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All the Outside World's a Cinema
In summer, people will project films on just about anything. Peter Bowen looks at some of the different places you can see a movie. more >
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Critics in Crisis
Philip Lopate, author of American Movie Critics: An Anthology from the Silents Until Now, puts current fears about the future of film criticism in context by looking at the history of the form, from Sandburg, Agee and Kael through to the online generation. more >
Behind the Blog: Chuck Tryon of The Chutry Experiment
Film and media studies professor Chuck Tryon gives the backstory on his widely read blog, The Chutry Experiment. more >
Behind the Blog
FilmInFocus goes Behind the Blog of some of the best film bloggers on the web. more >
Drawing on Inspiration: How to Make Animation with No Money
As part of FilmInFocus' continuing series on animation, Mike Plante casts an eye over six filmmakers who are bringing a DIY aesthetic to the artform. more >
The Most Insane Movie Sequels
If Hamlet 2 sounds like an improbable idea for a sequel, Scott Macaulay looks at some other infamous sequels from Hollywood, where anything good is worth doing it again till you beat it to death. more >
All the Outside World's a Cinema
In summer, people will project films on just about anything. Peter Bowen looks at some of the different places you can see a movie. more >
2 Many Hamlets
With everyone wondering if Hamlet 2 is a sequel, we decided to find how many Hamlet — be they sequels, prequels, parodies, operas or games — are out there. more >
Killer Satire
Heather Chaplin explains why the natural successor to Blazing Saddles and the works of Chaucer and Swift is, yes, Grand Theft Auto IV. more >
We All Screen: A Four-Part Series on Exhibition
Taking Marshall McLuhan's adage "the Medium is the Message" to heart, we explore the state of exhibition today. more >
Coming Soon to a Theater Near You
Amazing 3-D. Gourmet meals. A Cocktail. A personal valet. A leather sofa. Russell Winter gazes into the future of theaters. more >
Five Travel Writers
Ayun Halliday, the author of No Touch Monkey! And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late, brings her inimitable sense of humor to her movie city choices. more >
Five Travel Writers
Tony Wheeler, creator of the Lonely Planet travel guides, takes us on a tour of some of his favorite cities on film. more >
Five Travel Writers
Pico Iyer, the revered globetrotting author of Video Night in Kathmandu, jets off to a quintet of cinematic cities. more >
City Confidential
To mark the upcoming release of In Bruges on DVD, we asked five travel writers to pick their favorite five films about cities. more >
Five Travel Writers
Heidi Julavits, the travel writer, novelist and co-editor of The Believer, travels from the 1960s Paris of Godard's Band of Outsiders to the animated Kyoto of Spirited Away. more >
Five Travel Writers
Rolf Potts, writer of Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel, slums it on the streets of five movie metropolises. more >
Cinema Everywhere
Film historian David Parkinson travels the world, checking out how different cultures treat the moviegoing experience. more >
Five Tony Nominees
Adam Schlesinger, Cry Baby composer and Fountains of Wayne frontman, chooses his favorite musicals for our Tony week coverage. more >
Five Tony Nominees
Kelli O'Hara, the Kelli O'Hara Broadway ingénue winning plaudits in South Pacific, chooses her top movie musicals. more >
Five Tony Nominees
Stew and Heidi Rodewald, the creative team behind Passing Strange, offer us their top movie musical picks. more >
Five Tony Nominees
Lin-Manuel Miranda, star and creator of In The Heights, picks his top big screen musicals. more >
Five Tony Nominees
Singer and actress Kerry Butler, nominated for Best Actress in Xanadu, chooses her top movie musicals. more >
Tony's Favorite Film Musicals
To celebrate the upcoming Tony Awards, we asked five of the nominees to pick the movie musicals that mean the most to them. more >
The Small Screen
Film journalist and curator Ed Halter gives the big picture on the microcinema movement that has spread across America. more >
Rain City on Film
Nick Dawson casts on eye over the way that Seattle has been featured in recent movies, ranging from Alan Rudolph's indie classic Trouble in Mind to teen romcom 10 Things I Hate About You. more >
Movie City: Seattle
When it rains so much, what are you going to do but go to the movies? We travel to Seattle to see what film means there. more >
Seattle Sees Itself
How do we know a film is in Seattle? Charles Mudede argues that the unavoidable Space Needle stitches together the city's identity. more >
Canana Means Business
Scott Macaulay looks at how one film company is making a business out of keeping Mexican talent at home. more >
Movie City: Mexico City
In recent years Mexico has become the hot cinematic culture to watch. We look at how it all came about. more >
