Thinking about how to publish thefilmbook on the ipad The key design issues are: – html versus pdf versus epub – the importance of search – ability to embed video – how to define a page I’ll have more to say on this subject… +++
Aug 012013
Jul 312013
Genius in gestation. The future filmmaker was a photographer for Look in the 1940s. +++ from Kubrick Pinterest page +++
Jul 312013
Despite the bad reviews, I had looked forward to seeing Paul Schrader’s The Canyons. I feel that Lindsay Lohan is under-rated, and that she is an easy target for the Hollywood press because of her off-screen drug problems. For example, Lohan’s much-derided performance as Liz Taylor in Liz & Dick was pretty good, and the [...]
Jul 302013
The Mirror is the strongest film by the great Russian film poet Andrei Tarkovsky. This masterpiece conveys a magical, sometime terrifying childhood, through a series of spoken poems and thoughts illustrated by stunning, memorable images. The Mirror is one of those few films that succeeds in being a pure poem of images and sounds, rather [...]
Jul 302013
I have always felt that the two hardest things to film are sex and dreams. Andrei Tarkovsky succeeds in filming dreams. +++ A 6-minute excerpt from The Mirror: Watch on YouTube +++
Jul 292013
The opening 1-shot scene of this poetic film is an illustrated lesson in astronomy given by a young man in a tavern at closing time. The camera movement is masterfully choreographed by director Bela Tarr. +++
Jul 282013
I finally saw this superb 2009 film by Peter Jackson. The Lovely Bones combines the thriller, fantasy and coming-of-age genres in a unique tapestry of teenage memories and glimpses of an afterlife full of darkness and light. Saoirse Ronan is powerful as the heroine Susie Salmon, and Stanley Tucci plays a deeply disturbing bad guy. [...]
Jul 242013
I posted an interview with cinematographer Christopher Doyle on my blog on the ASC web site. Chris speaks eloquently about the artistic process, saying that it’s not about making art, it’s about becoming an artist.
Jul 232013
This is the second part of my interview with Christopher Doyle. Here Chris speaks about accepting mistakes, engaging with filmmakers, avoiding careerism, and feeling who is behind the camera… among other things. You can also watch this on YouTube You can watch part 1 of this interview in my blog on the ASC web site. [...]
Jul 202013
I visited with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (aka Chivo) in Los Angeles last June, we had lunch and spoke about cinema. We discussed his latest film with Alfonso Cuaron, the stunning Gravity. I have written an article about the film in the American Cinematographer. We spoke about the increasing importance of virtual cinematography, and the need [...]