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
For Nikola Tesla, it all started with a cat. Specifically, a black cat named Macak, a feline friend from Tesla’s boyhood. One day while stroking Macak’s back, Tesla managed to raise a series of static electric sparks from the cat’s … Continue reading TESLA
The Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) keeps getting bigger. Helmed once again by Beeck sisters Robin and Kathy, BIFF 16 (March 5-8) offers moviegoers 88 features and shorts to choose from. And, as has become the tradition in recent years, … Continue reading Something for Everyone: 2020 Boulder International Film Festival
Truth is a slippery thing. So are lies. There are bald-faced lies, little white lies, and evasions. But there are also constructs; stories and parables that aren’t necessarily true but point to an underlying and undeniable truth. Where the lies … Continue reading THE TRUTH (LA VÉRITÉ)
With the 46th annual Telluride Film Festival opening next weekend (Aug. 30–Sept. 2), now seems like a fine time to dig into TFF’s past and highlight a few recent masterpieces. Let’s start with 2017’s First Reformed, a movie whose righteous … Continue reading FIRST REFORMED
Every year is a great year for the movies, but when was the best? Was it 1939, the year Hollywood gave us The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? Or was it the great global year … Continue reading 2018: An Embarrassment of Riches
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
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
Michael J. Cinema 
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