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LOVE MOVIES? WE DO TOO

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Cinema Speculation: Tarantino explores the films that made him as a young man

All good books are about something. But in most good books, the theme is not evident at first sight. There’s the obvious “something”, the story that shows, and then there’s the not-so-obvious “something”, the one that is really the soul of the writing. In this case, at first sight, you could conclude that the book is about what Tarantino thinks about American films of a certain period: the…

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Take it from the great film director Sidney Lumet

I need one hit so I can get the money for three more flops. —SIDNEY LUMET, 1973 Sidney Lumet‘s name is not usually found in “top directors ever” lists, but he was very, very talented (and very, very productive). He passed away in 2011 after creating nothing less than 74 films and TV shows. Wow. He made a particularly amazing string of films in the 70s: Serpico (1973), Murder on the Orient…

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For screenwriters: More lessons from playwriting

How can a book on playwriting written in 1912 be relevant in screenwriting today? In 1912, filmmaking was in its teens – literally, only 17 years old. The author of the book is William Archer, a Scottish theatre critic based in London, a personal friend of Bernard Shaw, and a deep connoisseur of the theatre of his time. The amazing thing about this book is that, if you extract the basics of it,…

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Writing American TV fiction: An ironic look at the process

During the 2023 screenwriters’ strike, The Hollywood Reporter is publishing an account of the situation through the eyes of an anonymous film writer. It’s a delightful and very ironic take. In one of the pieces, the writer describes, with a sense of humor, the process of developing a project for TV. The genesis A production company has a piece of I.P. (Intellectual Property) and after eight…

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Barry Sonnenfeld: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker

There are not many filmmakers’ biographies as entertaining and engaging (and sometimes crude) as Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker. Before becoming a director of successful films like the Men in Black series and The Addams Family movies, Barry Sonnenfeld made a name as a DoP (Director of Photography). Sonnenfeld started in features as a cinematographer for his…

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Spielberg further discusses JAWS

Spielberg further discusses JAWS

Steven Spielberg conceded a few years ago a very interesting but not widely know interview in which he explained a lot of things about his career, in special about the mythical making of Jaws. In his chat, He gives specifics about how they filmed the death of the first victim, about the Indianapolis speech, about who really wrote the script… If you are a Jaws fan it’s unmissable. This interview…

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David Lynch: Thoughts from a Unique Filmmaker

David Lynch: Thoughts from a Unique Filmmaker

The book Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age: At the American Film Institute, by George Stevens Jr., was so successful that a sequel about (mostly) younger filmmakers was made, Conversations at the American Film Institute with the Great Moviemakers: The Next Generation. If the first work is about film legends from the classic era (Harold Lloyd, Hitchcock, Fritz…

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Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age: Pearls from Walsh, Vidor, Capra, and Hitchcock

Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age: Pearls from Walsh, Vidor, Capra, and Hitchcock

Second post about the wonderful book Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age: At the American Film Institute, by George Stevens Jr., which summarises a series of encounters at the AFI with legendary filmmakers. Martin Scorsese described the book as invaluable for those “who want to learn about movies and to those of us who may want to recharge our batteries and look to…

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Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age: Harold Lloyd.

Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age: Harold Lloyd.

Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood’s Golden Age: At the American Film Institute is a unique book by George Stevens Jr., son of celebrated film director George Stevens. The book summarises a series of encounters at the AFI with legendary filmmakers: Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Ernest Lehman, Ingmar Bergman, Fred Zinneman, Stanley Cortez, Ray Bradbury, Elia Kazan, Jean Renoir,…

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The Big Goodbye: CHINATOWN and the Last Years of Hollywood 

From the end of the 60s until the mid-70s: a fascinating period in American movies. The wonderful book The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood is in a way the story of this period. Mainly centered on the making of the film Chinatown, the work is ambitious enough to describe the big changes that went through Hollywood during this time. The Big Goodbye is signed by Sam Wasson,…

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Reflections on the Art and Craft of Film Editing from Master Walter Murch

Reflections on the Art and Craft of Film Editing from Master Walter Murch

Michael Ondaatje, the author of the novel on which The English Patient (1996) was based, knowing what an interesting character Walter Murch was, decided to have with him a series of conversations about the art and craft of film editing, and eventually made a book about it. Murch is the much-admired, ground-breaking editor/sound creator behind The Godfather films (1972, 1974 & 1990), Apocalypse…

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Film Editing from the editor of Star Wars

Film Editing from the editor of Star Wars

IN 1975 I EDITED A FILM directed by Brian De Palma called Obsession. It was an independent production, and upon its completion, no studio in Hollywood would agree to release it because of an edgy plot development. After some thought, I suggested changing one shot in the film, from a wide establishing shot of a mansion to a close-up of our star. With this one substitution, Columbia Pictures agreed…

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More About Film Acting from Master Michael Caine (& Part 3)

More About Film Acting from Master Michael Caine (& Part 3)

My plan was to create 2 posts about actor Michael Caine’s wisdom from the book Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life  (2018). But there’s so much in it, that I decided to do a third one. For the other 2 posts, click on Part1 or Part 2. Things I Learnt I learnt a range of accents, from Chicago gangster to Lord of the Manor via Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the north country,…

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More About Film Acting from Master Michael Caine (Part 2)

More About Film Acting from Master Michael Caine (Part 2)

From the book Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life (2018), legendary actor Michael Caine shares a few tricks of his trade. For Part 1, click here.  Acting is reacting  When I’m learning my lines, I put as much thought into the parts where I’m not speaking as I do into the parts where I am. Sometimes more. Once again, less is more. In movie acting, as in life, you don’t have…

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The King of B-movies, Bruce Campbell, on Film Acting

The King of B-movies, Bruce Campbell, on Film Acting

Reflections on the acting trade by a very popular actor Who is B.C.? For most, it means Before Christ, for the rest it means Bruce Campbell. Campbell is a film actor, basically a huge figure in the B-Movie world. His fame started with the Evil Dead trilogy and followed with many parts, long parts in B-Movies, short ones in A-movies. Many of Campbell’s A-film short appearances take place in his…

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Copy of Campaign for the documentary about DUEL, Steven Spielberg’s first film

Copy of Campaign for the documentary about DUEL, Steven Spielberg’s first film

Our documentary The Devil on Wheels, about the cult and influence of “Duel” (“The Devil on Wheels” in Spain), Steven Spielberg’s first film), is practically finished, but we need one last push! On November 1st -the day we will launch our new website- we will start a donation campaign, with the aim of raising the 25,000 euros we need to be able to show the movie at film festivals (We need to buy…

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Campaign for documentary about “Duel”, Steven Spielberg’s first film

Campaign for documentary about “Duel”, Steven Spielberg’s first film

Our documentary The Devil on Wheels, about the cult and influence of “Duel” (“The Devil on Wheels” in Spain), Steven Spielberg’s first film), is practically finished, but we need one last push! On November 1st -the day we will launch our new website- we will start a donation campaign, with the aim of raising the 25,000 euros we need to be able to show the film at festivals (We need to buy the…

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