"What Happened To The Movies?"
my film criticism & entertainment reporting
As seen in... Cinema Retro, The Weekend Read by PREVO, Below The Line, The Columbia Spectator, The Michigan Daily, etc.
![the textbook approach of Gandhi (1982), Richard Attenborough [2/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_1bf84f2cf4f84dfcb5c385f3f806da3d~mv2.webp/v1/fill/w_739,h_302,al_c,lg_1,q_30,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_1bf84f2cf4f84dfcb5c385f3f806da3d~mv2.webp)
![the textbook approach of Gandhi (1982), Richard Attenborough [2/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_1bf84f2cf4f84dfcb5c385f3f806da3d~mv2.webp/v1/fill/w_739,h_302,al_c,lg_1,q_90,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_1bf84f2cf4f84dfcb5c385f3f806da3d~mv2.webp)
![the triumph of tech over art in Jurassic Punk (2022) [3.5/5 stars]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_81454044c5dd477e8bff8a56c99e2fbe~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_2287,h_1000,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_81454044c5dd477e8bff8a56c99e2fbe~mv2.png)
![the triumph of tech over art in Jurassic Punk (2022) [3.5/5 stars]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_81454044c5dd477e8bff8a56c99e2fbe~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_3760,h_1644,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_81454044c5dd477e8bff8a56c99e2fbe~mv2.png)
![the wasteland texture of Escape from New York (1981), John Carpenter [4/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_2e2d752af45c43c1940bf35b1fc8cb84~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1920,h_839,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_2e2d752af45c43c1940bf35b1fc8cb84~mv2.png)
![the wasteland texture of Escape from New York (1981), John Carpenter [4/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_2e2d752af45c43c1940bf35b1fc8cb84~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1920,h_839,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_2e2d752af45c43c1940bf35b1fc8cb84~mv2.png)
![Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023), Christopher McQuarrie [3/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_efdede2fa78246e09280df7bcdb3aa00~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1581,h_691,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_efdede2fa78246e09280df7bcdb3aa00~mv2.png)
![Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023), Christopher McQuarrie [3/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_efdede2fa78246e09280df7bcdb3aa00~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1581,h_691,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_efdede2fa78246e09280df7bcdb3aa00~mv2.png)
![Ronin (1998), John Frankenheimer [3/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_f342fff863974a90b4c61fc1ad08baf0~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_2374,h_1000,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_f342fff863974a90b4c61fc1ad08baf0~mv2.png)
![Ronin (1998), John Frankenheimer [3/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_f342fff863974a90b4c61fc1ad08baf0~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_3448,h_1453,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_f342fff863974a90b4c61fc1ad08baf0~mv2.png)
![Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003), Tsai Ming-liang [4/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_72bd885aa8b6464e8a4693824839dc61~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1600,h_700,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_72bd885aa8b6464e8a4693824839dc61~mv2.png)
![Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003), Tsai Ming-liang [4/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_72bd885aa8b6464e8a4693824839dc61~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1600,h_700,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_72bd885aa8b6464e8a4693824839dc61~mv2.png)
![Z (1969), Costa-Gavras [4.5/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_b41a8a844fa34d22becfff849b9ece01~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1600,h_700,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_b41a8a844fa34d22becfff849b9ece01~mv2.png)
![Z (1969), Costa-Gavras [4.5/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_b41a8a844fa34d22becfff849b9ece01~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1600,h_700,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_b41a8a844fa34d22becfff849b9ece01~mv2.png)
![The Square (2017), Ruben Östlund [3/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_2d3f4488328f4ab185aa88a8b036a872~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_2048,h_895,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_2d3f4488328f4ab185aa88a8b036a872~mv2.png)
![The Square (2017), Ruben Östlund [3/5]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_2d3f4488328f4ab185aa88a8b036a872~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_2048,h_895,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_2d3f4488328f4ab185aa88a8b036a872~mv2.png)
![R.M.N. (2022), directed by Cristian Mungiu [4/5] - HIFF](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_27f7aa9af28f4f6a8be782ea96ef5f50~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_960,h_420,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_27f7aa9af28f4f6a8be782ea96ef5f50~mv2.png)
![R.M.N. (2022), directed by Cristian Mungiu [4/5] - HIFF](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/55d865_27f7aa9af28f4f6a8be782ea96ef5f50~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_960,h_420,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/55d865_27f7aa9af28f4f6a8be782ea96ef5f50~mv2.png)
my taste in movies
I love the moody vérité style of Cassavetes, the minimalist noir of Jean-Pierre Melville, the epic scope of Lean, and that mix of post-60s hippie auteurs and film school movie brats that formed New Hollywood. For directors working today, I like Claire Denis, the Safdie Brothers, Paolo Sorrentino, Emma Seligman, David Cronenberg, Cristian Mungiu, Nicolas Winding Refn, Hong Sang-soo.
At Columbia I took up media studies and cultural criticism. Here I was exposed to the great 20th C. cultural critics: Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael, Paul Schrader, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Robert B. Ray. Although I disagree with many of their takes, Sontag’s "Against Interpretation" formalism and Kael’s rejection of sappy moralism and eye for creative "trash" became the bedrock of my critical lens for movies.
In 2022, I watched and reviewed a new movie every single day. I'm a writer and producer in TV now but log new movies + reviews often. The posts below fall into three categories: my quick takes, full film reviews, and essays. Read more on my Letterboxd: @msxviii