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By now, every movie fan knows that John Williams was named the 44th recipient of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award on Thursday, October 8. (I’m still celebrating it!) And [...]

  For years, I have been trying to convince, cajole and harangue the American Film Institute to honor the exemplary composer John Williams for his immeasurable contribution to the world of [...]

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of Robin Williams’ death. It was a devastating loss, one I’m still not over. And now, to add more celebrity tragedy to the mix, Uggie, the acting dog who [...]

Original caricature of Oscar Isaac in INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS. (copyright 2015) There are many amazing and versatile actors on the scene these days that are absolutely crushing it. Benedict [...]

Original caricature by Jeff York of Rose Byrne in SPY (copyright 2015) Who’s the most versatile actress working today? Meryl Streep? Of course, one can make a very strong argument for her as she [...]

Original caricature by Jeff York of the cast of JAWS (Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw and Roy Scheider). Copyright 2012. Yes, I think it is. The classic horror movie JAWS is being released back [...]

Now that MAD MEN has completed its network run, a full and complete assessment of the series will start by critics, scholars, and fans. And as seasons and episodes and minutia are pored over with [...]

If you’ve seen EX MACHINA, the main themes of the movie are quite obvious. The brilliant new sci-fi thriller about a robot being tested for its humanity enjoyed the year’s top specialty debut at [...]

SELMA may be figuring in a lot of year-end lists, and it’s expected to be called when Oscar nominations are announced on January 15, but it didn’t open in Chicago theaters in 2014. Thus, it’s not [...]

It’s time for two celebrations here at The Establishing Shot. The first is in regards to the blog’s anniversary. It’s about to start its fifth year online, come January, and I truly appreciate [...]