What makes a brilliant script? Is it quotable lines? Is it nuanced dialogue? Or is it just the ability to move the story along and not get in the way? When looking back through the history of screenwriting, there are plenty of iconic films based on previous work; the Writer’s Guild of America voted Casablanca …
Network is easy to avoid. On the surface, it looks like another dated boardroom drama about white men who argue about white, male issues. On top of that, its director, Sidney Lumet, has an established legacy of maleness and moralism. 12 Angry Men (1957) is a courtroom drama about one man’s attempt to prove another …
For the sake of this particular movie column let’s just consider the media types of news personalities, journalists and reporters as interchangeable. With that in mind Newsmakers and Media Shakers: Top Ten Reporters in the Movies will look at some of cinema’s top inquirers in the name of getting down to the nitty-gritty in bringing the truth …
#20. The Exorcist (1973) Lost to: The Sting Crammed in between two Best Picture wins for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather” films was an interesting little year that rewarded another pairing of Robert Redford and Paul Newman (trivia: “The Sting’s” Julia Phillips is the first time female producer to ever win Best Picture). The other big landmark …
The movie journalist is always caught up in scandal, gossip and invasions of privacy. Though plenty of movies have been made about authors, poets, and other writers, the physical act of writing and editing rarely makes it into Hollywood journalism. Thankfully, the more sensational aspects of media have made for scathing satire and commentary, loathsome …
There has always been an understated rivalry between the mediums of movies and television. Many years ago it was even thought as being somewhat of a drastic career letdown if actors/actresses from film decided to depart for the landscape of television. The truth is that for some performers that had stalled or uneventful momentum in …
Though heightened, serialized dramas make up the bulk of the new hour-longs this fall, there are still plenty of procedurals headed our way, both over the next few weeks and at midseason. Some are more successful than others, with the better ones demonstrating some self-awareness and a sense of humor about themselves, but most of …
Across America, parents are taking their children to the mall and office supply stores, getting ready the start of the school year. In the world of television, the fall means the start of the 2013-2014 television season, with the broadcast networks rolling out their new and returning series over the next few months. The landscape …
Network Directed by Sidney Lumet Written by Paddy Chayefsky US, 1976 You can always pick out the true greats from the history of cinema by viewing them today and discovering that the product hasn’t aged, the message has not faded, and the era was not an inherent part of its magic. In fact, quite often, …
Two women sit in a restaurant. As they wait for their food, they discuss current events, politics, and an interesting historical tidbit one of them recently learned. Their food arrives and the conversation moves into the more personal- one woman’s marathon training, the upcoming nuptials of a (female) family member. To the canny observer, the …
I’m a nerd. I like data. Spreadsheets are fun and I have a nearly Marshall Eriksen-level affinity for charts. When I decided to look into high school-based television series for my next article, my first stop was Wikipedia and its page on high school television series (This is why I’m not an actual researcher). Initially, …
One of the true giants passed away this week: filmmaker Sidney Lumet, dead at 86 of lymphoma. He was one of an incredibly talented class of directors who graduated from the early days of TV; a group which included such august talents as Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde, 1967), George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and …