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
The beauty of cinema is that nothing is what it seems. Images are not literal explanations, but visual descriptions of an emotional experience, and few cinematic genres drive this point home like the horror film. Full of bloodletting, carnal terror, … Continue reading THE HOWLING
There’s a basic structure to movies. It’s rigid and reductive. In a movie you only deal with core relationships: a protagonist, an antagonist. But in a novel you can do whatever you want. You can introduce characters that disappear for … Continue reading Born On This Day — September 28, 1950
The Dairy Center for the Arts is doing something unique, so pay attention. The Americas Latino Eco-Festival Film Forum covers three continents (North and South America and Antarctica), provides a much-needed voice for the Latino community, discusses political and human … Continue reading GO FOR SISTERS
I want to direct films that no one else is going to make. I know if I don’t make them, I’m never going to see them. Of course, I hope some people will want to see my movies as well, … Continue reading Born On This Day — September 28
Michael J. Cinema 