Michael Sragow

Deep Focus: Eye in the Sky

March 10, 2016

Closed circuit: Gavin Hood crafts a tense, globe-hopping thriller that gives full berth to the moral complexities of drone warfare

Interview: Jan Troell

By Michael Sragow

March 4, 2016

Pioneer spirit: the Swedish auteur speaks about his classic tales of unsettled lands, The Emigrants and The New Land

Studies in Light and Place

By Michael Sragow

March 3, 2016

The production designer Jack Fisk on catching life unawares with Terrence Malick

Deep Focus: Zootopia

By Michael Sragow

March 3, 2016

Animal kingdom: Disney's imaginative animators have fashioned a light-hearted but detailed social commentary

Deep Focus: Triple 9

By Michael Sragow

February 25, 2016

Graceless under fire: John Hillcoat's dirty-cop story perks up with the shootouts but fades as a drama

Deep Focus: The Witch

By Michael Sragow

February 18, 2016

Pilgrim's progress: Robert Eggers's tale of religious fervor and the supernatural is atmospheric and authentic

Deep Focus: A War

By Michael Sragow

February 11, 2016

Land of confusion: Danish director Tobias Lindholm reworks the war movie with another immersive film built up from the details of experience

Deep Focus: Hail, Caesar!

By Michael Sragow

February 4, 2016

Let us now praise businessmen: the Coens' whisper-thin caper keeps an ironic remove while lampooning the system

Deep Focus: Bleak Street

By Michael Sragow

January 21, 2016

Arturo Ripstein's ripped-from-the-headlines murder yarn fails to pierce the surface of its grim details

Deep Focus: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

By Michael Sragow

January 14, 2016

What happens when the maximalist behind the Transformers franchise applies his whisper-delicate touch to politicized recent history?

Deep Focus: Chimes at Midnight

By Michael Sragow

January 7, 2016

His majesty: Orson Welles's adroit vision of Shakespeare has a vitality and richness rare among adaptations

Review: The Clan

By Michael Sragow

January 4, 2016

(Pablo Trapero, Argentina/Spain, 2015)

Deep Focus: The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum

By Michael Sragow

December 30, 2015

Kenji Mizoguchi’s exquisite melodrama explores the sorrowful lot of an actor's wife—but never at her expense

Deep Focus: The Revenant

By Michael Sragow

December 24, 2015

The elements of style: Alejandro G. Iñárritu's pioneer revenge saga claws its way to the snowy ends of the earth, but to what end?

Deep Focus: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

By Michael Sragow

December 17, 2015

Rey of light: the anticipation might focus on J.J. Abrams as he labors to orchestrate a sequel for all time—but keep your eye on the new star

Deep Focus: The Big Short

By Michael Sragow

December 9, 2015

Street knowledge: comedic maven Adam McKay drills deep to show that there's no such thing as an idiot-proof economy

Deep Focus: Macbeth

By Michael Sragow

December 3, 2015

Strangling Shakespeare: an oversimplified adaptation leaves Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard with too little to work with

Deep Focus: Creed

By Michael Sragow

November 25, 2015

Comeback kid: Michael B. Jordan—and Ryan Coogler—come out swinging in this new tale of the ring

Deep Focus: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

By Michael Sragow

November 19, 2015

Matter of trust: Jennifer Lawrence takes flight in Francis Lawrence's gritty conclusion to the franchise, which doesn't go upbeat for the downstroke

Deep Focus: The 33

By Michael Sragow

November 12, 2015

Way down in the hole: the star-studded retelling of the Chilean mining accident in 2010 leaves its character development in the dark