Hecho en México
Nick Dawson highlights cinema south of the border, and points out American productions shot on location in Mexico. more >
Patrica Riggen's Mexico City
Patricia Riggen grew up in Mexico, moved the US to study film, and has returned home with a record-breaking film and fond memories. more >
Behind the Blog: Kimberly Lindbergs of Cinebeats
Kimberly Lindbergs gives us the lowdown on her vibrant retro film blog, Cinebeats. more >
Totally "Awesome" Film, Dude
To get noticed in a busy film world, three filmmakers have created an online film festival that anyone can visit. more >
Five Designers on Design in Film
Calvin Tsao, half of the esteemed architectural duo Tsao & McKown, emphasizes the importance of collaboration. We asked what five films have helped him. more >
Mexican Cinema Today
The explosion in new Mexican cinema has brought international attention to new Latin directors. But this is not the first time that Mexican cinema took on the world. more >
Five Designers on Design in Film
Guru of grooviness Jonathan Adler remembers the films that opened his eyes to the world of chic and style. more >
The Whitney Biennial Two-Year Plan
Every two years, the Whitney Biennial sets upon rethinking the world of American art as we know, including the film/video world. more >
Five Designers on Design in Film
Stylish modernist designer William Sofield today selects the five films cinematic experiences influenced his aesthetic sensibility. more >
Five Designers on Design in Film
Architect and interior designer Deborah Berke chooses five films which have influenced her sense of style. more >
Five in Focus
To see how films inspire architecture and interior design, we asked five designers to give us their five favorite films. more >
Five Designers on Design in Film
For designer Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, cinema is an infinite font of inspiration. We asked him for his five most inspirational films. more >
Caught Red Banded
To mark the release of the Hamlet 2 R-rated trailer, FilmInFocus offers a history of red-band previews. more >
Behind the Blog: Matt Zoller Seitz of The House Next Door
The owner of The House Next Door lets us in for a chat about his much-loved blog. more >
Baghdad Boom
FilmInFocus collects together multiple perspectives on filmmaking's relationship with Iraq. more >
Crash Course: Making Movies on the Rooftops of Baghdad
Anthony Kaufman reports on the new Iraqi cinema emerging from Baghdad's Independent Film and Television College. more >
A Short History of Iraqi Cinema
Including Oliver Reed's Great Question and Saddam Hussein's vanity project helmed by a James Bond director. more >
Shot on the Battlefront: A Brief Guide to the Iraq War on Film
From Fahrenheit 9/11 through to Battle for Haditha, Nick Dawson looks at the way the film world has viewed the Iraqi conflict. more >
A Law-Abiding Look at Indie Movie Download Sites
Scott Kirsner explores the options for movie lovers who want to watch movies with leaving their desk. more >
Harvey Milk Lives
Paul VanDeCarr finds himself back in the 1970s as Gus Van Sant transforms San Francisco for his new film about assassinated gay politician Harvey Milk. more >
Five Favorite Werewolf Movies
Sharp Teeth author Toby Barlow gets stuck into some (rather unconventional) cinematic lycanthropes. more >
The Taste of Others
How can all these websites presume to know what you might "also like?" Scott Kirsner pulls back the curtain to reveal the technology of taste that drives these consumer sites. more >
The Once and Future Austin
Writer and filmmaker Spencer Parsons takes a walk through Slacker-ville, noticing how much has changed and imagining what might still be. more >
The Butler Did It: Servants in Film
Cast to serve the story, servants have recently started serving their own class interests in films from Poppins to Pettigrew. Peter Bowen speaks with the help. more >
Bright Young People
Society Shocker! Joel Bleifuss exposes the real-life 24-hour party people of Miss Pettigrew's world. Sex! Drugs! To-die-for handbags! more >
A Director for Every Day: Bharat Nalluri
Director Bharat Nalluri has taken on serial killers, British spies, alien monsters and a tsunami. But, as Scott Macaulay learns, they were nothing compared to Miss Pettigrew. more >
The Song in their Hearts: "If I Didn't Care"
In Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Amy Adams sings "If I Didn't Care" as if it's her story. Alicia Van Couvering discovers the real story behind the song. more >
The Real Miss Pettigrew
Priya Jain on the life and career of Winifred Watson, the British novelist who created Miss Pettigrew. more >
Five Favorite Films About Domestics
The Nanny Diaries authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus celebrate the release of Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day by choosing their favorite movies about "help." more >
Behind the Blog: Karina Longworth of SpoutBlog
