The story of Pinocchio, first penned in 1883 by Italian writer Carlo Collodi, has long been a favorite of storytellers: A lonely man fashions a boy out of wood; the wooden boy becomes sentient; a cricket teaches the wooden child … Continue reading GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO
CHAPTER IIn WhichWe Discuss The Beatles, The Breeders, Heroin, Meet Winnie-The-Pooh, and Make a Proposal “Form must illuminate content.” — Phil Solomon True for any work of art. Be it a rock ‘n’ roll ballad, an impressionist painting or movie … Continue reading A Matter of Style: Yasujirô Ozu Covers CHRISTOPHER ROBIN
A long time ago—May 25, 1977, to be precise—in a Hollywood far, far away, Star Wars took cinematic hearts and minds by storm. Later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars was a ragtag space opera about a young farmer and two mercenaries trying … Continue reading Star Wars at 40: A Space Opera in Eight Films, Five Directors, and Two Studios
If a description is necessary of Disney’s 2017 live-action re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, let it be this: Moviemaking by committee. Not one frame of this two-hour and nine-minute hollow money grab smacks of personality or identity. Nor does it … Continue reading BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Miles Davis was a man of few words but an endless stream of music. Though the story of Davis’s meeting with then First Lady Nancy Reagan at a White House dinner in 1987 is most likely false, the punch line still … Continue reading MILES AHEAD
The Impossible has an unfortunate title. When I first saw it, I was immediately reminded of a quote from Star Trek via Spock, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” I have since learned that … Continue reading THE IMPOSSIBLE
Michael J. Cinema 