‘Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia’: The Story of the Great Sam Peckinpah’s Most Personal Film
Before Warner Bros. decided to take a chance and hire him to make The Wild Bunch, the classic revisionist western that would completely revitalize his…
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All hail Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon,’ a masterclass in bringing a unique filmmaker’s vision to life
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Ballad for an Iron Coffin: Wolfgang Petersen’s ‘Das Boot’
You never see the enemy. Like Christopher Nolan’s triptych timeline suspenser Dunkirk, both quarry and hunter/guardians of the Allied Atlantic convoys our unterseeboot protagonists wrestle…
‘The Abyss’: James Cameron’s Exploration of Humanity and Love in the Heart of the Ocean
Having made The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986), two huge box office hits and pillars of modern Hollywood science fiction action films, James Cameron could…
Lived All Our Best Times Left With the Worst: Christopher Nolan’s ‘Memento’
Fractured narrative, skewed perception, compressed timelines—director/writer Christopher Nolan won’t lead his audience in a straight line where a Möbius strip will suffice. Multi-award nominated breakthrough…
‘Strange Days’: Kathryn Bigelow’s Thrilling Sci-Fi that Doesn’t Feel As Strange As It Should
It’s been seven years since the esteemed American film director Kathryn Bigelow entered the history books as the first woman to win a Best Director…
The Uses of Disenchantment: How Michael Mann’s ‘The Keep’ Fell Into Neglect
In early 2016 BAMcinématek held a major retrospective of all Michael Mann’s filmography, throwing up a few surprises, such as a fresh and one-night-only exclusive…
‘The Verdict’: Sidney Lumet and David Mamet’s Masterpiece as a Blend of a Courtroom Drama and a Personal Redemption Story
Frank Galvin is an empty, whisky-drenched shell of a man. Once a successful lawyer at a prestigious law firm, a dedicated professional whose life was…
‘Jaws’: The Groundbreaking Summer Blockbuster that Changed Hollywood, and Our Summer Vacations, Forever
It seems unbelievable, but it’s been 42 years since Steven Spielberg’s Jaws premiered in cinemas across the United States. Almost half a century since the…
To the Wonder: The Lyrical Appeal and Influence of Richard Donner’s ‘Superman’
Richard Donner, director of The Omen, the Lethal Weapon series, The Goonies, but oh so especially the golden standard of comic book movies and feel…
‘Fight Club’: David Fincher’s Stylish Exploration of Modern-Day Man’s Estrangement and Disillusionment
Standing proudly among the ranks of those films whose post-theater, DVD legacy far outshone and outlived the results and recognition they got while on display…
‘Ed Wood’: Tim Burton’s Beautiful Ode to a Fascinating Filmmaker, From One Outsider to Another
Edward Davis Wood, Jr., to most of the world known simply as Ed Wood, was an American filmmaker who spent the 1950s and the 1960s…
‘Wait Until Dark’: Terence Young’s Terrifyingly Effective Suspense Thriller with Brilliant Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin
Frederick Knott, the esteemed English playwright, might have written only three plays in his career, but this means that two-thirds of his complete opus ended…
David Lean’s ‘Nostromo’: The Old Man and the Untold Tale of the Seaboard
David Lean, two-time Oscar-winning director of Lawrence Of Arabia and The Bridge On the River Kwai, had something of a renaissance in the 1980s after…
‘Se7en’: A Rain-Drenched, Somber, Gut-Wrenching Thriller that Restored David Fincher’s Faith in Filmmaking
Slightly more than 22 years ago, David Fincher, a talented filmmaker who made music videos and commercials and was left by his directorial stint on…
‘Inland Empire’: The Purest David Lynch Experience Since ‘Eraserhead’
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Mulholland Drive’: Reality Is the True Nightmare
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘The Straight Story’: Lynch Going Straight for His Most Experimental Film
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Lost Highway’: Inventing a New Persona of an Inexplicable Filmmaker
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’: Lynch Walking Back and Burning Himself in the Process
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Twin Peaks’: The ‘Auteur Television’ at Its First Peak
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Wild at Heart’: A Twisted, Romantic Road Movie as a Lynchian Homage to ‘The Wizard of Oz’
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Blue Velvet’: A Warning Sign for All Voyeurs Reaching for the Underworld of Perversion
