This is not based on a true story; this is a true story.” So proclaims the title cards that open American Animals—a documentary/narrative hybrid that is almost too good to be true. And it is true, but in a circuitous manner. … Continue reading AMERICAN ANIMALS
Known as “the third genius,” Harold Lloyd did not have the same background in vaudeville as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton; yet, he ended up making more movies than both of them combined. Lloyd started his career as a Chaplin … Continue reading THE FRESHMAN
Like most love stories, this one begins at the movies. London, 1971: A young actor goes to see the latest release, A Clockwork Orange, and is transfixed. The garish colors, the violence, the sex, the terror, Malcolm McDowell’s theatrical performance; the young … Continue reading FILMWORKER
This conversation between Eric Kohn of Indiewire, writer/director Paul Schrader, and actor Ethan Hawke took place following a screening of FIRST REFORMED at 2017’s Telluride Film Festival. Spoilers follow. ERIC KOHN: Paul, first of all, anyone who’s seen your films … Continue reading Conversations from the Telluride Film Festival: FIRST REFORMED
Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke, in one of his best performances) is having a crisis of faith. The parish pastor of New York’s 250-year-old First Reformed church—once a stopover on the Underground Railroad, now jokingly called a gift shop—watches with detachment … Continue reading FIRST REFORMED
On May 14, 2018, Tom Wolfe—one of America’s most exuberant writers—died at the age of 88. Among his litany of good works, Wolfe penned The Right Stuff, effectively coining a phrase while summing up the spirit of the idolized American … Continue reading Robert Mitchum
I always thought I wanted to be a film critic. Then I ran into a whole series of problems in my life, which could not be addressed by non-fiction. … I had to give life to these demons before these … Continue reading On Familiar Ground: Paul Schrader and the Death Impulse
RBG, from documentarians from Julie Cohen and Betsy West, opens with images of Washington D.C. accompanied by sound bites from conservative talk radio and one American president casually dismissing a Supreme Court justice as vile and disgusting. “Witch” and “zombie” … Continue reading RBG
What good does it, writing about classic films? If it’s covering an undiscovered gem or a movie never properly released, that’s one thing. But to cover a classic, a movie that has withstood the baptism of time, has been written … Continue reading How We Got Here
Michael J. Cinema 
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