No filmmaker working today makes movies like Guillermo del Toro. His are gothic affairs, full of love and sympathy for all creatures great and small, doomed and saved. The color palettes, even when monochromatically muted, have a garish quality to … Continue reading FRANKENSTEIN
On Monday, January 9, the Denver Film Critics Society—15 writers and broadcasters working in and around the Mile High City, of which I am one—announced their nominees for the best of 2022. In total, 38 movies received nominations, with Everything Everywhere … Continue reading And the nominees are…
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
Geeks are not found; they are made. This is the lesson Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), a drifter in 1940s America, learns first hand at the Ten-in-One traveling carnival. Ten-in-One is a carnival like any other: A strong man, a contortionist, … Continue reading NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Somewhere deep in the Oregonian woods, a creature lurks. The origins of the beast are not known, though a retired sheriff suspects it to be ancient and long-dormant. Why it decided to show up in 2019 is anybody’s guess, but … Continue reading ANTLERS
There’s nothing like a good fairy tale, especially one with teeth—and Mexican writer/producer/director Guillermo del Toro has plenty of teeth to go around. Not to mention lovers, monsters, and the overwhelming power stories have to connect. The Shape of Water is … Continue reading THE SHAPE OF WATER
I think that 50% of the narrative is in the audio/visual storytelling. I happened to think the screenplay is the basis of it all, but definitely doesn’t tell the movie. It tells the story, but doesn’t tell the whole movie. … Continue reading Born On This Day — October 9, 1964
It would be a cliché to say that, because I am a Mexican, I see death in a certain way. But I have seen more than my share of corpses, certainly more than the average First World guy. I worked … Continue reading Born On This Day — October 9
Michael J. Cinema 