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Dune’: Selling Out in Deep Space
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘The Elephant Man’: A Portrait of an Outcast Defeating His Fears and Deformities with Creativity, Wit and Compassion
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Eraserhead’—The nightmarish journey into the world of David Lynch begins
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Throne of Blood’: The Value and Meaning of Kurosawa’s Fog-Drenched Masterpiece
After making Rashomon in 1950, Akira Kurosawa set his eyes on making a film based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth.’ Since Orson Welles’ version was announced…
Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’: A Game-Changing Science-Fiction Classic
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner‘s path to stardom and cultism has hardly been a bump-free ride. Heavily disputed upon its release, often criticized as an occasionally…
‘The Ballad of Cable Hogue’: Sam Peckinpah’s Most Tender Fable of the Dying West
More than often unfairly placed into a single drawer and labeled as the master of misogynistic violence, fast-paced action and sometimes astonishing brutality, Sam Peckinpah,…
‘Marnie’: Hitchcock’s Controversial Exploration of Sexual Violence and the Complexity of the Human Psyche
The film that started out as a critical failure, labeled as the weakest link in the maestro’s string of high-quality cinematic treats, over time developed…
Ridley Scott’s Masterpiece ‘Alien’: Nothing Is as Terrifying as the Fear of the Unknown
If it weren’t for the calamity of the ill-fated Alexander Jodorowsky’s Dune project, in all likelihood the world would not have known one of the…
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Featured Posts
Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’: A Game-Changing Science-Fiction Classic
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner‘s path to stardom and cultism has hardly been a bump-free ride. Heavily disputed upon its release, often criticized as an occasionally…
A Unique Perspective on the Making of ‘Stalker’: The Testimony of a Mechanic Toiling Away under Tarkovsky’s Guidance
Named by the British Film Institute as one of the fifty greatest movies of all time, Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 science fiction masterpiece called Stalker is,…
‘Persona’: Ingmar Bergman’s Psychological Masterpiece as the White Whale of Critical Analysis
In 1963 Ingmar Bergman was appointed head of the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm. Refusing to cut back on his filmmaking projects, exhausted and stressed…
Francis Ford Coppola and Brian De Palma: ‘The Conversation’ Between Two Great Filmmakers
The most personal of all films in Francis Ford Coppola’s repertoire was born between two big projects that helped Coppola gain the reputation he enjoys…
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’: Kubrick’s Pioneering Achievement As One of the Most Significant Films Ever Made
Considering the fact we’re discussing a wondrous work of art continuously labeled as one the most significant and influential films ever made, it seems only…
‘A Woman Under the Influence’: Cassavetes’ Intense and Emotionally Exhausting Slice of Life
When Gena Rowlands, his wife, expressed her interest in appearing in a play about the difficulties that contemporary women had to face, John Cassavetes wrote…
Stanley Kubrick’s original treatment for ‘The Shining’
One of Stephen King’s most popular and celebrated novels, The Shining was initially conceived as the author’s family was staying at the Stanley Hotel in…
Brian De Palma’s ‘Blow Out’ is one of the finest films about the process of filmmaking
A stylish American thriller knee-deep in paranoia, Brian De Palma’s Blow Out is a neatly packed, thrill-ridden film executed on a level far beyond average…
All hail Kubrick’s ‘Barry Lyndon,’ a masterclass in bringing a unique filmmaker’s vision to life
What is now considered one of Stanley Kubrick’s most accomplished films, as well as an example of innovative, audacious filmmaking at its best, was almost…
Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’ must be the key lecture in anyone’s filmmaking education
People often exaggerate when they talk about films. They get carried away, leaving the cinema emotionally stirred and too impressed to be able to objectively…
The most studied and analyzed film of Alfred Hitchcock’s career, ‘Vertigo’ is on every level a masterclass in filmmaking
The most studied and analyzed film of Alfred Hitchcock’s career, Vertigo is on every level a masterclass in filmmaking. In 1958 Hitchcock worked with legendary…
More than 65 years since its release, Carol Reed’s ‘The Third Man’ is still a marvel to see, experience and learn from
