Birds of Passage—from directors Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra—is a masterpiece. Set in Colombia and spanning the years 1969 to 1980, Birds is divided into five sections, songs really, that recount the tale of ancient rituals, tight-knit tribes, and the sudden and … Continue reading DFF Review — BIRDS OF PASSAGE (Pájaros de verano)
Wildlife’s signature image is of a husband and wife pensively looking at each other across an empty chair. Momentarily, their only child will occupy that chair, but his presence will not unite them. Instead, it will only amplify the gulf … Continue reading DFF Review — WILDLIFE
It’s only a matter of minutes before a loaded gun is produced. Not unusual considering Ash is Purest White revolves around two gangsters, but this is mid-’90s China and unregister firearms are illegal and come with a heavy penalty. Just showing someone … Continue reading DFF Review — ASH IS PUREST WHITE (江湖儿女)
The 41st Denver Film Festival brings together more than 300 shorts and feature films from Oct. 31–Nov. 11. Sure, there are bound to be some duds in there, but 2018 is a veritable cinematic bumper crop, particularly when you look … Continue reading The World Comes to DFF: Dispatches From the 41st Denver Film Festival
What about the ROUS?Rodents of unusual size? I don’t think they exist. —Princess Buttercup and Westley in The Princess Bride Bad news Westley, they do exist. Growing up to 20 pounds and 24 inches long, with a tail that tacks on … Continue reading RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE
General Lorens Löwenhielm (Jarl Kulle), a middle-aged man with a lifetime of missed opportunities behind him, has come to dinner. Seated next to his aunt, and two chairs away from an old flame, the general is surrounded by nine others, … Continue reading BABETTE’S FEAST (BABETTES GÆSTEBUD)
July 12, 1917, Bisbee, Arizona: Cochise County Sheriff Harry Wheeler and a deputized posse nearly 2,000 people strong rounded up 1,300 striking miners—many of them immigrants—and sympathetic residents, loaded them into cattle cars at gunpoint and shipped them 200 miles … Continue reading BISBEE ’17
We’re the Sisters Brothers, and we’re good at what we do,” proclaims Charlie Sisters with a toothy grin. What’s he good at? Killing people and claiming bounties. Charlie is played by Joaquin Phoenix, an actor who is successfully following in … Continue reading THE SISTERS BROTHERS
There seems to be an endless fascination with the famed Saturday Night Live. While the merits of the weekly television show are continually debated online and during office lunch breaks, documentaries about the show’s glory years continue to pop up … Continue reading LOVE, GILDA
Michael J. Cinema 
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