Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier is a sadist, and a proud one at that. He likes to put his characters (mostly women) through hell and back just to see if they’ll come out the other side. They do, and it’s … Continue reading DANCER IN THE DARK
Someday we’ll fall down and weep, and we’ll understand it all. All things. —Mr. O’Brien, The Tree of Life For two weeks every May, the world of cinema turns to the beaches of Southern France as the Cannes Film Festival … Continue reading THE TREE OF LIFE
Journalist cum filmmaker Mark Cousins has done just a little bit of everything. He’s made documentaries (The Eyes of Orson Welles), city symphonies (What Is This Film Called Love?), narratives (Stockholm, My Love), even an alternative film school in the … Continue reading THE STORY OF FILM
The rocky, seaside village of Easter Cove, Maine, does not look like the kind of place you’d want to spend a winter. The snow piles up in great heaps, and the wind coming off the water will send an icicle … Continue reading BLOW THE MAN DOWN
The shadow of Alfred Hitchcock looms large in cinema. So much so that it’s hard to divorce his stylistic innovations from movies that may or may not have been influenced by him. Take Blow the Man Down, a recent release currently … Continue reading Two for the Master
On Sept. 26, 1991, eight scientists donned space-age jumpsuits, waved goodbye to a cheering audience and a bullpen loaded with news cameras, and entered Biosphere 2—3.14 acres of enclosed space designed to mimic the Earth’s environment. Their mission: Test humanity’s … Continue reading SPACESHIP EARTH
Based on a novel by Franz Kafka, The Trail is filmmaker Orson Welles at his most Wellesian. Anthony Perkins stars as K, a man accused of a crime he neither committed nor comprehends. K can ask all the questions he wants, but … Continue reading THE TRIAL
The second installment in Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s unofficial trilogy (Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, The Silence) is by far the best. Pastor Tomas (Gunnar Björnstrand) has misplaced his faith. He’s not sure where, and he’s not sure he wants to … Continue reading WINTER LIGHT (NATTVARDSGÄSTERNA)
It was a Saturday in July when Meursault killed the man. The man, an Arab, was lounging on the sun-drenched beach when Meursault approached. The Arab pulled a knife, shining sunlight in Meursault’s eyes. Meursault pulled a pistol and fired. … Continue reading THE STRANGER (LO STRANIERO)
Michael J. Cinema 
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