Features
Friday, February 1 2013
The Best DVDs and Blu-rays of 2012
From classics to contemporary television, the typical titles and the surprising outsider choices, the year in home video was just as divisive, and delightful, as the rest of our meaningful media.
Monday, January 28 2013
The Best Films of 2012
From popcorn perfection to animation experimentation, foreign finesse and good old Hollywood hokum, 2012 delivered the shiny cinematic goods and then some. Here are our choices for the titles that took on the challenge, and won.
Wednesday, January 9 2013
The Best Male Film Performances of 2012
From diabolical tech terrorism to brutal slave ownership, the actors that make up this year's best traversed a wide canvas of creative and cinematic choices.
Monday, January 7 2013
The Best Female Film Performances of 2012
From a precocious young girl bravely battling the elements to much older women waging war with their own demons, 2012 was a standout year for actresses, with these being some of the very, very best.
Wednesday, April 27 2011
Celebrity and the Celebration of Art: The Transformation of Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch’s body of work is impressive. So what has previously prevented his transformation from a highly talented, sought-after actor to bona fide international celebrity?
Columns
Wednesday, February 13 2013
A Blackly Sardonic Telling of Abe Lincoln: 'Crime Classics, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln'
You think Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is compelling? Try upping the ante with Crime Classics: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Tuesday, May 15 2012
Like All Movie Stars, Even 'War Horse' Joey Needs Make-up
One of the most challenging aspects for Ali Bannister, head of the equine hair and make-up department on the set of War Horse, was keeping artists safe when applying mud to the rear ends of over 80 horses.
Friday, August 14 2009
Oceans of Fear
Brace yourself: this is a fish tale that can silence – like the great white shark itself – all of its competitors.
Reviews
Friday, March 29 2013
A History Unchallenged: 'Lincoln'
Despite its considerable credentials, Lincoln avoids succumbing to the requisite Spielberg traps—save for a key few. What's interesting, and a little bit disturbing, is how procedurally it treats a sensitive topic like the passage of the 13th Amendment.
Friday, March 8 2013
'Schindler's List: 20th Anniversary Limited Edition'
Steven Spielberg directs films when the time is right for him to do so, not when the studio demands it or the whims of a fickle moviegoing public may be headed in a certain direction. His timing was right with Schindler's List.
Thursday, January 10 2013
'Catch Me If You Can' Is a Thriller, but of Lighter, Caper-ish Stock
What makes con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr., especially fascinating and oddly likable, is that even when engaging in deception and fraud, he's not always entirely faking.
Friday, November 9 2012
'Lincoln': Fiction and History
The film presents Abraham Lincoln's deliberations as a function of his innate morality, as well as an emotional rightness.
Friday, October 26 2012
Bring It Home: 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'
This 30th anniversary Blu-ray/DVD may induce yawns from some, but it was a revelation for me. This was my first viewing of E.T. in a long time, and reminded me of its many charms.
Blogs
Friday, November 16 2012
History Always Repeats: 'Lincoln'
Dropping us directly into the fray without any real context and hoping we can pick up the pieces and the players as the drama unfolds, Lincoln is a masterpiece of manipulated storytelling.
Tuesday, December 27 2011
Boy Wonder: 'The Adventures of Tintin'
(A) rollercoaster ride of thrills and spills, a true leap for the otherwise awkward animation type and proof that when visionaries sit behind the lens, anything can be turned into a wondrous work of art.
Friday, December 23 2011
An Amazing Animal: 'War Horse'
War Horse may be nothing new for the man who made his name as the King of the Blockbuster, but it does represent what he does best.
Tuesday, June 7 2011
The Popcorn King: The Top 10 Steven Spielberg Summer Blockbusters
The 10 Greatest Examples of Summer Movie Magic By the Filmmaker Who Created the Reason for the Season...
Wednesday, May 12 2010
Super 8 Trailer: The Non-Cameraphone Version (trailer)
The newest film from director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg may not be hitting theaters until Summer 2011, but the film's viral marketing campaign is in full swing with the online release of the teaser trailer.
News
Thursday, November 8 2012
Steven Spielberg Hopes to Reveal the Lincoln You Might Not Know
LOS ANGELES — “Lincoln today is beyond partisan politics,” Steven Spielberg said in a recent interview about his new movie, “Lincoln.” “Yeahhhh,” said screenwriter Tony…
Wednesday, January 11 2012
John Williams and Steven Spielberg mark 40 years of collaboration
LOS ANGELES — The quietest room in Hollywood may be the office where John Williams composes. In a bungalow on the Universal Studios lot, steps…
Wednesday, November 30 2011
Spielberg aims to make us laugh and cry this holiday season
ORLANDO, Fla. — Steven Spielberg has made a pretty fair living over the decades making audiences cry. And the Oscar winning director of “E.T.,” “Schindler’s…
Monday, July 25 2011
'Tintin' arrives at Comic-Con with heavyweights
SAN DIEGO — Steven Spielberg finally made a pilgrimage to Comic-Con on Friday, arriving at the convention for the first time in his long career…
Friday, June 10 2011
J.J. Abrams teams with his childhood hero, Steven Spielberg
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — There are plenty of stories with Hollywood endings — this is one with a Hollywood beginning. A new J.J. Abrams film…
