status within the trilogy remains, alas, fully intact.
Director Francis Ford Coppola continues his reign as the King of the Do-Over — at this point, he’s created more alternate versions of his own films than anyone except possibly his old pal George Lucas and his seemingly endless revision of the “Star Wars” saga — and “Coda,” like 2019’s “The Cotton Club Encore,” takes a flawed film and makes it less flawed. Completists and apologists looking...
Director Francis Ford Coppola continues his reign as the King of the Do-Over — at this point, he’s created more alternate versions of his own films than anyone except possibly his old pal George Lucas and his seemingly endless revision of the “Star Wars” saga — and “Coda,” like 2019’s “The Cotton Club Encore,” takes a flawed film and makes it less flawed. Completists and apologists looking...
- 12/1/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Another month begins, another announcement from the Criterion Collection, with all the wares they’ll be hocking in the new year. The company has released thousands of classic films over the years, but even deep into their massive collection, still find more masterpieces to add. Their February line-up is lead by a masterpiece of ’70s paranoia, Alan J. Pakula‘s thriller, “The Parallax View,” starring Warren Beatty and shot by one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, Gordon Willis.
Continue reading Criterion Adds ‘The Parallax View,’ ‘Smooth Talk’ & 2 Ramin Bahrani Films For February at The Playlist.
Continue reading Criterion Adds ‘The Parallax View,’ ‘Smooth Talk’ & 2 Ramin Bahrani Films For February at The Playlist.
- 11/13/2020
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
The Criterion Collection continues 2021 with a recently rediscovered classic, an established tenet of the conspiracy genre, a horribly underrepresented African filmmaker (evergreen), and two by Ramin Bahrani. Respectfully, those are: Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk; Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View; Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi; as well as Bahrani’s Chop Shop and Man Push Cart.
Check out the cover art and special features below, and see more on Criterion’s website.
New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Joyce Chopra, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-rayConversation among Chopra, author Joyce Carol Oates, and actor Laura Dern from the 2020 New York Film Festival, moderated by TCM host Alicia MaloneNew interview with ChopraNew interview with production designer David WascoKPFK Pacifica Radio interview with Chopra from 1985Joyce at 34 (1972), Girls at 12 (1975), and Clorae and Albie (1976), three short films by ChopraAudio reading of the 1966 Life magazine article “The Pied Piper of Tucson,...
Check out the cover art and special features below, and see more on Criterion’s website.
New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Joyce Chopra, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-rayConversation among Chopra, author Joyce Carol Oates, and actor Laura Dern from the 2020 New York Film Festival, moderated by TCM host Alicia MaloneNew interview with ChopraNew interview with production designer David WascoKPFK Pacifica Radio interview with Chopra from 1985Joyce at 34 (1972), Girls at 12 (1975), and Clorae and Albie (1976), three short films by ChopraAudio reading of the 1966 Life magazine article “The Pied Piper of Tucson,...
- 11/13/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Update, September 22: Martin Scorsese, a frequent collaborator of Chapman’s, has issued the following statement following the cinematographer’s passing: “I consider myself so fortunate to have been able to work with Michael Chapman. Michael and I made three films together—’Taxi Driver,’ ‘The Last Waltz,’ and ‘Raging Bull,’ and he brought something rare and irreplaceable to each of them.”
Scorsese continues, “I remember when ‘Taxi Driver’ came out and Michael became known as a ‘poet of the streets’—I think that was the wording, and it seemed right to me. Michael was the one who really controlled the visual palette of ‘The Last Waltz,’ and on ‘Raging Bull’ he and his team met every single challenge—and there were so many. One of the greatest of those challenges was shooting in black and white, which Michael had never done before, a fact that still astonishes me. His relationship...
Scorsese continues, “I remember when ‘Taxi Driver’ came out and Michael became known as a ‘poet of the streets’—I think that was the wording, and it seemed right to me. Michael was the one who really controlled the visual palette of ‘The Last Waltz,’ and on ‘Raging Bull’ he and his team met every single challenge—and there were so many. One of the greatest of those challenges was shooting in black and white, which Michael had never done before, a fact that still astonishes me. His relationship...
