Steven Spielberg

Watching the 2023 Oscars: A Year of Reckoning

Tara Taghizadeh

After the unforgivable slap seen and heard around the world at last year’s Oscars ceremony, a few major questions remain: whether the Academy did enough to punish Will Smith for the attack on Chris Rock, and, given the general decline in viewership, are awards ceremonies still relevant? Of course, the greatest slap in the face to Will Smith – pardon the pun-- would have been if Chris Rock had hosted this year’s Oscars, but Rock turned down the offer.

‘Belfast,’ ‘West Side Story’ Are Lead Contenders in Critics Choice Award Nominations

Forrest Hartman

Belfast, which tells the story of an Irish family living amidst the turmoil of the Troubles, received nominations for Best Picture, Best Acting Ensemble and Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Branagh. The film also received numerous individual acting and technical awards. Likewise, West Side Story was nominated for Best Picture, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director.

Steven Spielberg Revitalizes 'West Side Story' and Delivers Another Hit

Forrest Hartman

In a new video for Highbrow Magazine, Chief Film Critic Forrest Hartman discusses Steven Spielberg's new film, West Side Story -- a remake of a beloved classic. The original was a popular musical that enthralled movie audiences, and Hartman explains that Spielberg has stayed true to the film's roots, and delivered us another hit.

‘Lincoln,’ ‘Killing Them Softly’ Arrive on DVD, Blu-ray

Forrest Hartman

Day-Lewis won his third best actor Oscar for his portrayal of Lincoln, and he is deserving of the award. Despite his English roots, the actor disappears so thoroughly into the role that it’s hard to imagine anyone else – American or British – playing it. As depicted by Day-Lewis, Lincoln is a charismatic man who is quick with a story and a smile, but he’s also a fearless champion of his beliefs.    

Oscars 2013: Which Film Will Win ‘Best Picture’?

Suzanne Scacca

“Having 10 Best Picture nominees will allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize," AMPS President Sid Ganis said at a press conference.  While the expansion of the Best Picture category at the Oscars allows for more movies to receive the recognition they deserve, it does not change the fact that the voters lean towards awarding similar themes and performances every year.  They love dramas, lengthy historical epics, and tales of patriotism, controversy, and triumph over adversity.

Fourth of July Films Available on DVD, Blu-ray

Forrest Hartman

No major theatrical releases are making their way to video this week, so it seems like the perfect time to suggest some movies that are sure to put an exclamation point on your July 4 holiday. All of the following, including the aptly named "Independence Day," "The Patriot," and "Born on the Fourth of July, are readily available on home video. 

Where Have You Gone, Stanley Kubrick?

David Barwinski

The  much-admired (and emulated) Martin Scorsese, for one, is an outstanding auteur and easily one of the best directors  working today, yet he cannot rightly be ranked alongside the titans of the golden years when cinema was emerging as a serious art form: Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Ingmar Bergman, Jean Renoir, and the list goes on.  These masters were, and remain, larger-than-life legends.

“War Horse,” “We Bought a Zoo” Arrive on DVD, Blu-ray

Forrest Hartman

Director Steven Spielberg had a big year in 2011. Not only did he release his first animated movie, “The Adventures of Tintin,” he made this outstanding drama about the bonds that form between man and animal. Based on the children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo, the film tells of a thoroughbred colt raised by an English teen named Albert (Jeremy Irvine).

Et Tu, Tintin?

Sandip Roy

From New America Media and Firstpost.com: Charles de Gaulle famously said, “My only international rival is Tintin.” Now Hergé’s Tintin  has his own rival — [Steven] Spielberg’s Tintin. The (battle)lines are drawn. What should be an homage from one master storyteller to another will instead become a battle of technique — Hergé’s ligne claire vs Spielberg’s CGI. The complexity of the simple will become simply complex and the trepidation is that somewhere in that dimensional leap we may find the secret of the unicorn but lose forever the secret joy of Tintin.

 

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