Every year, the Australian-based online quarterly, Senses of Cinema, invites writers from all over the globe to submit their selections for the best movies of the year. The top 10 you are probably familiar with at this point, but the following … Continue reading SENSES OF CINEMA: 2022 World Cinema Poll
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
Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett) can’t sleep. She can’t focus either. She once was an architect, an incredible one, some called her “genius,” but she gave that up 15 years ago. Now, with no outlet for her energy, it explodes out … Continue reading WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE
By its very nature, cinema is a collaborative art. As Orson Welles said, “A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army.” To whom then does a movie belong? In his 1954 essay, … Continue reading HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT
2014, like any year prior to it, was a magnificent year for moviegoing. Granted, there were the duds, the sequels, the franchises, and, once again, a Michael Bay Transformers movie took the number one spot at the box office, but they pale in comparison to the slew of inventive, creative, and original movies that found their way on to screens big and small. Depending on who you read, there were somewhere between 600 and 900 movies released in 2014. Certainly no shortage of options for adventurous moviegoers. Of those 600 to 900 new releases, I clocked in with 200 (an arbitrary goal I set for myself last January, … Continue reading 2014: A Year of Moviegoing
My plan B has always been to make a film about people who talk a lot. —Richard Linklater Continue reading Born On This Day — July 30, 1960
Since his 1991 debut, Slacker, writer/director Richard Linklater has quietly become the most reflective director in American cinema. In the documentary Double Play: Jack Benning and Richard Linklater (Gabe Klinger, 2013), Linklater casually outlines his philosophical thesis: “I think ultimately the most interesting view … Continue reading BOYHOOD
2012 was a magnificent year for the movies. They are more diverse, more personal, and more magical than ever. Yes, there was the onslaught of the usual blockbuster fare, sequels left and right, and the mighty flops that were John Carter and Battleship, but there was so much more to discover in theaters this year. It is quite possible that 2012 was one of the best years for the cinema, maybe not on par with 1939 or 1960, but time will tell which of these stories permeate the collective consciousness and hang around and continue to inform our experiences. 2012 also saw a great amount of cinema history as … Continue reading 2012: A Year At The Movies
Michael J. Cinema 