SpoutBlog's Karina Longworth takes us inside her portion of the blogosphere. more >
Excerpt from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Read the start of Winifred Watson's 1938 novel and you see why people love this book. more >
Behind the Blog: Brandon Harris of Cinema Echo Chamber
Filmmaker and blogger Brandon Harris gives us a tour of his Cinema Echo Chamber. more >
Martin McDonagh on Brendan Gleeson
In Bruges writer-director Martin McDonagh speaks about his regular star, the underrated Irish actor. more >
Five Favorite Children's Books
Atonement star Saoirse Ronan, who plays budding writer Briony, gives us a tour of her personal library. more >
Bruges: “A Fucking Fairy Tale”
If In Bruges' killers turn that charming medieval town into a bloodbath, that's nothing compared to what its own citizens used to do. Joel Bleifuss explains. more >
Five Political News Sites
For the week of Super Tuesday, we've asked five documentary filmmakers to give us their five favorite news websites. Our final director is Rachel Boynton. more >
Death Becomes Him: A Movie Hitman History
In Bruges continues the great, though relatively recent, tradition of the hitman movie. Scott Macaulay gets this dark subgenre in his crosshairs. more >
Five Political News Sites
For the week of Super Tuesday, we've asked five documentary filmmakers to give us their five favorite news websites. American Blackout director Ian Inaba chooses his today. more >
Martin McDonagh's Morality
Priya Jain looks back at the morally complex, blackly comic and very violent theatrical work of In Bruges director Martin McDonagh. more >
Five Political News Sites
For the week of Super Tuesday, we've asked five documentary filmmakers to give us their five favorite news websites. Today, Astra Taylor picks hers. more >
Five Political News Sites
For the week of Super Tuesday, we've asked five documentary filmmakers to give us their five favorite news websites. Today, we get Joan Sekler's line up. more >
Five Political News Sites
For the week of Super Tuesday, we've asked five documentary filmmakers to give us their five favorite news websites: First up, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. more >
Five Things I Took Away From the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
Filmmaker Magazine's Jason Guerrasio is our final person to turn his focus on Sundance 2008. more >
Five Things I Took Away From the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
Screen International's David D'Arcy picks five memories from his time at Sundance 2008. more >
Five Things I Took Away From the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
David Wilson (True/False Film Festival) "eats, drinks, breathes and occasionally makes documentaries." Here what he ingested at Sundance this year. more >
Five Things I Took Away From the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
Film journalist Anthony Kaufman casts an eye back on the highs and lows of Sundance's 2008 edition. more >
Five Things I Took Away From the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
Programmer and distributor Connie White looks back on this year's Sundance experience. more >
Five Things for Short Filmmakers to Know Coming to Sundance
Ian Olds gives short filmmakers the lowdown on the Park City experience. more >
Five Things to Know in Going to the Sundance Film Festival
After showing Great World of Sound at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, Craig Zobel reminds us what's important there. more >
Jonathan Mak Plays it his Way
Jonathan Mak is bringing an old school, DIY feel to gaming, as Heather Chaplin finds out. more >
Behind the Blog: Matt Dentler of Matt Dentler's Blog
Matt Dentler, producer of the SXSW Film Festival, is also one of the web's most prolific film bloggers. more >
Imagining War
From Edison to Atonement, film has constantly reshaped the ways we imagine, if not wage, war. Joel Bleifuss reports. more >
Class is Out: England Between the Wars
In Atonement's Britain, between the World Wars was not a lull in the storm, but a storm all its own. Bill Schwarz analyzes the shifting climate. more >
Being Authentic: James McAvoy on Film Acting
At 28, Atonement's James McAvoy has already played a lifetime of characters. Nick Dawson asks why he acts the way he does. more >
Design of History: Sarah Greenwood's Atonement
To bring a historical novel to life, production designer Sarah Greenwood goes beyond finding the perfect decoration. more >
Top Five So-Called 'Turkeys' That Are Actually Terrific
Richard T. Kelly adapts a list from his book Ten Bad Dates with De Niro to re-package some long forgotten cinematic gifts just in time for the holiday season. more >
Playing to Type: Scoring Atonement
Scott Macaulay talks to composer Dario Marianelli about his innovative score for Atonement. more >
The Greatest War's Films
A look at the way in which the portrayal of World War Two on screen has shifted, from wartime propaganda to modern reassessments such as Atonement. more >
A Walk through Cinematic Paris
