SHARES
Welcome everybody to the latest issue of Cinema Jam’s The Spread! I hope you’re all having an excellent summer, and are ready to dive into another collection of reviews, interviews and features! Since we’re right in the middle of summer - and what a summer it’s been - I thought to dedicate this issue to the summer, and as such we’ve got features exploring many different facets of summer cinema.
But first, the news. This month, Cinema Jam has been on a break, but the Jam Sessions will be returning next month, with the usual schedule returning. Our Bite-Size Courses in partnership with Short Courses @ NFTS will also be continuing; this weekend we hosted a course with cinematographers Richard Greatrex and Remi Adefarasin, and our next will be on flatplate prosthetics, with FX wizard Dan Martin (High Rise).
Personally, this is a bittersweet issue for me, as it’s my last as editor of The Spread. After recently coming back to the States and moving onto the next endeavors of my life, I’m stepping down this month, passing on the mantle to the very capable Mark Birrell. But the last year and a half of working with our excellent team of writers won’t be forgotten. It’s been quite the journey - I’ve interviewed an array of talented filmmakers from all over the industry, edited countless excellent articles and, of course, seen a whole lotta great movies (and, of course, some bad ones too).
Amongst those movies is the last one I’ve reviewed as editor, Jason Bourne. It’s not gotten the best reception, but I kinda liked it. Daniel Theophanous also kinda liked the documentary Almost Holy, though even its commendable subject can’t elevate it out of a predictable structure. And then there’s Batman: The Killing Joke, which Matthew Wilson thinks is dragged down by an irredeemable, character-changing prologue. Now You See Me 2, however, has a lot to like about it, argues Neil McNamara.
Them, on a more positive note, there’s The Hard Stop, a documentary about the police killing of Mark Duggan in 2011 which Thomas Humphrey can’t recommend enough. And Sion Sono’s Love & Peace? John Higgins thinks it’s one of the best Japanese films in years. He also has high praise for Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris, which has gotten a DVD and Blu-Ray re-release courtesy of Curzon Artificial Eye.
On the feature side, we’ve got some summer-centric articles that take a look back at some of the most successful summer blockbusters of all time. First, Matthew Wilson analyzes Steven Spielberg’s career, exploring how, through films such as Jaws and Saving Private Ryan, the groundbreaking director has invented and re-invented the summer blockbuster. And then John Higgins remembers the summer of 1982, perhaps the greatest string of months in film history, which saw the likes of E.T., Blade Runner, Pink Floyd: The Wall and Mad Max 2, among countless others, hit the screens. Kara Masterson looks at a different kind of film, the police movie, as she ranks her top 4 police films of all time.
Rounding things out, we’ve got interviews with the aforementioned Richard Greatrex, the man behind the camera of Shakespeare in Love and A Knight’s Tale who led our bite-size course this month. I spoke with him about working as a cinematographer and the changes he’s seen to the craft in his long and storied career. John Higgins also interviews Jonathan Holmes, literal giant in Spielberg’s new BFG film.
I hope you enjoy, and stay Jammin’ throughout your summer!
SHARES
