Essays and reflections on movies, their impact and influence, and the people who created them.
They play together and laugh, eat meals, discuss school, and tend to the garden. They’re just like other families, except for one crucial detail: When it’s time to go to work, dear old Dad puts on his S.S. uniform and … Continue reading Hollywood Gate Crashers: International Movies Shine with the 2024 Oscar Nominations
Every year, the Australian-based online quarterly, Senses of Cinema, invites writers from all over the globe to submit their selections for the best movies of the year. My top 10 is relatively familiar at this point, but the sheer breadth … Continue reading SENSES OF CINEMA: 2023 World Cinema Poll
On Friday, Jan. 12, the Denver Film Critics Society—19 writers, broadcasters, and bloggers working in and around the Mile High City, of which I am one—announced their picks for the best of 2023. Of the 38 movies nominated, Barbie and … Continue reading And the winner is…
On Friday, Jan. 5, the Denver Film Critics Society—19 writers, broadcasters, and bloggers working in and around the Mile High City, of which I am one—announced their nominees for the best of 2023. In total, 33 movies received nominations, with … Continue reading And the nominees are…
On this week’s edition of After Image, I chat with Metro Arts’ producer Veronica Straight-Lingo about the movies and themes that defined 2023. Listen to After Image, Fridays at 3 p.m., on KGNU’s Metro Arts: 88.5 FM and 1390 AM Denver/Boulder, … Continue reading
I love lists. Lists bring order to my day: what to do, what to watch, what to read, what to listen to. Lists provide context to larger themes and suss out tiny commonalities. The lists I author, be they for … Continue reading 2023: Now and Then
The year is 1925. In Europe, Benito Mussolini declares himself dictator of Italy. In nearby Germany, Adolph Hitler publishes the first volume of Mein Kampf. In America, F. Scott Fitzgerald also publishes a book, this one set in New York: The Great … Continue reading THE POWER OF THE DOG
The twisting begins before we even meet the hero. A Union soldier makes his way through the carnage of a battle. Confederate bodies litter the ground, and a Yankee survivor plunders them for gold teeth and various effects. Then he … Continue reading A BULLET FOR SANDOVAL
Director Taylor Hackford once described the westerns directed by Budd Boetticher, starring Randolph Scott, and produced by Harry Joe Brown as movies that take place in the middle of stories. The hero, Scott, rides in from nowhere, deals with a … Continue reading DECISION AT SUNDOWN
Michael J. Cinema 
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