Archive for Thoughts on Film
All the great TV shows have done it: Southpark. Sex and the City. Phineas and Ferb. Taking the genius of a half hour or hour-long show and turning that into a full-length feature film is apparently a lot easier than you’d think. Have you seen the Sex and the City movies? Don’t tell me anyone [...]
Films Directed by John Woo John Woo movies are a mixture of the elegant, the absurd, and the downright violent. For more than 40 years, he’s been entertaining audiences across the globe with a distinctive visual style that routinely includes the following: slow motions shootouts, Mexican standoffs, doves flying into the heavens, men wielding twin [...]
Films Directed by Pedro Almodovar Despite his celebrated status in the international film community, I have only seen one of the Pedro Almodovar movies on this list. But before you start thinking that I harbor some prejudice against Spanish filmmakers, I should state that I’m open to the possibility of watching more of his films [...]
Films Directed by Robert Rodriguez A master of making movies on a low budget, Robert Rodriguez has been aided by the fact that he can direct, write, edit, score, and perform the duties of the cinematographer. Since he exploded onto the scene with 1992’s Mariachi, he’s been turning out a playful selection of films that [...]
The Wachowski Brothers movies have stretched the boundaries for what’s possible in the sci-fi and fantasy genres, and the impact of the Matrix trilogy is still being felt throughout the global cinematic landscape. They also sound like they’d be fun to hang out with. In addition to working as comic book writers before they became [...]
When I think about Ang Lee, the first words that pop into my head are “movies for women.” That’s not particularly fair, though, as Lee has directed a celebrated action film and even a comic book adaptation. He may not be the next John Woo, but he’s not the next Jane Campion, either. Characters in [...]
Films Directed by Christopher Nolan Everyone seems to love British director Christopher Nolan. His lowest-rated movie at Rotten Tomatoes comes in at an impressive 75%, and anything he’s involved with has a habit of cleaning up at the box office and garnering multiple Academy Award nominations. In fact, The Dark Knight’s failure to get a [...]
Director Terrence Malick once did an uncredited rewrite of Dirty Harry. From what I can tell, that may have been the highlight of his career. Of course, my assessment may seem a bit unfair considering that I’ve only seen one of Malick’s feature films. Not that I have many to choose from, mind you. In [...]
Films Directed by Todd Haynes I can honestly say that I haven’t seen any of the Todd Haynes movies on this list. In fact, I had forgotten his name until I came across it while searching through a rundown of American directors. I don’t say this to diminish his abilities, but only to illustrate that [...]
Films Directed by John Singleton John Singleton exploded over Hollywood like an inner-city atomic bomb, specifically one that looked like Ice Cube and talked like Laurence Fishburne. His debut film, Boyz n the Hood made him the youngest person even nominated for a Best Director Oscar, as well as the first African-American to earn such [...]
