Ending Explained is a recurring series in which we explore the finales, secrets, and themes of interesting movies and shows, both new and old. In this entry, we dig into the Sopranos ending and try to make sense of that shocking cut to black. In 1999, David Chase changed television forever when he introduced us…
Welcome to World Builders, our ongoing series of conversations with the most productive and thoughtful creatives in the industry. In this entry, we interview director Dean Parisot, screenwriters Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, and hear a little from Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter about the blessed, delusional optimism of Bill and Ted Face the Music. Be excellent…
In our new column Color Code, Luke Hicks chooses a handful of shots from a favorite film and analyzes them in detail to draw out the meaning behind specific colors and how they play into their scene and the film as a whole. Inspecting color is like inspecting the soul of a film. It’s an endless…
Welcome to World Builders, our new ongoing series of conversations with the most productive and thoughtful behind-the-scenes craftspeople in the industry. In this entry, we chat with She Dies Tomorrow cinematographer Jay Keitel about depicting the organic elements of dread. The end is inevitable. You, dear reader, are going to die. Sooner than you’d care to…
Welcome to How’d They Do That? — a bi-monthly column that unpacks moments of movie magic and celebrates the technical wizards who pulled them off. This entry looks into the making of The Blob. The texture of horror films in the 1980s was goop. Viscous, visceral, and virtually everywhere, slime was a cost-effective way to…
Streaming might be the future, but physical media is still the present. It’s also awesome, depending on the title, the label, and the release, so each week we take a look at the new Blu-rays and DVDs making their way into the world. Welcome to this week in Home Video for August 18th, 2020 (and August…
Welcome to Carnage Classified, a monthly column where we break down the historical and social influence of all things horror, then rank the films of each month’s category accordingly. Franchises, movements, filmmakers, sub-genres, etc…It’s all here! This entry is about folk horror films. Is there anything more horrifying than the ominous suggestion of what lurks…
The HBO Max comedy An American Pickle is about many things: intergenerational conflict; tradition versus modernity; different approaches to grieving; how much money a Brooklynite will spend on a single pickle (apparently $4). The film follows an Eastern-European Jewish immigrant who falls into a vat of pickles in 1919 and wakes up perfectly preserved a…
This week was an emotional one. So many things going on right now…I feel a little bit like my back is against a wall, but I have pushed through it and continue to forge a path ahead. Read moreA Guide to The Perfect Bong Joon-ho MarathonPlease go and download my App for free, right now!!…
Ending Explained is a recurring series in which we explore the finales, secrets, and themes of interesting movies and shows, both new and old. This time, we dig into the ending of Project Power. How awkward is it when a movie teases the possibility of a sequel, and that sequel never happens? Netflix’s sci-fi original Project…
We are just about to start production on a film that I have been documenting the journey of for about nine months now. Here is footage from two different camera tests that I edited together to make a small sequence. Some shots are bown out, the costume isn’t right, the characters aren’t right, but the…
The name’s Bond. Bondathon. With 24 official James Bond films to conquer before No Time To Die hits theaters (someday!), Bond fan Anna Swanson and Bond newbie Meg Shields are diving deep on 007. With shaken martinis and beluga caviar in hand, the Double Take duo is making their way through the Bond corpus by…
Welcome to Horrorscope, a monthly column keeping horror nerds and initiates up to date on what to watch now. Here’s a guide to all the essential horror streaming in August 2020. October may get all the credit, but horror is an all-year thing. From camp slashers to outdoor disasters, summertime horror is a cut above….
Acting is an art form, and behind every iconic character is an artist expressing themselves. Welcome to The Great Performances, a column exploring the art behind some of cinema’s best roles. This entry spotlights the performance given by Michael Shannon in Take Shelter. There are few films I connect with more deeply on an emotional…
We started the week out with a really great location scout for our feature film, “The Ant Hill.” More people have reached out to me to want them to help me with their scripts which does two things…one…I really enjoy the dopamine kick I get from writing/outlining structures for screenplays…and, two…it’s a big reassurance that…
Welcome to Movie DNA, a column that recognizes the direct and indirect cinematic roots of new movies. Learn some film history, become a more well-rounded viewer, and enjoy likeminded works of the past. This entry recommends movies to watch after An American Pickle. Seth Rogen plays opposite himself in the HBO Max original An American Pickle,…
Streaming might be the future, but physical media is still the present. It’s also awesome, depending on the title, the label, and the release, so each week we take a look at the new Blu-rays and DVDs making their way into the world. Welcome to this week in Home Video for August 4th, 2020, which includes…
Hulu has been stuck in the third-place position when it comes to movie streaming behind Netflix and Amazon Prime because most people still see them strictly as a home for next-day television. They have movies too, though, and more than a few of them are gems that make Hulu a destination beyond last night’s TV…
Amazon Prime Video is the only streaming service with a cost that also gets you free shipping, and that my friends is a deal. They’re in the original programming game, but their biggest offering remains the ton of films available to watch anytime for Prime members. The complete list of new titles available to stream…
Some people spend their days arguing over the merits of Netflix, but the rest of us are too busy enjoying new movies, engaging series, and fun specials. It’s just one more way to re-watch the movies we already love and find new ones to cherish, and this month sees some of both hitting the service. The…
I apologize again for the short vlog this week. I will do better to include more footage. Things just keep coming at me and I just keep saying “yes” to everything. If you want to build a business that is big and you want to grow, saying “yes” to opportunities when they present themselves, even…