Category: Film

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Film

Review/Rewind: 2004’s ‘Birth’

Many people slept on Birth upon its release back in 2004, which is a shame because it’s arguably one of the most underrated films of the past 20 years. Jonathan Glazer has only done three features throughout his career (so far) – 2000’s Sexy Beast, 2004’s Birth, and 2013’s Under the Skin. Interestingly enough, Glazer makes his career possible by sustaining himself through music video and commercial productions, putting his cinematic touch on just about every game-changing music video (see Radiohead’s “Karma Police,” “Street Spirit (Fade Out),” and Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity”). Given that it took him ten years to develop Under the Skin due to its  numerous rewrites and novelty camera technology, it was Birth that took his career more toward the surreal.

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Film

Top 20 Films of the Decade

I’ve only been doing this blog thing for a couple years now. Yet, it’s been much longer than that since I’ve dived into filmmaking. 2010 was the year I started getting serious about the craft from watching flicks on my laptop in a Berklee College of Music dorm room. Back then I was studying jazz and still trying to pursue music as a career (somehow I thought film was a smarter choice instead.) Nonetheless, one passion culminated into the other. I know these lists have all been subjective, and that’s the point – these lists were never supposed to be the best thing, they were supposed to be my thing. But I still strive to find the greatest common denominators. The 2010s for film probably won’t be as iconic or memorable as films from the 70s, or even the 90s, but leading into this new decade where we’re inundated with new streaming services and content more than ever before, it’s the best time to be a young writer with fresh, new ideas. Here are the top 20 films of the decade.

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Film

Meet Hayk Matevosyan: Artist in Motion

Deep in the east side of downtown L.A., Slamdance’s DIG Showcase took place at Wisdome LA’s immersive art park. Filled with interactive art installations by emerging visual artists and indie game developers, it took up a whole square block with giant domes, taking us a second to find our subject for the evening – Hayk Matevosyan, director of his film Art in Motion, which is playing on display here as a featured exhibit.

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Film

What is ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’ REALLY About?

The film starts with an interview of Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Pitt) on the set of the NBC show Bounty Law. The image of the two actors in the same frame alone is already worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The exuberance jumps off the screen, which is precisely what separates Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood from today’s blockbusters – its extravagant vision is one that is not necessarily done anymore (save maybe for franchises), but one that truly feels out of its time, and also feels like it’s of the time the film depicts. That’s what, essentially, is at the soul of this film: a time that has long died off where personality and name were enough for movies to make a buck.

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Film TV

How the WGA-ATA Conflict is Reshaping How Hollywood Works

For the non-writers outside of the Hollywood sphere, there’s been a change happening lately that’ll likely impact how your favorite shows are made. Last month, the ATA (Association of Talent Agents) failed to update its policies in accordance with their contract with the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America), which expired on April 7th. As a result, the WGA asked its members to fire their agents if they did not comply with the WGA’s demands of a change of contract, which has to deal with how agents are paid via staffing and payments of their clients.

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Film TV

Spring Break Forever: Harmony Korine’s Unlikely Wave of Success

Harmony Korine has always been that outlier of a filmmaker – one doesn’t seem to figure out where the artist ends and the man begins. And during his nearly 30 year career, he’s always played that card like a magician: you don’t call upon him to show you a trick. Rather, he calls upon you.

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Film

By Decade’s End, Will We Actually Remember the Best Picture Winners?

Sunday night contained a fair amount of surprises, some fun choices (Spike Lee, Ruth Carter, Olivia Colman), and some questionable (you know exactly which ones I’m talking about). It seems like this discussion happens every year, but it feels like this year has a bit more engaging of a backlash due to the ultimate winner.

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Film TV

Will an Oscar Really Change How We See Netflix?

As you may have heard, the Oscar nominations were revealed a few weeks ago, leading to a splendid surprise of many firsts. First Marvel film nominated for best picture, first time two foreign film directors are nominated for best director since ’76, first time a filmmaker has been nominated for both director AND cinematographer in the same year… but also – Netflix’s first nomination for anything… at all, nevertheless being nominated for best picture. Finally, the streaming giant that has gone against every precedent and normality that traditional Hollywood films participate in – box office numbers, theatrical windows, etc. – has achieved the status of “Best Picture nominee.” But it begs the question: why do they want it so bad?

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Film

Top 10 Films of 2018

2018 truly had something for everyone. It was a year that resuscitated superhero films, romantic-comedies, teen thrillers, among others, giving them a breath of new life. If you claim that there wasn’t enough variety, than you clearly didn’t see the right films. And as I compiled this list, I was sure of myself how it would turn out, dead-set on what would take the top spot… up until the very last minute.

Here are the 10 best films that made our year worthwhile.

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Film

Inside the Cultural Implications of “Burning” – 2018’s Best Film

There were many versions of this article. When I began writing about one aspect of this film and thought I was certain, the thought redefined itself, and I found myself rewriting. And yet it happened again, and again…

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