Essays and reflections on movies, their impact and influence, and the people who created them.
It was President Bill Clinton who first declared June “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month.” That was in 2000. In 2009, President Barack Obama opened it up further to include bisexual and transgender persons, and the nation followed suit. All month … Continue reading Home Viewing: Pride Streams
Writers themselves aren’t that dramatic or empathetic a subject,” screenwriter Sarah Gubbins says. “As a genus and species they are wont to be solitary, sedentary, and sullen. Social mores often elude them. As a breed they are prone to paranoia, … Continue reading Home Viewing: Writers on Screen
Marion Michael Robinson, aka John Wayne, aka The Duke, was born in Winterset, Iowa on May 26, 1907. If he were alive today, he would be 113. But he’s not. Wayne died on June 11, 1979, at the age of … Continue reading THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE
The origins of France’s Cannes Film Festival lay not in La République, but neighboring Italy. Specifically, 1937’s Venice Film Festival, when Benito Mussolini stuck his big, fat fascist fingers in the mix and ensured that The Grand Illusion from French … Continue reading Home Viewing: Palme d’Or
Alfred Hitchcock may not have invented the moving image, but he defined what it was capable of. The son of a London grocer, Hitchcock’s career began in the silent era, at Germany’s famed UFA studios, before returning to England as … Continue reading Home Viewing: Alfred Hitchcock
Comfort watching comes in all shapes in sizes. Sometimes it’s a chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. Other times it’s Gene Kelly dancing with an umbrella and splashing around in puddles. Diversion, you could call it: A moment of … Continue reading Home Viewing: Existential Cinema
The story of cinema is the story of excitement. One of the first movies projected was of a train pulling into a station. The directors placed the camera on the edge of the platform, making it look like the train … Continue reading Home Viewing: Slow Cinema
In honor of Arbor Day—the holiday to go out a plant a tree—I give you this short film: Trees to Tame the Wind. First, a few words. Released in 1939, Trees to Tame the Wind was a product of the United States Department … Continue reading TREES TO TAME THE WIND
It’s not looking good for local theaters big and small. Cinemark plans to reopen their theaters on July 1—but even that seems suspect. They hope to get things up and running for Christopher Nolan’s latest, Tenet, still scheduled for a … Continue reading Streaming Cat Blues: Week Two
Michael J. Cinema 
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