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
It opens like any other western: Sepia soaked still photographs of settlers in wagons traversing a wild frontier while title cards credit the actors, the filmmakers, and the dedication. Then the pictures begin to move. In the background, a lone rider … Continue reading BUCK AND THE PREACHER
The colors belong to the French flag, the corresponding ideas of the Republic: blue, white, and red—liberty, equality, and fraternity. For France, these colors, these ideas, are political. They guide the nation the way Jefferson’s decree, “We hold these truths … Continue reading THREE COLORS
The man is silent. He removes a welder’s helmet and reveals his face: tired, soaked in sweat and soot. He pulls a chair to the center of the room and sits, taking a cigarette out and lighting it. A crinkle … Continue reading THIEF
On this week’s edition of After Image, I chat with Metro Arts’ producer Veronica Straight-Lingo about Three Thousand Years of Longing (out now in theaters), and the newly restored Buck and the Preacher (available on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection). … Continue reading
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
Remember those old movies? The ones where a couple drives down the road, only they aren’t driving, they’re sitting in a car on some studio lot. And that’s not a road behind them; it’s a rear projection of road. Looks … Continue reading ROME OPEN CITY (Roma città aperta)
There’s no such thing as an American anymore. No Hispanics, no Japanese, no Blacks, no whites, no nothing. It’s just rich people and poor people.” That’s the line David (a slick and oily Jeff Goldblum) feeds drug kingpin Hector (René … Continue reading DEEP COVER
On this week’s edition of After Image, I chat with Metro Arts’ producer Veronica Straight-Lingo about the new documentary, Bitterbrush (playing theatrically in limited release on On Demand through all the usual providers), Cha Cha Real Smooth (also in limited … Continue reading
Michael J. Cinema 
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