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Censorship in the Early Days of Hollywood

The Evolution of The History of Cinema As An Art Form
By contrast, to most of the arts in society, cinema has only been around for a little over one hundred years. On the other hand, painting, sculptor, poetry, writing and acting has been around for many centuries. This is one of the most interesting aspects about cinema. However, in its brief history as a popular art form, it has dominated the minds and actions of society all Read the rest of this entry »

Both Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni were not only masters of cinema, but the films they made were popular throughout the world in their heyday.

Fellini began as a neorealist filmmaker in the 1940s but quickly moved into using fantastical imagery in his films. Neorealism was a movement that grew out of World War II in which the social conditions of the poor were explored often using nonprofessional actors. The most significant film from this point in Fellini’s career was “La strada.” By the time he Read the rest of this entry »

“Star Wars” has become known the world over with others such as Star Trek as the premiere Sci-Fi films in the industry. However, science fiction did exist before Star Wars and Star Trek, and some of these films are gems hidden within the rubble. What films may have been inspirations for George Lucas’ masterpiece ‘Star Wars’?
Although a bit mainstream, “2001: A Space Odyssey” must be mentioned here as an inspiration for Sci-Fi in general. One of the most spectacular films of its time, this piece directed by Stanley Kubrick focused on human evolution, artificial intelligence, and extra terrestrial life.
Aside Read the rest of this entry »

The Cold War era inspired some of the best action-espionage films of the 20th Century. With the threat of nuclear war between the West and Communist forces of the USSR and China, “Fail Safe”, starring Henry Fonda, addressed this concern head on. The Philby Conspiracy scandal in the UK stoked many Fifth Column fears of double agents, and “The Manchurian Candidate”, with Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury explored how brainwashing could turn even a war hero into the enemy. The James Bond franchise and Read the rest of this entry »

In a career that spanned 57 films over 30 years, Akira Kurosawa became the face of Japanese cinema. In his early years, Kurosawa was subjected to the early deaths of two of his brothers and an earthquake that leveled his home city of Tokyo. These events led the future director to look differently both at life and the budding film industry. By the time he became a director, Kurosawa refused to shy away from touchy or difficult subjects. Read the rest of this entry »

The Spaghetti Western is a genre of film that was originally panned by critics, and is now citied as the inspiration for the current generation of Hollywood directors. These were usually helmed by Italian directors and featured characters and plots based on the American Western frontier .
The beginning of the Spaghetti Western as a recognizable genre is generally considered to have begun in the 1960′s, although some argue for a much earlier date. A director by the name of Sergio Leone adapted a Japanese samurai film and cast Read the rest of this entry »

We get a lot of requests her for film recommendations that people actually have a chance of finding. See, sometimes we’re so high-brow we recommend stuff that can’t be found at Blockbuster or DIRECT tv so here are a few great indie flicks we think you’ll love that are also attainable:
500 Days of Summer: Sure it’s got a slightly obnoxious song scene right in the middle but the acting and narration features of 500 days make it something special. Joseph Gordin Levitt and Zoe Deshanel don’t hurt the eyes, either.
Memento: Read the rest of this entry »

How should one feel about American remakes of Foreign Films, both old and new? One on hand, I personally believe American Filmmakers doing a remake of a foreign film is a waste of both money and resources. If a foreign film is good the first time around, why was the money to recreate what has already been done? I do not see why Hollywood sees the need to rehash a foreign film for the sake of the American audience if the film was Read the rest of this entry »

Some people think that to step into any art house cinema that you would have to be some sort of snob. This is not the case at all as many cinema enthusiasts have simply grown tired of mainstream product. Art house cinemas are no longer a well kept silver screen secret as more people are turning to them to watch films that are truly independent (not like the blockbusters in disguise released by the studio’s indie divisions), classic films and even rare cult films. These are types of movies that might have never been experienced for some patrons without Read the rest of this entry »

Any true film buff will tell you that part of the fun of being a fan of classic films is trying to track them down. Sometimes the hunt can get a little frustrating if you don’t know where to start. Keep in mind that film classics doesn’t usually refer to popular titles. Anybody can find a copy of Citizen Kane or Gone with the Wind.

A good place to start is eBay. You want to be cautious though. If you are new to the world of classic films Read the rest of this entry »