I’m trying to write the best song we’ve ever written,” the brother says. “And the most accessible.”“That sounds stupid,” the sister replies. He’s Finneas Baird O’Connell, and she’s Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell. He’s 21, and she’s 17. They’re standing … Continue reading BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY
Things are going well for Renesha (Brittany S. Hall). She’s found success working in the nonprofit sector, and her relationship with Evan (Will Brill) has lasted long enough that they feel comfortable with one another while still taking time to … Continue reading TEST PATTERN
Has decency become a sin?” Ibrahima Dieng cries. On his knees, Ibrahima holds out his empty hands in mock offering. The world has stripped him bare, and now, in an ending fitting of Kafka, Ibrahima offers up the scraps. So … Continue reading MANDABI
To criticize a movie, you have to make another movie. —Jean-Luc Godard It might be the most notorious climax in American cinema: A Black man terrorizes a white woman, a Black militia lays siege to a white family’s cabin, and … Continue reading WITHIN OUR GATES
There weren’t any crowds in Park City, Utah, and the big studios may have stayed away, but the 2021 Sundance Film Festival proved that headliners or no, in-person or virtual, the cinematic cream will always rise to the top. Chief … Continue reading All I Need to Get By: Dispatches from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival
Established by the Independent State of Croatia, under the rule of the fascist Ustase government, Jasenovac was a chain of extermination camps designed to murder Serbs, Jews, and Roma people during World War II. Significantly, they were the only such … Continue reading DARA OF JASENOVAC
Great movies don’t require a signature shot, but it helps when they have one. What would Vertigo be without that dizzying dolly zoom? The Godfather without the door closing on Kay? The Graduate without Benjamin Braddock trapped in the crook of Mrs. Robinson’s leg? They are … Continue reading THE ASCENT (Восхождение)
The best music and the best whiskey come from the same part of the country.” You don’t find taglines like that very often. Then again, you don’t come across movies like Heartworn Highways that often either. First released in 1976—available Feb. 5 … Continue reading HEARTWORN HIGHWAYS
Edee (Robin Wright) has no desire to live. She was once a wife and a mother, but a cruel twist of fate snatched both in one blow. So Edee packs up and leaves Chicago for a remote cabin located deep … Continue reading LAND
Michael J. Cinema 
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