Resources for movies and filmmaking:
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Online:
Every Frame A Painting - Fantastic video essays on film form. Big influence on my videos.
Wordplayer - Essays on screenwriting, from half the duo that wrote Aladdin, Shrek, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Roger Ebert's Great Movies - The best reviews of some of the best films ever made.
Sight and Sound Greatest Films - The definitive best film list, created by BFI.
AFI 100 Years - Collection of greatest Hollywood films lists. Tends to focus on classic Hollywood.
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Books:
Making Movies by Sidney Lumet - From the beginning of the process to the end, from one of Hollywood's greatest directors. If you only read one book on filmmaking, this is it.
Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut - Inside the head of another of Hollywood's greatest directors, done by one of France's greatest.
Directing Actors by Judith Westin - Everything you need to know about directing actors.
An Actor Prepares by Konstantin Stanislavski - The original treatise on acting.
The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield - What it takes to create art.
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron - More of what it takes to create art, and also how to do it.
In addition to these, I recommend books outside of film, specifically: psychology (including pop psychology), history, math, science, journalism, business, and more. The best are authors who explore ideas and dig deep to the root of whatever they are writing about. Malcolm Gladwell and Jared Diamond are two of my favorites.
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Commentary Tracks:
One of the best ways to get inside the mind of a filmmaker is through their commentary tracks. Some of my favorites are: Boogie Nights, Requiem For A Dream, The Social Network, The Manchurian Candidate (the original one), The Incredibles, El Mariachi, and more. Roger Ebert's commentaries on Citizen Kane and Casablanca are also great, must watches for any fan of film.
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