What makes a brilliant script? Is it quotable lines? Is it nuanced dialogue? Or is it just the ability to move the story along and not get in the way? When looking back through the history of screenwriting, there are plenty of iconic films based on previous work; the Writer’s Guild of America voted Casablanca …
Spike Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’ is a timely effort that will raise awareness through its passion but fade through its flaws
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Written and Directed by Spike Lee (based on the film by Bill Gunn) USA, 2015 Spike Lee films tend to fall into two categories, masterpieces and trainwrecks. His latest, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, leans to the latter. However, even his failures – including this – work as engrossing bits …
Back in August 2013, Spike Lee launched plans for his newest movie on Kickstarter, causing a big hullabaloo in the process. People questioned whether an established director like him was taking money away from other independent filmmakers and projects, even though he clarified that more people came to Kickstarter who had never heard of the …
“Ace in the Hole” is a quintessential Billy Wilder movie… [with] all the hallmarks one associates with his best work: cynicism, humor, terrific performances, sharp dialogue, and impeccable direction. Here, to keep within the theme of the title, we get it all in spades.
Day Three of Ebertfest began much like Day Two, with panels at the Illini Union, the first titled “Remembering Roger Ebert” and the second “Film & Cultural Politics”. The former was an hour-long opportunity for the panelists (critics and Far-Flung Correspondents) and the audience to share their memories of and experiences with Ebert and express …
From the stage to the screen, the director’s chair to the writer’s room, real-life jack-of-all-trades John Turturro channels his versatility in his latest feature, Fading Gigolo. As Fioravante, a sensitive florist and handyman who turns to the world’s oldest profession to help out a cash-strapped friend, played by Woody Allen, Turturro puts a lighthearted spin …
So, this is a bit of old news at this point, but the debate or discussion around Spike Lee’s Essential Film list seems to be as relevant as the legitimacy of his Kickstarter campaign. Much has been made of the fact that the list is fairly standard and canonical, in particular how it almost completely …
In just barely over a week since its Christmas release, Quentin Tarantino’s eighth feature film, Django Unchained, has exhaustively become a source of public controversy for its setting amongst southern, pre-Civil War plantations where the height of the black man’s plight in the United States was the accepted norm. Not the least of the film’s …
Red Hook Summer Written by Spike Lee Directed by Spike Lee USA, 2012 Spike Lee’s latest film might ask daring questions about community responsibility and black manhood, but these themes are not at all cohesively tied together. Red Hook Summer revolves around a privileged young boy’s summertime visit to his grandfather’s poor neighborhood of Red Hook, …
Margarita Directed by Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert Written by Margaret Webb and Laurie Colbert Canada, 2012 In the Canadian dramatic comedy, Margarita, the titular character (Nicola Correia-Damude) is a Mexican maid, illegally working in Canada for a posh couple, Ben and Gail (Patrick McKenna, Claire Lautier) and their tenacious teenage daughter, Mali (Maya Ritter). …
The best part about being a film fan in a big city is that you are exposed to so many films that you would have otherwise never heard of. Obscure arthouse releases, strange french films and more film festivals that you can shake a fist at, it’s rare that I am able to predict with …
For quite some time now, South Korea has been making some of the best movies around the world. They seem to also have a knack for creating some of the very best revenge films. Oldboy, the 2003 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook recently made my list of Best Comic Book Adaptations. Based on …