In this episode, Greg and Dave discuss Indy 5 AKA Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) and Witness for the Prosecution (1957). Plus there’s a look at Dave’s summer adventures in the U.S. One of the summer blockbusters this year was the highly anticipated and divisive fifth installment in the Indiana Jones saga. Harrison Ford returns to the role of the famed adventurer for a final outing. He is joined by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelson, John Rhys-Davies, Karen Allen and Antonio Banderas ..read more

A native son of Kenosha, Wisconsin, George Orson Welles is widely considered one of the world’s greatest film directors of all time and is regarded as one of the finest actors ever to grace the big screen. However, he made his name directing radio plays and theatre before beginning to work in film. Many people will be vaguely familiar with the story about Welles’ radio play adaptation of H. G. Wells War of the Worlds, which was said to have convinced some listeners that aliens from outer space were actually invading the earth in real life. Orson Welles upbringing was tumultuous and fraugh ..read more

Born in Denver, Colorado, David Fincher moved to San Anselmo, California, with his family when he was only two years old. Coincidentally, one of his neighbours in California was future-movie mogul George Lucas. Fincher’s fascination with filmmaking began at an early age, and similar to many other successful Hollywood filmmakers, his first efforts were recorded on an 8mm camera during his childhood. He later moved to Oregon in his teens and got involved in amateur theatre productions, directing plays and working on set designs. He also worked as a projectionist in a local movie theatre and cont ..read more

Every generation has a filmmaker that defines the era. So-called auteurs like Alfred Hitchcock and Francis Ford Coppola are but a few names that spring to mind. Perhaps the most infamous name of recent times is Quentin Tarantino. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Tarantino moved with his mother to Los Angeles, California when he was just 3 years old. Quentin Tarantino grew up on the west coast and his stepfather encouraged his love of television shows and of course, movies. At an early age, he began writing scripts, which was something that would help to establish him as a fully-fledged and indep ..read more

Christopher Nolan is one of the most celebrated modern filmmakers plying his trade today. Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear storytelling, the English director has managed to turn the summer blockbuster into a more serious art form with an effective, almost European approach. Born in London in 1970, his first short film was Doodlebug (1997), a piece he created whilst studying English at university. Shot on 16mm black and white film, it gave him the confidence to make his first feature, Following (1998), a taut and ingenious neo-noir that caught the attention of many people in the ind ..read more

In this article we take a look at an American Master, a true “Godfather” of the New Hollywood era and a modern giant of cinema. Francis Ford Coppola was born on this date April 7th in 1937 in Detroit, Michigan. His musician father was a successful arranger and musical director who worked on the radio show The Ford Sunday Evening Hour which was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company. Francis was also born in the Henry Ford Hospital, so his namesake is indeed in respect to the famous car manufacturer. After taking a job in New York at NBC, Carmine Coppola moved the family to Woodside, Queens and th ..read more

What can one say about Martin Scorsese that has not already been said? The man is a living legend and has helped to shape western cinema over the past five decades. With his own unique body of work and a passion for movies which is infectious, Martin Scorsese has become a name synonymous with quality works of art in cinema. This talented writer / director / producer is rightly considered to be a filmmaking deity. Not only has he produced some of the most seminal Hollywood films ever created, he has also been a key figure in preserving and aggregating the history and grammar of the moving image ..read more

He’s tough, uncompromising in his vision and he’s directed some of the most iconic films of the modern era, making Chicago-born filmmaker William Friedkin one of the most important voices of the so-called New Hollywood period. Not knowing what he wanted to do as a career, the young Friedkin was advised to go and see Citizen Kane (1941) by a trusted friend, the film made such a big impression on him he claims he watched Orson Welles’ classic five times in a row, emerging from the movie theatre with an ambition to become a great filmmaker himself. Various other key influences followed in the for ..read more

Director, writer, producer, actor; Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee is one of the most important and prolific American filmmakers to have emerged in the last 35 years of cinema. Always on the pulse, often controversial and unafraid to be outspoken on the things that mean the most to him, Spike Lee has created a body of work that pays tribute to his filmmaking heroes at the same time as producing a unique voice that can be easily recognised as his alone. Born in the south in Atlanta, Georgia, Spike Lee attended Morehouse College and achieved a BA in Mass Communication before moving to NYC to attend ..read more

If you have never experienced at least one John Carpenter film in your life, where have you been, and what have you been doing? This cult filmmaker from Carthage, New York, has produced some of the most prominent pop-culture films of the past 40 years, his work has spanned various genres, and he is also known for writing his own unique scores for his movies. Much like his peer, Steven Spielberg, Carpenter began making short films on 8mm at an early age. He went on to study the art of cinema at the University of California but dropped out to make his first full-length feature film. Filmmaker Jo ..read more