Seeing human beings age through time has always made compelling cinema. But BOYHOOD surpasses all that has gone before. The film was shot intermittently over a period of 12 years using the same cast. Without any special camera tricks or makeup, the actors age before our eyes in this epic and deeply moving film. The narrative scope accomplished in the film takes an art form existing for over 100 years down a pathway unmatched in the history of cinema.
When your directorial debut is hailed as one of the best detective picture ever made, it is only inevitable to falter with your next. But then John Huston (born: 05 Aug 1906), actor, screenwriter and film director carved for himself a separate ark away from the deluge. With his high-octane performance as top of the rung film auteur, rare spirit of independence and penchant to cross swords with the high and mighty of the celluloid czars, Huston did not believe in pulling punches.
Often attributed with perfecting the spaghetti western genre with A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964), THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966) and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968), Sergio Leone confides about the arduous and lonely process of film-making throughout the 10-year process on what would be his last and arguably greatest film, ‘ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA’.
Scarlett Johansson makes her third on-screen appearance as Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, arriving April 4, 2014, which is reason enough to take a look back at the rise of the female action hero. For those enamored of the idea of powerful female role models, we’ve lined up a squad of five action heroines, our favorites among those who paved the way for the Black Widow.
The Monuments Men (opening February 7) production designer Jim Bissel is no stranger to collaboration on iconic films having worked directors George Clooney, Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott. With a film repertoire beloved by generations of movie-goers, Bissell, whose previous credits include E.T. and 300, is a production design virtuoso. Here he shines a light on the created craft of any story’s diegetic world.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominations for the 86th Academy awards are out. Few surprises but fierce competition. Sticking my neck out with my favorites in BOLD.
The award ceremony will be held on March 2 in Hollywood. Here’s a lowdown of the complete list of nominations. Though not always true of the Oscars, may the best always win.
Best-selling author Tom Clancy died last October at age 66, but his best-known creation, CIA analyst turned action hero Jack Ryan, continues to cheat death and turn back the clock. He’s young again in JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT, the Ryan re-boot from Paramount opening January 17.
Not based directly on any Clancy novel, the new film stars Chris Pine (STAR TREK, UNSTOPPABLE). Pine and director Kenneth Branagh, who also plays the film’s villain, have been given something of a clean slate to re-imagine Ryan for a new generation of geo-political thrill-seekers
On the release of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty today in India, here is an interview with producer Stuart Cornfeld (AFI class of 1975) who has worked with directors Mel Brooks, Peter Bogdanovich, David Cronenberg, Guillermo Del Toro, Amy Heckerling, David Lynch, Steven Soderburgh and Ben Stiller, among others. For the last 15 years, Cornfeld has been Ben Stiller’s partner in Red Hour Films. Their company has made a priority of working with first time directors in films like Dodgeball, Blades of Glory and Submarine
Merry Christmas to all the readers of www.filmkailm.com and here is a Xmas special. ‘Tis the season we’re reminded that it’s a wonderful life, thanks to Frank Capra, an Angel Second Class named Clarence and the good people who program our movies on television at this time of year. Capra’s common touch and all-American vision of hope in tough times is a beloved feature of the holidays, adding yuletide warmth like a shot of rum in our eggnog.
There are two kinds of Capra stories: the ones he thought he told and the actual ones, darker, more complicated.
So before you tune in to watch James Stewart and Donna Reed in this perennial Christmas classic from 1946, treat yourself to this brilliant analysis of Capra’s films from Morris Dickstein. Like George Bailey, you’ll feel like “the richest man in town.”
James Wong Howe was a Chinese American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films in Hollywood. He was a master at the use of shadow and was along with Greg Toland, one of the first to use deep-focus cinematography, in which both foreground and distant planes remain in focus. One of the most sought after cinematographers of his time, he was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning twice. Howe was judged to be one of history’s ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.