Tag: cinema
Religion in the movies: The Kendrick case study
God is making a comeback in movies, and this time, it’s personal. After several years free of biblical cinema, 2014 may well be remembered as the year that Hollywood found religion again. First up is Son of God, produced by Touched by an Angel’s Roma Downey and her husband, Survivor mogul Mark Burnett (perhaps the…
The action movie dilemma: My last stand against 300
Every great film is an action movie. That goes for Ivan the Terrible, Parts I and II (1944 and 1958), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) and My Dinner With Andre (1981). It doesn’t go for 300 (2006), its sequel, 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) or any other picture of their ilk –…
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,…
Interviewing Susan Seidelman: From Madonna to Menopause
With a perceptive eye and an ear for dialogue, Susan Seidelman has an understanding of human behaviour that might, had filmmaking not existed, have landed her in a more scientific profession. Yet she’s a director at heart, and films like Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) and Cookie (1989), as well as TV series like Sex and…
Simple Machine are awarding micro-festival grants
The Simple Machine film-programming network will present four $1000 grants per year to fund innovative micro-budget film festivals. The competition is now open worldwide for submissions. Simple Machine launched last spring as an online film marketplace, enabling programmers to find and book quality festival films for events of all kinds. Now, the programming network continues…