Ad Astra, from filmmaker par excellence James Gray, opens with a shot of the cosmos, vast and terrifying. As the camera pans across the twinkling dots of a thousand suns, a lens flare catches the frame and briefly illuminates the … Continue reading AD ASTRA
Burt and Harold have been accused of murder. Not in the legal sense, mind you, with arrests and affidavits, attorneys and judges, but in the old-fashioned way of finger-pointing and yelling louder than everyone else. You see, Burt Berendsen (Christian … Continue reading AMSTERDAM
There’s a lot about The Northman that is ancient and just as much that’s mythic. It’s Shakespearean in its bones, but touches of Confucius, Sophocles and Wolfram von Eschenbach are never far from reach. There’s even a surprising tribute to Disney’s The Lion … Continue reading THE NORTHMAN
Deep Water is a preposterous movie. Particularly the ending, which crosscuts one character chasing after another through the woods and the young daughter of one of those characters throwing a suitcase into the backyard pool. Why, you ask? Well, to answer … Continue reading DEEP WATER
I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore. Howard Beale, Network Well, maybe not. The Big Short is director and co-writer Adam McKay’s run at an All the President’s Men or Network, and though it comes up short *cough cough* … Continue reading THE BIG SHORT
Michael J. Cinema 