Ian Freer

Last updated

Ian Freer is a British non-fiction author, film magazine editor and newspaper writer who has written several books relating to films.

He is currently employed with the film magazine Empire and is one of their senior reviewers as well as the assistant editor of the magazine. [1]

He is also a writer for several newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian covering film subjects and film history. [2] [3]

In 2010, he appeared in the documentary comedy film The People vs. George Lucas .

Works

In 2007, he authored The Complete Spielberg, a guide to the films of Steven Spielberg. [4]

In 2009, he authored a title Movie Makers: 50 Iconic Directors from Chaplin to the Coen Brothers, published by Quercus that covers film directors including Charlie Chaplin, Quentin Tarantino, and David Lean among others. [5]

Related Research Articles

A director's cut is an edited version of a film that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the process of film and game editing; in preparing a film for release, the director's cut is preceded by the assembly and rough editor's cut and usually followed by the final cut meant for the public film release and video game release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coen brothers</span> American filmmakers

Joel Daniel Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen, collectively known as the Coen brothers, are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Their most acclaimed works include Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Many of their films are distinctly American, often examining the culture of the American South and American West in both modern and historical contexts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Spielberg</span> American filmmaker (born 1946)

Steven Allan Spielberg, is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director in history. He is the recipient of many accolades, including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and four Directors Guild of America Awards, as well as the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2006, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2009 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. Seven of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

<i>The Big Lebowski</i> 1998 film by Joel and Ethan Coen

The Big Lebowski is a 1998 independent crime comedy film directed and co-written by Joel Coen, with producer brother Ethan Coen serving as co-writer. It stars Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted as a result of mistaken identity, then learns that a millionaire, also named Jeffrey Lebowski, was the intended victim. The millionaire Lebowski's trophy wife is supposedly kidnapped, and millionaire Lebowski commissions The Dude to deliver the ransom to secure her release. The plan goes awry when the Dude's friend, Walter Sobchak, schemes to keep the ransom money for the Dude and himself. Sam Elliott, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Jon Polito, and Ben Gazzara also appear in supporting roles.

<i>Jurassic Park</i> (film) 1993 film by Steven Spielberg

Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Gerald R. Molen, and starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough. It is the first installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, and the first film in the original Jurassic Park trilogy, and is based on Michael Crichton's 1990 novel of the same name, with a screenplay by Crichton and David Koepp. The film is set on the fictional island of Isla Nublar, off Central America's Pacific Coast near Costa Rica, where a wealthy businessman John Hammond (Attenborough), and a team of genetic scientists have created a wildlife park of de-extinct dinosaurs. When industrial sabotage leads to a catastrophic shutdown of the park's power facilities and security precautions, a small group of visitors, including Hammond's grandchildren, struggle to survive and escape the now perilous island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Curtis</span> British filmmaker (born 1956)

Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis is a British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Love Actually (2003), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), About Time (2013), and Yesterday (2019). He is also known for the drama War Horse (2011) and for having co-written the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Vicar of Dibley. His early career saw him write material for the BBC's Not the Nine O'Clock News and ITV's Spitting Image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Fiennes</span> English actor (born 1962)

Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Widely regarded as one of Britain's most well-known and popular actors, he has received various accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and an Emmy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Sonnenfeld</span> American film director and cinematographer (born 1953)

Barry Sonnenfeld is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel Addams Family Values (1993), Get Shorty (1995), the Men in Black trilogy (1997–2012), and Wild Wild West (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Norman</span> British film critic

Barry Leslie Norman was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, Film..., from 1972 to 1998.

<i>Empire</i> (magazine) British monthly film magazine

Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Media Group. The first issue was published in May 1989.

<i>Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</i> 2008 film directed by Steven Spielberg

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp, based on a story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson. It is the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones film series and a sequel to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Set in 1957, it pits Indiana Jones against Soviet KGB agents led by Irina Spalko searching for a telepathic crystal skull located in Peru. Jones is aided by his former lover, Marion Ravenwood, and their son, Mutt Williams. Ray Winstone, John Hurt, and Jim Broadbent are also part of the supporting cast.

