M. Leary

To The Wonder (Malick, 2013)

Curator Magazine posted my review of To The Wonder last week. It was a delight to write for them. But more could have been said about the O’Keefe orchid and succulent shots, the shot focus on the mirror image of the unicorn in one of the medieval “Lady and the Unicorn” tapestries, the Lorica of St. Patrick, […]

M. Leary

Man With A Movie Camera (Conversations about the S&S Top Ten Greatest Films)

(Join Jeffrey Overstreet and Michael Leary as they discuss the Top Ten films from the recent Sight & Sound Greatest Films poll. Visit the “Sight & Sounds Greatest Films Conversation” tag for previous installments.) ML: This was an interesting biographical experience. I haven’t seen this film for many years, long enough that I think I […]

M. Leary

A Missional Imagination

“The term ‘imagination’ in what I take to be its truest sense refers to a mental faculty that some people have used and thought about with the utmost seriousness. The sense of the verb “to imagine” contains the full richness of the verb ‘to see.’ To imagine is to see most clearly, familiarly, and understandingly […]

M. Leary

Favorite Films of 2012

This was an interesting year. Through some quirks of distribution, I was not able to see Petzold’s Barbara, which is the film I was looking forward to the most. I also didn’t get a chance to see Tabu or This is Not a Film. From what I gather, all three of these are challenging films that fit neatly in […]

M. Leary

The Passion of Joan of Arc (Conversations about the S&S Top Ten Greatest Films)

(Join Jeffrey Overstreet and Michael Leary as they discuss the Top Ten films from the recent Sight & Sound Greatest Films poll. Visit the “Sight & Sounds Greatest Films Conversation” tag for previous installments.) ML: I have watched The Passion of Joan of Arc many times over the years, but since it has been a while I […]

M. Leary

The Loneliest Planet (Loktev, 2011)

The Loneliest Planet does a great deal with very little. The story of this young engaged couple taking a guided four day tour of the sparse wonders of Georgian geology is playful at first. It is a pleasant evocation of that stage in marriage that recalls the sense of abandon that compelled my wife and […]

M. Leary

Favored TV Moments of 2012

I resist the urge to kill my television for several reasons. First, it was really expensive. Second, since I am selective about the time I allot to the television universe, I very often see things worthy of said time. Third, every rationale I have seen for the “kill your television” bluster is some variation on […]

M. Leary

Holy Motors (Carax, 2012)

Holy Motors lends itself to conversation about identity and all the slippery little details we cobble together to make sense of ourselves and our relationships. Father, daughter, elder, voyeur, employee, companion, uncle, etc… There is a Confucian arithmetic to the way Lavant’s character travels across so many different relationships in this troubling riot of a film, […]

M. Leary

Skyfall (Mendes, 2012)

“Let the sky fall” The Bond title sequence is always a pop culture stunt in the best sense of the term. The selection of musician generally targets those already well-embedded in our aural memory. Then flat, avant-garde images of violence and sex in equal measure are dribbled over these familiar voices and/or orchestrations. Guns, bullets, […]