Laura Russo

Remembering the legendary English filmmaker, David Lean, on his 118th birthday! David Lean on the timelessness of "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) & the reaction it got from the audience when the restored version was released in 1989: "Everyone worried about re-releasing ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’ (1962) They said the audiences have changed. They talk and shout at the screen; they’re impatient; they wouldn’t sit still for it. Not at all. You could hear a pin drop. London, New York, Washington, Los Angeles. Everywhere. It was a subtle piece of work, depicting Lawrence and his character. It’s less than 1% of the film in terms of footage, but it’s the cumulative effect of nuances, and if you dig out too many you’ve lost a whole hunk of his character. I think audiences had almost forgotten the power of pictures. They’ve gotten smaller and smaller. And suddenly you see this old film, wonderfully photographed; tremendous detail; you almost feel you could take a hair off the actor’s collar. There’s a mesmeric effect from the picture on the screen." ("The Phenomenal Persistence of David Lean : At 81, the director fields several honors and awaits the start of his next project--Conrad’s ‘Nostromo’", Charles Champlin, LA Times, 1989)

Ex Machina (2015) dir. Alex Garland

The Martian (2015) dir. Ridley Scott

Project Hail Mary is a love-letter to cinema, the art of visual storytelling and an adaptation that greatly surpasses its source material. Ryan Gosling is incredible, Sandra Hüller is a total scene stealer who brought me to tears where I least expected it and, thanks to a great script, all the emotional beats of this movie work so well; something which was not the case in the novel, where no one really felt like a believable (human) being. I was lucky to experience a 70mm screening of the movie, which made its incredible cinematography even more gorgeous, but this film will look fantastic no matter where you watch it. Stunning sets, flawless VFX and a terrific score go hand in hand to create one of the greatest sci-fi experiences of the decade; funny, emotional, memorable, beautifully optimistic and human. It's a more classic story about one man who needs to save the world but it does so with grace (😉), charme and a believable sense of wonder. I really didn't think they could pull it off, but this is a movie that made my sci-fi nerd heart beat faster. One of the great space movies of our era that will stand the test of time and one of the biggest surprises of the year considering I was quite skeptical about it.

project hail mary (2026) - dir. phil lord & christopher miller