Michael Casey

Colorado, United States

Film Critic and Beer Reviewer at Boulder Weekly

Film critic for Boulder Weekly Author of BOULDER COUNTY BEER

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Articles

Bring Her Back has plenty of scares but not enough answers

1 week ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Nothing to see here, just a creepy kid (Jonah Wren Phillips) holding a house cat in an empty pool. Courtesy: Ingvar Kenne/A24 What greater hell could exist for a parent than the loss of a child? The lengths they would go to undo what has been done, the bargains they would cut, must be bottomless. Pain that fathomable — even for those who haven’t experienced it — makes for good horror. It roots the supernatural in something real.
‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is a messy movie that feels like a shrug

1 week ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Left to right: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera in The Phoenician Scheme. Courtesy: TPS Productions/Focus Features The two most interesting moments in The Phoenician Scheme — the latest from director Wes Anderson — come at the beginning and end of the movie. As for what happens in between, we’ll get there.
Feted by school children, tossing out a first pitch: Former Israeli hostage grapples with celebrity

2 weeks ago | ksl.com | Michael Casey

BOSTON — Three months after his release from Hamas captivity, Omer Shem Tov stood on the pitcher's mound at a Boston Red Sox game. Surrounded by supporters, he tossed out the first pitch, then raised his arms in celebration. His name flashed on the stadium billboard. The moment was emblematic of the new-found — and for Shem Tov, unsought and at times unsettling — celebrity the 22-year-old has found since his release from 505 days of captivity in the Gaza Strip.
‘Final Reckoning’ closes 30 years of impossible missions

2 weeks ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Courtesy: Paramount Pictures For the past 30 years, Ethan Hunt has had a choice. “Your mission, if you choose to accept.” And he accepts; he always does. But what if Hunt never had a choice to start with? I guess the choice: “Yes or the world dies” limits options.
Women+Film Festival returns to the Sie FilmCenter

2 weeks ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Isabelle Fuhrman and Mena Massoud star in the romantic drama Wish You Were Here directed by Julia Stiles. The movie and director will be honored at this year’s Women+Film Festival. Courtesy: Lionsgate. Some topics never go out of fashion. We really wish they would, but we never seem to be that lucky.
Double Vision: Criterion Collection adds two classics

3 weeks ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Everybody has a friend like Withnail. And everybody’s worked for a Dennis. That’s easy to see. It gets harder when, one day, you stare into the mirror and see either of them looking back. When that day comes, it’s time for a change. Coincidentally, both characters are played by the same actor, Richard E. Grant, in the two movies of significance from writer-director Bruce Robinson. Conveniently, both have been restored and will be available on home video from The Criterion Collection this May.
TCM Classic Film Festival 2025 dispatch

1 month ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Never get out of the boat. Good advice for all involved in 1979’s Apocalypse Now, which screened the 16th TCM Classic Film Festival on 70mm. Courtesy: Zoetrope Studios They don’t make ’em like they used to. That’s a line you’re bound to hear anytime you talk to someone fixated on the yesteryears of cinema. Their position: Movies are a paradise lost. But if you know even the surface lore of some of these projects, then you know they barely got made, even then.
‘The Shrouds’ unearths the persistence of grief

1 month ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Vincent Cassel and Guy Pearce survey the damage of a voyeuristic graveyard in David Cronenberg’s The Shrouds. Courtesy: Janus Films It’s been four years since Karsh lost his wife. It probably feels less, considering Karsh (Vincent Cassel) owns both the graveyard where she is buried and the restaurant next door. That’s where he takes dates and discloses that his beloved resides nearby. It’s also where he points out the plot next to her that’s reserved for him. I’ll say this: at least he’s upfront.
'A Woman of Paris' joins the Criterion Collection

1 month ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Edna Purviance falls for Adolphe Menjou and the high life in 'A Woman of Paris.' Courtesy: The Criterion Collection The year was 1919, and Charles Chaplin, along with Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith and Mary Pickford, formed the distribution company United Artists. Four years later, made with his own money and on his own schedule, Chaplin released his first film for UA, A Woman of Paris — which was neither a comedy nor starred the world-famous actor.
Documentaries for Concerned Citizens

1 month ago | boulderweekly.com | Michael Casey

Gutter punks ask for handouts on the streets of Los Angeles in The Decline of Western Civilization Part III. Courtesy: Shout! Studios “Concerned about what?”That was the question an attendee at the Conference on World Affairs posed after hearing about the theme of the ongoing Boulder Weekly special issue series: A Survival Guide for Concerned Citizens. “Concerned about the planet?” he added. “About the country? About other countries?”I gave it a thought.