Casual moviegoers may think of the Western as a genre of the past. And it's true that the era of cowboys and outlaws dominating the film industry the way science fiction and fantasy blockbusters do today was decades ago. But Westerns remain a crucially important genre of storytelling. The best cowboy movies and Spaghetti Westerns of the past century have influenced generations of filmmakers, many of whom continue to make new ones of their own. For fans looking to delve into the history or present state of the genre, there’s no better way to start than by watching any of…
A detective movie can be a lot of things: a moody noir, a screwball comedy, a sci-fi thriller. Any of these genres can follow one protagonist trying to answer a question. Detective movies follow searchers– people are not satisfied until they get to the bottom of it all. Often, the answer isn’t as simple as they’d like, instead raising more questions about the world around us. Here are the best detective movies ever.Continue reading 12 Best Detective Movies of All Time | Greatest Gumshoes
In the early days of popular cinema, black and white movies were the norm. There may have been occasional films in color, but these were often reserved for bigger, more extravagant projects (Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz). For almost everyone else, black and white was all they had. This began to change in the 1950s, when color became easier to come by and more films began to implement it. Pretty soon, nearly all movies screened in theaters were in color, with television following suit by the 1970s. But black and white cinema didn’t end once color became…
Alfred Hitchcock is one of the all-time great auteur filmmakers. His films can be explained in the simplest of terms: You know it when you see it. Over 55 years, Alfred Hitchcock directed dozens upon dozens of films, some of which have joined the pantheon of the greatest movies in cinema history. In this article, we’re going to rank the 30 best Alfred Hitchcock movies based on these four criteria: legacy, suspense, filmmaking, and story.Continue reading 30 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies Ranked for Filmmakers
Our world would look a lot different without the Bauhaus. From sleek modernist buildings to advertisements on subways, it’s hard to avoid seeing the influence of the Bauhaus art movement in everyday life. So how did a small art school in Germany have such an outsized effect on the appearance of our modern world? And what, exactly, was that effect? Continue reading What is Bauhaus — Art Movement, Style & History Explained
It’s no easy task cutting down a list of the best Sci-Fi movies of all time to just 25, as Sci-Fi has been on the bleeding edge of storytelling since the beginning of time. Although some Sci-Fi stories have parabolic elements of warning, most do so with optimistic intentions. Those that don’t typically are more dystopian. As such, dystopian movies have their own place in cinema history, and therefore are mostly excluded from this list.So boot up your hyperdrive and set your phasers to stun as we rank the greatest Sci-Fi movies of all time!Continue reading 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies…
The French New Wave of cinema, or La Nouvelle Vague, was one of the most important film movements of all time. In this article, we’re going to rank the best French New Wave Films based on four criteria: Acting, Story, Directing and Style. But before we jump into the ranking, it’s important to know what the French New Wave is.This is our list of the best French New Wave films, including work from the critics of Cahiers du Cinema and the directors of the Left Bank.Continue reading French New Wave Films: A Curated List and Their Iconic Directors
For decades, filmmakers have iterated on creative lighting and cinematic techniques. But still, some of the best lighting techniques, such as chiaroscuro, have persevered to have an impact on cinema today. Though chiaroscuro in film was popularized nearly a century ago, modern cinema still venerates its value. So what is chiaroscuro in film and how is it used today? Let’s find out with some chiaroscuro examples in film, from past to present.Continue reading What is Chiaroscuro in Film? Definition, Techniques, & Examples
The Academy Award for Best Director is the most prestigious honor any director can receive -- well, at least in theory it is. You may be shocked to find out that many of “the greatest directors of all-time,” like Alfred Hitchock, Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Fritz Lang, Ingmar Bergman, and Federico Fellini never won the award. Of all of the Academy Awards, the Best Director category probably has the greatest discrepancy between its winners and its retrospective, critical consensus. No matter though, we’re going to list all of the Academy Award Best Director winners, then we’ll rank some…
When countries are at war, every industry within them is also under attack. Or at the very least, is vulnerable to change. After WW1, German films became stranger and quite a bit darker. The control of the government banning foreign films also aided to their isolation. From there, German Expressionism was born. But what is German Expressionism in film? Let’s find out.Continue reading What is German Expressionism in Film? Defining the Style
