Children’s movies are fascinating triumphs of simplicity and clarity. Often these movies render complex issues so succinctly that they become masterworks full of sophisticated ideas, a trait that some of the best “adult” works cannot hold a candle to. For … Continue reading BOY & THE WORLD (O MENINO E O MU)
Ane (Nagore Aranburu) lives her life of quiet desperation one bland day at a time. Stuck in a loveless marriage and grappling with early on-set menopause, the childless Ane sighs. She always thought there would be more. More life, more … Continue reading FLOWERS
Once upon a time, there were five beautiful Turkish sisters whose parents died when they were very young. They were sent to live with their uncle and grandmother, high in the hills above the city of Istanbul. One day, a … Continue reading MUSTANG
On some level, every work of art is a reflection of the human condition. Who we are and how we relate to others and the world around us is the concern of every artist, but for some, that concern is … Continue reading ANOMALISA
Just in time for college football bowl games and the NFL playoffs, Concussion tells the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), the Nigerian-born forensic pathologist who discovered and named chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brains of several recently deceased NFL … Continue reading CONCUSSION
David O. Russell’s latest, Joy, tells the story of Joy Mangano, an American inventor best known for her self-wringing Miracle Mop. Well, sort of. Joy is partly about how Joy Mangano became Joy Mangano, but it’s also about how family just likes to … Continue reading JOY
I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore. Howard Beale, Network Well, maybe not. The Big Short is director and co-writer Adam McKay’s run at an All the President’s Men or Network, and though it comes up short *cough cough* … Continue reading THE BIG SHORT
The Danish Girl is easily director Tom Hooper’s most interesting movie, though that doesn’t say very much. Dramatizing the world’s first known gender reassignment surgery, Hooper explores the story from an intimate setting, concerning himself largely with the marital plight of … Continue reading THE DANISH GIRL
I want to tell you a story about a story,” writer/director/performance artist Laurie Anderson tells the audience. She recounts the time she spent in the hospital as a child after breaking her back. Anderson tells it in a rather typical … Continue reading HEART OF A DOG
Michael J. Cinema 
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