Year: 2025

         In my final act of shameless self-promotion for 2025, I direct you to a Clubhouse Conversations interview I conducted with Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC regarding his work on his recently released feature, Marty Supreme (directed by Josh Safdie).          Darius was appreciably forthcoming in his responses, more often explaining why he did certain things … Continue reading “MARTY & ME”

…from none other than Himself, Our Royal Majestic Highness, the Notorious and Perspicacious Jeff IV…! (his official AKC name)

         Jeff has a holiday message for everyone of every persuasion:          “LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!”

         The following are a selection of ads found in issues of American Cinematographer published during the early-1950’s.  It was common in those days for patrons to embrace the Christmas theme, a charming habit that has sadly fallen into obscurity.  Surely, there were many things about American culture that needed to change during that era, … Continue reading “BETTER TIMES”

          On September 30, a rare treasure was introduced to the world – the ASC Todd-AO Lenses – a newly refurbished set of vintage primes that were recently discovered by member Steve Gainer in deep-storage at the Clubhouse.  Originally created for the revolutionary Todd-AO widescreen format of the 1950’s, they’ve been redesigned to serve today’s … Continue reading “BETTER LATE THAN…”

         Speaking at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival, Danish-Norwegian director Joachim Trier said some things that should be heartening to us all.  An Academy Award nominee for the romantic dramedy The Worst Person in the World (2021; Kasper Tuxen), he’s also known for three films with cinematographer Jakob Ihre: Reprise (2006), Oslo, August 31st … Continue reading “MAYBE, IN A PERFECT WORLD”

         Unlike so many of his contemporaries, a quick Google search will reveal an enormous amount of information regarding Karl Struss, ASC and his long, fascinating career.  Some might recall him as co-recipient (with Charles Rosher, ASC) of the first Oscar for cinematography for 1929’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau), but that’s … Continue reading “KARL STRUSS, ASC (1886-1981)”

         With the holidays just over the horizon, I can’t think of a better gift for anyone interested in film technology than Robert Hoffman’s book, Alchemy in Technicolor (2024; Medley Land Scribes).          In addition to being a wonderful writer, Hoffman – who spent eighteen years of his half-century-long career as Technicolor’s VP of Marketing … Continue reading “THE PERFECT PRESENT…!”

         Whenever I start to feel I’ve seen it all, a film comes along to reframe my delusion.  Most recently – and as so often is the case – I discovered this oddball offering while looking for something completely unlike it on Tubi.  I’m glad I did.          The Savage Eye is a groundbreaking independent … Continue reading “THE SAVAGE EYE (1959)”