- 9/22/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Cinematographer and director Michael Chapman, known for his work on Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull” and “The Last Waltz,” died Sunday. He was 84.
His spouse, screenwriter and film director Amy Holden Jones’ Facebook page confirmed the news of his death, writing: “Michael Chapman ASC, love of my entire adult life, has passed. Until we meet again.”
He was nominated for two Oscars for best cinematography, for “Raging Bull” — with its distinctive black and white photography — and “The Fugitive.”
Chapman began his film career as a camera operator, working on projects such as Hal Ashby’s “The Landlord,” “The Godfather” and “Jaws.” He cited his mentor, Gordon Willis, the director of Ashby’s “The Last Detail,” French cinematographer Raoul Coutard and Scorsese, with whom he collaborated several times, as people who impacted him greatly.
His later films as director of photography or cinematographer included “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid,...
His spouse, screenwriter and film director Amy Holden Jones’ Facebook page confirmed the news of his death, writing: “Michael Chapman ASC, love of my entire adult life, has passed. Until we meet again.”
He was nominated for two Oscars for best cinematography, for “Raging Bull” — with its distinctive black and white photography — and “The Fugitive.”
Chapman began his film career as a camera operator, working on projects such as Hal Ashby’s “The Landlord,” “The Godfather” and “Jaws.” He cited his mentor, Gordon Willis, the director of Ashby’s “The Last Detail,” French cinematographer Raoul Coutard and Scorsese, with whom he collaborated several times, as people who impacted him greatly.
His later films as director of photography or cinematographer included “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- Variety Film + TV
At Sunday’s Emmys Tyler Perry was honored with the Governors Award. It was presented by his pal Oprah Winfrey and Perry delivered a powerful acceptance speech that was a highlight of the virtual ceremony. The Oscars used to include honorary awards most years and these too were often the most memorable moments of the evening. In 2009, the academy moved these de facto lifetime achievement awards off of the Oscars and staged separate Governor Awards.
The ceremony in mid November has become a key date in awards season, with contenders getting to schmooze with academy members. When this year’s Oscars were postponed for several months back in June so too were the Governor Awards. But we haven’t heard an update on the status of these honorary Oscars since then.
By not being part of the televised Academy Awards, this has meant more people could be honored each year...
The ceremony in mid November has become a key date in awards season, with contenders getting to schmooze with academy members. When this year’s Oscars were postponed for several months back in June so too were the Governor Awards. But we haven’t heard an update on the status of these honorary Oscars since then.
By not being part of the televised Academy Awards, this has meant more people could be honored each year...
- 9/21/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The director of Over The Edge and The Accused takes us on a journey through some of his favorite movies.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Student Teachers (1973)
Night Call Nurses (1972)
White Line Fever (1975)
Truck Turner (1974)
Heart Like A Wheel (1983)
The Accused (1988)
Over The Edge (1979)
Modern Times (1936)
City Lights (1931)
Manhattan (1979)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
North By Northwest (1959)
Moon Pilot (1962)
Mr. Billion (1977)
White Heat (1949)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Three Musketeers (1973)
The Four Musketeers (1974)
Superman (1978)
Superman II (1980)
The Three Musketeers (1948)
Shane (1953)
The 400 Blows (1959)
8 ½ (1963)
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Richard (1972)
Millhouse (1971)
The Projectionist (1970)
El Dorado (1966)
The Shootist (1976)
Woodstock (1970)
Payback (1999)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Billy Liar (1963)
Ford Vs Ferrari (2019)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
Bad Girls (1994)
Masters of the Universe (1987)
Giant (1956)
The More The Merrier (1943)
The Graduate (1967)
The Victors (1963)
…And Justice For All (1979)
Citizen Kane (1941)
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Student Teachers (1973)
Night Call Nurses (1972)
White Line Fever (1975)
Truck Turner (1974)
Heart Like A Wheel (1983)
The Accused (1988)
Over The Edge (1979)
Modern Times (1936)
City Lights (1931)
Manhattan (1979)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
North By Northwest (1959)
Moon Pilot (1962)
Mr. Billion (1977)
White Heat (1949)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Three Musketeers (1973)
The Four Musketeers (1974)
Superman (1978)
Superman II (1980)
The Three Musketeers (1948)
Shane (1953)
The 400 Blows (1959)
8 ½ (1963)
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Richard (1972)
Millhouse (1971)
The Projectionist (1970)
El Dorado (1966)
The Shootist (1976)
Woodstock (1970)
Payback (1999)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Billy Liar (1963)
Ford Vs Ferrari (2019)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
Bad Girls (1994)
Masters of the Universe (1987)
Giant (1956)
The More The Merrier (1943)
The Graduate (1967)
The Victors (1963)
…And Justice For All (1979)
Citizen Kane (1941)
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn...
