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
In 2012, Missy Franklin—a swimmer from Centennial, Colorado—caught the attention of the Olympic world. The fresh-faced phenom became the first female to qualify for seven Olympic events and ended up collecting one bronze and four gold medals while setting two … Continue reading TOUCH THE WALL
Working from Hans Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, the Polish musical The Lure (Córki dancingu—literally, “daughters of the dance club”) tells the tale of two seductive mermaid sisters: Silver (Marta Mazurek) and Golden (Michalina Olszanska), who beckon men to their watery graves with both … Continue reading THE LURE (CÓRKI DANCINGU)
English actor Dirk Bogarde may have lived in the closet, but Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti did not. Visconti also had the luxury of being born into an aristocratic family. So did German novelist Thomas Mann, but he struggled with his … Continue reading DEATH IN VENICE
Directed by Akira Kurosawa and released in 1958, The Hidden Fortress was produced during Kurosawa’s string of financial successes and artistic triumphs that began with Rashômon in 1950 and concluded with Red Beard in 1965. Throughout that 15-year, 13-movie run, Kurosawa released a series of monumental … Continue reading THE HIDDEN FORTRESS (隠し砦の三悪人)
Directed by Swiss filmmaker Werner Penzel, Zen for Nothing takes place in a small Antaji Zen monastery on Japan’s western coast, though you wouldn’t know that from the movie—there is little context about the monastery and the German-born man who runs it, … Continue reading ZEN FOR NOTHING
There’s a bit of fairy tale when it comes to Benedetta Barzini. As the story goes, it was 1963 when Barzini was discovered on the streets of Rome by American-born Italian countess Consuelo Crespi, the editor of Vogue and Vogue Italia. Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Diane … Continue reading THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY MOTHER
A young girl spies her mother in bed with a man who is neither her father nor the woman’s husband. The young girl is Flora (Anna Paquin), the speaking child of her mute mother, Ada (Holly Hunter). Both were bought and … Continue reading THE PIANO
Some movies never grow old. They exist outside of time and space, always there, always waiting for us to return. Case in point: The Godfather Part I and II. Director Francis Ford Coppola’s saga tells the story of the Corleone crime family, whose evolution … Continue reading THE GODFATHER
Michael J. Cinema 
You must be logged in to post a comment.