How Francis Ford Coppola Breathed New Life into ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’
By Koraljka Suton It could be deemed rather poetic that the origins of two of the most iconic and beloved horror movie creatures can…
Screenwriting
Reclaiming the Lost Art of Melodrama in Sidney Lumet’s Unsung Masterpiece: ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’
By Parrish Stikeleather I sent the script first to Philip, one of the finest actors in the country, and I gave him the choice…
“If You’re Going to Sell Your Soul to The Devil, the Consequences Are There for You to Suffer”: Ridley Scott and Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Counselor’
By Tim Pelan Not much of a one for describing his work, author Cormac McCarthy bluntly describes The Counselor, his first original screenplay, knocked…
‘DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A SICK MAN TO YOU?’: The Horror of Identity and the Identity of Horror in David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’
By Travis Woods TELEPOD 1: STATHIS He watches Her, trembling and nerve-twitched, eyes darting, lips pulled back over protruding teeth left exposed by a…
“No One Is Just Anything”: In William Friedkin’s ‘Sorcerer’, Four Reduced Men Must Gamble with Life to Give It Value
By Tim Pelan The film became an obsession. It was to be my magnum opus, the one on which I’d stake my reputation. I…
You’re Gonna Be Redeemed: The Jersey Noir and Western Fable of James Mangold’s ‘Cop Land’
By Travis Woods A rotating wire bookrack stands in a shaded corner of the used bookshop, its metal sleeves packed tight with yellowed, spine-split paperbacks….
Slaughterhouse Twelve: Robert Aldrich’s ‘The Dirty Dozen’
By Tim Pelan In the mid-1960s, director Robert Aldrich was coming up for air after the thick stew melodramas of Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte, and…
‘Atlantic City’: Malle’s Nostalgic Juxtaposition of Deterioration and Renewal
By Koraljka Suton When acclaimed French New Wave director Louis Malle was approached by producer Alexandre Mnouchkine with the idea for a Canadian production…
Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Hard Eight’, AKA ‘Sydney’: “It’s Always Good to Meet a New Friend”
By Tim Pelan Paul Thomas Anderson’s debut film Hard Eight (working title Sydney, preferred by Anderson, thwarted by his backers) arose from the performance…
Empire’s End: John Huston’s ‘The Man Who Would Be King’
By Tim Pelan On the occasion of John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King screening at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2010…