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 "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

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In Remembrance of Harris Savides: 1957-2012

Blogs
Cinematographer Harris Savides, who died yesterday at 54, was a poet of light. He shot some of the stylistically striking movies of the last two decades.
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  • By Nelson Carvajal and Matt Zoller Seitz
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  • October 12, 2012 11:41 AM
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  • 1 Comment
More: NELSON CARVAJAL, Matt Zoller Seitz, Harris Savides, Video, video essay

VIDEO ESSAY: The Portuguese Process - Pedro Costa and Miguel Gomes

Video
Portugal’s Miguel Gomes is a young director on the rise. This video links his film OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST with countryman Pedro Costa’s NE CHANGE RIEN, two films that explore the musical mysteries behind the creative process.
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  • By Kevin B. Lee
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  • October 10, 2012 1:06 PM
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  • 1 Comment
More: Tabu, video essay

VIDEO ESSAY: BEAVER'S LODGE: CAIN'S CUTTHROATS (1971)

Video
A great deal of effort was apparently put into making this the worst movie ever made. They didn't pull it off, but the effort certainly shows.
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  • By Jim Beaver
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  • October 10, 2012 8:29 AM
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  • 0 Comments
More: BEAVER'S LODGE (Jim Beaver), Jim Beaver, video essay, Video

The Mystery of Werner Herzog: Two Video Essays and One Text Essay

Video
One of the most revealing statements in the book "Herzog on Herzog" appears early on, when Werner Herzog tells interviewer Paul Cronin that from the time he was a young child he has suffered a particular "communication defect": he has no sense of irony.
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  • By Nelson Carvajal and Matthew Cheney
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  • September 28, 2012 8:55 AM
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  • 15 Comments
More: NELSON CARVAJAL, Matthew Cheney, Werner Herzog, Video, video essay

EYE OPENERS: VIDEO ESSAY: Mickey Rourke: Highs & Lows

Video
The video essay above, by Jason Bellamy, is a tribute to Mickey Rourke, in honor of his 60th birthday, which is today.
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  • By Press Play Staff
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  • September 16, 2012 3:46 PM
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  • 2 Comments
More: Mickey Rourke, Jason Bellamy, Video, video essay

VIDEO ESSAY: Gliding Over All: The Cinematography of BREAKING BAD, Season 5.1

Video
"Breaking Bad," with its carefully thought-out look, dependably relies on its cinematography to deliver crucial narrative/thematic information, just as it relies on its characters to deliver significant exposition in a straightforward manner.
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  • By Dave Bunting, Jr. and Derek Hill
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  • September 4, 2012 10:50 AM
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  • 7 Comments
More: Video, video essay, Dave Bunting, Jr., Breaking Bad, Derek Hill

VIDEO ESSAY: Ninja Turtles: Generation Y in a Half Shell

Video
“Ugh. Where do they come up with this stuff?” groans a frustrated Raphael, the brooding, red-bandana-wearing member of the Ninja Turtles, whilst walking out of a New York movie theater that’s playing the 1980s creature feature "Critters."
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  • By Nelson Carvajal
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  • July 30, 2012 10:56 AM
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  • 1 Comment
More: NELSON CARVAJAL, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Video, video essay

BEAVER'S LODGE: THE PROFESSIONALS (1966)

Video
There was a time when a certain kind of adventure film was popular. The 1960s were its heyday. Sometimes they were realistic, or even drawn from real life. Sometimes they were fanciful. But almost always they were intelligent and enormously entertaining. I haven't seen a new example of that kind of film in 30 or 40 years.
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  • By Jim Beaver
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  • July 25, 2012 12:08 AM
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  • 7 Comments
More: Video, video essay, Jim Beaver, BEAVER'S LODGE (Jim Beaver), Lee Marvin, Richard Brooks, Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance

VIDEO ESSAY: BEAVER'S LODGE: OUR HOSPITALITY (1923)

Video
A guest at a screening of this masterpiece at my home recently literally leaped out of her seat upon seeing the final, transcendentally beautiful stunt executed by Buster Keaton. I've never seen anyone do that except at a horror movie.
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  • By Jim Beaver
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  • July 18, 2012 8:55 AM
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  • 10 Comments
More: video essay, Video, Jim Beaver, BEAVER'S LODGE (Jim Beaver), Beaver's Lodge, Our Hospitality, Buster Keaton, Beaver's Lodge

VIDEO ESSAY: From Mr. Chips to Scarface: The Evolution of Walter White

Video
"Walter's a shithead!" I had just walked in the door to the family home in Forestville, California. My dad had just finished the second season of "Breaking Bad."
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  • By Serena Bramble
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  • July 13, 2012 8:55 AM
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  • 3 Comments
More: Serena Bramble, Breaking Bad, video essay, Video, Bryan Cranston, Krysten Ritter, Vince Gilligan

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