- 7/7/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Vilmos Zsigmond is a name that belongs on a very short list when it comes to cinematographers whose work came to define a certain kind of film made in America during the 1960’s and 1970’s. When we think of this legendary era of filmmaking, we often think of names like Gordon Willis, Michael Chapman, Sven Nyquist, Vittorio Storaro, John Alcott, and Nestor Almendros.
Continue reading Depth Of Field: The Essential Films Of Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond at The Playlist.
Continue reading Depth Of Field: The Essential Films Of Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond at The Playlist.
- 5/29/2020
- by The Playlist
- The Playlist
by Cláudio Alves
In the annals of American film history, you'll have difficulty finding a filmmaker as influential as Gordon Willis. He's one of the best cinematographers that's ever lived, a man who almost single-handedly invented the look we most quickly associate with the great cinema of the 70s. Low-lit and underexposed, his pictures were rich in shadow play and gloomy frames, a materialization of the decades' paranoia and moral ambiguities. Because of such a characteristic style, he gained the nickname 'prince of darkness,' though maybe we should have called him the king of cinematographers. Both titles feel correct…...
In the annals of American film history, you'll have difficulty finding a filmmaker as influential as Gordon Willis. He's one of the best cinematographers that's ever lived, a man who almost single-handedly invented the look we most quickly associate with the great cinema of the 70s. Low-lit and underexposed, his pictures were rich in shadow play and gloomy frames, a materialization of the decades' paranoia and moral ambiguities. Because of such a characteristic style, he gained the nickname 'prince of darkness,' though maybe we should have called him the king of cinematographers. Both titles feel correct…...
- 4/21/2020
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
“I Am God”
By Raymond Benson
It’s a line uttered by Dr. Jed Hill (chillingly played by a young Alec Baldwin), during a deposition in which he defends his surgical skill and knowledge as the things people in chapels really pray to when a loved one is under the knife in the operating room. “I am God,” he says with the kind of arrogance that only an actor like Baldwin can deliver.
Malice, the 1993 thriller directed by Harold Becker (whose previous film was the terrific Sea of Love), was adapted from a story by Aaron Sorkin and Jonas McCord, with a screenplay by Sorkin and Scott Frank. That’s powerhouse writing authorship, and the twisty-turny tale that unfolds on the screen is solid evidence the fact. Despite the rather improbable premise behind the con job that is at the heart of Malice, the picture indeed holds your interest and keeps you guessing.
By Raymond Benson
It’s a line uttered by Dr. Jed Hill (chillingly played by a young Alec Baldwin), during a deposition in which he defends his surgical skill and knowledge as the things people in chapels really pray to when a loved one is under the knife in the operating room. “I am God,” he says with the kind of arrogance that only an actor like Baldwin can deliver.
Malice, the 1993 thriller directed by Harold Becker (whose previous film was the terrific Sea of Love), was adapted from a story by Aaron Sorkin and Jonas McCord, with a screenplay by Sorkin and Scott Frank. That’s powerhouse writing authorship, and the twisty-turny tale that unfolds on the screen is solid evidence the fact. Despite the rather improbable premise behind the con job that is at the heart of Malice, the picture indeed holds your interest and keeps you guessing.
