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Awesome Film Essays

Cowboy Bebop: The Meaning of Nothing

Cowboy Bebop: The Meaning of Nothing

“When there’s no one to hunt, we have nothing. Nothing to do, nothing to live on.” (SPOILERS) Channel Criswell’s obvious love for Cowboy Bebop makes his analysis a bit redundant and unstructured, but it’s still compelling and makes a lot of sense.

When Harry Met Sally & Genres

When Harry Met Sally & Genres

Lessons from the Screenplay looks at how the late screenwriter Nora Ephron gave us a refreshing romantic comedy in When Harry Met Sally. By focusing on internal conflict, the story was able to go on a leisurely pace without becoming aimless.

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Fight Club: Sound Design

Fight Club: Sound Design

Film Radar explores how effective sound design, sound editing, foley work, and sound effects serve to elevate scenes to a level of intensity and immersion that even the best visuals alone could never achieve on their own.

Woody Allen : A Career in Ten Lines

Woody Allen : A Career in Ten Lines

“…you’re also not Superman, you’re a comedian. You want to do mankind a service? Tell funnier jokes.” Inspired by a Rolling Stone article, The Solomon Society pays tribute to the illustrious career of Woody Allen, as told through lines from some of his most memorable movies.

The Evolution of Keanu Reeves

The Evolution of Keanu Reeves

(PG-13: Language) Ever since John Wick, Keanu Reeves is one of our favorite badasses. But he was also half of Bill & Ted, shooting at nothing in Point Break, maintaining Speed, and learning instant Kung Fu in The Matrix. Burger Fiction recaps Keanu’s illustrious career. Whoa.

Brilliant Moments of Camera Movement

Brilliant Moments of Camera Movement

In films, the camera’s task if often simple: show us where to look. But filmmakers can also use the camera’s movement to amplify a scene, or even to become the main element of a shot. CineFix looks at a few great examples in their latest video.

The Social Network & Aaron Sorkin

The Social Network & Aaron Sorkin

(PG-13: Language) “I write people talking in rooms.” Lessons from the Screenplay dissects The Social Network to highlight some of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s strengths, and how he and director David Fincher worked together to keep the dialogue-heavy movie engaging.

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M. Night Shyamalan & Twists

M. Night Shyamalan & Twists

Director M. Night Shyamalan both raised and ruined his reputation with movies that have twist endings. The Film Theorists’ Frame By Frame looks at three of Shyamalan’s movies to see what he got right, and why it would seem that he forgot those rules down the road.

Brilliant Character Visuals

Brilliant Character Visuals

CineFix promotes Vudu’s new cache of free movies by highlighting three great examples of visual characterization: repeated or contrasting actions, props, lighting and more that reveal a character’s inner state. Naturally, all three movies are free on Vudu.

Joel & Ethan Coen: A Tribute

Joel & Ethan Coen: A Tribute

(PG-13) Editor Alexandre Gasulla reminds us that Joel & Ethan Coen are still two of our favorite filmmakers, with this captivating supercut of emotionally powerful, tragic, darkly comic, and visually stunning scenes from the Oscar-winning brothers.

Why Do We Love Gangsters?

Why Do We Love Gangsters?

(Gore) Now You See It takes a look at our obsession with the members of organized crime families in American movies and television series. Despite their darkness and extreme violence, we live vicariously through the on-screen gangsters’ uninhibited power.

The Philosophy of Darth Vader

The Philosophy of Darth Vader

Wisecrack explores the things that drove Anakin to head to the Dark Side, along with the psychological fuel that continued to keep his evil fire burning until his (1983 spoiler alert) ultimate demise.

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Martin Scorsese: God’s Eye View

Martin Scorsese: God’s Eye View

(PG-13) Martin Scorsese has lots of tricks up his sleeves, but one of his most effective is to peek in on his character’s often tragic lives from above their heads. Jorge Luengo Ruiz created this stellar compilation of the director’s many top-down moments.

Every Story Is the Same

Every Story Is the Same

Inspired by Dan Harmon’s simplified theory of story structure, video essayist Will Schoder explains how the vast majority of stories in books, movies, songs, and television shows share a few key elements which unify them all.

Whiplash & Black Swan

Whiplash & Black Swan

Lessons from the Screenplay looks at the similarities in the scripts of Whiplash and Black Swan to see how one can tell a story about the obsessed artist – specifically the obsessed performer. Then he points out how their endings diverge to emphasize different points.

AKIRA: How to Animate Light

AKIRA: How to Animate Light

The Nerdwriter takes a look at one of the greatest animated films of all time to look at how its creators hand-illuminated scenes in a way that created tremendous depth, richness, and a sense of place.

Brad Bird on Animation

Brad Bird on Animation

Director Brad Bird is the man behind classics like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. Editor Kees van Dijkhuizen Jr. assembled sound bites from home video commentary tracks to provide insight into the craft of animation, and what inspires Brad.

Movies with Mikey: John Wick

Movies with Mikey: John Wick

(PG-13: Language, Gore) Chainsawsuit Original presents John Wick – which was marketed as a flick with an absurd premise and flashy action – as a well-rounded project about grief that also bids goodbye to an era of action movies while seeming to be a mere continuation of it.

The Origin of Found Footage Films

The Origin of Found Footage Films

(Gore) Long before 1998’s breakout hit The Blair Witch Project, there were the infamous 1960s Mondo films, and in 1980, the sleazy and exploitative Cannibal Holocaust, the lowest point of an Italian film fad consisting of culturally insensitive fake documentaries.

How Godzilla Changed Monster Movies

How Godzilla Changed Monster Movies

Frame by Frame explains that the original Godzilla’s real enemy was time. Given only 6 months to finish the film, director Ishiro Honda eschewed stop motion in favor of rubber suits, puppets and miniatures to create his 1954 classic, a setup that persists today.

The Marvel Symphonic Universe

The Marvel Symphonic Universe

Tony Zhou of Every Frame a Painting examines the oddly forgettable and superfluous music in the Marvel cinematic universe. To be honest, the only music we can remember from any one of their blockbusters is Awesome Mix Vol. 1 from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Touch.

Touch.

Now You See It compiled this short, but well done video of moments in film where the characters’ experience was less about what they saw or heard, and mostly about what they physically felt. The track is you n’i by rainlord.

Shane Black’s Awkward Violence

Shane Black’s Awkward Violence

(PG-13: Language, Gore) Nerdwriter praises the messy but purposeful violence in the work of writer and director Shane Black. Beyond eye candy and cheap laughs, Black’s brand of violence is relatable and adds depth to his characters.

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