Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound digs deep into the craft that make our favorite films what they are by looking at the sound design. More often than not, we think of sound design as being one of the technical awards come the Oscars. The fact of the matter is that it’s more than just a tech award. Sound mixing and sound design go hand in hand but without them, films wouldn’t be the…
"Tribeca 2019: Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound"Tag: Steven Spielberg
Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg is taking his battle against Netflix all the way to The Academy when the next board meeting takes place in April. Without Steven Spielberg, I would never have developed an interest in film. I’ve already written about this in an article on Jurassic Park in 2017. It still kills me that I was’t able to be in the same theater as him during SXSW last year because of certain reasons. I…
"Steven Spielberg, Netflix, and The Academy"
Lincoln works as well as it does because the Abraham Lincoln biopic chooses to focus on the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Steven Spielberg is one of America’s greatest directors. As such it makes perfect sense for Spielberg to direct a biopic of one of the nation’s greatest presidents. While Tony Kushner’s script could very well focus on Lincoln’s entire life, it would just be too much for one film. Instead, we get a focus…
"Lincoln: A Film Worthy of President Abraham Lincoln"
Schindler’s List isn’t only Steven Spielberg’s epic masterpiece but the film is what cemented his legacy as both a filmmaker and human. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) rescued the lives of approximately 1,200 Jews despite being a member of the Nazi party. He took over an enamelware plant and this plant is soon populated by the Jews living in the Kraków Ghetto. Under accountant Itzhak Stern’s (Ben Kingsley) management, a countless number of Jews would find…
"Schindler’s List: Steven Spielberg’s Epic Masterpiece"
It was a low-key occasion but the prehistoric hand-drawn animated adventure, The Land Before Time, marked its 30th anniversary in November. Within the first half hour, we meet the core characters of this animated adventure: Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike. Littlefoot meets Cera while his Longneck family of three are on a journey to the Great Valley. Initially told that Longnecks don’t play with Three-Horns, neither Littlefoot nor Cera have a choice if they…
"The Land Before Time Marks 30 Years"
Steven Spielberg’s war film, Saving Private Ryan, not only redefined the genre for war movies but the film holds up on the 20th anniversary. Twenty years after seeing the film in theaters in 1998, the World War 2 drama features the most intense opening in cinematic history. Following a bookend featuring the older James Ryan (Harrison Young), the opening runs close to a half hour alone. Spielberg manages to recreate the Normandy Invasion of June…
"Saving Private Ryan: 20 Years Later"
One of the greatest films of all time, Jaws is a quintessential American movie. With one of the most iconic scores in all of cinematic history, an innocent swimmer, Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie), getting attacked by a shark would change the beach forever. Police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) had the right idea to close the beaches following Chrissie’s autopsy. However, Amity mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) re-opens the beach out of fear of losing money.…
"Jaws: A Quintessential American Film"
Led by some of the biggest names in comedy at the time, 1941 is Steven Spielberg’s most underrated film of all time. Following the success of National Lampoon’s Animal House in 1978, filmmakers were looking to capitalize on the success. Why wouldn’t they? The film brought in a lot of money! Some of the comedies that would follow in 1980 included Caddyshack, The Blues Brothers, and the joke-a-minute Airplane. One film that didn’t quite hit…
"1941: Steven Spielberg’s War Spoof Full of Hysterics"
Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park remains an innovative, groundbreaking and inspiring classic as it did when it was originally released 25 years ago in June. Shortly after the incident on Isla Nublar and the quick introduction of lawyer Donald Gennaro, the film really gets going with paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and paleobotonist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) digging up a velociraptor in Montana. Their dig is shortly interrupted by a helicopter, which leads to Grant and Sattler…
"Jurassic Park Remains A Classic After 25 Years"
The major problem with Ready Player One goes down to one thing: neither Steven Spielberg nor Warner Bros. Pictures decided to recast T.J. Miller’s role of I-R0k following allegations of assault and abuse. Given the news stories that broke in December about allegations of sexual assault at college as well as my own personal experience, why didn’t Spielberg follow Ridley Scott’s lead with recasting the role?!? Miller’s character is nowhere to be seen in the…
"Ready Player One: Time’s Up Means Recasting!"