A skull has turned up in the desert along the Texas-Mexico border, and near it lies a sheriff’s badge. So opens John Sayles’ 1996 Lone Star—newly restored and available on home video from The Criterion Collection—a magnificently constructed story combining history, … Continue reading LONE STAR
Boston was in a panic. Thirteen women were murdered from June 1962 to January 1964. All were in their homes; all were alone. There was no evidence of forced entry, and though the cabinets and dressers were ransacked, police couldn’t … Continue reading THE BOSTON STRANGLER
Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell) is a typical liberal elite, the kind they grow in labs somewhere along the coast. He dresses well enough to look like he has taste, works at a job that makes him enough money to look … Continue reading IRRESISTIBLE
No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful. Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country One of the best scenes in … Continue reading 2019: Something To Do With Death
Jo March is elated. A few moments earlier, she was in excruciating pain: Another pie-eyed scribbler stranded on the non-editorial side of the desk. Too shy to admit the truth, Jo (Saoirse Ronan) claims the story is a creation of … Continue reading LITTLE WOMEN
Mr. Rodgers doesn’t feel like he should be part of this world. His gentleness, kindness, and saint-like patience seem better placed in the world of make-believe — right next to King Friday XIII and Daniel Tiger. Until the recent (and … Continue reading A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Speed. I am speed. Faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am Lightning. You are until you’re not. When racecar Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) showed up on the Piston Cup circuit, he was the rookie hotshot. Faster than … Continue reading CARS 3
Adapted from the 2012 novel by Dennis Lehane, Live By Night is a great American epic stuck inside a misguided movie. Written for the screen, produced, and directed by Ben Affleck, who also stars, Live by Night starts overseas in the trenches of World … Continue reading LIVE BY NIGHT
Before you can fix something, you must first take it apart. Before you can be reborn, you must first be destroyed. That line of thinking motivates director Jean-Marc Vallée’s film, Demolition, a movie that focuses on the self-destruction required to survive … Continue reading DEMOLITION
Michael J. Cinema 