Carol Reed’s The Third Man might just be as visually stimulating as classic films get. The 1949 film noir features great performances from Joseph Cotton,…
Terry Gilliam has always been a hero of ours, and ‘Brazil’ was perhaps the first step in the development of our fascination with him
Ex-Monthy Python icon Terry Gilliam’s 1985 film Brazil is a wonderfully imagined and ably executed satire on bureaucratic society and its totalitarian government running a…
In the times before the idea of the Internet was conceived, film magazines proved an invaluable source of filmmaking knowledge
In the education of aspiring filmmakers, when every single bit of available information builds upon the artist’s craft and know-how, vital role was played by…
The Art of Cinematography: 8 Essential Documentaries
The world’s top cinematographers discuss the art of how and why films look the way they do. Cinematographer Style is about the art and craft…
That Obscure Object of Desire
Screenwriting 101
‘Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia’: The Story of the Great Sam Peckinpah’s Most Personal Film
Before Warner Bros. decided to take a chance and hire him to make The Wild Bunch, the classic revisionist western that would completely revitalize his…
Ballad for an Iron Coffin: Wolfgang Petersen’s ‘Das Boot’
You never see the enemy. Like Christopher Nolan’s triptych timeline suspenser Dunkirk, both quarry and hunter/guardians of the Allied Atlantic convoys our unterseeboot protagonists wrestle…
‘The Abyss’: James Cameron’s Exploration of Humanity and Love in the Heart of the Ocean
Having made The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986), two huge box office hits and pillars of modern Hollywood science fiction action films, James Cameron could…
Lived All Our Best Times Left With the Worst: Christopher Nolan’s ‘Memento’
Fractured narrative, skewed perception, compressed timelines—director/writer Christopher Nolan won’t lead his audience in a straight line where a Möbius strip will suffice. Multi-award nominated breakthrough…
‘Strange Days’: Kathryn Bigelow’s Thrilling Sci-Fi that Doesn’t Feel As Strange As It Should
It’s been seven years since the esteemed American film director Kathryn Bigelow entered the history books as the first woman to win a Best Director…
‘The Verdict’: Sidney Lumet and David Mamet’s Masterpiece as a Blend of a Courtroom Drama and a Personal Redemption Story
Frank Galvin is an empty, whisky-drenched shell of a man. Once a successful lawyer at a prestigious law firm, a dedicated professional whose life was…
‘Jaws’: The Groundbreaking Summer Blockbuster that Changed Hollywood, and Our Summer Vacations, Forever
It seems unbelievable, but it’s been 42 years since Steven Spielberg’s Jaws premiered in cinemas across the United States. Almost half a century since the…
To the Wonder: The Lyrical Appeal and Influence of Richard Donner’s ‘Superman’
Richard Donner, director of The Omen, the Lethal Weapon series, The Goonies, but oh so especially the golden standard of comic book movies and feel…
‘Fight Club’: David Fincher’s Stylish Exploration of Modern-Day Man’s Estrangement and Disillusionment
Standing proudly among the ranks of those films whose post-theater, DVD legacy far outshone and outlived the results and recognition they got while on display…
‘Ed Wood’: Tim Burton’s Beautiful Ode to a Fascinating Filmmaker, From One Outsider to Another
Edward Davis Wood, Jr., to most of the world known simply as Ed Wood, was an American filmmaker who spent the 1950s and the 1960s…
‘Wait Until Dark’: Terence Young’s Terrifyingly Effective Suspense Thriller with Brilliant Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin
Frederick Knott, the esteemed English playwright, might have written only three plays in his career, but this means that two-thirds of his complete opus ended…
‘Se7en’: A Rain-Drenched, Somber, Gut-Wrenching Thriller that Restored David Fincher’s Faith in Filmmaking
Slightly more than 22 years ago, David Fincher, a talented filmmaker who made music videos and commercials and was left by his directorial stint on…
‘Mulholland Drive’: Reality Is the True Nightmare
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Lost Highway’: Inventing a New Persona of an Inexplicable Filmmaker
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Twin Peaks’: The ‘Auteur Television’ at Its First Peak
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Blue Velvet’: A Warning Sign for All Voyeurs Reaching for the Underworld of Perversion
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘The Elephant Man’: A Portrait of an Outcast Defeating His Fears and Deformities with Creativity, Wit and Compassion
