Side by Side

An Insightful AND Entertaining Documentary About The Future Of Movies
I'm crazy about the movies and could talk about different aspects of the film world for hours upon hours. So any serious contemplation about the art of filmmaking has an inherent interest for me. But beyond that, "Side by Side" assembles some of the biggest names imaginable to discuss the digital revolution currently underway. Producer and host Keanu Reeves interviews such luminaries as Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Steven Soderbergh, David Lynch, David Fincher, and James Cameron for this piece. And while these are some of the biggest names (those featured prominently on the DVD/Blu-ray cover), there are plenty of other familiar faces willing to weigh in as well. With lessons in film history and film technology, the documentary is also a stunning retrospective of movies that will have you yearning to revisit many of your favorites (often with a new eye). Seriously, you should get a film school credit for watching this presentation! This is no dry lecture, however, but more...

Keanu Reeves (the Producer) asks the right questions on conversion to Digital film making.
It takes a veteran movie star - with name recognition - to gather as many A-list movie directors for a project like this and in this case actor Keanu Reeves fills that role brilliantly. As you will see by the many previous reviews posted here (all based on the Amazon Instant Video streaming version) this is a "film" - and I use that word cautiously here - about the move to "digital" from celluloid. Like the move from vinyl (and before that shellac) records to CDs and digital downloads for music, there is a strong debate as to whether the benefit of cheaper- and less time consuming - processes are better. New digital cameras are MUCH lighter and more portable and the digital images can be modified. But there is a loss in some of the "reality" of the images. And, as for preservation, we are not sure how long the equipment - constantly changing - will survive. I won't get into that debate as this is not the place. And I won't repeat a lot of what others have provided as info in their...

Cinema embracing the electronic age
As a long-time keen photographer the change from film to digital for movie production had to be intriguing.
Here, mainly prominent movie directors and technicians, toss the pros and cons of the electronic age invading their industry. It becomes a tad academic given that is is increasingly becoming impossible to shoot a movie on film. Technical services for film production are almost non-existent. Although digital movies have some progress to make to be equal to film, particularly in the field of archiving electronic generated images, the technology is still evolving. A thorough look at the subject. I am keen to view Side by side a few more times to take the details onboard.

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