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American Independent Cinema

This category contains 109 posts

‘The Killer’ (2023): Everyone’s Got a Plan Until…

Directed by: David Fincher || Produced by: William Doyle, Peter Mavromates, Ceán Chaffin Screenplay by: Andrew Kevin Walker || Starring: Michael Fassbender, Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, Tilda Swinton Music by: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross || Cinematography: Erik Messerschmidt || Edited by: Kirk Baxter || Country: United States || Language: … Continue reading

‘Extraction 2’ (2023): Fun Yet Frontloaded Violence

Directed by: Sam Hargrave || Produced by: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Chris Hemsworth, Patrick Newall, Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, Eric Gitter, Peter Schwerin Screenplay by: Joe Russo || Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Golshifteh Farahani, Adam Bessa, Olga Kurylenko, Daniel Bernhardt, Tinatin Dalakishvili, Idris Elba Music by: Henry Jackman, Alex Belcher || Cinematography: Greg Baldi || Edited … Continue reading

Cruelty for the Sake of It: Martin McDonagh’s ‘In Bruges’ (2008) & ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ (2017)

Directed by: Martin McDonagh || Produced by: Graham Broadbent, Peter Czerin [1, 2], Martin McDonagh [2] Screenplay by: Martin McDonagh || Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, Jérémie Renier [1], Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage [2] Music by: Carter Burwell || Cinematography: Eigil Bryld [1], Ben Davis … Continue reading

Horror Never Dies: ‘X,’ ‘Barbarian,’ & ‘Smile’ (2022)

Directed by: Ti West [1], Zach Cregger [2], Parker Finn [3] || Produced by: Ti West, Jacob Jaffke, Kevin Turen, Harrison Kreiss [1], Arnon Milchan, Roy Lee, Raphael Margules, J. D. Lifshitz [2], Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Robert Salerno, Gabby Olivera [3] Screenplay by: Ti West [1], Zach Cregger [2], Parker Finn [3] … Continue reading

‘Everything, Everywhere, All at Once’ (2022): Too Much, Nowhere, None of the Time

Directed by: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert || Produced by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Mike Larocca, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang, Michelle Yeoh Screenplay by: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert || Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis Music by: Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne, … Continue reading

2021: My Last Try at Oscar-Bait?

One of the earliest attempts by my high-school friends and I at “branching out” from Hollywood blockbusters (Star Wars [1977-]! Jurassic Park [1993-]! The Dark Knight [2008]!) and our childhood favorite genre movies (e.g. Aliens [1979-]! Predator [1987-]!) were the annual Oscar nominations, or Academy Awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and … Continue reading

‘The Green Knight’ (2021): David Lowery’s Modern Take on an Old Tale

Directed by: David Lowery || Produced by: Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, David Lowery, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page Screenplay by: David Lowery || Starring: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Ralph Ineson Music by: Daniel Hart || Cinematography: Andre Droz Palermo || Edited by: David Lowery || Country: United States … Continue reading

‘The Crazies’ (2010): A Small Town Hell

Directed by: Breck Eisner || Produced by: Michael Aguilar, Dean Georgaris, Rob Cowan Screenplay by: Scott Kosar, Ray Wright || Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker Music by: Mark Isham || Cinematography: Maxime Alexandre || Edited by: Billy Fox || Country: United States || Language: English Running Time: 101 minutes One of … Continue reading

How the Other Half Lives… ‘Hustlers’ (2019) & ‘Promising Young Woman’ (2020)

Directed by: Lorene Scafaria [1], Emerald Fennell [2] || Produced by: Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Jennifer Lopez, Benny Medina [1], Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara, Tom Ackerley, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell [2] Screenplay by: Lorene Scafaria [1], Emerald Fennell [2] || Starring: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, … Continue reading

‘In the Heights’ (2021): Please Stop Singing

Directed by: Jon M. Chu || Produced by: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Scott Sanders, Anthony Bregman, Mara Jacobs Screenplay by: Quiara Alegría Hudes || Starring: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Jimmy Smits Music by: Lin-Manuel Miranda || Cinematography: Alice Brooks || Edited by: Myron … Continue reading

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