A young man with nothing more than the clothes on his back and a deployed parachute hangs by a dead tree branch. The landscape around him is desolate. Then, from the dust and mist, a large black figure approaches. It … Continue reading Animation Double Feature
There’s reality, and then there’s everything else. Cinema exists firmly in the latter: Cameras don’t capture reality; they capture a perspective of it with a defined beginning, middle, and end. Add editing into the mix, and you’ve got something new … Continue reading SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM: TAKE ONE
Anthony (Jamie Dornan) likes flowers. He also likes Rosemary (Emily Blunt) but has a hard time telling her so. He has a hard time telling her about the flowers, too. There’s a lot that Anthony and Rosemary don’t say—to each … Continue reading WILD MOUNTAIN THYME
On Oct. 30, 2015, a fire broke out during a heavy metal concert in the Bucharest nightclub, Colectiv. Twenty-seven concertgoers died that night; another 180 were injured. In the following four months, another 37 died while still in state hospitals. … Continue reading COLLECTIVE
Kilkenny, Ireland, 1650: A city has walled itself off from the world. But every nook and cranny inside the walled city has been filled with homes and shops. To grow and raise food, the villagers must venture outside the walls … Continue reading WOLFWALKERS
Everybody clap your hands. Soul, the feature film from Disney/Pixar, rolls credits with a new version of the Curtis Mayfield classic, “It’s All Right,” one of the most joyous songs ever laid down on wax. Ending a movie on an up … Continue reading SOUL
Joy Buolamwini just wanted to make something positive. Her idea: An aspiration mirror, which looks like any other mirror, only with a camera. The idea is, the camera takes a photo of your face and then maps an image over … Continue reading CODED BIAS
You cannot capture a man’s entire life in two hours,” Herman J. Mankiewicz says. “All you can hope is to leave the impression of one.” The movie Mankiewicz refers to is Citizen Kane—arguably one of the most well-known movies ever made—but … Continue reading MANK
Martin has been immobilized. He’s only 40, but the life drained out of his face years ago. His wife barely talks to him, and his high school students arrange a parent-teacher conference to tell him he’s terrible. While at a … Continue reading ANOTHER ROUND (DRUK)
Michael J. Cinema 
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