CinemaStix

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is widely considered to be the best animated Batman film ever made. By some, even the best Batman film of all time. It was a remarkable marriage of thematic maturity, potent dialogue, great action, and a gorgeous art style. But it also stands out as the only animated Batman movie to ever receive a theatrical run. Today I’ll talk about one of the interesting byproducts of that decision, despite the movie’s poor box office reception: Mask of the Phantasm is presented in two different aspect ratios. And unlike your typical pan and scan conversion, the creation of both versions were carefully considered by the creative team during the making of the movie.

Constantine, starring a mid-Matrix Keanu Reeves, is one of the most often neglected comic book movies pretty much ever. It was an odd adaptation of its Hellblazer source material, and it received pretty mixed reviews from audiences and critics alike when it releases back in 2005. That was all a surprise to me, as someone who's watched the movie regularly since I was a kid. In fact, every time I watch Constantine, I seem to find something new to love about it. So today, I want to look at one of my favorite aspects of the movie: the way Constantine, a $100M comic book movie, handles its exposition, dialogue, and world building.

Find Me Guilty, the 2006 courtroom drama, starring Vin Diesel, is not one of Sidney Lumet's best films. But it is a movie worth a watch for Vin Diesel's performance alone. This isn't the actor as you know him from so many action movies and franchises. This is Vin Diesel transformed, and playing a character unlike anything else we've seen him do before or since. Find Me Guilty, and a select few other movies Diesel has done, offer a glimpse into a career that could've been. Today, I'll take a look at that performance and talk a bit about what makes it special.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is basically a 90 minute compilation of legendary scene after scene after scene. Released in 1975, Holy Grail was the first feature film made by Monty Python. For those unfamiliar with the movie, let today's video be your official introduction. For those who very familiar with its innumerable bits of ridiculousness, let it be an opportunity for us all to revel in it together. Next time, I'll delve even deeper into the Holy Grail's behind the scenes production stories. So stay tuned.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the first feature film from Monty Python, is a cult favorite. It's also comedy gold made for dirt cheap. Holy Grail had a budget of just $400,000. Even in 1975, that was remarkably tight, especially for an adventure movie like this. Today, I'll look at some of the creative ways the Pythons squeezed every last drop of humor out of their budget.

Happy Star Wars day! The original Star Wars trilogy was groundbreaking for its special effects, its world building, its action, and so, so much more. But if you ask George Lucas, it isn't the action, nor the performances, or even the dialogue itself that ultimately carries the story of Star Wars. It is, fundamentally, John Williams' iconic score that carries Star Wars, even without dialogue. By that notion, Lucas compares Star Wars to silent movies, which didn't depend on dialogue to move and entertain. Today we'll look at some of the ways one can experience the Star Wars films... a little differently.

I've talked about Constantine before, specifically how smartly the movie handles its exposition. But did you know that Constantine was director Francis Lawrence's first feature film ever? Pretty remarkable given the craft on display here. Keanu Reeves gives it his all. The handling of exposition is on point. The CGI still holds up. It's no wonder the movie has become such a cult hit these past years. But today, I specifically want to look at how the film was edited, and how many choices were made in post-production to bring us the version of the movie that we have. Let's dive in.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: From Spaced to Baby Driver, and beyond, Edgar Wright is one of the most original directors working today. I've already taken a look at his first studio feature film, Shaun of the Dead, and why it's still today such a brilliant genre-blending comedy. Today, I'll be looking at his next film: Hot Fuzz, my personal favorite, and one of the greatest buddy cop action comedies ever made. Specifically, I'll delve into many of Edgar Wright and Hot Fuzz's filmic influences that helped shape the young director and his movie into what it is.

Alien, the 1979 landmark science fiction film from director Ridley Scott, really can't be talked about or praised enough. The movie represented a major shift in tone for the genre at the time, and led to one of the greatest film sequels in history with Aliens a few years later. But Alien is so much more than that. It's a milestone in cinematography and directing in general, with some of the greatest camera moves and compositions I've ever seen. Today, I'll look at some of those visual choices made by Ridley Scott and his cinematographer, and even draw some unlikely comparisons with one of my favorite shows of all time.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off, starring a young Matthew Broderick, is that movie that was always playing on TV at a friend's house as a kid. That I would always sit down and catch the last half of. That I would ask the name of and completely forget it by the time I left. But eventually I rediscovered it properly and fell in love with its angst. That's not what today's video is about, though. Today, I'm here to talk about how director John Hughes wrote the film in less than a week, and how legendary film editor Paul Hirsch saved Ferris Bueller's Day Off in the edit.

Wayne's World, starring a first-time-on-a-film-set Mike Meyers, is as hilarious now as it was when I was a kid. It's fun, it's light, it's got lovable and layered characters. But it didn't just come out of nowhere. Wayne's World is the culmination of a long evolution of the Wayne Campbell character, since long before his stint on Saturday Night Live. So today, I'm gonna take a look back at where Mike Meyers got started, and how he ended up developing Wayne into the dude we know him as today.

Ari Aster's "sunlight horror" film Midsommar, from 2019, is a polarizing film. But a movie can fail to move some while still remaining technically masterful. Midsommar employs an artful use of its camera to produce an example of some of the most stunning natural light cinematography out there. Today, I want to talk about Aster's use of the long take, and how themes and setting governed his use of light and darkness.

Critics and audiences do not agree on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, to say the least. I get why critics were critical. But it's also extraordinary the degree to which Walter Mitty is so many people's favorite, or near-favorite film. It's sweet, atmospheric, has a killer soundtrack, gorgeous cinematography, and just generally great vibes. Ben Stiller can direct a movie. No question. So today, I just want to celebrate the movie a bit, and compare it briefly to the original Secret Life of Walter Mitty from 1947. This one is definitely for the fans.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off, starring a young Matthew Broderick, is more than your average teen comedy. Director John Hughes has created some fascinating characters that run contrary to what we're used to seeing in these kinds of movies. I've talked about Ferris Bueller's Day Off before, discussing its editing process. Today I want to talk about it from a character and narrative perspective.

The original Star Wars trilogy was groundbreaking for its special effects, its world building, its action, and so, so much more. But if you ask George Lucas, it isn't the action, nor the performances, or even the dialogue itself that ultimately carries the story of Star Wars. It is, fundamentally, John Williams' iconic score that carries Star Wars, even without dialogue. By that notion, Lucas compares Star Wars to silent movies, which didn't depend on dialogue to move and entertain. Today we'll look at some of the ways one can experience the Star Wars films... a little differently.

This video contains a significant factual error: John Logan is not the writer of Casino Royale. That movie’s writing credits go to Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis That was a mistake, and I apologize for the confusion. There's only one original Gladiator. The 2000 classic, from director Ridley Scott wasn't made like your average $100M blockbuster. Scott and actor Russel Crowe hated the script they went into production with, and ended up reconstructing most of the film on set in the moment. Today, I'll look at some of those changes.

Last time, I talked about some of the ways the script for Gladiator (2000) was formed during production on the movie. Today I want to delve even deeper, into the ways in which director Ridley Scott employs subtext in Gladiator to tell a story beneath the dialogue, visually. And then I want to showcase the ingenious ways production managed to bring actor Oliver Reed back from the dead to finish up the narrative, after he tragically passed away three weeks before the end of the shoot.