Cinema News: The wizardry of Walter Murch

January 23, 2026 | View in browser

A soundman sits over his equipment, listening.

By Mark Olsen

Staff Writer

Hello! I'm Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

This week I am back in Park City, Utah, to attend the Sundance Film Festival one last time before the event moves to Boulder, Colo., in 2027. We will be bringing you extensive coverage on the ground here, so keep an eye out over the coming days.

Joshua Rothkopf, Amy Nicholson, Vanessa Franko and myself put together a list of the 10 movies we are most excited about going into the festival, including Gregg Araki's comedic erotic thriller "I Want Your Sex," Mohammed Ali Naqvi's documentary of survival "Hanging by a Wire" and Noah Segan's elegiac caper "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York." This should prove to be an emotional edition of the festival, not only because it is the last in Park City, but also the first since the September death of Sundance founder Robert Redford.

And of course the Oscar nominations happened Thursday morning, just as the festival was getting underway. "Sinners" led with a record-setting 16 nominations, with "One Battle After Another" following with 13. Glenn Whipp wrote up the snubs and surprises from the announcement, including the total exclusion of "Wicked: For Good" and the inclusion of Delroy Lindo in the supporting actor category.

I spoke to Ethan Hawke, who received his fifth career nomination (but first for lead actor) for his role in "Blue Moon." Asked what the recognition means to him, Hawke said, "Embarrassingly enough, it means a lot. I've dedicated my life to this profession and our culture places a high value on that. And it means a lot to me. Frankly, I don't think I would've thought when I did 'Training Day' that it would take me so long to get there. It's been a long road."

And "Sinners" cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who became the first woman of color nominated in the category, told me that she knew the film was special, even as she and director Ryan Coogler were making it.

"I'm an operator," she said, "so I love to have my eyepiece to the camera and Ryan sits right next to me. So a lot of the stuff that we photographed, I was there in the moment. It was very felt. And I always said, if I don't feel it, then I don't feel the audience can. So I'm very much someone who shoots from the heart and wants to make sure that emotion is being conveyed and Ryan is the same way."

Celebrating Walter Murch

The American Cinematheque is putting on a tribute to filmmaker, editor, sound designer and author Walter Murch this weekend. The three-time Oscar winner will attend in person for Q&As along with screenings of Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation," George Lucas' "THX 1138" and Murch's own 1985 fantasy "Return to Oz." Murch will also present a master class Sunday before a screening of the 1979 roadshow edition of Coppola's "Apocalypse Now."

Murch is best known as a behind-the-scenes wizard whose immense grasp of filmmaking craft makes him a vital collaborator. As Coppola once said, "Walter inspired all of us to think hard about a precept we all believed in: Sound is 50% of your picture — the clear sharing with image of the total effect of the finished film."

Regarding "Return to Oz," an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's novel starring a young Fairuza Balk, Times critic Sheila Benson wrote, "As a young boy, Walter Murch's imagination must have bloomed under the sweet spell of the Oz books. You can feel it in the way he has approached 'Return to Oz' as a director and co-adapter. … For that fidelity, everyone who grew up with the full range of the Oz books is deeply in Murch's debt."

Points of interest

Altman's 'Images' in 35mm

On Monday Cinematic Void at the American Cinematheque's Los Feliz Theatre will present a rare 35mm screening of Robert Altman's "Images," thanks to a special arrangement with Handmade Films, the production and distribution company founded by George Harrison. Co-written by Altman and star Susannah York, the psychological thriller involves a children's author (York) who finds herself losing her grip on reality, causing confusion with her husband (Altman regular René Auberjonois). York won the actress prize when the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

In his original review, Charles Champlin wrote, "'Images' is an entertainment, with no solemn claims to be seen as a metaphor for our troubled by laugh-provoking times, and it entertains in a fine, shuddery fashion."

'The Hot Rock'

On Saturday Vidiots will show Peter Yates' freewheeling 1972 caper "The Hot Rock" as part of their ongoing series honoring Robert Redford. With a sizzling score by Quincy Jones and a screenplay by William Goldman (based on a novel by Donald E. Westlake), the film stars Redford and George Segal as a pair of thieves hired to steal an oversize diamond from the Brooklyn Museum in order to return it to the African nation from which it originated. Ron Leibman and Paul Sand round out their gang, with Zero Mostel as the crooked attorney who serves as a go-between.

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In his original review, Charles Champlin wrote, "It is dominated by its splendid gallery of performances" while adding that the film "is purposefully frivolous."