- 4/16/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Uninvited
Blu ray
Criterion
1944 / 1.33:1 / 99 min.
Starring Ray Milland, Gail Russell, Ruth Hussey
Cinematography by Charles Lang
Directed by Lewis Allen
The story of a lonely young woman and the ghosts in her life, Dorothy Macardle’s Uneasy Freehold was published in 1941 and brought to the screen in 1944 as The Uninvited. The film follows the same trajectory as the book: Rick Fitzgerald and his sister Pamela are two Londoners searching for more peaceful surroundings when they discover their dream home on a sea-swept cliff in Cornwall – a vacant estate called Windward House. The couple’s first swing through the place is full of promise – roomy if dusty chambers, a kitchen ripe for renovation and a sunny studio overlooking the ocean. Once they take up residence, things change. One room is inexplicably cold. And at night, in what would be a deal breaker for most new homeowners, a woman’s sobs echo through the hallways.
Blu ray
Criterion
1944 / 1.33:1 / 99 min.
Starring Ray Milland, Gail Russell, Ruth Hussey
Cinematography by Charles Lang
Directed by Lewis Allen
The story of a lonely young woman and the ghosts in her life, Dorothy Macardle’s Uneasy Freehold was published in 1941 and brought to the screen in 1944 as The Uninvited. The film follows the same trajectory as the book: Rick Fitzgerald and his sister Pamela are two Londoners searching for more peaceful surroundings when they discover their dream home on a sea-swept cliff in Cornwall – a vacant estate called Windward House. The couple’s first swing through the place is full of promise – roomy if dusty chambers, a kitchen ripe for renovation and a sunny studio overlooking the ocean. Once they take up residence, things change. One room is inexplicably cold. And at night, in what would be a deal breaker for most new homeowners, a woman’s sobs echo through the hallways.
- 4/4/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The Danish star of The Celebration and many others discusses what seeing America only through movies when she was growing up.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Jack Reacher (2012)
Gremlins (1984)
Piranha (1978)
The ’Burbs (1989)
Matinee (1993)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
The Celebration (1998)
On The Border (1998)
The Idiots (1998)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Nutty Professor (1963)
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
Deep Throat (1972)
American Graffiti (1972)
Sexual Freedom In Denmark (1970)
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1967)
The Godfather (1972)
Stripes (1981)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Faces (1968)
Taking Off (1971)
Gloria (1980)
Gloria (1999)
The Biggest Heroes (1996)
Nashville (1975)
That Time of Year (2018)
Psycho (1960)
All That Jazz (1979)
California Split (1974)
The Player (1992)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Network (1976)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Heathers (1988)
Fame (1980)
Judy (2019)
Star 80 (1983)
Lenny (1974)
Over The Edge (1979)
Rumble Fish (1983)
The Outsiders (1983)
Footloose (1983)
Raging Bull (1980)
Running On Empty (1988)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Superman (1978)
Superman II (1980)
On The Waterfront (1954)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Planet of the Apes...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Jack Reacher (2012)
Gremlins (1984)
Piranha (1978)
The ’Burbs (1989)
Matinee (1993)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
The Celebration (1998)
On The Border (1998)
The Idiots (1998)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Nutty Professor (1963)
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
Deep Throat (1972)
American Graffiti (1972)
Sexual Freedom In Denmark (1970)
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1967)
The Godfather (1972)
Stripes (1981)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Faces (1968)
Taking Off (1971)
Gloria (1980)
Gloria (1999)
The Biggest Heroes (1996)
Nashville (1975)
That Time of Year (2018)
Psycho (1960)
All That Jazz (1979)
California Split (1974)
The Player (1992)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Network (1976)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Heathers (1988)
Fame (1980)
Judy (2019)
Star 80 (1983)
Lenny (1974)
Over The Edge (1979)
Rumble Fish (1983)
The Outsiders (1983)
Footloose (1983)
Raging Bull (1980)
Running On Empty (1988)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Superman (1978)
Superman II (1980)
On The Waterfront (1954)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Planet of the Apes...
- 3/17/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
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