Video
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Filming the Holocaust: Crisis on Camera
Is attempting to capture one of the greatest human crimes futile? Jerry Lewis was so unhappy with his attempt to evoke the Holocaust that he…
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Beyond the Mixtape: The Needledrops of The Cornetto Trilogy
Edgar Wright’s best are deliciously soundtracked. When I featured Adam Tinius’ Pulp Fiction soundtrack essay, I noted that Shaun of the Dead has some of…
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The Elegant Mechanics of the Focus Pull
How to shift an audience’s attention without changing the shot. The rack focus, adjusting the camera midshot to change what’s blurry and what’s not, is…
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Dreamscapes and Skyscrapers: Buildings and Cinematic Expression
Wild urban planning can reflect movies’ mental states. Architectural analogy to thought and imagination is an old and vibrant tradition, one sparked even brighter by…
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Here’re About A Hundred Versions of That Three-Point Action Landing
You know the one. A superhero crashes into a populated city block. A ninja jumps down into an enemy gang. An animated character lands anywhere…
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Welcome to Derry: The Introductions of Pennywise
Movie and miniseries have different approaches to creepy clowns. It is already a smash horror hit, even outside the purview of Stephen King adaptations. The…
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Pure Art: Nic Cage Performs John Cage’s 4’33”
Cage on Cage is an unexpected work of art. In honor of Nicolas Cage’s new movie Vengeance: A Love Story (out this weekend), I present…
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What Guillermo del Toro Learned from ‘The Mansion of Madness’
Latin horror dealt with turmoil in a uniquely transformative fashion. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water won top prize, the Golden Lion, at the…
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The Devil’s Workshop: Haunted Hands In Cinema
When hands go bad, they betray our mechanical control over ourselves.