Steve Jobs and George Lucas are both well-known names in the computer and film making business, however, they are perhaps not names synonymous with animated films. When Pixar Animation Studios opened their doors on February 3, 1986, they both had a hand to play. That’s because Pixar originated as the computer division of Lucasfilm, George… Read More Feature: Animation for the Future – A Short History of Pixar
From as young as the age of four, actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt started entertaining audiences when he began acting in theater productions at school and in his community. It was through these performances that he was scouted by a talent agent who helped Gordon-Levitt score commercials for several food and clothing companies. From here, his career… Read More Feature: Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Long Career at 35
Acting dynasties and show business families are not rare to find in Hollywood. The Coppola family includes directors Francis-Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola and Roman Coppola, and the actors such as Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire and Nicholas Cage. Joaquin Phoenix’s sister is married to actor Casey Affleck, the brother of Ben Affleck, while Josh Brolin is… Read More Feature: Lon Chaney Jr. – How the Wolfman was the Hunchback’s Son
There are few who would argue that Diane Keaton, who turns 70 today, 5 January, 2016, is one of the defining American actresses of her generation. Keaton’s career path, which has taken her from working with the likes of Coppola and Woody Allen, to an array of classic mainstream comedies in the 1990s, has ensured… Read More Feature: Diane Keaton: From The Godfather to The Father of the Bride
Rather than simply penning a glowing admiration of Todd Hayne’s talents as a director, as is usual with these anniversary based articles (he turns 55 today, 2 January, 2016), in the following piece I am instead opting to briefly deconstruct his 1995 film [SAFE] in order to find its significance in retrospect, and to demonstrate… Read More Feature: Todd Haynes – a reading of [SAFE]
It may seem like fate the way we have been blessed with the many talented actors and actresses throughout the history of cinema. How does one starving artist rise above the crowd of thousands and land the role that makes them a household name? Robert Duvall, 85 today, 5 January, 2016, is one such actor… Read More Feature: Robert Duvall Stands Tall
Despite being one of his more popular films it was only recently that The Kid (1921) was added to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry. In 2011 the silent picture, along with twenty-four other films, was selected as a cultural, artistic and historic treasure that deserved preservation in that most prestigious of archives. The reason… Read More Feature: Chaplin’s No Longer Kidding Around
The final episode in cinema’s greatest trilogy was unveiled to the world 25 years ago this month when The Godfather Part III was released on the 16th December, 1990. It is the measure of golden memories that makes us beam when Michael Corleone appears on an altar to receive the order of San Sebastien in the… Read More Feature: The Godfather Part III – Better Than Good
It’s daunting to write about Frank Sinatra, especially in 2015, and even moreso considering that it is being done on the occasion of the centennial of the man’s birth. His full first and middle names – Francis Albert – would otherwise be that of a homely unsuspecting male, born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken,… Read More Feature: The Beginner’s Guide to Frank Sinatra
On 30 November, 2005, perhaps the most controversial film of the 21st century so far, the romantic drama film Brokeback Mountain, premiered in the United States. The film was directed by Ang Lee (Life of Pi, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) and the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurty, based on the 1997 short story… Read More Feature: Brokeback Mountain & LGBT Perceptions 10 Years On
England: 1945. The Second World War is all but won. There is a growing light at the end of a tunnel of seemingly infinite horror, and optimism sweeps the nation after half a decade of sorrow. In the six years previous, British cinema had produced some of its finest and most memorable moments: Michael Powell… Read More Feature: Brief Encounter: England, 1945
To paraphrase a quote attributed to French director, Jean Renoir: ‘A director makes only one movie in his life. Then he breaks it into pieces and makes it again’. When you think about it, this concept stands up fairly well. Most directors’ movies share common themes or concepts, and whether it’s their first feature or… Read More Feature: Martin Scorsese Remakes Himself
David Lynch’s The Elephant Man (1980) provides a biographical account of the final years in the life of Joseph Carey Merrick (John Hurt). Merrick was a severely deformed individual rescued from living as a sideshow freak in the 19th century by renowned surgeon, Sir Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), only to become a popular attraction amongst… Read More Feature: The Elephant Man as the Study of the Human Veneer
Dances with Wolves, voted as the Best Picture Oscar winner in 1991 is now 25 years old. The film premiered on the 19 October, 1990. When it seemed as though the quintessential American film genre had died, Kevin Costner conjured up his first Western and allowed a new generation of film-goers to experience its country’s most… Read More Feature: Dances With Wolves: A Moral Lesson
Invariably, when people get to talking about Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945), the conversation will shift to the brief dream sequence in the film, filled with scattering imagery cast over close-ups of eyeballs. That scene was designed, but not directed, by the legendary Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, and despite the fact that it only occupies two… Read More Feature: Spellbound at 70, or When Hitchcock Met Dalí
To a certain extent most actors are typecast. This isn’t the aim of course; usually if an actor wants to ensure steady work then they sell themselves as broadly as possible to keep a range of roles open to them. However, a lot of good actors only actually get particular roles because they’re the best… Read More Feature: Michael Gambon: The Man Who Would be Dumbledore
Stanley Kubrick is one of the great auteurs of cinema. His films are easily recognisable and his style is spectacularly unique. However, as we celebrate 55 years of Spartacus (1960) today, 7 October, 2015, we are given a film credited to Stanley Kubrick as director, that offers nothing of his usual techniques or stylisation. So what… Read More Feature: Spartacus: the Non-Kubrickian, Kubrick Film
Many speak of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut & Eric Rohmer when the French New Wave is brought into discussion, maybe even Jean-Paul Belmondo, but Anna Karina should be in any discourse of the French cinema movement in the 1960s. She was the face of Paris during those years and its all down to her versatile ability… Read More Feature: The Face of La Nouvelle Vague
Unfortunately, foreign language films are often not given the attention and praise they deserve by the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, or American moviegoers in general. Likewise, many foreign actresses and actors are often overlooked by these same groups as well. How often do foreign language films get nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture?… Read More Feature: Marion Cotillard: A French Revolution in Film
As one of the greatest comedy film actors hits retirement age, there is no glimpse of Bill Murray venturing into life after work. The great man turns 65 today, September 21, 2015, and currently has at least three movies that he is working on. As I learned of Bill Murray’s age I was surprised to… Read More Feature: Bill Murray Just Keeps Bouncing Back
A Film History Magazine 