Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
June 6, 2026
What if the actor in Nosferatu was a real vampire? The conceit is irresistible.
Tag: Filmmaking
Filmmaking is storytelling with a thousand collaborators and a burn rate. This tag collects essays and reviews focused on the craft of making films: direction, production choices, and what the process teaches writers in any medium.
2010sCave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
May 19, 2026
The production received exceptional access to the otherwise sealed cave, with Herzog's small crew filming the paintings using lightweight equipment that conventional documentary could not deploy. Cave of Forgotten Dreams shows how documentary could function through treatment of material whose…
2010sThe Cabin in the Woods (2011)
May 19, 2026
Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's meta-horror about college students at a remote cabin who discover their ordeal is engineered. The Cabin in the Woods is Drew Goddard's 2011 American meta-horror film depicting college students at a remote cabin who discover…
1990sThe Blair Witch Project (1999)
May 19, 2026
Three student filmmakers documenting a Maryland witch legend get lost in the woods, in the found-footage horror pioneer. The Blair Witch Project is Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez's 1999 American found-footage horror film depicting three student filmmakers who disappear in…
2000sKiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
May 19, 2026
A small-time thief stumbles into an LA acting career and a noir investigation, with Robert Downey Jr. as narrator across the Christmas season. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is Shane Black's 2005 American neo-noir comedy depicting a small-time New York thief…
1990sScream (1996)
May 19, 2026
Wes Craven directs the meta slasher about a high school targeted by a killer in a Ghostface mask who knows horror conventions. Scream is Wes Craven's 1996 American slasher film depicting a high school targeted by a killer in a…
2010sThe Act of Killing (2012)
May 19, 2026
Aging death squad leaders reenact their killings as movie scenes. The Act of Killing is Joshua Oppenheimer's 2012 Danish-British-Norwegian documentary depicting former Indonesian death squad leaders who participated in the 1965-66 anti-communist purges that killed approximately five hundred thousand to…
1980sRoger & Me (1989)
May 19, 2026
Michael Moore's 1989 directorial debut. GM CEO Roger Smith and Flint Michigan plant closures.
2010sCitizenfour (2014)
May 19, 2026
Citizenfour is Laura Poitras's 2014 American documentary depicting Edward Snowden's June 2013 meetings with Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald in Hong Kong, when Snowden disclosed classified National Security Agency documents revealing extensive surveillance programs. Citizenfour proves how documentary could operate…
2010sApollo 11 (2019)
May 19, 2026
Newly discovered 65mm footage of 1969 moon landing. Apollo 11 is Todd Douglas Miller's 2019 American documentary depicting the July 1969 Apollo 11 lunar landing mission through previously unreleased seventy-millimeter footage from NASA archives combined with mission audio.
2010sSenna (2010)
May 19, 2026
Archive footage only, no talking heads. Brazilian champion's career through his 1994 death.
2010sO.J.: Made in America (2016)
May 19, 2026
Simpson trial through race-and-celebrity prism. Won Oscar despite TV format.