Michael Barrett
PopMatters
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Past articles by Michael:
The DIY Effect on Self-Funded Director Juleen Compton's Dramas
Juleen Compton's little-known '60s films, Truffaut-effected 'Stranded' and Mekas'-affirming 'The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean', have been lovingly restored thanks to her work ethic in a completely different field. → Read More
Melvin Van Peebles Ignored All That Dumb-Ass Safe Advice
Melvin Van Peebles' life and art are about breaking the rules, ignoring society's → Read More
When Golden Age TV Films Screamed About Gender Roles
In these three restored Gothic films from Kino Lorber, gender roles and their social undertones feed into the template of paranoid thrillers. → Read More
Danny Kaye Is the Most Motley Fool Ever in 'The Court Jester'
Danny Kaye is equally adept with vine-swinging, dancing, and hypnotizing as he is with the tongue-twisting patter that was another of his specialties. → Read More
King Hu's 'Raining in the Mountain' Is Rich with Gorgeous Atmosphere
The quiet, extended scenes in King Hu's Raining in the Mountain are full of beauty as well as tension and anticipation → Read More
2020's Best Classic Films on Blu-ray
Many formats have come and gone and streaming competes, to a degree, but these best classic films offered on Blu-ray in 2020 prove irresistible. → Read More
Jean Renoir's 'Toni'
Renoir's 'Toni' is a grim piece of work saturated in summer sunshine and tree-speckled shadows. → Read More
Douglas Sirk's Oppressive and Beautiful Worlds
That today's viewers can't easily fall into the fantasy of Rock Hudson as an "Indian" in Taza Son of Cochise -- one of three films discussed here -- provides its own distancing and underlining of the themes that make it Sirkian, the rampant phoniness used as a vehicle for something true. → Read More
Laurel & Hardy's Genius of Everyday Chaos
The opposite of the idealized embodiments of masculinity seen in male cinema heroes Hapless Man-children Laurel & Hardy are creatures of the id. → Read More
Huxters and Do-Gooders and the "Forbidden Fruit" Film Series
Have a peak behind the censored curtain, if you dare, with Dwain Esper's Marihuana and Narcotic, Crane Wilbur's Tomorrow's Children and Harry J. Revier's Child Bride. These exploitation films are certain to provoke. → Read More
Pudovkin Makes the Revolution Human: The Bolshevik Trilogy
Inspired by D.W. Griffith's Intolerance, Vsevolod Pudovkin would leave his chemistry studies for cinema. His films Mother, The End of St. Petersburg, and Storm over Asia are presented in The Bolshevik Trilogy. → Read More
Diabolically Delon: Three French Thrillers
French thrillers Diabolically Yours, Farewell Friend and Un Flic star the handsome and controversial tough guy, Alain Delon, whose off-screen persona was not unlike his hard bastard characters. → Read More
Hitchcock, Quietly Suspenseful
Hitchcock's silent films demonstrate that he was not only a master of visual storytelling but confidently made silents as though they had sound effects. → Read More
10 Classic Films Making Restored Blu-ray Debuts in 2019
Classic films never before available in such spectacular shape comprise these ten recommended Blu-rays. They are but the tip of the year's big Blu iceberg, if you will, but they're an excellent starting point for your deep dive into the best classic films available. → Read More
Silently Yours: The 10 Best Silent Films on Blu-ray in 2019
In our era of relentless "noise", if you will, there's a growing appreciation for silent film, as seen in the rise of festivals and the flourishing availability of silent film on Blu-ray. Fans and initiates are certain to enjoy Michael Barrett's 10 best silent films released on Blu-ray this year. → Read More
'Ad Astra' Says Goodbye to the Great White God
At its better moments, James Gray and Dan Bradley's Ad Astra brings forth larger themes beyond the usual space action-thriller. → Read More
Followed on a foggy night, a menacing voice on the telephone, trapped in an elevator... Doris Day's Kit Preston verges on a nervous breakdown in Midnight Lace.
Followed on a foggy night, a menacing voice on the telephone, trapped in an elevator... Doris Day's Kit Preston verges on a nervous breakdown in Midnight Lace. → Read More
Slavery, Piracy, and Shirtless Men in Silent Film, 'Old Ironsides'
Kino Lorber's release of Old Ironsides offers derring-do with cannons firing and masts breaking off and hundreds of extras swarming all over each other's ships. → Read More
That Boy Ain't Right: 'The Reincarnation of Peter Proud'
There's something about The Reincarnation of Peter Proud that keeps it lodged in the memory like a nasty splinter. → Read More
That Boy Ain't Right: 'The Reincarnation of Peter Proud'
There's something about The Reincarnation of Peter Proud that keeps it lodged in the memory like a nasty splinter. → Read More