In the last edition of the Friday Film Focus I wrote about the idea of voyeurism in film, the role that an audience takes on when they buy a ticket or press play, and the potential that characters and images can have to speak powerfully to a discerning audience. I suggested that as film goers we ought to be patient with images and characters in films, to let them speak and breathe and I suggested that when we fail to do this we undercut the potential power of Read the rest of this entry »
I recently read Mary Wolstonecraft’s famous essay “Vindications of the Rights of Women” and Fanny Burney’s gruesome “Mastectomy,” each of which, indirectly, have some interesting things to say about the cinematic art form. Obviously neither author meant to say anything about film since, of course, both works were penned in the 18th century. However, they both have a great deal to say about the idea of voyeurism, a subject that has long been on my mind. For, ultimately, as film viewers Read the rest of this entry »
So, the Oscars are over, you’ve looked at all the red carpet pictures you can stand, and you want to know what to see next? Well, Into the Hill has eight movies to check out this spring.
Now, I assume that you, reader, are already anticipating the arrivals of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Therefore, the eight films previewed here are films you might not know much about. Only one of them really falls into the category of big budget Hollywood fare.
With the Academy Awards just a few days away (Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC)
we here at Into the Hill thought that we would offer an Oscar preview in this
week’s Friday Film Review. Who are the favorites? Who are the dark horses?
Who doesn’t have a chance? Best actor? Best cinematography?
Best picture? We have all the answers!
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s difficult to watch There Will Be Blood as anything but epic. Paul Thomas Anderson, the director of much-lauded, art-house favorites Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love, has created an enormous tour-de-force of gritty, self assured, and altogether beautiful film-making - the kind that packs a punch, leaves a bit of a hangover, and yet has you begging for a second (or third, or fourth) viewing.
The film takes place in the early part of the twentieth century and traces the emergence of oil baron Daniel Plainview, portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York, The Last of the Mohicans, My Left Foot). At the beginning of the film we meet Plainview alone in a desert, mining for gold. He doesn’t find gold, but he does strike it rich - instead, he discovers a sea of black gold: oil. From that day forward Plainview is a man hell bent on making as much money as he can through the oil business; come what may, he will let no one stand in his way.
With the smiling, endearing, face of his son H.W. at his side, Read the rest of this entry »
