Tag Archives: Contemporary Film Directors Series

January 15, 2018

Happy Birthday Steven Soderbergh

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Born on January 14, 1963, in Atlanta, Steven Soderbergh found filmmaking in his teens. His Hollywood apprenticeship included work as a cue card holder and a director of concert films. In 1986, his film Sex, Lies, and Videotape helped launch the surge … Continue reading →

May 19, 2017

Climbing Twin Peaks, plus David Lynch cooks quinoa

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An excerpt from Justin Nieland‘s once-again-timely book David Lynch. Laura Palmer—passive, suffering, already victimized—is one kind of a melodramatic myth, and Twin Peaks, both the series and the fictional town, is Lynch’s most enduring melodramatic network, a famously quirky environment of character. … Continue reading →

March 16, 2017

Backlist Bop: Women in film

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Widely regarded as one of the most innovative and passionate filmmakers working in France today, Claire Denis has continued to make beautiful and challenging films since the 1988 release of her first feature, Chocolat. Judith Mayne‘s comprehensive study of these … Continue reading →

January 4, 2017

There will be analysis. . . on George Toles and Paul Thomas Anderson

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During winter break, the Los Angeles Review of Books covered our new book on Paul Thomas Anderson by film scholar George Toles, himself a figure of distinction in the moviemaking dream factory. Martin Woessner guides you through a deep delve into Toles’s … Continue reading →

October 13, 2016

Dylan the high-heeled marionette

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Excerpted from Rob White‘s book Todd Haynes. The black-and-white poise of the re-created tour in I’m Not There softens the actual color footage of these 1966 performances, shot by Pennebaker for the unreleased film Eat the Document and excerpted in … Continue reading →

September 12, 2016

Release Party: Paul Thomas Anderson

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Since his explosive debut with the indie sensation Hard Eight, Paul Thomas Anderson has established himself as one of contemporary cinema’s most exciting artists. His 2002 feature Punch-Drunk Love radically reimagined the romantic comedy. Critics hailed There Will Be Blood … Continue reading →

April 14, 2016

Throwbacklist Thursday: Remain in Flickering Light

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As Ebertfest gathers for the sixteenth year, the Press again will contribute to the filmic festivities by providing swag for the official goodie bags. What form of swag? Books, surprisingly. We hope CFD entries on Pixar mastermind John Lasseter and the epic career of French filmmaker Agnès Varda will please … Continue reading →

March 4, 2016

Bubbly with Success

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Pixar is on a winning streak, to say the least. Its animated films not only rack up large box office, they hit the cultural zeitgeist gong in a way that other studios and creators can only dream about. Last year’s Inside … Continue reading →

March 1, 2016

Serve It Up with Oscar!

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Sunday night, Mexican filmmaker and auteur Alejandro González Iñárritu took home the Academy Award for Best Director, for his film The Revenant. The Revenant first went into production in 2001. Like many films, it took a long journey through the Hollywood sausage factory … Continue reading →

October 29, 2015

Throwbacklist Thursday

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You can’t spell “books” without “boo” and UIP publishes many tomes of knowledge eldritch and/or arcane. Can you use these books and journals to cast spells? To revive octopus-faced gods in their undersea cities? To conjure the beefalo tacos you crave? Frankly, … Continue reading →