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
Adapted from the 2012 novel by Dennis Lehane, Live By Night is a great American epic stuck inside a misguided movie. Written for the screen, produced, and directed by Ben Affleck, who also stars, Live by Night starts overseas in the trenches of World … Continue reading LIVE BY NIGHT
The tower itself is a pinnacle of engineering. Rising 40 stories into the air, it curves slightly inward, like a finger curling towards the palm, as do the other four towers currently being erected—like the concrete hand of a god. … Continue reading HIGH-RISE
Did he train you? Did he rehearse you? Did he tell you exactly what to do, what to say? You were a very apt pupil too, weren’t you? Scottie’s questions at the climax of Vertigo do more to illuminate the inner workings of the … Continue reading THE GIRL
Michael J. Cinema 