Indiewire Browse the indiewire network

Press Play

 "The best video essay source on the web." (Roger Ebert) This is a web site built around original video essays and critical, personal writing about movies, TV, music, comics and whatever else interests its contributors. Co-founded by Matt Zoller Seitz, TV critic for New York Magazine, and Ken Cancelosi, it is published by Seitz and Cancelosi and overseen by editor-in-chief Kevin B. Lee and managing editor Max Winter.

Video Essays

  • VIDEO ESSAY: Wong Kar-Wai's Lust for Life
  • VIDEO ESSAY: Directed by De Palma
  • "The First, The Last, My Everything" : Tilda Swinton Da...
  • BADLANDS: Terrence Malick’s “early, funny film”
  • On an Animation of a Sentence by Nathan Englander

THE REGULARS

Monthly Archives

Press Play

Remembering Roger Ebert (1942-2013)

Blogs
It was the same ritual every year. It was usually late October, maybe early November. You’d go to the mall where there was a bookstore, usually a Walden Books. (This was before Borders and Barnes & Noble were in every shopping center.) The section devoted to “Film” was one shelf, not a wall.
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas
  • |
  • April 5, 2013 12:34 PM
  • |
  • 0 Comments
More: Aaron Aradillas, Roger Ebert (1942-2013)

The Five Best Uses of Music in Coen Brothers Films

Blogs
The Coen brothers' relationship to source music is as integral to their vision as recurring themes and subject matter. Like a signature shot or the way certain characters speak, a director’s song selection can reverberate throughout an oeuvre.
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas
  • |
  • March 29, 2013 12:14 PM
  • |
  • 4 Comments
More: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Aaron Aradillas

VIDEO ESSAY: CRUEL SUMMER: BATMAN (1989)

Video
Tim Burton’s "Batman" was a game-changer for summer blockbusters.
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas and Richard Seitz
  • |
  • July 17, 2012 8:30 AM
  • |
  • 1 Comment
More: Aaron Aradillas, Cruel Summer, CRUEL SUMMER (Aaron Aradillas), Batman, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Video

CRUEL SUMMER: DIE HARD (1988)

Blogs
"Die Hard" was something new, an over-the-top blowout its director made personal by injecting humor and humanity into its incredible action set-pieces.
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas
  • |
  • July 9, 2012 9:55 AM
  • |
  • 5 Comments
More: Aaron Aradillas, Cruel Summer, CRUEL SUMMER (Aaron Aradillas), Bruce Willis, John McTiernan, Alan Rickman, indieWIRE Video

CRUEL SUMMER: ROBOCOP (1987)

Blogs
"RoboCop"’s most lasting legacy is RoboCop itself. This film marks the first time moviegoers were made to identify with a machine.
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas
  • |
  • July 2, 2012 9:53 AM
  • |
  • 5 Comments
More: Aaron Aradillas, Cruel Summer, Paul Verhoeven, Peter Weller, indieWIRE Video, CRUEL SUMMER (Aaron Aradillas)

CRUEL SUMMER: TOP GUN (1986)

Blogs
Tony Scott’s "Top Gun" is a visual and aural assault, a full-throttle “ride” that doesn’t stop for pesky things like story.
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas
  • |
  • June 25, 2012 8:54 AM
  • |
  • 0 Comments
More: Aaron Aradillas, Cruel Summer, Top Gun, Tony Scott, Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, indieWIRE Video, CRUEL SUMMER (Aaron Aradillas)

REMEMBERING ANDREW SARRIS, 1928-2012

Blogs
This is a remembrance of film critic Andrew Sarris (1928-2012).
Read More »
  • By Press Play Contributors and Staff
  • |
  • June 21, 2012 9:37 AM
  • |
  • 3 Comments
More: Andrew Sarris, Aaron Aradillas, Miriam Bale, Godfrey Cheshire, James Grissom, Margaret Hames, Craig D. Lindsey, Max Winter, Matt Zoller Seitz

CRUEL SUMMER: PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (1985)

Blogs
The "Cruel Summer" series of articles examines influential movies from the summers of the 1980s. The previous entries in the series have covered THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980), STRIPES (1981), ROCKY III (1982), and WARGAMES (1983), and PURPLE RAIN (1984).
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas
  • |
  • June 18, 2012 9:30 AM
  • |
  • 2 Comments
More: Aaron Aradillas, Cruel Summer, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Pee-Wee Herman, indieWIRE Video, CRUEL SUMMER (Aaron Aradillas)

CRUEL SUMMER: PURPLE RAIN (1984)

Blogs
Albert Magnoli’s "Purple Rain" is a one-of-a-kind mix of rock concert, intense drama, romance, and comedy. A star vehicle designed to showcase the talents of rock-fusion musician Prince, "Purple Rain" was that rare vanity project that worked.
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas
  • |
  • June 11, 2012 2:24 PM
  • |
  • 2 Comments
More: Aaron Aradillas, Cruel Summer, Prince, Albert Magnoli, indieWIRE Video, CRUEL SUMMER (Aaron Aradillas)

CRUEL SUMMER: WARGAMES (1983)

Blogs
The fantastic opening sequence of "WarGames" uses one of the most basic constructs of video games: just when you think you’ve figured out a level, it turns out to be part of a bigger scenario.
Read More »
  • By Aaron Aradillas
  • |
  • June 4, 2012 2:41 PM
  • |
  • 2 Comments
More: Aaron Aradillas, Video, John Badham, Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, Cruel Summer, CRUEL SUMMER (Aaron Aradillas)

Follow Us

Blog Roll

Most "Liked"

  • VIDEO ESSAY: Wong Kar-Wai's Lust for ...
  • VIDEO ESSAY: Directed by De Palma
  • "The First, The Last, My Everything" ...
  • BADLANDS: Terrence Malick’s “early, ...
  • On an Animation of a Sentence by Nathan ...
  • Raised in Fear: The Superdynamational ...
  • CANNES 2013: Jia Zhang-ke's A TOUCH ...
  • CANNES 2013: Images, Part 1
  • CANNES 2013: Joel and Ethan Coen's INSIDE ...

Latest Tweets

Follow us

Around The Network

the network

indiewire

categories