It is said that you cannot go home again. Literally, you can go home but which version of you goes? Not the one that disappeared. That version is long-gone. [These words are written from the dining room table of Jonathan […]

The post A CONVERSATION WITH BETH HARRINGTON (BEYOND THE DUPLEX PLANET) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Robert Redford changed my life. It was all the way back in 1997 and my friend’s sister heard I was really getting into independent film and was particularly interested in the Sundance Film Festival. Hell, who wasn’t back in 1997? […]

The post All Because Robert Redford Started a Film Festival appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

There has been no shortage of artistically strong films in 2025, which is why the critics at Hammer to Nail offer up such a great variety of titles in their respective Top 10 lists of the year. Our choices run […]

The post HAMMER TO NAIL’S BEST FILMS OF 2025 appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Among the lingering ghosts of the cinematheque, our less-than-apt “silent” retronym persists. Nearly everyone refers to early films as such now; no one called them that then. These were moving pictures. Photoplays. As the saying goes in the decades since, […]

The post SOUND FOR SILENTS; THE SAN FRANCISCO SILENT FILM FESTIVAL 2025 appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

(Here at Hammer to Nail are all about true independent cinema. But we also have to tip our hat to the great films of yesteryear that continue to inspire filmmakers and cinephiles alike. This week Jonathan Marlow checks in to […]

The post THE CURBSIDE CRITERION: THE UNINVITED appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

(Check out Johnathan Marlow’s movie review of Four Nights of a Dreamer. A new 4K restoration plays September 5-18 at Film Forum in New York before hitting more theaters this fall. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) […]

The post QUATRE NUITS D’UN RÊVEUR (FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Imagine this peculiar back-and-forth as mere embellishment. There is a far superior interview—in Interview, no less—with the great Charles Burnett and Barry Jenkins “You’re Either a Storyteller or a Liar” Go read that. Then, if interest persists, you can return […]

The post A Conversation with Charles Burnett (KILLER OF SHEEP) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

(New York’s Metrograph is presenting a program entitled Queer Poseurs, Cinematic Muses: K8 Hardy’s Inspirations for Outfitumentary wherein New York-based artist and filmmaker K8 Hardy “shares some of her filmic inspirations, spotlighting a suite of cinema’s most rebellious fashion iconoclasts and idols.” Outfitumentary […]

The post QUEER POSEURS, CINEMATIC MUSES: K8 HARDY’S INSPIRATIONS FOR OUTFITUMENTARY appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (which has a fantastic 4k restoration, plays September 24-October 7 at NYC’s Film Forum) has been analyzed by critics, directors, writers, academics, and cinephiles across the world. Hammer to Nail contributors Jonathan Marlow and Ray Lobo share […]

The post RAY LOBO AND JONATHAN MARLOW TACKLE BREATHLESS appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

(Lucy Walker’s documentary Bring Your Own Brigade hits theaters Friday, August 6. Like what you see here on Hammer to Nail? Why not give just $1.00 per month via Patreon to help keep us going?) “Everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything […]

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