Jacob T. Swinney
Talkhouse
Baltimore, MD, United States
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Past articles by Jacob:
Video Essay: Post-Apocalypse Now
When you're on the precipice of a collapse, sometimes the most soothing thing is finding movies to show us what the end will look like ... → Read More
Video Essay: Post-Apocalypse Now
When you're on the precipice of a collapse, sometimes the most soothing thing is finding movies to show us what the end will look like ... → Read More
The movie technique you’ve seen a million times but never noticed
This installment of SFX Secrets explores how editors play with sound and image to create the feeling of seamlessness. → Read More
Watch a Visual Comparison of Blade Runner’s Many Different Cuts
The differences include voiceover, eye-gouging violence, and one infamous unicorn sequence. → Read More
How the Depiction of the Future Changed in Movies Over 80 Years
With period-appropriate soundtracks for each. → Read More
How Movies Guessed We’d All Be Dressing in the Future, Including in 2017
How have a century of movies imagined what we’d wear in the future? They vastly overestimated the size of our present headwear, for one thing. The vide ... → Read More
Video Essay: Blade Runner 2049's Denis Villeneuve and the Silent Close-Up
In anticipation of the biggest film of Villeneuve's career so far, a look at his most striking visual trademark. → Read More
Video Essay: Blade Runner 2049's Denis Villeneuve and the Silent Close-Up
In anticipation of the biggest film of Villeneuve's career so far, a look at his most striking visual trademark. → Read More
Video Essay: Stephen King at the Movies
With The Dark Tower in theaters and It on the horizon, we look at the many and varied Stephen King adaptations. → Read More
Video Essay: Stephen King at the Movies
With The Dark Tower in theaters and It on the horizon, we look at the many and varied Stephen King adaptations. → Read More
Video Essay: Malick's Shadows
With Terrence Malick's Song to Song in theaters now, Jacob T. Swinney's video essay looks at a recent motif in the director's films. → Read More
Malick or Nature Doc?
No filmmaker captures nature better than Terrence Malick. His unique style relies heavily on nature as he often cuts away to seemingly unrelated bits of wilderness in order to convey a deeper narrative. These shots are so stunning and consuming that they appear to be right out of a nature documentary. In fact, out of context, one may not be able to distinguish Malick’s shots from those in actual… → Read More
This Is What Happens When Writers’ Rooms Aren’t Diverse
Great news! TV is more diverse than ever, with an array of shows on both network and cable that feature three-dimensional characters across different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, the writers’ room—where the decisions of who will be represented onscreen and in what way are decided—hasn’t quite caught up yet.... → Read More
This Is What Happens When Writers’ Rooms Aren’t Diverse
Great news! TV is more diverse than ever, with an array of shows on both network and cable that feature three-dimensional characters across different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, the writers’ room—where the decisions of who will be represented onscreen and in what way are decided—hasn’t quite caught up yet.... → Read More
Hail, Old Hollywood! All the MGM References in the New Coen Brothers Trailer, Annotated
Coen Brothers fans have been speculating about the real-life inspirations behind their new movie, Hail, Caesar!, for months now, but the release of the first trailer on Friday morning cleared up a lot—while raising a whole batch of new questions. Some inspirations appear to be pretty clear. Channing Tatum seems to be channeling MGM star... → Read More
Watch an Emotional Video Montage of Movies Characters’ Key Moments of Revelation
It’s the moment from which all spoilers are derived—the moment in a movie that changes everything. It’s Bruce Willis realizing he’s dead at the end of The Sixth Sense, or Christian Bale coming home to a spotless apartment in American Psycho, or Edward Norton in Fight Club discovering Brad Pitt is a figment... → Read More
From Empire to Walk Hard, Our Favorite “Producers Getting Hyped in the Studio” Scenes
Empire returns Wednesday for Season 2—which means, of course, that aside from the backstabbing, bribery, bed hopping, and occasional acts of murder, there will also be plenty of time spent in the recording studio where the Lyon family lays down hot new tracks. There is where the magic is made, where... → Read More
Tom Cruise Stares at You Intensely: The Supercut
If the eyes are indeed the window to the soul, then Tom Cruise’s soul is on full display. The actor’s intense gaze has long been a keystone of his performances, whether it’s bemused, furious, or sorrowful. This supercut rounds up the many times Cruise has peered into, or just beyond,... → Read More
A Concise Video History of Teens Climbing Through Each Others’ Windows
In the trailer for Paper Towns—the movie based on a John Green novel that is set to be released on Friday—Cara Delevingne’s character performs a teen movie rite of passage: She climbs through another teenager’s window. It’s easy to see why the climbing-through-window trope is an appealing one for filmmakers:... → Read More
Watch the Most Legendary Movie Boxers Hit Each Other—and Get Hit—in This Video Mashup
“It's not about how hard you can hit,” said Rocky Balboa. “It's about how hard you can get hit.” He and other famous movie boxers do quite a bit of both in this movie mashup of cinema’s most inspiring scenes in the ring. Sylvester Stallone, who will reprise his iconic... → Read More