The upcoming release of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight is a pivotal moment for physical film. Tarantino famously loves film stock (having shelled out money to keep film production plants running); the director wants his upcoming movie to showcase the rich power of film in a way that’s undeniable to studios and audiences. But showing […]
Continue readingSpecial event film screenings grow with audiences and theaters alike
Archipelago Cinema, via the KT Wong Cinema In a little over two weeks, Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuts, and insiders hope that raises the tide for the whole film industry. Like Jurassic World this summer, a new Star Wars movie is a cultural event, and although that usually spells huge profits for theaters and […]
Continue readingHow We Made looks at the inauspicious production of My Beautiful Laundrette
We hadn’t stumbled across it until now, but since 2012, The Guardian has been publishing “How We Made,” a weekly column that invites creative types to talk about the history of their works, including films and television shows. This leads to all sorts of great anecdotes, often about the emotional, personal side of production. This […]
Continue readingThe Hobbit featurette shows the emotion toll of filmmaking
Campus is mostly deserted today, what with everyone leaving early for Thanksgiving. Enjoy the trip! This happens to be the time of year when courses assign final projects, and for film students, that might mean producing a short or a demo reel. It can be stressful… but you don’t know the agony of filmmaking until […]
Continue readingSee Leonardo DiCaprio’s next big (award-winning?) film early!
November and December are the peak release months for prestige films. Academy Award nominees are announced in January, and the big hopefuls have a habit of popping up right before the deadline. We’ve been fortunate enough to share passes to a few of these movies, but we’re saving the biggest for the end of the […]
Continue readingRaise awareness of film censorship by making a censor watch paint dry
Still from Paint Drying via Charlie Lyne There’s a lot of insightful talk about the role film boards play in censorship – why do these unaccountable groups get to decide what can practically be released? – but sometimes it’s more fun just to be a jerk about the whole process. This is one of those […]
Continue readingNew Acquisitions – November 2015
Another month has passed, we’ve added another hundred titles to our collection. The obvious big highlight is the first season of Empire, the massively successful hip-hop drama that has been a boon to television in more than one way. You might also spot Going Clear, the famously damning exposé of the Church of Scientology, and […]
Continue readingTelevision directing is still not very diverse
Behind the scenes of Empire, one of the few shows with a strong track record for diversity in directing talent Much ink has been spilled about the changing face of television, with new shows (and their showrunners) finally expanding the diversity of experiences and characters on television. But even at a time with different people […]
Continue readingHow big movie franchises are bypassing the critics
Last year, we mentioned the idea of a post-plot movie, where property-driven movies transcend the need for strong narrative drive. Bryan Bishop at The Verge has noticed an odder, more troubling trend: the post-critic movie. Films have historically depended on advance screenings for critics to generate positive buzz. This is especially true for smaller or […]
Continue readingSee The Night Before a week early! (Yes, Christmas in November, sorry.)
So here’s the deal: we absolutely do not want to contribute to the early glut of pre-Thanksgiving Christmas and holiday celebration. Thanksgiving is a great holiday, and November deserves to be its own month. That said, holiday-themed movies are coming out early this year, and since we have advance passes to one, we are obliged […]
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