James Maitland Stewart is one of the most iconic legends of classic cinema. Born May 20, 1908, Stewart’s versatile, seven-decade-long career in film gave us many classics, and along the way earned the actor five Academy Award nominations as well as lifetime achievement award recognition from just about every major film organization.
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Categories: Circuit 3 Tags: Actor James Stewart, Anatomy of a Murder, circuit 3, Circuit 3: James Stewart, Harvey, It's a Wonderful Life, James Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Rear Window, The Philadelphia Story, Vertigo
In my opinion, there has been no finer film director to ever walk this planet than the great Alfred Hitchcock, who would have turned 113 this past Monday, August 13th. The legendary filmmaker has made so many incredible movies that you could zoom down to the man’s seventeenth greatest film and still find a movie better than most directors personal bests. He’s just that good, people.
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 Every 10 years, Sight and Sound Magazine polls respected critics and directors about what they feel are the top 10 movies of all time. This year, they invited more than 1,000 critics to partake in the poll and recieved 846 responses with 2,045 films listed. Coming out on top of the critics list by 32 votes was Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, besting Citizen Kane, a movie that had held the title since 1962. Included on the list are 3 silent films, a documentary (for the first time) and no movie after 1968. On the director’s side, Tokyo Story topped the poll, with Citizen Kane and 2001: A Space Odyssey tying for 2nd and Vertigo tying The Godfather for 7th place. Take a gander at the critics and directors list!
Read more on Sight and Sound Poll names ‘Vertigo’ #1 Film of All Time!…
 How many times have I done this? One would think that someone so averse to organizing objects of such deeply personal and subjective an art form as cinema into a too-easily quantifiable “top ten list” would stop composing them so often. Yet here I am this week considering the ultimate cinematic ranking – the best films of all time. No matter how often I try to convince myself of the inherent silliness of positioning films in such a manner, my approach to this series has been one of the most carefully considered in my time as a staff member on The Awards Circuit.
I have been blessed with colleagues who quite obviously took this tasking as seriously as I have and drafted up a wonderfully diverse and idiosyncratic chain of articles highlighting their own favorites. What has made them such a joy to read for me is how clearly each list reflects their unique viewpoints of the artform…which I suppose is the reason for my considerable effort in composing my own list. Of course there is no such thing as an “objective” best film of all time and of course no one list is more credible or authoritative than the other. But in a way these top tens are declaring something more important: who we are as film lovers and, more importantly, how we value them.
I have often complained on this site and elsewhere about the current state of modern filmmaking; the rise of “shareholder cinema,” cynical awards season politics, and an increasing gap between popularity and quality, etc. Despite getting on such a curmudgeonly soapbox so often, I am just as frequently inspired by how greatness always seems to find a way to survive – even thrive – year after year. So in narrowing down the literally dozens of films that I seriously considered for my final list, these ten movies most strongly remind me that despite all the nonsense, cinema is still worth it; worth loving, worth defending, worth writing about, worth sharing and discussing with others. So with that, it is my pleasure to introduce my ten favorite movies of all time: Read more on 10 Greatest Films of All-Time (Robert)…
Categories: Article Tags: all time lists, best films ever made, best of lists, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, favorites of all time, masterpiece, Nashville, Persona, Robert Hamer, Ten best films ever made, The Thin Red Line, top 10 films of all time, Top 10 Movies Ever Made, Top Ten, Top Ten lists, Vertigo
 “On March 21st, 1963, Alcatraz officially closed. All the prisoners were transferred off the island…only that’s not what happened. Not at all.”
Yes, this is the exciting premise to one of the new year’s best, most fascinating shows from the creative imagination of J. J. Abrams. Sci-Fi/Supernatural stories and J.J. Abrams go together about as well as champagne on New Years Eve, so it’s no surprise that Alcatraz could very well be the answer to the absence of Lost. J.J. Abram’s previous television hit launched a legion of fans dedicating their time to decrypting the secrets of its complex narrative, as well as pushing forward the production quality of a Broadcast television show. Before Lost, there had never been a show with such a high concept storyline, stunning visual effects, and set production values that had ever been done before. The show felt like a movie, but better — instead of neatly wrapping itself up in two hours, the show spanned six seasons with layer upon layer of mythology, fleshed out characters whose back-stories were given great weight and importance, and a highly complex science fiction plot that ignited fierce and passionate discussion on message boards across the internet. If ever there was a show that marked the beginning popularity of the post-millennium internet age coming together as an online community in debunking their favorite television show in such lavish detail and commitment, it was Lost. The show launched in 2004, and television has never been the same since thanks to J. J. Abrams. Many shows post-Lost have attempted to mimic its high concept narrative and extravagant production values, but to little avail. Most shows that did this were poorly received by the national audience, sank in the Nielsen ratings, and were forced to shut down production because their rating shares could not cover the cost to maintain expensive production. Only J. J. Abrams, it seems, could revive the high-concept science fiction show on Broadcast television. Even though Alcatraz is nowhere near Lost in its overall quality, it definitely holds promise to develop into a show that is both original, refreshing, and the remedy to the absence most sci-fi fans have been feeling since Lost’s series finale ended in 2010. Read more on TV Review: Alcatraz (***1/2)…
Categories: TV/Music Tags: Fantasy, fox, hitchcock, J.J. Abrams, lost, neo-noir, Sam Neill, san francisco, sci-fi, Science Fiction, Vertigo
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