“Everybody Knows” Tells A Subtle Tale of Family Betrayal
The language of cinema may be universal, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that every genre will be approached similarly from country to country. When it comes to thrillers, the Europeans have rarely been interested in the slam-bam kinetics that define American-made action. Instead, foreign thrillers place more emphasis on character and mood than quick cuts […]
Why “Blackkklansman” and “The Favourite” Should Win the Screenplay Oscars
At the Writers Guild Awards this past weekend, the winners threw the Academy Awards race into even more of a tizzy. The WGA honored underdogs Eighth Grade by Bo Burnham as its pick for Best Original Screenplay, while Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty took the prize for Best Adapted Screenplay. Green Book and Blackkklansman were […]
What Screenwriters Can Learn from the Oscar-nominated Live Action Shorts
It’s a shame that the AMPAS has decided to give out the award for Best Live Action Short winner during a commercial break at the upcoming Academy Awards telecast on February 24, 2019. No artist who wins an Oscar should be denied his or her time in the sun. It’s especially egregious given that a […]
Five “The LEGO Movie 2” Rules Every Animated Film Should Follow
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is a rare sequel that doesn’t feel redundant or like a cynical cash grab. Instead, it’s a clever film, well-made and hilarious, with plenty of heart too. Even more so, it’s an example of how to do animation properly on the big screen. It knows that even if […]
The Dog Poop in “Roma,” Chief Brody’s Glasses, and Symbolism on Film
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, as Sigmund Freud said, yet often in the movies, a cigar means much, much more. It can symbolize power, stand in for the male phallus, or be representative of a lie, i.e. a smokescreen. Groucho Marx used his stogie to represent all three attributes in the characters he […]
