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👋 Your watchlist just got better. From overlooked gems to major releases, we keep cinematic tastemakers up-to-date on what’s happening, like what to watch this week:

• 📺 Daredevil: Born Again | 3.4

• 🎤 Andrew Schulz: Life | 3.4

• 🎥 Mickey 17 | 3.7

• 🎥 Queen of the Ring | 3.7

Read time: 3 minutes | 757 words

TRENDING

• 🎥 The first trailer for Guy Ritchie's MOBLAND showcases Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren and Paddy Considine.

• 🏔️ Here’s how American Primeval reimagines the mountain man archetype from Jeremiah Johnson, The Revenant, and Inglorious Basterds.

• 👔 Rick Hoffman set to reprise fan-favorite Louis Litt character in NBC's SUITS LA spinoff — here’s our favorite Louis Litt moments.

• 🦇 Here's how Batman has changed since 1939, including Batman Ninja, Armored Batman, Detective Comics #27, Batman Beyond and more.

• 👹 Longlegs director Osgood Perkins pitches anthology-style DARTH VADER film exploring the Sith Lord's "dreams & nightmares."

• 📦 David Fincher's Se7en is an absolute masterpiece and this is the coolest fan art poster we've seen to celebrate the classic.

• 🎬 Christopher Nolan emerges as Amazon's top choice to helm next James Bond film — who should play 007?

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FEATURE 

🎬 Lol Crawley: The Intuitive Visionary Behind The Brutalist

After years of meticulously crafted compositions and algorithm-approved cinematography, the film industry desperately needed someone who could embrace the unpredictable — and there's no one better suited than Lol Crawley. 

While Hollywood continues its obsession with pixel-perfect digital imagery, they've somehow overlooked the power of responding to real environments with genuine artistic intuition.

The artistic sensibility that makes Crawley essential is exactly what modern cinematography lacks: that rare ability to be simultaneously precise and spontaneous. As he revealed in our recent conversation:

1. The Evolution Factor. 

Unlike cinematographers who arrive with predetermined lighting diagrams or rigid visual plans, Crawley's greatest strength has always been his willingness to respond to real moments. His journey from art photography to his landmark work on "Ballast" demonstrates a consistent commitment to visual authenticity rather than technical showmanship.

The film industry doesn't need another cinematographer who follows formulas — they need someone who can navigate different formats with purpose. That's Crawley's sweet spot.

2. The Format Flexibility Skills. 

When tackling The Brutalist, Crawley utilized an extraordinary range of formats — 35mm, VistaVision, 16mm, and even Digi Beta for the 1980s epilogue. His approach wasn't about technical showing off but serving director Brady Corbet's vision of creating "almost like an archival quality" across different decades.

His collaboration with Corbet across three films (including Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux) provides the artistic continuity to experiment boldly, while his willingness to embrace mechanical limitations of equipment demonstrates he's never above technical challenges (those noisy VistaVision cameras required special attention from sound).

3. The Location Perspective. 

Perhaps Crawley's most underrated quality is his preference for studying locations alone before production begins. Where most cinematographers might rely on technical scouts and movable walls, Crawley measures impact through quiet observation.

The true beauty of Crawley's approach isn't the immediate technical precision (though his images are spectacular) — it's watching his work gradually unfold through intuitive responses that maintain what he calls "a certain vitality."

In an era where cinematographers seem trapped between technical specifications and marketing requirements, Crawley represents that essential breed of artist who can simultaneously embrace analog imperfection and architectural precision without diminishing either.

Go Deeper: Lol Crawley (The Brutalist) has essentially the opposite approach to cinematographer and fellow nominee Jarin Blaschke (Nosferatu), meaning Lol works spontaneously while Jarin follows the storyboard for every frame.

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PUNCHLINES

And, while he didn’t slap anyone, he did toss used gum at his girlfriend…