David Lynch, a name that is for many film enthusiasts the epitome for weird, surreal, and bizarre, surprised many people when he had characterised himself…
‘Throne of Blood’: The Value and Meaning of Kurosawa’s Fog-Drenched Masterpiece
After making Rashomon in 1950, Akira Kurosawa set his eyes on making a film based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth.’ Since Orson Welles’ version was announced…
Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’: A Game-Changing Science-Fiction Classic
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner‘s path to stardom and cultism has hardly been a bump-free ride. Heavily disputed upon its release, often criticized as an occasionally…
‘The Ballad of Cable Hogue’: Sam Peckinpah’s Most Tender Fable of the Dying West
More than often unfairly placed into a single drawer and labeled as the master of misogynistic violence, fast-paced action and sometimes astonishing brutality, Sam Peckinpah,…
‘Marnie’: Hitchcock’s Controversial Exploration of Sexual Violence and the Complexity of the Human Psyche
The film that started out as a critical failure, labeled as the weakest link in the maestro’s string of high-quality cinematic treats, over time developed…
Ridley Scott’s Masterpiece ‘Alien’: Nothing Is as Terrifying as the Fear of the Unknown
If it weren’t for the calamity of the ill-fated Alexander Jodorowsky’s Dune project, in all likelihood the world would not have known one of the…
‘Sex, Lies, and Videotape’: Steven Soderbergh’s Groundbreaking Debut that Shook the Indie Filmmaking Scene
When Steven Soderbergh’s groundbreaking feature film debut sex, lies, and videotape conquered Cannes in 1989, grabbing three of its top prizes—Best Film, Best Actor and…
“Bide Your Time and Everything Becomes Clear”: The Construction of Memory in Soderbergh’s ‘The Limey’
From time to time, a film that is received less enthusiastically at the box office and perhaps gets overlooked by critics goes on to become…
Filmmakers to Watch
‘Remote’: Marc Roussel’s Highly Suspenseful Mixture of Time Travel and Home Invasion
Do you remember Gregory Hoblit’s 2000 science fiction thriller called Frequency, where a present-day son (Jim Caviezel) manages to connect with his long-deceased father (Dennis…
‘Happy Birthday, Barbara’: A Wonderfully Restrained Piece of Fine Visual Storytelling
A woman stands in a hotel hallway, switching her stare from a wrinkled little piece of paper in her glove-protected hand to the stylized number…
‘Telephone Me’: A Story of Revenge with Frenetic Energy and Honest Performances
It’s delightful to see short films of this kind of frenetic energy. Michael Demetriou’s somewhat bizarre take on a story brought to life by a…
Jordan Rossi’s ‘Shakespeare on Death’: A Brave, Captivating Effort at Honoring William Shakespeare
Through the years we’ve witnessed countless screen adaptations of the work of William Shakespeare. It was to our surprise when we found that young filmmaker,…
Thyrone Tommy’s ‘Avalanche’: How Easy It Is to Become What You Despise
A young boy and a talented archer, who takes his hobby very seriously and passionately, has a strained relationship with his militant, strict, reserved father…
Rajendra Thakurathi’s The Dishwasher: The Price of the American Dream
Rajendra Thakurathi’s The Dishwasher is an important short film on several different layers. First of all, it should be said that we don’t base our…
Kheaven Lewandowski, Director of ‘River’: ‘Making Films For a Living Is a Privilege’
Excited by his inspired and visually captivating short film River, we decided to have a little chat with Kheaven Lewandowski, a talented filmmaker whose greatest…
Justin Dec’s ‘Boats’: A Hilarious Take on a Nothing-to-Laugh-About Subject
There’s the merciless money-making machine underneath the Hollywood sign, standing proud and tall, the symbol of the blooming industry of the moving pictures. Even though…
Gareth Calverley’s ‘Pedal’: A Film with Heart Written All Over It
When we started reviewing short films, we immediately agreed on what type of films we would want to showcase. There are literally thousands of films…
Ray Wong’s ‘Burnt Grass’: An Excellent Sci-Fi Built Around a Genius Idea
For his festival debut, the Toronto-based filmmaker and music-video director Ray Wong chose to tell a 11-minute-long sci-fi tale of a mysterious phenomenon in the…
Kheaven Lewandowski’s ‘River’: The Light of New Beginnings in the Suffocating Darkness of Tokyo
We know almost nothing about the gigolo scene in Tokyo. We haven’t experienced the wild, neon-lit nights of Tokyo bars and night clubs. We can’t…
‘Keep It Clean’: A Role Model Student Film
When a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman visits an overly tidy man with an OCD who lives in a spotless apartment, this unexpected visits instigates a…