What in the world is House of Gucci about? On the surface House of Gucci is inspired by the true story of the Gucci family, a one-time dynasty that fell once family members started backstabbing each other with backroom dealings and buyouts. But what … Continue reading HOUSE OF GUCCI
Stories have trained us to expect life to progress in a linear fashion: Setup, complication, and resolution—preferably in that order and ideally with some connective tissue. In reality, it’s a little more circuitous. The connections are there, but some distance … Continue reading AMERICAN WOMAN
The average viewer may not know who J. Paul Getty was. If they do recognize the name, it’s most likely from his extensive collection of art, housed in Santa Monica’s Getty Center or the Getty Villa, located just up the … Continue reading ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
Just in time for college football bowl games and the NFL playoffs, Concussion tells the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), the Nigerian-born forensic pathologist who discovered and named chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in the brains of several recently deceased NFL … Continue reading CONCUSSION
Of all the people to get stranded on Mars, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is the lucky one. Smart, resourceful, cunning, and, most importantly, optimistic, Watney can grow potatoes using human feces, manufacture water simply and reconfigure every possible piece of … Continue reading THE MARTIAN
A friend of mine says, “Art’s like a shark. You’ve got to keep swimming, or else you drown.” Keep bouncing around. People always ask me, “What’s the plan?” There is no plan. I go to what fascinates me next. I … Continue reading Born On This Day — November 30, 1937
Working as a screenwriter, I always thought that “Film is a collaborative business” only constituted half of the actual phrase. From a screenwriter’s point-of-view, the correct rendering should be “Film is a collaborative business: bend over.” —David Mamet I’m a … Continue reading Born On This Day — November 30
The East is a domestic terrorist group that terrorizes big businesses and corporations that commit heinous acts against nature in the desire for greater profits and lower costs. We are introduced to their mission statement, a YouTube video the organization … Continue reading THE EAST
Stoker is a coming-of-age tale of a young girl’s sexuality wrapped up in a horror movie. Actually, it’s really a young girl’s coming of age story wrapped up in a pastiche of Hitchcock films. Directed by Korean auteur Park Chan-Wook, Stoker is his … Continue reading STOKER
Michael J. Cinema 