To hear more audio stories from publishers like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. Six years ago, after I contacted David Fincher and told him I wanted to write an article about how he makes movies, he invited me to his office to present my case in person and, while I was there, watch him get some work done. On an April afternoon, I arrived at the Hollywood Art Deco building

The characters were intriguing, the stunts were exhilarating, and every frame was bursting with incredible, how’d-they-do-that nerve. “Mad Max: Fury Road” set a new high-water mark for action filmmaking when it came out in 2015, and no summer blockbuster since has been able to match its turbocharged ingenuity. Even Oscar-winning auteurs have been awed by George Miller’s operatically staged spectac

Martin Scorsese is the most alive he’s been in his work in a long time, brimming with renewed passion for filmmaking and invigorated by the reception that has greeted his latest gangland magnum opus, “The Irishman.” And what he wants to talk about is death. Just to be clear, he’s not talking about the deaths in his movies or anyone else’s. “You just have to let go, especially at this vantage point

When I was in England in early October, I gave an interview to Empire magazine. I was asked a question about Marvel movies. I answered it. I said that I’ve tried to watch a few of them and that they’re not for me, that they seem to me to be closer to theme parks than they are to movies as I’ve known and loved them throughout my life, and that in the end, I don’t think they’re cinema. Some people s

Henry Cavill stars as Superman in the new Warner Brothers movie, which will be released on June 14.Credit...Clay Enos/Warner Brothers Pictures BURBANK, Calif. — In a dimly lighted editing suite here on the Warner Brothers lot, blinds drawn for maximum secrecy and walls decorated with signs and posters celebrating “Star Wars,” Indiana Jones and “Game of Thrones,” Zack Snyder was discussing his phil

Antoine Fuqua, Sofia Coppola, Paul Feig, Denis Villeneuve, Brett Ratner and Alex Gibney share their highly personal lists. After our chief film critics named their top 25 movies of the 21st century (so far), we asked some notable filmmakers for their favorite movies since 2000. In phone interviews and emails, they spoke about what touched them as fans or taught them as directors. Here are edited e

“There Will Be Blood” tells the story of an American oilman, Daniel Plainview, who persuades the locals in a California ranching town to let him drill on their land. He also establishes an uneasy rivalry with a preacher, Eli Sunday, and the two men, each selling his own brand of faith, enact the timeless battle between God and Mammon – though who is on what side is not always clear. Manohla Dargis

MICHAEL BAY was just days away from putting the conclusive touches on his latest movie, the $135 million historical epic ''Pearl Harbor,'' and he had been working pretty much around the clock for a week, his head full of last-minute details about music, sound cues and the color mix. ''So I thought, yeah, what better way to lose myself than to spend a few hours watching 'West Side Story'?'' he said