This week saw the death of two artists, giants in their respective fields. On Monday, Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci died at age 77. Bertolucci rose to fame with the 1973 release of Last Tango in Paris, a controversial film that was earned an X rating after extensive cuts. One of these scenes depicted a middle […]
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Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049 comes out tomorrow, October 6th, playing basically everywhere.It’s supposed to be a not-awful sequel, which is easy to believe after watching the trailer: Naturally, the library has Blade Runner (HU DVD 1064), as well as Villeneuve’s Incendies (HU DVD 3563), Prisoners (HU DVD 11188), and Sicario (DVD 12919). Oh, and Arrival (HU […]
Continue readingYou can now watch Jean-Luc Godard’s first narrative film
Once in a while, a lost film appears, delighting film buffs and historians. In the past few years, we’ve seen a lost Méliès film, a Hitchcock, and a Star Wars-related short all turn up after decades of absence. But this weekend, someone uploaded the Holy Grail: Jean-Luc Godard’s first narrative film. Une Femme Coquette (embedded […]
Continue readingNew blood or old blood? What experienced directors bring to big movies
You might have missed that a new Steven Spielberg movie came out this year. The BFG was a bit of a flop, a surprise considering the beloved director at the helm. As movie studios are learning, director choice holds less and less sway over audiences as studios recruit new talent to headline their films somewhat […]
Continue readingA new lost Méliès was discovered… after it was mislabeled
A Trip to the Moon, not Match de Prestidigitation First there was the lost Hitchcock film. Then, the lost Laurel and Hardy sequence. Now, film conservationists have found a long-list film by Georges Méliès, one of the pioneers of cinema. Méliès was one of the pioneers of film as an art form, especially in the […]
Continue readingRIP Andrezj Wajda, a voice for Poland in film
Yesterday, Polish director Andrezj Wajda died at age 90. He was among the most distinguished Polish filmmakers of his generation or in general: his accolades include a Palme d’Or for his labor rights film Man of Iron and a 1999 honorary Oscar for his lifetime body of work. As with Man of Iron, many of […]
Continue readingSee The Accountant early and for free, with director Q&A!
We have more passes to see movies in advance this week – with a Q&A with the director! This time around, we have passes for a preview screening of The Accountant, the new Ben Affleck-fronted thriller with a title that doesn’t suggest that all. You’d normally have to wait until this hits theaters to see […]
Continue readingWhat does a filmmaking class from Werner Herzog look like?
We just love this picture so much. Credit to sarkos on Tumblr. Last year, the startup company MasterClass began offering six-hour online video lectures hosted by luminaries in their fields. You can learn about acting from Kevin Spacey or signing from Christina Aguilera, complete with assignments to complete on your own. We don’t know how […]
Continue readingDirector Edgar Wright names is favorite 1000 movies (Yes, 1000)
Edgar Wright is one of the most distinctive, stylized directors working in film right now. If you’ve seen Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, you’ll recognize his unmistakable, kinetic energy. We’re all ears when he wants to share his thoughts on the art of filmmaking. As it turns out, Wright was happy to […]
Continue readingIt’s okay: Scorsese has guilty pleasures, too
Ingmar Bergman apparently loved Ghostbusters. He’s not alone among great directors. Even some of the most storied names in film loved popcorn junk once in a while; Film Comment magazine has been collecting lists of directors’ favorite guilty pleasure movies for years now, and The A.V. Club rounded up some of their favorite examples. John […]
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