Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson is a regular writer for Sight & Sound, the Village Voice, In These Times and LA Weekly, and has contributed to The Believer, The Guardian, the Boston Phoenix, Film Comment, Moving Image Source, IFC.com, Chicago Reader, the American Prospect, Cinema Scope and many other publications.
He is the author of Exile Cinema: Filmmakers at Work Beyond Hollywood (SUNY Press, 2008), Flickipedia: Perfect Films for Every Occasion, Holiday, Mood, Ordeal and Whim (with Laurel Shifrin; Chicago Review Press, 2007), Ghosts in the Machine: Speculating on the Dark Heart of Pop Cinema (Limelight, 2000) and Blue Velvet (BFI, 1997), as well as the novel Hemingway Cutthroat.
His website is www.mike-atkinson.com.
He occasionally tweets at @atkinsonzero.
Online articles
Island of Lost Souls DVD
The 1935 film of H.G. Wells’s Dr Moreau story is disturbing and subtextually explosive, writes Michael Atkinson. from S&S June 2012
The Mist in the Palm Trees Lost and found
The Mist in the Palm Trees creates a haunting found-footage montage of 20th-century history, says Michael Atkinson. from S&S November 2011
Face to Face DVD
An intense, stripped-bare psychodrama, Face to Face reminds us why Bergman’s films are essential viewing, says Michael Atkinson. from S&S October 2011
The Tree of Life Review
Intimate childhood memoir? Absurd sacred bluster? Michael Atkinson parses Terrence Malick’s ambitious Rorschach blot. from S&S August 2011
Szindbád DVD
Michael Atkinson marvels at the swoonsome beauty of a revived gem of 1970s Hungarian cinema. from S&S August 2011
The American Review
Anton Corbijn’s fastidious, retro-ish Euro-espionage thriller is written, acted and directed as if it were still 1974. Only George Clooney could have got it made, says Michael Atkinson. from S&S December 2010
The Thin Red Line DVD
Michael Atkinson hails Terrence Malick’s elegiac, mainstream-defying war epic, now given the Criterion treatment with extras that clear up a little of the mystery – and add to the mythology. from S&S December 2010
In the magic hour: 3 silent classics by Josef von Sternberg DVD
Before talkies, before Dietrich, Josef von Sternberg was a master of silent filmmaking, writes Michael Atkinson. from S&S October 2010
The best film books Survey
51 leading critics and writers nominate their top five films books. A clear-cut top five emerges – and film writing may have found its Citizen Kane. from S&S June 2010
Invictus Review
Clint Eastwood's Nelson Mandela sports drama throws race-relations sanctimony like so many pies, says Michael Atkinson. from S&S February 2010
The Informant! Review
Matt Damon is at his elusive best in Steven Soderbergh’s discombobulating corporate-crime thriller. Take Michael Atkinson’s word for it. from S&S December 2009
A Serious Man Film of the month
While true to the Coens’ absurdist spirit, A Serious Man - unusually for them - features a realistic, empathetic character in a realistic setting, the suburban Midwest in the 1960s. It’s a fascinating mix, says Michael Atkinson. from S&S October 2010
Gangsters special, part 3: Thunder roads Feature
Since the 1960s, independent-minded US film-makers have been revisiting the Great Depression. Michael Atkinson explores the era’s enduring appeal. from S&S August 2009