Watch D.O.A., Rudolph Maté’s “Innovative and Downright Twisted” Noir Film (1950)

≡ Category: Film |Leave a Comment

Living and filmgoing here in Los Angeles, I seize every opportunity to watch Los Angeles Plays Itself, Thom Andersen’s extensive and entertaining documentary on the uses and abuses of the city throughout cinema history.

[...]

A Boy And His Atom: IBM Creates the World’s Smallest Stop-Motion Film With Atoms

≡ Category: Animation, Film |Leave a Comment

What you’re watching above isn’t your ordinary film. No this film – A Boy And His Atom – holds the Guinness World Record for being the World’s Smallest Stop-Motion Film.

[...]

Obey the Giant: Short Film Presents the True Story of Shepard Fairey’s First Act of Street Art

≡ Category: Art, Film |Leave a Comment

Street artists: you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. Or, to put it less bluntly, you either find ‘em innovative public iconographers or find ‘em puerile public nuisances.

[...]

Willie Nelson Auditions for The Hobbit Film Sequel, Turns 80 Today

≡ Category: Film, Music |Leave a Comment

Willie Nelson, America’s iconic country music singer, has logged lots of miles. And, today, he turns 80, with more than 60 studio albums, 10 live albums, and 27 collaborations to his credit.

[...]

Steven Spielberg’s Obama, Starring Daniel Day Lewis as the President

≡ Category: Comedy, Film |1 Comment

Sarah Palin didn’t like the 2013 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. In a cranky tweet, she wrote: “That #WHCD was pathetic. The rest of America is out there working our asses off while these DC assclowns throw themselves a #nerdprom.” But I have to disagree with America’s most distinguished half-term governor.

[...]

Andrés Segovia: Song of the Guitar, Beautifully Filmed at the Alhambra

≡ Category: Film, Music |1 Comment

Not long ago we posted a beautiful scene featuring the legendary guitarist Andrés Segovia playing Johann Sebastian Bach at the Alhambra, the storied 14th century Moorish palace in Granada, Spain. Today we’re pleased to bring you the entire 50-minute film from which it came, Andrés Segovia: The Song of the Guitar.

[...]

Tilda Swinton and Barry White Lead 1500 People in Dance-Along to Honor Roger Ebert

≡ Category: Film, Life, Music |1 Comment

The relationship of movie star to critic isn’t always as parasitic and fraught as you might imagine. Witness Tilda Swinton bouncing around the Virginia Theater in Champaign Illinois, urging audience members to get up and dance in honor of the late Roger Ebert.

[...]

Woody Allen Amuses Himself by Giving Untruthful Answers in Unaired 1971 TV Interview

≡ Category: Comedy, Film, Television |9 Comments

Celebrities tire of giving interviews. I’ve learned this by spending most of my career conducting interviews myself, and thus desperately trying to master asking the questions that wake up a weary interviewee, getting them engaged enough to cast aside the boilerplate and speak like a conversing human being.

[...]

David Lynch Explains How Meditation Enhances Our Creativity

≡ Category: Creativity, Film, Psychology |7 Comments

David Lynch meditates, and he meditates hard.

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Watch Them Watch Us: A History of Breaking the “Fourth Wall” in Film

≡ Category: Comedy, Film, Video - Arts & Culture |3 Comments

Remember that scene in Nashville, when Keith Carradine sings “I’m Easy,” and every woman in the club thinks he’s speaking directly to her?
Breaking the fourth wall—also known as direct address—can have the same effect on a filmgoing audience. The compilation video above makes it clear that actors love it too.

[...]

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