4 Shots From 4 Films: Special David Hess Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, we remember actor David Hess on his birthday.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 David Hess Films

The Last House On The Left (1972, dir by Wes Craven, DP: Victor Hurwitz)

Hitch-Hike (1977, dir by Pasquale Festa Campanile, DP:
Franco Di Giacomo and Giuseppe Ruzzolini)

The House On The Edge of the Park (1980, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Sergio D’Offizi)

Body Count (1986, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Emilio Loffredo)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Sergio Leone Edition


Sergio Leone (1929 — 1989)

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

96 years ago today, Sergio Leone was born in Rome, Italy.  The son of actor/screenwriter Vincenzo Leone and silent actress Edvige Valcarenghi, Sergio was born into the Italian film industry.  He began his career in the post-war rebuilding period, working as an assistant to Vittorio De Sica and, as an assistant director, for American films that were shot in Italy.  (Albeit uncredited, he worked on two Oscar-nominated Biblical epics, Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur.)

After making his directorial debut with The Colossus of Rhodes, Leone went on to direct the films that would change the face of international cinema.  Though he was hardly the first director of Spaghetti westerns, he was was the first to achieve far-reaching acclaim.  With the Dollars Trilogy, he made Clint Eastwood a star and Eastwood has often said that the majority of what he knows about directing, he learned from working with Leone and later Don Siegel.  Leone went on to direct the brilliant Once Upon A Time In The West and Once Upon A Time in America, two epic visions of American history that, sadly, were not initially treated well by their distributors.

Though Leone is only credited with directing eight films, his influence cannot be underestimated.  As both a visual artist and a cultural and political commentator, his films continue to influence directors to this day.

For that reason, it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Sergio Leone Films

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

Duck, You Sucker (1971, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Giuseppe Ruzzolini)

Once Upon A Time In America (1984, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Sergio Leone Edition


Sergio Leone (1929 — 1989)

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

95 years ago today, Sergio Leone was born in Rome, Italy.  The son of actor/screenwriter Vincenzo Leone and silent actress Edvige Valcarenghi, Sergio was born into the Italian film industry.  He began his career in the post-war rebuilding period, working as an assistant to Vittorio De Sica and, as an assistant director, for American films that were shot in Italy.  (Albeit uncredited, he worked on two Oscar-nominated Biblical epics, Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur.)

After making his directorial debut with The Colossus of Rhodes, Leone went on to direct the films that would change the face of international cinema.  Though he was hardly the first director of Spaghetti westerns, he was was the first to achieve far-reaching acclaim.  With the Dollars Trilogy, he made Clint Eastwood a star and Eastwood has often said that the majority of what he knows about directing, he learned from working with Leone and later Don Siegel.  Leone went on to direct the brilliant Once Upon A Time In The West and Once Upon A Time in America, two epic visions of American history that, sadly, were not initially treated well by their distributors.

Though Leone is only credited with directing eight films, his influence cannot be underestimated.  As both a visual artist and a cultural and political commentator, his films continue to influence directors to this day.

For that reason, it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Sergio Leone Films

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

Duck, You Sucker (1971, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Giuseppe Ruzzolini)

Once Upon A Time In America (1984, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Pier Paolo Pasolini Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

101 years ago, on this date, Pier Paolo Pasolini was born in Italy.  His controversial films and his mysterious death continue to inspire debate to this very day.  Both the man and his works were full of intriguing contradictions.  Pasolini was an atheist who made one of the best Biblical films ever made.  He was a communist who made films that celebrated individual freedom and who had little use for the upper class liberals who made up much of the European counterculture of the 1960s.  In the end, he was an artist unafraid to challenge all assumptions, whether they were found on the right or the left.  His final film, Salo, was the most controversial of his career.  It was also projected to be the first part of a trilogy, though those plans were ended by Pasolini’s murder.

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Pier Paolo Pasolini Films

Accatone (1961, dir by Pier Paolo Pasolini, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

The Gospel According To St. Matthew (1964, dir by Pier Paolo Pasolini, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

Teorema (1968, dir by Pier Paolo Pasolini, DP: Giuseppe Ruzzolini)

Medea (1969, dir by Pier Paolo Pasolini, DP: Ennio Guarnieri)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Sergio Leone Edition


Sergio Leone (1929 — 1989)

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

94 years ago today, Sergio Leone was born in Rome, Italy.  The son of actor/screenwriter Vincenzo Leone and silent actress Edvige Valcarenghi, Sergio was born into the Italian film industry.  He began his career in the post-war rebuilding period, working as an assistant to Vittorio De Sica and, as an assistant director, for American films that were shot in Italy.  (Albeit uncredited, he worked on two Oscar-nominated Biblical epics, Quo Vadis and Ben-Hur.)

After making his directorial debut with The Colossus of Rhodes, Leone went on to direct the films that would change the face of international cinema.  Though he was hardly the first director of Spaghetti westerns, he was was the first to achieve far-reaching acclaim.  With the Dollars Trilogy, he made Clint Eastwood a star and Eastwood has often said that the majority of what he knows about directing, he learned from working with Leone and later Don Siegel.  Leone went on to direct the brilliant Once Upon A Time In The West and Once Upon A Time in America, two epic visions of American history that, sadly, were not initially treated well by their distributors.

Though Leone is only credited with directing eight films, his influence cannot be underestimated.  As both a visual artist and a cultural and political commentator, his films continue to influence directors to this day.

For that reason, it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Sergio Leone Films

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)

Duck, You Sucker (1971, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Giuseppe Ruzzolini)

Once Upon A Time In America (1984, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)