Essays and reflections on movies, their impact and influence, and the people who created them.
On June 28, TCM returns with the seventh installment from one of its newest series: Treasures from the Disney Vault, a focused look through Disney’s extensive and diverse back catalogue. As with the previous six installments, Disney aficionado Leonard Maltin … Continue reading Now Playing on TCM: Treasures from the Disney Vault
Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man abroad and at home. Sing to me his story as a wanderer and a traveler, armed with a camera to photograph the inner, the outer and the eternal. Sing to me … Continue reading Unlocking the Artistry of Wim Wenders
It may be Hollywood’s biggest night, but the Academy Awards are much more than a TV show that trots out Hollywood’s elite and validates a life spent making movies. In a very real sense, those little statues open big doors. … Continue reading Big Movies Come in Small Films: 2016 Oscar Nominated Short Films
If I have seen further,” Sir Isaac Newton wrote to his peer, Robert Hooke, “it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” The line is well-known, but it isn’t Newton’s. Like many before and after him, Newton drew on … Continue reading THE HIDDEN FORTRESS (隠し砦の三悪人)
For the last three years, I have started every one of these year-end posts with, “[Year] was an excellent year at the movies.” Or something to that effect. This idea remains true in 2015, but the casualness makes me pause. … Continue reading 2015 at the Movies
Two Decembers ago, New Yorker critic Richard Brody wrote, “The year 2013 has been an amazing one for movies, though maybe every year is an amazing year for movies if one is ready to be amazed by movies.” True in 2013, and … Continue reading 2015: Come and See
America in the 1970s was not exactly abundant with optimism. The tragic death of Meredith Hunter at the Altamont Free Concert on Dec. 6, 1969, cast a dark shadow over the free love and hippy counterculture of the ’60s. Then … Continue reading STAR WARS IV: A NEW HOPE
When it comes to cinema, there is no such thing as dilution. No matter how many times a franchise is rebooted, a classic remade, or an individualistic work of art sequalized, cinema will always remain as singular and potent as … Continue reading A Fine Season for Films: Summer 2015
Why do you want to dance?” the man asks the girl. The girl pauses and answers his question with a question, “Why do you want to live?” “I don’t know exactly why,” the man responds with a smile. “But I … Continue reading THE RED SHOES
Michael J. Cinema 
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