Michael Sragow

  • Remembering Pauline Kael

    Greil Marcus, Roger Ebert, Allen Barra, Michael Sragow and Charles Taylor remember the influential critic's caustic wit, sharp opinions and boundless enthusiasm for film and writing.
    September 3, 2001

  • "The Bridge on the River Kwai"

    Two takes on David Lean's epic masterpiece show how vastly different Hollywood's idea of great moviemakers was in 1957.
    By Michael Sragow January 25, 2001

  • We three kings

    The great works of Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola and F.W. Murnau make today's movies look like bags of tricks or boxes of soap.
    By Michael Sragow January 25, 2001

  • Directors from B to Z

    "Panic" filmmaker Henry Bromell talks about low-budget independence, while Robert Zemeckis of "Cast Away" chimes in on big-studio clout.
    By Michael Sragow January 18, 2001

  • Life is like a FedEx box

    Tom Hanks says that until crisis strikes, you always know what you're going to get.
    By Michael Sragow January 12, 2001

  • "The Graduate"

    Dustin Hoffman explains his method, his sequel and other notes behind this sweeping indictment of adulthood -- and swoony vision of triumphant youth.
    By Michael Sragow January 10, 2001

  • An ornery kind of American heroism

    Jason Robards became the most urban of characters, but I'll remember him for his saloon-bred hoarseness and his frontier purpose.
    By Michael Sragow January 4, 2001

  • Pairs of pleasure

    A much-pilloried year really wasn't so bad: Here's a top 10 list that's 17 movies long!
    By Michael Sragow December 29, 2000

  • "Thirteen Days"

    This showdown on the nuclear frontier isn't about the U.S. vs. Cuba and the Soviets -- it's about the Kennedys vs. a vast old-man conspiracy.
    By Michael Sragow December 25, 2000

  • Hostage to suspense

    Russell Crowe is magnetic but the rest of the high-stakes kidnapping drama "Proof of Life" is a nail-biter without heart.
    Read by Michael Sragow December 18, 2000

  • "Wuthering Heights"

    A DVD interview reveals Sir Laurence Olivier's acting advice for this wrenching classic: "The virgin presents the pelvis."
    By Michael Sragow December 14, 2000

  • "You'll shoot your eye out, kid"

    Everything you need to know about the great yuletide standards, from "It's a Wonderful Life" to "A Christmas Story."
    By Michael Sragow December 14, 2000

  • "Deliverance"

    An extra documentary suggests James Dickey wanted someone else to make his movie; give him credit for not squealing like a pig.
    By Michael Sragow December 13, 2000

  • The terror games

    Michael Sragow talks about the Academy Award-winning documentary "One Day in September," in which Palestinian terrorists capture and murder members of the Israeli Olympic team.
    Read by Michael Sragow December 11, 2000

  • "Proof of Life"

    Russell Crowe, all ironclad irony and bedrock honesty, makes competence look sexy in this intriguing action movie.
    By Michael Sragow December 8, 2000

  • Another "Hard Day's Night"

    Producer Walter Shenson tells how he gave director Richard Lester a ticket to ride. (The band just acted naturally.)
    By Michael Sragow December 7, 2000

  • Anarchic youths

    Today the old Beatles flick "A Hard Day's Night" comes off as a satiric fairy tale, but it still has the vigor of a four-man hurricane.
    Read by Michael Sragow December 4, 2000

  • "A demented peacock"

    Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush talks about "Quills," playing a great pervert and what's so funny about sadism.
    By Michael Sragow November 30, 2000

  • Robert Downey Jr. deserves our love and protection

    By Michael Sragow
    By   November 30, 2000

  • Robert Downey Jr. deserves our love and protection

    The most extravagantly gifted actor of his generation is also a drug addict who has harmed no one. Jailing him is as barbaric as treating the sick with leeches.
    By Michael Sragow November 29, 2000

  • Muscular narrative

    How Philip Kaufman turned his new Marquis de Sade film, "Quills," into "Shakespeare in Love" meets "Silence of the Lambs."
    Read by Michael Sragow November 27, 2000

  • A plucking good time!

    DVD News: "Chicken Run" is the instant animated classic that brought "The Great Escape" down on the farm with a bunch of intrepid chickens.
    Read by Michael Sragow November 20, 2000

  • "The Harder They Come"

    Perry Henzell's gleeful rabble-rouser about a reggae outlaw returns with some of its original luster restored -- and then there's that killer soundtrack.
    By Michael Sragow November 20, 2000

  • Charlie's dude

    Director McG on why his "Charlie's Angels" is a kung fu "The Breakfast Club" with one part "Grease," some "Singin' in the Rain" and a bit of "Rocky." Or something like that.
    By Michael Sragow November 16, 2000

  • "The Perfect Storm"

    A deluxe crash course in digital production -- and one that helps explain why director Wolfgang Petersen just couldn't grasp the subtlety of Sebastian Junger's book.
    By Michael Sragow November 14, 2000
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