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Jim Hemphill

Jim Hemphill is the writer and director of the award-winning film The Trouble With the Truth, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and other platforms. He has written about movies and television for Filmmaker magazine, American Cinematographer and Film Comment, and is the author of The Art and Craft of TV Directing: Conversations with Episodic Television Directors. He also serves as a film historian at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has contributed audio commentaries to DVDs and Blu-rays for Indicator, Shout Factory, the BFI, and other home video labels. His website is www.jimhemphillfilms.com.

Second Screen: Shades of Blue is One of the Best Cop Shows of All Time

With echoes of classic Lumet and two outstanding central performances, Shades of Blue is a rare welcome addition to the crowded cop show genre.

August 2, 2016

Across the Aisle: Politics and Violence Collide in The Purge: Election Year

Jim Hemphill casts his ballot in favor of the latest entry in James DeMonaco's unlikely franchise, which portrays an America devoid of heroes.

July 12, 2016

My Dinner with Michael

Jim Hemphill recalls a memorable impromptu encounter with one his idols, the reclusive Michael Cimino, who passed away on July 2.

July 7, 2016

Across the Aisle: The Fosters Shows America As It Actually Is (Not As We Want It To Be)

Hidden away on Freeform (formerly ABC Family), one of the best political shows on TV right now isn’t even (overtly) about politics.

June 6, 2016

Across the Aisle: The Family, Political Entertainment for the Age of Hillary

Jim Hemphill finds a dense, complex TV show, hidden in plain sight on network television, that digs deep into the current political moment.

May 9, 2016

Across the Aisle: Before Trump or Cruz, There Was The Second Civil War

Jim Hemphill looks at how Joe Dante’s unnervingly prescient absurdist satire anticipated the current political climate in the U.S.

April 7, 2016

“Never Make Another Movie Again”: Filmmakers Choose Their Favorite Negative User Reviews

Talkhouse Film contributors dig around on IMDb, Amazon, Netflix and more to find the most hilariously outspoken takes on their movies.

Bulworth, Beatty, Trump and the Dream of the Political Truth-Teller

Jim Hemphill looks back at Warren Beatty's late-'90s uncannily prescient satire of U.S. politics, about a plain-speaking presidential candidate.

March 3, 2016

Jim Hemphill (The Trouble with the Truth) Talks Wim Wenders’ The End of Violence

A film that was a critical and financial disappointment two decades ago now appears a startlingly prescient commentary on the U.S and Hollywood.

November 25, 2015

Jim Hemphill (The Trouble with the Truth) Talks Greg Berlanti’s DC Comics TV Shows

An unsolicited Blu-ray converts a non-believer in big-screen superhero movies into a devoted fan of a trio of TV comic book shows.

November 14, 2015

Jim Hemphill (The Trouble with the Truth) Talks Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak

Del Toro's new movie, a gothic chiller which is both personal and commercial, underlines how horror movies ain't what they used to be.

October 19, 2015

Jim Hemphill (The Trouble with the Truth) Talks Texasville, the Greatest Sequel That Hardly Anybody Saw

25 years after its release, it's time for a critical reappraisal of Peter Bogdanovich's unfairly dismissed follow-up to his most famous film.

September 26, 2015