Why have Roman numerals endured, maintaining a hallowed (if not necessarily useful) place in Western culture? Better: How many people read that sentence and either ignore it or answer, “No idea,” and don’t think twice about it; versus my predilection to flashback to a MCMXC’s Arsenio Hall-bit that infiltrated pop culture enough to inspire aContinue reading “The MMXXI Birthday Post: Upon turning L”
Category Archives: Film
Facing 50: Deconstructing and re-editing my three-act structure
I was born in San Francisco 50 years ago tomorrow, and for the last several months when anyone has asked me that most terrible of conversation starters—“How are you?”—I have replied with some variable of the following: “Hopefully, reaching the end of this 25-year midlife crisis.” As my few most-recent attempts to resurrect this digitalContinue reading “Facing 50: Deconstructing and re-editing my three-act structure”
The changing landscape of cable channels & their programming (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Sundance Channel)
In the second of my interviews with cable network programming heads for Indiewire, I spoke with President and General Manager of Sundance Channel, Sarah Barnett. Sundance Channel made noise earlier this year with the premiere of Jane Campion's limited series Top of the Lake and the six-episode first season of Rectify. Both received a greatContinue reading “The changing landscape of cable channels & their programming (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Sundance Channel)”
Is the “Third Golden Age of Television” the new ’90s Indie Film phenomenon? Let’s talk to some cable execs and find out!
Perry SImon of BBC America What a great way to start a (Jewish) New Year: For some time now, I've been working on putting together a series of interviews with cable network programming heads for Indiewire. Today, they published the first of these: my chat with BBC America General Manager Perry Simon. As IContinue reading “Is the “Third Golden Age of Television” the new ’90s Indie Film phenomenon? Let’s talk to some cable execs and find out!”
Context and Peter Bogdanovich’s magnificent “Targets”
My transformation from casual movie enthusiast to full-blown cinema addict occurred during the summer of 1989, between my 1st and 2nd years of college. Clichés exist because of their inherent truths, so it should come as no surprise that my entry into this obsessive world occurred while working at a Blockbuster Video in San Francisco.Continue reading “Context and Peter Bogdanovich’s magnificent “Targets””
“Casting By”: An underappreciated job and the woman who changed it and Hollywood
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences made history when it elected Cheryl Boone Isaacs as its new president, making her the third woman and first African-American to lead the organization. But another monumental shift also occurred last week that may not have seemed so important to casual observers: After decades ofContinue reading ““Casting By”: An underappreciated job and the woman who changed it and Hollywood”
The 48th New York Film Festival arrives in magnificently Social fashion
When I decided to return to this blog and make a serious effort to regularly and consistently post primarily reviews and commentary about film, television and theater, I also told myself I would approach this endeavor with a new writing process. Too often during the original Out of Focus days, quantity and speed took precedenceContinue reading “The 48th New York Film Festival arrives in magnificently Social fashion”
Miscellaneous Miscellany: Don’t call it a comeback; but here’s an abstract – Part 1
I’m still hedging my bets. This habit stuff is hard. (That’s been my motto all year: THSIH. It rolls off the tongue.) As I mentioned yesterday, barely a day passes that I don’t encounter at least one thing prompting my internal voices to say, “I’m going to write about that.” In fact, I generally keepContinue reading “Miscellaneous Miscellany: Don’t call it a comeback; but here’s an abstract – Part 1”
Awards Weekend Wrap-up Part II: Partially previewing Oscar, so, not so much a wrap
The Oscars are just hours away, and as much as I look forward to watching while I participate in Greencine’s Oscar Night Live Blog likely arguing with several other smart film folks as to why my opinions are more right than theirs (because that’s what it comes down to for us all, no?), I currentlyContinue reading “Awards Weekend Wrap-up Part II: Partially previewing Oscar, so, not so much a wrap”
Awards Weekend Wrap-up Part I: Lamenting a lack of Spirit
This year’s Spirit Awards marked the first time in over a decade-and-a-half that my vote didn’t count. Considering how my “Will win” vs. “Should win” predictions panned out – I only missed the screenplay award; more on that later – it seems that my votes likely wouldn’t have made a huge difference in the massive,Continue reading “Awards Weekend Wrap-up Part I: Lamenting a lack of Spirit”
Out of Focus 