IDA is Director Pawel Pawlikowski’s exploration of a dark family secret by a young novitiate nun, Ida, on the verge of taking her vows. IDA won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2015, as well as BAFTA Best Non-English Film, LA Film Critics, NY Film Critics and countless other film awards. The visualization...

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Bob Fosse’s ALL THAT JAZZ is a wonderful film on so many levels. The film was a semi-autobiographical interpretation of Fosse’s own life. And hits rather close to home as Ann Reinking even portrays a version of herself and her relationship with Fosse. This clip comes out of the seminar AMPING IT UP: Sound Design...

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It’s during this time of year, when films jockey for awards positions, I’m reminded of an excellent film that was left off of the Academy Awards Best Picture category last year. And they had room for 10 nominees and only chose eight. That film is Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut NIGHTCRAWLER. Even though it won the Best First Feature and...

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Aside from great performances by Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis, George Segal and Best Actress Oscar winner Elizabeth Taylor, there is the remarkable direction of Mike Nichols. In my opinion, Mike Nichols may be the most underrated director in Hollywood...

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There are a few films that critics and film fans agree are classics in every sense of the word. THE KILLERS (1946) is one of these. An oft neglected, but extremely powerful film noir, it was directed by Robert Siodmak with a screenplay by Anthony Veiller from a short story by Ernest Hemmingway.  Starring Burt Lancaster in his film...

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I like war films. Maybe it’s a male thing. Maybe it’s because my father was a military officer who served in World War Two. Who knows, but I viewed three of my favorite war films the other day and noticed that they all echoed and reflected the sensibilities and styles of their times. Three generations...

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This Billy Wilder noir classic starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck was groundbreaking on several fronts. Many have called it the quintessential or definitive film noir. Often tossed aside as “just one of those noirs”, many people don’t realize that it was nominated for SEVEN Academy...

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