Golden Era Hollywood screenwriter Frank S. Nugent once described story as a disturbance of the status quo: “Something happens to upset it; the disturbance is the story; and the story ends when another status quo is attained.” The Boy and … Continue reading THE BOY AND THE HERON (君たちはどう生きるか)
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 scene halfway through Ford v Ferrari where Carrol Shelby (Matt Damon) takes Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts) for a spin on the test-track in their newest GT40 prototype. It’s been a long time since Ford—derisively nicknamed “The Deuce”—spent time in … Continue reading FORD V FERRARI
As the old saying goes: Hindsight is 20-20. But therein lies the trap, the notion that since we can see the past clearly, we can also understand it. If history has taught us anything, untangling what we know from what … Continue reading VICE
How do I begin? Knight of Cups, the latest movie from writer/director Terrence Malick, follows Hollywood screenwriter Rick (Christian Bale) as he tries to understand what his life is now that his brother has died and his career is on … Continue reading KNIGHT OF CUPS
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
This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. That line from John Ford’s seminal 1962 western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, doesn’t just encapsulate the movie’s theme, Ford’s overall career, or even the entirety of the … Continue reading Print the Legend: Westerns at the Sie Film Center
Michael J. Cinema 