War of the lists

Five best Steven Spielberg films:

1. Jaws (1975)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark ( 1981)
3. Schindler's List (1993)
4. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Five best Tom Cruise performances:

1. Jerry Maguire (1996)
2. Minority Report (2002)
3. Magnolia (1999)
4. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
5. Risky Business (1983)

Five sexiest Tom Cruise girlfriends/wives:

1. Nicole Kidman
2. Penélope Cruz
3. Mimi Rogers
4. Katie Holmes
5. Melissa Gilbert

Molding Maggie

While reading the Guardian's recent interview with iconic actor Maggie Cheung, in which she describes her working relationships with directors Olivier Assayas (her ex-husband) and Wong Kar-wai, I'm reminded how much cinema can be little more than a conduit for male desire and obsession, even at its artiest level:

"These two men, how they like their women to be is so different," she says. "The way Wong sees beauty, or women related to beauty, it has to be that sensual, perfect thing, whereas Olivier is more interested in something more internal and modern. But I feel happy to be able to fit into their desires of what they want to see on the screen."

Idealized visions of sensually beautiful women are deliriously intoxicating, but there are moments when I feel a bit self-conscious that I'm such a willing and grateful participant in the cycle of voyeurism.

Perhaps the reigns of cinema should be forcibly yanked from obsessive men every once in a while and handed to artists with other points-of-view.

Welcome to the Kamera blog

Welcome to the brand new kamera blog everyone.

This is a brand new project for us, so we have no idea how it's going to work or be used yet - but hopefully it will become a popular and useful addition to the site. I see this as a kind of open film forum - a place to get some real discussion of the current cinema scene going, to exchange random thoughts, reviews and ideas, to swap film recommendations, and to publish work that we can't currently include on the site due to space and time restrictions.

It might also become a great place for our select band of kamera writers to get to know each other a little better.

Let me know what you think and how we can make this blog better - it's still very early days, and we'd be glad for your input.