It’s not about race; it’s about caste—the system of injustice and subjugation that persists, generation from generation, resistant to the individuals who work to defy and shatter it. So it is in Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 nonfiction study, Caste: The Origins … Continue reading ORIGIN
So much tragedy in your life. Those words are spoken in jail from one murderer to another. The two men are different: One is convicted and wearing a state-issued jumpsuit. The other is also wearing a suit. Only his is … Continue reading THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK
Reporting from the Telluride Film Festival. There’s a not insignificant part of me that wants to reject King Richard. Here is the story of Venus and Serena Williams—two of the greatest tennis players to ever set foot on the court—filtered through the … Continue reading KING RICHARD
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
The camera swoops over rocky peaks and muddy roads covered in ice and snow. It’s an inhospitable and barren environment, as inviting as the Sahara Desert or the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s wintertime in Wyoming, and it’s about … Continue reading WIND RIVER
In a year where directors are inseparable from the subject of their movies (To The Wonder, Pain & Gain, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, and many more), one rises above the rest of the pack. The Wolf of Wall Street is about Jordan Belfort’s desire to … Continue reading THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Michael J. Cinema 