Aging and acclaimed writer Walter has died by his own hand. He leaves behind three wives, a friend, and a very large, very un-neutered Great Dane: Apollo. How Apollo (Bing) came to Walter (Bill Murray) is part of Walter’s mythology. … Continue reading THE FRIEND
The Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) turns 21 this year. If it were a person, it could order a drink. Frankly, BIFF could probably use one, with the sword of Sundance hanging over its head. And while questions of film … Continue reading BIFF Marches On: Previewing the 2025 Boulder International Film Festival
A jitterbug contest. Hot rods drag race on a mountain road. A violent car crash. A woman wanders the Hollywood Hills with a head injury. A man recounts a dream of meeting a monster living behind a diner dumpster. A film … Continue reading MULHOLLAND DRIVE
Reporting from the Toronto International Film Festival. There’s been a shooting at the school. Those might be the worst words a parent can hear. Words too many parents have heard in recent years. Amy Carr (Naomi Watts) hears them while … Continue reading LAKEWOOD
You may think you know my story,” Ophelia (Daisy Ridley) tells us. And for most of us, we think we do. She is Ophelia, daughter of Polonius (Dominic Mafham), brother of Laertes (Tom Felton), and girlfriend to Hamlet (George MacKay). … Continue reading OPHELIA
Before you can fix something, you must first take it apart. Before you can be reborn, you must first be destroyed. That line of thinking motivates director Jean-Marc Vallée’s film, Demolition, a movie that focuses on the self-destruction required to survive … Continue reading DEMOLITION
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 