Day: April 4, 2013

How many decades have directors of horror films been using scratchy, high-pitched howls to make sure that audiences understand that something horribly scary is happening? I guess it began with Bernard Herrmann‘s screechy violins on the Psycho soundtrack. I only know that you can’t watch a horror film or a trailer for one without hearing … Read more

I’m thinking of hiking up to the San Francisco Film Festival on Saturday, 4.27 to hear Steven Soderbergh deliver a “state of the cinema” speech as well as an explanation of his reasons for taking a taking a little time out, a.k.a., a “Frank Sinatra retirement.” No more gratis hotel bookings so we’re talking round-trip … Read more

“I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear,” Roger Ebert wrote in a 9.15.11 Salon piece. “I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, … Read more

Last last week I wrote to Woody Allen about the Shane aspect-ratio brouhaha. I wrote him in care of his publicist Leslee Dart of 42West. About a half hour ago I received a letter from Woody via Leslee as follows: “Dear Jeffrey, “I wanted to add my strenuous objection to putting out an edition of … Read more

Deadline‘s Pete Hammond is reporting specifics about the Academy’s upcoming May 4th meeting in which everything that needs to be fixed and or streamlined ort re-thought will be discussed en masse by Academy members on both coasts. As any and all topics are fair game, it seems imperative that the issue of minimizing the impact … Read more

Less than two days after announcing that he would be cutting back on reviews due to a recurrence of his cancer, Roger Ebert has left the earth. I’m very, very sorry that he didn’t get more time as I know he wanted it and would have made excellent use of it, as he did during … Read more

This morning’s exclusive New York Post story about Christopher Abbott‘s decision to quit Lena Dunham‘s Girls doesn’t even hint why. It only says that Abbott and Dunham “began butting heads” as the third season began shooting because Abbott “didn’t like the direction things are going in.” Anyone who watches the show can put two and … Read more

I said three months ago that the CG compositions of 1920s Times Square in Baz Luhrman‘s The Great Gatsby are spot-on, and now these new shots of NYC and surrounding environs indicate all the more than the visuals are going to kill if (and this is a big “if”) they’re not too CGish. I first … Read more