One of the more fascinating aspects of the movies is their ability to reach across time and space and continue cinematic conversations that started long ago. Take 1971’s The French Connection. Directed by one of the decade’s hottest directors, William Friedkin, The French … Continue reading THE [FRENCH] CONNECTION
On this week’s edition of After Image, I chat with Metro Arts’ producer Veronica Straight-Lingo about the new horror movie from writer/director Alex Garland, Men. Listen to After Image, Fridays at 3:00 p.m., on KGNU’s Metro Arts: 88.5 FM and 1390 … Continue reading
Politics, cinema, and literature can lie, not sport. —Jean-Luc Godard When one considers the history and scope of cinema, rarely do “how-to” instruction videos come to mind. But there they are, hours upon hours of step-by-step techniques recorded for posterity: … Continue reading JOHN MCENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION (L’EMPIRE DE LA PERFECTION)
Men, the latest from writer/director Alex Garland, opens with unfathomable horror: As a husband falls to his death, he passes by the window of his apartment and momentarily locks eyes with his wife. This is the crucial moment Garland anchors … Continue reading MEN
What does it take to make a masterpiece? Not something merely good, but among the greatest of all time. Meaningful not just to the time and place it was produced, but to the time and place with which it is … Continue reading Top Ten Territory
Famed Polish writer/director Krzysztof Kieślowski already had a handful of feature films and documentaries under his belt when his writing partner, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, gave him the idea: “Someone should make a film about the Ten Commandments. You should do it.” … Continue reading DEKALOG
The inaugural recipient of the Cannes Palme d’Or, Delbert Mann’s Marty, was the only film to win both the Palme d’Or and the Oscar for Best Picture. That was until Parasite came along in 2019. There are a few thematic similarities between … Continue reading MARTY
Billi (Awkwafina) has come home to China. Specifically, Changchun—a city she left at the age of 6 when her father relocated his wife and daughter to the U.S. in search of a better life and more opportunity. That was 25 … Continue reading THE FAREWELL
These days, more and more Americans divide themselves across party lines and political predilections. Yet, few see these divisions as dividing—they see them as unifying: this is my identity, and these are the people who feel the same. Individual identity … Continue reading ORIENTED
Michael J. Cinema 
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