Category: Film
Here is Entertainment Weekly’s list of the greatest active directors (you can find the photo gallery here). I must say that while the list is fairly good, I don’t entirely agree with some of the entries. For instance, Jon Favreau for Elf and Iron Man? Sure, Iron Man was a decent blockbuster, but that doesn’t in my opinion put him in such elite company. Also, I think they are missing some important South American directors, like Alfonso Cuaron and Fernando Meirelles. I think it is a bit of a travesty that Clint Eastwood is so low at #19 (He is easily #1 in my opinion), and although the Lord of the Rings was a great trilogy, I was disappointed with King King, and I would want to see a bit more from Peter Jackson before I give him the #2 spot above Martin Scorsese and others.
25. Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man)
24. Pedro Almondovar (All About My Mother, Bad Education, Volver)
23. Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, United 93)
22. Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood)
21. Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain)
20. Ron Howard (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind)
19. Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima, Changeling, Gran Torino)
18. Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire)
17. Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, The Wrestler)
16. Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen)
15. Sam Raimi (Evil Dead 2, Spiderman 2)
14. Judd Apatow (The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up)
13. Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd, Edward Scissorhands)
12. David Fincher (Seven, Zodiac, Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
11. Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth)
10. Joel and Ethan Coen (Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men)
9. James Cameron (Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic)
8. Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider, Collateral)
7. Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill)
6. Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien)
5. Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Out of Sight)
4. Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Knight)
3. Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Departed)
2. Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong)
1. Steven Spielberg (E.T., Schindler’s List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Saving Private Ryan)
A beautiful short animated film by Grzegorz Jonkajtys.
The Night and the City, directed by Jules Dassin, is a wonderful example of film noir at its most brutal and bitter. While there is no prototypical “femme fatale”, Night and the City contains some of the best examples of film noir elements that I have seen: a seedy underworld of crooks, gamblers and low-lifes, brilliantly gritty streets of London shot with spectacular shadows and camera angles, and a down-on-his-luck protagonist who tries to swindle and fast-talk his way out of one jam after another. The unfortunate aspect of the movie is that the plot deals with the rather uninspiring subject of underground Greco-Roman wrestling. I found it difficult to get caught up in the interplay between the wrestling kingpin Kristo and his wrestling-purist father Gregorius. Still, this is a fine example of film noir at the height of its vogue.
Enjoy a TED lecture from John Hodgman where he humorously rambles through a story about aliens, physics, time, space and the way all of these somehow contribute to a sweet, perfect memory of falling in love.
In my attempt to collect fun, innovative short films I came across another YouTube Screening Room film called “Jojo in the Stars”. It’s a cute but tragic animated short that is creative and well put together. Here is the description of the film:
Director: Marc Craste / UK / 2003
BAFTA winner Jo Jo in the Stars is a story of love, self-sacrifice, and jealousy played out against a black and white world that is both nightmarish and hauntingly beautiful. This film plays out the heart-wrenching tale of two unlikely lovers: Jo Jo, a silver-plated trapeze artist, and the nameless hero who worships her.
Short film by Ruairí Robinson – starring Don Wycherley, Cillian Murphy and Garvan McGrath
Dir. Vincent Bal / Belgium / 1996
The classic Christmas short film noir with inevitable twists and turns. Mylene and Werner are going to make their flat up for Christmas. Then Sam comes with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot. Sam tells Werner that he knows Werner has stolen money at work. Werner murders Sam. Soon afterwards, Sam is alive again and it looks as if somebody else would have to die. Who’s fooling who? Winner of the Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.
The latest version of a video by Carl Fisch.
A short film about the magic of looking for the best in people. Cute, if just a little over the top.
