Tag Archives: Al Pacino

Dog Day Afternoon

With an Oscar-winning script from Frank Pierson, Dog Day Afternoon is a masterclass in breaking the basic rules of screenwriting.

Deliverance

When we think of American cinema in the seventies, all too often we all too quickly think of the great directors. But what of the cinematograph-auteurs?

Great Scenes – Part One

What makes for a great scene? Performance? Conflict? Dialogue? Visuals? Music? Combine them and you have atomic weight.

Se7en

Mention Se7en and chances are talk will lead to the head in the box. But while that makes the ending so unforgettable, it’s also the film’s biggest problem.

Gordon Willis

Gordon Willis was one of cinema’s greatest artists. Irrespective of genre: comedy, drama, thriller, musical or gangster picture, his style and technique was so unmistakable he should have been called a cinematrograph-auteur.

Heat

If the executives at NBC television had not rejected Michael Mann’s TV pilot LA Takedown, we might never have seen his masterpiece, Heat.

The Godfather Part II

Modern sequels slavishly repeat the formula of the original. So how would you make a sequel to a film that was already regarded as one of the best films of all time?

The Untouchables

The studios didn’t like the script and no one wanted to play the heroic Treasury Agent, Eliot Ness. So how did The Untouchables turn out to be such a success?

The Insider

The Insider was nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Actor and Screenplay, but came away empty handed. Surely questions need to be asked.

Midnight Cowboy

1969 was an important year for the western, with Midnight Cowboy standing as a highly original addition to, and departure from, the genre.

Scarface

The original Scarface was released in 1932. In 1983, Brian De Palma directed Al Pacino in an update scripted by Oliver Stone. Are ‘remakes’ always bad?

The Godfather

Regarded as the greatest gangster picture of them all, the passing years have revealed Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece to be more than just a crime saga.

Sidney Lumet

Sidney Lumet left behind a body of work comparable to the likes of Scorsese, Coppola and Altman. So why wasn’t he given them same recognition?


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