Author: Steve Schweighofer

Evolution isn’t easy – just ask the dodo – but streaming productions are here to stay. They will grow in popularity. People will watch them and identify with the stories they tell. If AMPAS will not reach out and include them, I suggest they re-qualify the title of the big prize to be “Best Picture Made by a White Man Shown in a Public Building that Sells Popcorn”.

James Ivory’s career-long intellectual freedom, precise observation of human interaction and fiercely independent spirit was instrumental in elevating film to the level where a book like Call Me by Your Name could be translated to cinema.

  Consider this: A filmography of 57 films The go-to camera dude for the A-List directors like the Coens and Denis Villeneuve 3 ASC (American…

If Nolan’s objective was to create an immersive experience, Zimmer’s score does much of the heavy lifting to achieve this. I can’t think of a score since John Williams’ Jaws soundtrack that has been as instrumental in achieving the director’s goals.

“Journalism is the first draft of history,” Phil Graham, newspaper publisher and part owner of the Washington Post, once said. I would add that films about journalism – whether fictional  or based on true events – would be the postscript to history, with license.

Ah, the obligatory list of Christmas films, you’re thinking. Well, Santa Claus, presents for precocious kids, heartwarmingly comical family get-togethers…I’m not going there. In place…

In one corner we have Amistad, Bridge of Spies, and Munich; in the opposing corner, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, War of the Worlds, and Close Encounters…

Whether it’s a frustrated and dedicated maverick taking on a situation alone – often against orders – or an escalated paramilitary effort launched due to the scale and sophistication of the lawbreakers, we like our law enforcement tales precise and no-nonsense.

Birthday greetings and eternal gratitude to Jean-Luc Godard, film critic, director, actor, cinematographer, screenwriter, editor, producer…and outspoken citizen of the world.

One of the miraculous benefits from storytelling – especially in cinema – is its ability to teach and inform, enabling empathy by making news and history come alive. We share experiences not necessarily from historical perspective, but also as a plea to correct or change direction into the future. By recounting and reenacting acts of bravery and resistance, film can serve as both acknowledgement and inspiration.

 So how does one determine the best of this tired old chestnut of a genre? Simply take at least one of the steps in the overused recipe and invert it, turn it upside down, inside out, or just throw it away Add some intelligent dialog relating to philosophy or metaphysics and maybe add a third party to spice-up the natural balance. Top it off with some serious social commentary and some snappy editing, even perhaps a dash of kink (critics love all three if you can swing it). Now, season with humor to taste and “Bob’s your uncle.”

As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, a documentary is a film “that provides a factual record or report.” What the dictionary does not say is that an effective documentarian takes those raw facts and arranges them in such a way as to clarify a point or to provide additional weight and understanding to the topic at hand. This makes the documentary nearly as subjective as a fictional work …

At the core of every protagonist in this genre is the seed of origin, that thing, that career, that idea that they either love so much that they dare not take their attention away from it, or a past so traumatically unsatisfying that they can’t reinvent themselves quickly enough.

They fracture time and space, reference our libraries of mythology and ethics, and take us far outside – or inside – of our hopes, our dreams and nightmares.