Where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves … And where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world. Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces 2008’s Iron Man may have been a small … Continue reading AVENGERS: END GAME
Every studio should be allowed a dud now and then. Trouble is: money is involved, and those holding the purse strings rarely have patience when a flop falls into their hands. Laika, the stop-motion animation studio known for Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), and Kubo … Continue reading MISSING LINK
Our fathers were our models for God. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell you about God? —Tyler Durden, Fight Club When journalist Bill Moyers interviewed narratologist Joseph Campbell in 1988, he asked why hero stories could be found … Continue reading GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
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
Breakfast With Curtis – Curtis is a shy young boy who lives next door to his complete opposite, Syd. Syd is a middle-aged bookseller, who spends most of his days drinking red wine and waxing poetically about this and that, but he needs some money, and that is where Curtis comes in. He manages to convince Curtis to shoot commercials for his book business, which he does, and Curtis is exposed to a whole new world through Syd. Free of cliches and irony, this small chamber piece is light and fun with an awful lot of heart. Starring Theo Green, … Continue reading Movie Beat – 12.06.13
Star Trek Into Darkness begins with an action set piece, dropping the audience right in the middle of chaos. Reminiscent of a James Bond or an Indiana Jones pre-credit sequence, Spock is trying to diffuse an erupting volcano while Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy run from an angry mob. Director J.J. Abrams and writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof beg you not to ask any questions about what in the hell is going on, just go with it. Why are these natives chasing Kirk and Bones? Because Kirk stole something of theirs. What did he steal? Who knows, probably some significant religious scrolls. How is Spock going to stop this volcano from erupting? He has a super ice-cube of course! Details are not the important part of this scene, what is important is the presence of action. It lets the viewers know right up front what kind of movie they are in for. Abrams and company present us with a bargain, “We will give you two hours of action, just please don’t ask any questions.”
33 Postcards – Mei Mei (Zhu Lin) is a Chinese orphan with a sponsor down in Australia, Dean Randall (Guy Pearce). They write back and forth for ten years, and Mei Mei grows up dreaming of Dean’s perfect life, his perfect family, and the perfect skyline of Sydney. Her choir travels to Australia for the Australian Choir Festival, and Mei Mei uses this trip to visit her beloved pen pal. When she meets Dean, things aren’t quite so hunky-dory as he is a convict with a very shady past. Mei Mei still sees some family as a hell of a lot better than no … Continue reading Movie Beat – 05.17.13
Michael J. Cinema 
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