Luxury hotels are bizarre, magical places. They are like hermetically sealed chambers where every possible amenity has been accounted for: Food, drink, entertainment, even pieces of art dot endless hallways of carpet and soft lighting. Muzak plays in the background. … Continue reading THE CHAMBERMAID
Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him. —Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment His name is Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), and he deals in jewels, watches, gems—all that glitters is gold to him. … Continue reading UNCUT GEMS
Some movies are better left misunderstood. A Long Day’s Journey Into Night might be one of those movies. Sure, if you wanted to, you could noodle out the plot, the main characters’ desires, and what it all means. Or, you can surrender … Continue reading LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (地球最后的夜晚)
French critic cum filmmaker Jacques Rivette asserted that “Every film is a documentary of its own making.” While this is true of all movies, it is especially true of early cinema. The films documented people, places, and cultures now gone, … Continue reading DAUGHTER OF DAWN
He was a filmmaker, an actor, a novelist, a playwright, and a revolutionary. He made one of the most profitable and overlooked independent films of all time. He was Melvin Van Peebles, a titan of American filmmaking, and he died … Continue reading Melvin Van Peebles: Essential Films
1984’s Dune is a mess. Universal Pictures released it, Dino De Laurentiis produced it, and David Lynch directed it based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel. It was supposed to be a mega-hit, a blockbuster to rival Star Wars with multiple installments. But it … Continue reading DUNE
Truth is one, but the sages speak of it by many names. —The Rig Veda The Two Popes, directed by Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles, opens in 2005, with the election of Joseph Ratzinger (Anthony Hopkins) as Pope Benedict XVI, and closes in … Continue reading THE TWO POPES and THE BELLS OF ST. MARY
You don’t know it at first, but this is purgatory. Well, a way station might be a better description. Regardless, all the clients who arrive are deceased, and it’s up to the clerks to get them to the next place. … Continue reading AFTER LIFE (ワンダフルライフ)
It should have been a classic. Major Dundee, a new kind of western with Charlton Heston as the titular major. This was the 1960s, and Heston had already played Moses and Judah Ben-Hur (he won an Oscar for that one). Box … Continue reading MAJOR DUNDEE
Michael J. Cinema 
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