Steven Spielberg and George Lucas revolutionized the sci-fi genre in 1977 with their one-two punch of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But somewhere along the line, the films in the genre lost the battle between spectacle and character, and became all about the spectacle. In the 80's, character still managed to hold its ground. Hollywood was entering a new phase - the era of the blockbusters - but character was still king in this world. E.T., Back to the Future, Aliens and others continued the tradition of character-driven space opera for the masses. But as the genre continued to grow and develop throughout the 90's and 2000's, studios began to realize how much money could be made on science fiction films, particular ones with aliens, and their money-grubbing sentiments took over. Battle: Los Angeles. Skyline. The Transformers sequels. And before them, Stargate, Independence Day, Armageddon. Bigger! Faster! More spectacle! More pizzazz! Nowadays, most of our sci-fi films, particularly ones dealing with alien invasions, are works of grand, CGI-ridden spectacle. But somewhere along the way, the characters got lost in the shuffle. Luckily, Spielberg is still around to steer things in the right direction. And now, one if his latest protégés, J.J. Abrams, has taken the reigns...[more]...

Like many, I have been disenchanted with Woody Allen as of late – his film output over the past decade has been mediocre at best, and absolutely dismal at worst. Of course, it’s hard to expect such a prolific filmmaker such as Allen – who has been releasing one film a year since he first started making movies – to maintain such a consistently high-quality output heading into his sixth decade of filmmaking. However, right up through the end of the 90′s, it seemed like Allen was an unstoppable filmmaking force to be reckoned with. In my opinion, Allen only made two good films in the last decade – Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona – but even those films didn’t come close to matching the level of wit and brilliance of his greatest classic works. However now, in 2011 at the dawn of a new decade, Allen delivers what in my opinion is his finest film since Deconstructing Harry and destined to rank up there with his greats...[more]...

Joe Wright is one of the most interesting directors to have emerged on the scene this past decade. Pride and Prejudice was a surprisingly fresh film that injected a newfound energy into a genre that is normally quite stuffy and rigid. Atonement was one of my favorite films of the entire decade, and while The Soloist was a good-but-forgettable misstep, his two previous movies more than proved his worth as a directorial force to be reckoned with. When I heard that his fourth film was going to be an action-packed thriller starring a teenage assassin, suffice it to say that I was intrigued. I had always thought it interesting that such a young director was making such excellent period dramas, but now that I had become accustomed to that style, it was odd to see Wright revert back to a more traditional film genre for directors his age. Suffice it to say that fans of Wright will not be disappointed by this film; nor will fans of the action genre. In fact, Hanna manages to attain the rare achievement of being an artsy action film – a film that delivers both on the emotional and on the stylistic level...[more]...

For a year many consider to be a mediocre one for movies, 2010 has certainly been a great year for auteurs. These past 12 months have seen releases from some of the best directors working today, many of which haven’t released a new film in quite some time: from Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski to Tim Burton, Noah Baumbach, Christopher Nolan, Oliver Stone, David Fincher, Clint Eastwood, Darren Aronofsky, Danny Boyle, Sofia Coppola, The Coen Brothers – and David O. Russell, one of the best directors to emerge from the American independent film scene in the 90’s, and someone who hasn’t released a new film since 2004’s I Heart Huckabees. Like many of his contemporaries, Russell has undergone a change over the last few years: a shift from quirky indie filmmaking to more mainstream fare, while still retaining that indie touch. The Fighter, his latest work, is an indie film disguised as a mainstream crowd-pleaser. And it features elements from both worlds, for better or worse...[more]...

Somebody once said that filmmaking is like opening a restaurant: In order for it to be successful, you need a group of people to collaborate and work together in order to create something that works. Each team member is good at their particular area of expertise: one handles the business end, one designs the restaurant, one handles customer service; on the creative end, the chef, the sauté, the fry cook, the desert chef… they all need to work together in order to create something good; everyone brings something to the table. A film requires a similar balance in order to be successful. The screenwriter needs to work with the director, the director with the technical crew, the producer with the director and with the distributors… without this equilibrium, a film cannot succeed. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, a director will come along who is so distinct and thorough and talented at his craft, that he can take something that could be mediocre and makes it into something spectacular. I believe that Darren Aronofsky is one of those directors, and furthermore, is hands down one of the finest directors to emerge in recent film history. And Black Swan is one of his most fascinating films...[more]...

Movie structure is an elusive and very difficult thing to grasp, and for screenwriters, I feel like it often proves to be one of the most difficult things to do correctly. As if interesting characters and a gripping story aren’t enough, scripts must also have a coherent narrative structure, one that constantly propels the plot forward. Say what you will about the terrible dreck that comes out of Hollywood these days; at least those writers know how to stick to the three act structure. I admire when directors try to take risks and change things up a bit, but I also think that it’s a true testament to the difficulty of crafting a coherent structure when even risk-taking indie directors have trouble getting it just right. Take Danny Boyle. One of the great risk-takers of our time: he has dabbled in an impressively eclectic multitude of genres and has generated really interesting work in all of them: Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine are the highlights of his career, and I think that Slumdog Millionaire and even The Beach are very interesting films in their own unique ways. Boyle’s directing style is slick and unique; his use of digital photography is special, his films’ pace, editing, and shot choice create a highly stylized and very distinct feel, and his soundtracks are usually top notch. However, if there’s one thing that I think Boyle has never really managed to grasp, it’s structure. His films always seem to fall apart...[more]...

I just want to get this out there right away: When I first heard about it, I had very little faith in this project. I was stupefied, confused by the thought of what attracted all this talent to this seemingly trivial story to begin with? Why would David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin possibly be interested in the story of the founding of Facebook? Surely they could have found something more important, more meaningful to apply their efforts to. After seeing the film, though, I realized that, of course, Fincher and Sorkin knew what they were doing all along. And furthermore that labeling this as “The Facebook movie” is really an insult to what Sorkin and Fincher were trying to and have succeeded in achieving with this film...[more]...

Thank god for independent film. After this truly dismal summer, I was just about ready to give up. The Hollywood studios continue to bombard us with over-saturated, computer-generated imagery with grand, operatic set pieces and sequences so over-the-top, we can’t help but sit in awe and wonder how we got to the point at which this schlock passes as entertainment. Out of the dozens of Studio films released this summer, only two genuinely engaged me as a viewer, and provided me with something more than just flashes and bangs – for the record, those films are Toy Story 3 and Inception. But if one is interested in real, human drama that is genuinely funny but also touching – not to mention even remotely based on reality – one has to look beneath the studio system, or at least, in between its cracks, where the thriving independent film community continues to produce the best and most engaging films out there, as it has consistently managed to do for the past 20 years...[more]...