Tag: shot context

Star Wars: The Premake – All Of ‘A New Hope’, Recreated Shot-By-Shot From Pre-1977 Media

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Star Wars: The Premake (2015) | By John D’Amico | 118 min.

A couple years ago when John D’Amico first told me he was planning on doing this, it of course sounded awesome, but it seemed to me like it might become a Synecdoche, New York-esque endeavor that would take over his life for decades. I just couldn’t fathom it ever actually being completed, even a rough cut. But then again, we’re talking about the guy behind Shot Context—if anyone were going to do this, and do it without growing old and grey, it’d be him. His encyclopedic knowledge of film, and ability to pinpoint homages, ripoffs, and coincidences throughout all of film history, never ceases to amaze me.

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Smug Film Podcast Episode #6 – Good Movies, Bad Directors / Bad Movies, Good Directors

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1:17:43 | View on iTunes | Download Mp3

On this episode, I am joined by fellow Smug Film contributors John D’Amico and Jenna Ipcar. We discuss movies we like by directors we don’t typically like, as well as movies we dislike by directors we typically like. As always, we go on tangents along the way, take a quick break for a movie joke by comedian Anthony Kapfer, and then close the show with questions from our mailbag.

If you have a movie-related question you’d like answered on the show, leave it in the comments or email us at Podcast@SmugFilm.com.

If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to subscribe on iTunes, and leave a rating and a comment on there as well. Doing this helps us immensely as far as our ranking on there, which is what allows people to be able to discover us. Word of mouth is always best of all though, so spread the word!

Movie Stuff Referenced in this Episode:
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Proposed Double Feature: ‘The 400 Blows’ & ‘The Creature Walks Among Us’

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Bringing to Smug Film a project I started at Shot Context, in which I offer unusual and enriching double features.

At long last, our troubled protagonist—violent, family-less, unable to conform—shakes loose his pursuers. We lean forward in our seats. The ocean is before us; the black-and-white frame blanches in the unforgiving sunlight. Long a source of comfort for our hero, we are finally here. And the camera tightens on his face. A face defined by captivity, always hemmed in with fences and borders, sees the sea. And then… nothing. That’s it. We can go no further. The journey is over. The end.

It’s a curious, but perhaps not entirely unsurprising fact that little Antoine Doinel—director Francois Truffaut’s alter ego—meets the same end that the Creature from the Black Lagoon did three years earlier. A close look at the films, and filmmakers, might account for this lovely synchronicity.
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10 Must-Read Smug Film Posts (Our 100th Post!)

I am quite pleased to announce that this is the 100th Smug Film post! Woo! We began on January 7th, 2013 and we’ve been cranking ‘em out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since then—never missing a single day. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s also been an absolute blast, and we couldn’t be prouder of our output thus far.

Chances are, you haven’t read every single one of our posts, and that’s fine; with so many, it’s certainly not expected. But any self-respecting fan of our work should have read the following posts. And if you’re completely new here, this list is a great place start:

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Mrs. Doubtfire Is One Of The Greatest Super Hero Movies Ever Made
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‘Very Little’: Another Interview with John D’Amico

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If you’re a fan of us here at Smug Film, you already know John D’Amico. We became fast friends when I interviewed him months ago about his treasure trove of a website, Shot Context, and he’s been contributing to the site ever since. But what you might not know is that beyond writing reviews and essays, he’s also a filmmaker and a screenwriter and a playwright. His latest one-act, Very Little, was recently accepted to the NYC Fringe Festival for 2013, and its run begins this August the 14th. If you’ll be in town, definitely come check it out. (Here are the dates.)  And do consider contributing to his IndieGoGo campaign for the project, to help cover production costs. This play is an out-of-pocket labor of love, and every bit helps.
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