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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.

The Decline of the Western and the Continuing Resonance of The Ballad of Little Jo

Jim Hemphill on Maggie Greenwald's 1993 revisionist Western, a film that brilliantly and insightfully plays with the tropes of the genre.

March 1, 2017

Second Screen: Nashville Goes From Strength to Strength

Jim Hemphill sings the praises of Callie Khouri's country-music themed drama, which has thrived since its move from ABC to CMT.

February 15, 2017

Second Screen: Why Six is Giving Award Season Movies a Run for Their Money

Jim Hemphill on how the History Channel's surprising new series – and especially Kimberly Peirce's episode – shows cinema how it's done.

January 24, 2017

In Memoriam: Talkhouse Film Contributors Remember Anton Yelchin, Michael Cimino, David Bowie and More

Alex Cox, Joe Dante, James Marsh, Alex Winter and more remember some of the cinematic greats who passed away during 2016.

Second Screen: The Best TV Shows of 2016

Jim Hemphill attempts the improbable task of listing the best – or at least most pleasurable – that the small screen had to offer in the past year.

December 20, 2016

Second Screen: The Catch’s Effortless Style Conceals Its True Brilliance

In his regular TV column, Jim Hemphill gets caught up in the ABC crime series, which channels Soderbergh and Hitchcock at their entertaining best.

November 28, 2016

Underrated/Overlooked: Jim Hemphill on The Duel

Jim Hemphill champions one of the most ambitious (and satisfying) movies of 2016, a wildly original Western that defies expectations at all turns.

November 15, 2016

Second Screen: Designated Survivor is a Capra-esque Mix of Trump and Clinton

If you've ever kind of wished the whole political establishment would be wiped out in one fell swoop, then this is the TV show for you.

October 26, 2016

The Missing Masterpiece of the Found-Footage Horror Genre

Jim Hemphill bangs the drum for Michael Goi's Megan is Missing, the one found-footage movie he thinks is worth a damn.

October 14, 2016

Second Screen: One Mississippi Reimagines the Sitcom

Stand-up Tig Notaro, along with Diablo Cody and Louis CK, adds tragedy to the traditional TV comedy to redefine and deepen the form.

September 26, 2016

Why Paul Schrader Is Wrong and Hardcore Is, in Fact, a Major Movie

Jim Hemphill makes the case that, despite what Schrader himself may say, one of the director's most personal films is also one of his best.

September 15, 2016

Second Screen: Animal Kingdom Emulates Its Source Material (and Then Some)

The new TNT show not only does justice to the great crime movie it's taken from, but also deepens its complex and compelling narrative.

August 31, 2016