Kevin Conroy Scott follows the ghosts of Amélie and Francois Truffaut's alter ego Antoine Doinel. more >
Eileen Chang and Lust, Caution
David Wang highlights the unique place that "Lust, Caution" author Eileen Chang holds in contemporary Chinese culture. more >
Behind the Blog: David Hudson of GreenCine Daily
David Hudson, the brains behind the must-read blog GreenCine Daily, maps out today's internet landscape. more >
Grief 2.0: How the Internet Is Sad
In Reservation Road a family confronts their worst nightmare online. Is this how we grieve now? more >
What Would Ethan Do?: Notes on Revenge
From Greek tragedy to Reservation Road, Joel Bleifuss examines the complicated reasons for revenge. more >
Top Five Revenge Films
Composer/performer Diamanda Galás gets her revenge with five nasty little films. From creepy eco-horror to pulp feminism, here are five films that illustrate the art of getting even. more >
Real Baseball: America's Favorite Pastimes
Real ball players swap out uniforms for costumes to pitch in as movie stars through out film history. more >
Book To Screen: Reading Peter Gethers
Peter Gethers on Random House Films' Reservation Road, and why he can't make up his mind about a job. more >
The Road Less Taken: Nick Wechsler on Producing Movies
Scott Macaulay talks with Reservation Road's producer Nick Wechsler about his 30-film career. more >
A Chronicle of Changing Clothes
In addition to being a keen observer of human nature, Eileen Chang followed fashion religiously, and nothing said more than than a hemline. more >
On Ang Lee
Rick Moody on Ang Lee's genius at rendering place and time, be it the 19th century England or 70s New England. more >
Mah-Jongg: The Tiles of History
Bari Zibrak looks at Mah-Jongg: from being a backdrop in Lust, Caution to community center in LA. more >
Mopping the Floor in Eastern Promises
Stunt coordinator Julian Spencer explains how he choreographed Viggo Mortensen's naked fight scene in Eastern Promises. more >
With Noah Cowan at the Toronto International Film Festival
Follow co-director Noah Cowan as he prepares to launch the Toronto International Film Festival. more >
Top Five Favorite Movie Fight Scenes
Filmmaker Justin Lin takes a step back to consider which are his own five favorite fight scenes. more >
Shanghai in 1942
In the '40s, Shanghai was most cosmopolitan city around. Then things changed. Joel Bleifuss reports on what happened to Lust, Caution's Shanghai. more >
Behind the Blog: Andrew Grant of Like Anna Karina's Sweater
Andrew Grant has blogged his way to fame and not so much fortune with his site, Like Anna Karina's Sweater. more >
Ian Bogost: Games People Play
Heather Chaplin profiles Ian Bogost, whose computer games are a playground for politics and critical thinking. more >
When the Ink Dries: Tattoos in the Russian Mafia
Scott Macaulay talks with Alix Lambert whose film Mark of Cain on Russian prison tattoos inspired Eastern Promises. more >
Train of Thought: Making Sin Nombre
Director Cary Fukunaga talks with Scott Macaulay about upcoming feature Sin Nombre. more >
The Elusive Spy Story
Master spy storyteller Alan Furst has a hard time tracking down his five favorite espionage films. more >
We Are Family: Crime Organizations Around the World
Every country has a mafia, and some export them–like the Russians to London in Eastern Promises. more >
The Violence Within
Director David Cronenberg talks with Scott Macaulay about what makes violence the stuff of cinema. more >
Sealed Off: A Short Story By Eileen Chang
Strangers stranded on a tram briefly connect in Eileen Chang's haunting story from Love In A Fallen City more >
Introduction to Lust, Caution
In his introduction to Eileen Chang's story "Lust, Caution," James Schamus looks at the politics of performance. more >
David Cronenberg Annotated Filmography
Follow David Cronenberg's 18-film career from the medical horror story Shivers to Eastern Promises. more >
In the Zone: The Films of David Cronenberg
Jonathan Romney unlocks the secret behind David Cronenberg's talent for making everything wonderfully strange. more >
Crime Film Sites
Here are links to everything nasty, mean, and criminal you could ever want. more >
An Introduction to FilmInFocus
Welcome to FilmInFocus, the website for grown-up movie lovers. more >
Business as Usual: The Rise of the Russian Mafia
In These Times editor Joel Bleifuss takes a hard look at the Russian mafia–in film and in the real world. more >
David Cronenberg On the Web
Scott Macaulay discovers a range of internet sites that look for the real David Cronenberg. more >
Afterword to Lust, Caution
Ang Lee sums up his feelings about Eileen Chang's story, "Lust, Caution" in his Afterword. more >
Baltimore with John Waters
John Waters points out the Baltimore movie theaters in which there's more action in the aisles than on the screen. more >
Top Five British Crime Films
Best-selling mystery writer Ian Rankin knows crime pays. Here are his five favorite British thrillers. more >