<i>Munich</i> (2005 film) 2005 historical film directed by Steven Spielberg

Munich is a 2005 epic historical drama film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, co-written by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth. It is based on the 1984 book Vengeance by George Jonas, an account of Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Schickel</span> American film scholar

Richard Warren Schickel was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for Time from 1965–2010, and also wrote for Life and the Los Angeles Times Book Review. His last writings about film were for Truthdig.

<i>No Country for Old Men</i> 2007 film by Ethan and Joel Coen

No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, the film is set in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas. The film revisits the themes of fate, conscience, and circumstance that the Coen brothers had explored in the films Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), and Fargo (1996). The film follows three main characters: Llewelyn Moss (Brolin), a Vietnam War veteran and welder who stumbles upon a large sum of money in the desert; Anton Chigurh (Bardem), a hitman who is sent to recover the money; and Ed Tom Bell (Jones), a sheriff investigating the crime. The film also stars Kelly Macdonald as Moss's wife, Carla Jean, and Woody Harrelson as Carson Wells, a bounty hunter seeking Moss and the return of the $2 million.

<i>Burn After Reading</i> 2008 film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It follows a recently jobless CIA analyst, Osbourne Cox, whose misplaced memoirs are found by a pair of dimwitted gym employees. When they mistake the memoirs for classified government documents, they undergo a series of misadventures in an attempt to profit from their find. The film also stars George Clooney as a womanizing U.S. Marshal; Tilda Swinton as Katie Cox, the wife of Osbourne Cox; Richard Jenkins as the gym manager; and J. K. Simmons as a CIA supervisor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Hunter</span> American actress (born 1958)

Holly Hunter is an American actress. Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Ada McGrath in the 1993 drama film The Piano. She earned three additional Academy Award nominations for Broadcast News (1987), The Firm (1993), and Thirteen (2003). She won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for the television films Roe vs. Wade (1989) and The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993). She also starred in the TNT drama series Saving Grace (2007–2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Jackson</span> New Zealand filmmaker (born 1961)

Sir Peter Robert Jackson is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) and the Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014), both of which are adapted from the novels of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien. Other notable films include the critically lauded drama Heavenly Creatures (1994), the horror comedy The Frighteners (1996), the epic monster remake film King Kong (2005), the World War I documentary film They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) and the documentary The Beatles: Get Back (2021). He is the fourth-highest-grossing film director of all-time, his films having made over $6.5 billion worldwide.

<i>A Serious Man</i> 2009 film

A Serious Man is a 2009 American black comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1967, the film stars Michael Stuhlbarg as a Minnesotan Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and personally, leading him to questions about his faith.

Vinayak Chakravorty is a journalist and specialist content provider who works as an author, columnist and film critic. He is based in Delhi-NCR and is associated with the Firstpost website.

<i>War Horse</i> (film) 2011 film by Steven Spielberg

War Horse is a 2011 war drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, from screenplay written by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis. It is based on Michael Morpurgo's 1982 novel of the same name and its 2007 stage adaptation. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, Jeremy Irvine, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch. Set before and during World War I, its plot follows Joey, a bay Irish Hunter horse raised by British teenager Albert as he is bought by the British Army, leading him to encounter various people throughout Europe, in the midst of the war and its tragedies.

References

  1. Empire Magazine, List of senior Staff, Accessed November 2007 Archived 23 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Ian Freer". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  3. "John Williams at 90: 'He is so much smarter than his critics'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  4. Spielberg, Ian Freer Complete Spielberg book, Accessed 2007 Archived November 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  5. "The Movie Makers. 50 iconic directors from Chaplin to the Coen Brothers". The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, University of Exeter. Retrieved 30 June 2022.