Director Retrospective: Steven Spielberg With the recent release of some set-pictures from his upcoming film Ready Player One, I decided to try and tackle one of the most prolific and acclaimed (critically and commercially) directors of all time. This week, I’m writing about one of the “titans” of American cinema: Steven Spielberg. Of course, almost immediately after Read more about Director Retrospective: Steven Spielberg[…]
Director Retrospective: The Coen Brothers After my previous retrospective on Steven Spielberg, which was a beast to write, I had planned to take a short hiatus from these director retrospectives. But then a friend of mine requested that I write one about The Coen Brothers. And being sympathetic to requests, a glutton for punishment, and a busy-bee (i.e. Read more about Director Retrospective: The Coen Brothers[…]
Director Retrospective: Christopher Nolan With last weekend’s theatrical releases, a new director on my “Top 200(ish) Director List” became eligible under my current (and, mostly, arbitrary) ten-film minimum threshold for these retrospectives. As such, there’s no better time to talk about one of the most influential filmmakers of the 2000s: Christopher Nolan. The Big List Read more about Director Retrospective: Christopher Nolan[…]
Director Retrospective: Sam Raimi In my previous director retrospective, I took a look at the filmography of Christopher Nolan — a critically acclaimed and commercially successful director best known (among most viewers) as the director of a famous superhero trilogy. With that in mind, I thought it might be fun to take a look at a very Read more about Director Retrospective: Sam Raimi[…]
Director Retrospective: Robert Zemeckis Normally, I’m hoping to limit these retrospectives to one or two a week — that is, when I have the time / inclination to do any of them at all. Last week’s pair was Ridley Scott & Tony Scott, while this week’s pair was Tim Burton & Terry Gilliam. So why Read more about Director Retrospective: Robert Zemeckis[…]
Director Retrospective: Terry Gilliam Last time, I took a look at the filmography of Tim Burton — whose unique visual style results in films that are often instantly recognizable. Continuing this thread, I thought it would be fun to pair Burton with another director with a truly unique visual aesthetic. However, if Burton’s visuals are Read more about Director Retrospective: Terry Gilliam[…]
Director Retrospective: Tim Burton This week, as part of my ongoing project, I’m looking at a couple of contemporary directors who have a very striking, dream-like (sometimes nightmarish) visual aesthetic resulting in films that are instantly recognizable for viewers — albeit in different ways and toward different effect. First up, we have director Tim Burton, whose Read more about Director Retrospective: Tim Burton[…]
Director Retrospective: Tony Scott Hey! Yesterday, I posted a retrospective on Ridley Scott — one of my favorite living directors, albeit one with whose overall body of work I have a very “complicated” relationship. Sort of tangentially, that got me to thinking about his brother — the late Tony Scott — a filmmaker with a quite Read more about Director Retrospective: Tony Scott[…]
Director Retrospective: Ridley Scott Continuing my project through the arbitrary “Top 200(ish) Directors” list that I created, I thought it might be fun to take an extended (re)examination of one of my favorite living directors — a director whose work seems to frustrate and disappoint me nearly as often as it astonishes and entertains. I’m Read more about Director Retrospective: Ridley Scott[…]
Director Retrospective: Ron Howard As part of my project to watch a bunch of new (i.e. new to me) films by the “Top 200(ish) Directors” on a list that I’ve arbitrarily created, I decided to watch a bunch of movies last week by Ron Howard. In doing so, I realized that I have seen a Read more about Director Retrospective: Ron Howard[…]