The Hechtman Blog

Explore Max Hechtman's blog for insights on filmmaking, film lists, reviews, and industry updates from a professional filmmaker, editor, and videographer.

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The Looney Tune They Tried To Bury: My Film Review of “Coyote Vs. Acme”

“Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!” out of “Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep! Meep!” Stars! May we all be grateful to Ketchup Entertainment for saving the life of what is probably the best Looney Tunes feature film in a really, really long time. Take that, Warner Bros. and their attempt to use a tax write-off to bury this laugh-out-loud funny legal comedy with a ton of looney antics for everyone to enjoy.

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A Pro-Shot for the Ages: My Film Review of “Hadestown: The Musical”

To the world we dream about and the one we live in now. That quote hits even harder now than it did a decade ago. And never has a 21st century musical masterpiece like Hadestown shined beyond the stage with this cinematic ProShot recording of a performance filmed in London’s West End, being released a week after Christopher Nolan unleashed his own take on another epic story in Ancient Greek history.

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Spielberg’s Latest Wonder: My Film Review of “Disclosure Day”

Well, I finally saw it. And it definitely was not what I, or many of us, were expecting this latest from the GOAT of filmmaking himself to be. Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg’s new original science fiction thriller, takes some of the themes and concepts previously explored in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and brings them into the 21st century for a story about the relentless pursuit of the truth, while also making an earnest plea for the necessity of empathy.

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Immersive Narrative: A Filmmaker’s Review of “La La Land in Concert” at Radio City Music Hall

The “City of Stars” was shining brighter than ever this past Saturday, April 11 as this was the perfect way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Damien Chazelle’s 2016 Academy Award–winning modern musical classic La La Land. What made this screening singular was not simply the film itself, but the living, breathing soundtrack that accompanied every frame: composer Justin Hurwitz conducted a full orchestra and jazz band as they performed the score and songs — many co-written with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul — live in sync with the picture. The result was equal parts concert and cinematic resurrection, a rare event that reframed familiar images and sounds with the immediacy of live performance.

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