Author: Jonathan Eig
Bad Words and Good Writing: A lesson in screenwriting
Bad Words is the kind of movie that gives critics trouble. It’s easy to write about the dregs – I could pound out 1,000 words on Need for Speed without breaking a sweat – and it’s easy to write about the good stuff. It’s the middle-of-the-road movie that is hardest to capture. But let’s give…
Sunset Cinema: 30 superb directorial feature film finales
One of the best things about writing a blog is that it gives my family an excuse to talk to me. And so, when I recently put up a piece about great directorial debuts, I heard from a lot of them. Usually they were telling me, in the politest possible terms, how many titles I…
Documenting the human being: Film characters in 2013
Quick quiz: Who were the most indelible film characters from 2013? Don’t think about it too long. That’s the whole idea behind being indelible. The character stays with you long after the closing credits have rolled. 2013 was a good year for film, and there were lots of good characters. In order to save time,…
Great beginnings: 40 impressive directorial feature film debuts
The key to 21st century communication is the blog. And, as every blogger knows, the key to the blog is the list. Nothing generates discussion faster than labelling something “The Ten Best…” or “The Twenty Most Overrated….”. After recently writing a piece on Ryan Coogler’s impressive debut film Fruitvale Station (for which Michael B. Jordan…
Unnoticed Injustice: Dirty Harry and the RoboCop reboot
What a difference 43 years makes. That is the time between the on-screen birth of Harry Callahan, Clint Eastwood’s iconic protagonist in Don Siegel’s brilliantly controversial Dirty Harry (1971), and the screen rebirth of Alex Murphy, freshly minted drone-with-a-heart-of-gold in Jose Padilha’s RoboCop reboot. Harry, for those who don’t remember, was the American conservative middle…