In an alternate Victorian England, a mysterious phenomenon has given the “Touched” spectral gifts: superhuman strength, visions into the future, speaking in tongues. In The Nevers, streaming on HBO, Amalia (played by Laura Donnelly) searches for answers to the Touched before authorities can imprison them. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey shot the first two episodes of... »
Nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary (Feature), The Mole Agent sends elderly investigator Sergio Chamy into The San Francisco Nursing Home, a retirement community in the El Monte district of Santiago, Chile. His job is to uncover possible mistreatment of a patient. Despite its mock-espionage opening and allusions to film noir, Maite Alberdi‘s... »
The five cinematographers nominated for the 93rd Academy Awards include esteemed veterans and relative newcomers. Surprisingly, only one DoP has previously been nominated for an Oscar, Phedon Papamichael, ASC (for Nebraska). The five films under consideration all received multiple nominations, Mank topping the list with 10. As with most Academy Award nominations, they can... »
An Army medic struggles with PTSD and opioid addiction in Cherry, the latest film from the directing team of Anthony and Joe Russo. Adapted from the novel by Nico Walker, it stars Tom Holland as the eponymous Cherry, a vet-turned-bank-robber struggling to free himself and his girlfriend Emily (Ciara Bravo) from drug dependency. Starting... »
Writer and director Aaron Sorkin tried for years to make The Trial of the Chicago 7, a fact-based drama about the aftermath of riots during the 1968 Democratic Convention to nominate a Presidential candidate. With an ensemble cast, shifting timelines, conflicting narrative threads, and Sorkin’s trademark information-packed dialogue, Trial was not an easy sell.... »
One of the best received films of 2020, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a vivid adaptation of August Wilson’s landmark play. Directed by George C. Wolfe, the film explores a 1927 Chicago recording session featuring the celebrated blues singer Ma Rainey (played by Viola Davis) and her backup band, including trumpeter Levee Green (Chadwick... »
Fred Hampton was only 21 years old when he was assassinated by the FBI in 1969. In the Warner Bros Pictures release Judas and the Black Messiah, director Shaka King revisits the events leading up to Hampton’s (played by Daniel Kaluuya) death, as well as his relationship with FBI informant William O’Neil (LaKeith Stanfield). Based... »
In One Night in Miami…, currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, the meeting of four cultural icons becomes the chance to explore how society deals with racism and discrimination. Directed by Regina King, and written by Kemp Powers from his play, the movie weaves the lives of Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Cassius Clay (Eli... »
The sweeping vistas of mountains, canyons, and plains seen in the Universal Pictures release News of the World are the work of Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, ASC. Directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel, the movie is currently in select theaters and On Demand. Speaking via Zoom from Rome where he... »
For director Thea Sharrock, The One and Only Ivan wouldn’t work unless its combination of live action, animation, and special effects were “seamless.” Based on an award-winning novel, the Disney production recounts the true story of a silverback gorilla living in a shopping mall near Tacoma, Washington. Speaking on a Zoom conference call, Sharrock... »
