The shadow of Alfred Hitchcock looms large in cinema. So much so that it’s hard to divorce his stylistic innovations from movies that may or may not have been influenced by him. Take Blow the Man Down, a recent release currently … Continue reading Two for the Master
With shelter-in-place orders here to stay for the foreseeable future, moviegoing remains a homebound activity. That’s fine and all, there are more movies to see via streaming than we could watch in several lifetimes, but a wealth of options can … Continue reading BLACK NARCISSUS
In honor of Arbor Day—the holiday to go out a plant a tree—I give you this short film: Trees to Tame the Wind. First, a few words. Released in 1939, Trees to Tame the Wind was a product of the United States Department … Continue reading TREES TO TAME THE WIND
As the coronavirus pandemic approaches its projected peak, the need to stay indoors takes on a renewed urgency. But, for a good many, self-isolation is less than a luxury. Escape is needed, and there are fewer art forms that offer … Continue reading On Familiar Ground: Paul Schrader and the Death Impulse
Set to screen once more along Hollywood Boulevard, the 11th annual TCM Classic Film Festival (TCMFF) was canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the cable channel has pivoted to a “Special Home Edition” of the festival, April 16-19.Not … Continue reading A Community in the Dark: Dispatches from the TCM Classic Film Festival
For Robbie Robertson, it all begins with a guitar. A ’56 Fender Stratocaster, the one he wrote his first two commercial songs with: “Hey Boba Lou” and “Someone Like You.” Those were for Ronnie Hawkins, an early rock ‘n’ roll … Continue reading ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND
Who is Frank talking to? That was the question posed as a group of us exited The Irishman. One was a film programmer, the other four: film professors—the fixating kind. But the question was valid. Who is Frank Sheeran (Robert De … Continue reading THE IRISHMAN
Martin Scorsese’s 25th feature film, The Irishman, is a masterpiece. A work of maturity and atonement from one of cinema’s greatest talents. And though it seems foolish to parse this mammoth piece of work, the joys of the whole can … Continue reading This week in FILM — THE IRISHMAN and BABETTE’S FEAST
It must have come as a surprise to filmgoers in the mid-90s that the next Martin Scorsese feature film would focus on the childhood of the 14th Dalai Lama. Then again, it probably came as a similar surprise in the … Continue reading KUNDUN
Michael J. Cinema 
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