Micah Rickard

As someone focused on media / cultural criticism, I hate how absolutely abundant and overt the need for such criticism has become

Just phenomenal work here

Everybody Digs Bill Evans (and so do I) — micah rickard Movie review of Grant Gee's Everybody Digs Bill Evans starring Anders Danielsen Lie. A glimpse of the artist in grief and addiction, a rhythmic, stylish, and constrained film with a strong performance...

2026 Berlinale #14. Grant Gee's EVERYBODY DIGS BILL EVANS navigates the biopic minefield to create a stylish glimpse at Bill Evans.

"The occasional visual fury is pulled back by Anders Danielsen Lie's acting... a wise fit for a script of tacit responses."

www.micahrickard.com/film/everybo...

The Trump Administration Goes to War, by Any Memes Necessary

I wrote about the White House’s nihilistic war-meme videos [giftie] www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/a...

Heysel 85 and the Collapse of Political Ineptitude — micah rickard Movie review of Teodora Ana Mihai's Heysel 85, a political thriller based on real events, starring Violet Braeckman and Matteo Simoni. The farce of political egotism collapses in scandal and death.

2026 Berlinale #13. I found HEYSEL 85's blend of archival footage and recreation potent.

"In many ways, Mihai’s film feels like In the Loop... if every ounce of humor were vacuumed out of the satire. It’s too real, too chilling, to elicit a laugh."

www.micahrickard.com/film/heysel-85

A Prayer for the Dying Falls on Deaf Ears — micah rickard Movie review of Dara Van Dusen's A Prayer for the Dying, a grim Western-horror hybrid tracking the spread of disease through a small village.

2026 Berlinale #12. The tonal clash of A PRAYER FOR THE DYING stops the film dead in its tracks.

"It’s too earthbound to be intriguingly hellish; too fixated on the supernatural to succeed as a Western; too vague and static to provide a character study."

www.micahrickard.com/film/a-praye...

Dao Presents a Glimpse of Diaspora and Reconnection — micah rickard Movie review of Alain Gomis' Dao, a patient and lovely portrait of African diaspora, reconnection, and the shifting of culture across generations.

2026 Berlinale #11. Alain Gomis' DAO dances on the border of fiction and reality.

"As Dao gently interrogates the family dynamics and how they change with generations, Gomis frames the events with a fluid camera."

www.micahrickard.com/film/dao-2026

Australia grants asylum to 5 members of the Iranian women's soccer team Australia has granted asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were in the country for a tournament when the Iran war began.

Australia granted asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war began, a government minister said.

We Are All Strangers: A Patient Wonder of Belonging — micah rickard Movie review of Anthony Chen's We Are All Strangers, a follow up to The Breaking Ice, starring Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler

2026 Berlinale #10. Another great one: Anthony Chen's WE ARE ALL STRANGERS.

"Every time the film diverges, it shocks the expectations, but it consistently allows us the space and time to settle into each new path."

www.micahrickard.com/film/we-are-...

A Child of My Own Is a Disastrous Lie — micah rickard Movie review of A Child of My Own, a deceptive documentary whose blend of reality and reenactment traces the ill-conceived attempt of a young woman to fake a pregnancy.

2026 Berlinale #9. As I watched the documentary A CHILD OF MY OWN, I was discomfited by a question: Is this evil?

"Any commentary that the film is striving to make is dismantled by the abortive choices in form and perspective."

www.micahrickard.com/film/a-child...

The Recovery Drama At the Sea Is Overly Familiar — micah rickard Movie review of Kornél Mundruczó's At the Sea, an addiction recovery drama starring Amy Adams that does frustratingly little to reinvigorate a familiar arc.

2026 Berlinale #8. AT THE SEA boasts a strong performance from Amy Adams and little else.

"If you’re looking for something more profound, unsettling, or transformative, however, At the Sea may leave you feeling a bit marooned."

www.micahrickard.com/film/at-the-...

Performance and Survival As Political Acts in Yellow Letters — micah rickard Movie review of İlker Çatak's Yellow Letters, which won the top prize at the 2026 Berlinale. A political thriller situated as a marriage drama, as two outspoken artists are suppressed by an authoritar...

2026 Berlinale #7. YELLOW LETTERS took the fest's top prize and presents a critical examination of how political conflict forcefully becomes personal through the lens of its central marriage.

www.micahrickard.com/film/yellow-...

Tutu Proclaims its Subject’s Spiritual Energy — micah rickard Review of Sam Pollard's documentary Tutu, following the South African archbishop and anti-apartheid activist. A film that captures Tutu's energy and insists his political and religious sides were of t...

2026 Berlinale #6. Sam Pollard's documentary TUTU.

"Pollard’s film understands that evil spiritual powers are entwined with political powers... that politics as a game for the accumulation and preservation of power is antithetical to politics as liberation."

www.micahrickard.com/film/tutu-2026

Beneath Rosebush Pruning’s Garish Veneer is a Vapid Emptiness — micah rickard Movie review of Karim Aïnouz's Rosebush Pruning starring Tracy Letts, Callum Turner, Elle Fanning, Riley Keough, and Jamie Bell. An eat-the-rich critique that's as empty as its characters.

2026 Berlinale #5. Karim Aïnouz's ROSEBUSH PRUNING enters the increasingly crowded eat-the-rich genre but is as soulless as its subjects.

"The characters, the visuals, and even the soundtrack are all garish, but there’s little underneath the burst of color."

www.micahrickard.com/film/rosebus...

Rose Writes a Story of Deception, Selfhood, and the Miracle of Being New — micah rickard Movie review of Markus Schleinzer's Rose starring Sandra Hüller, a story of a woman who acted as a man to achieve a greater freedom than the world was prepared to offer.

2026 Berlinale #4. ROSE was one of the best, with a standout performance from Sandra Hüller. A transcendent and earthy film "about the 'miracle of being new' that occurs with each birth, with every springtime, with every choice we make to reshape ourselves."

www.micahrickard.com/film/rose-2026

Time for a calm movie night with my good friends Mikey and Nicky

noem's big sin to trump wasn't killing innocents or detaining immigrants. it was looking bad on tv in his name. thats all he cares about.

We Are All Strangers: A Patient Wonder of Belonging — micah rickard Movie review of Anthony Chen's We Are All Strangers, a follow up to The Breaking Ice, starring Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler

Great review by @micahrickard.bsky.social of one of the films I really liked ftom the Berlinale: We Are All Strangers
www.micahrickard.com/film/we-are-...

PEPFAR, the program to stop hundreds of thousands of children and adults from dying of HIV/AIDS, was $6.5 billion a year.

Gore Verbinski’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die Is Strangely Derivative — micah rickard Movie review of Gore Verbinski's gonzo sci-fi screed against AI starring Sam Rockwell and Haley Lu Richardson

2026 Berlinale #3. I did not go for Gore Verbinski's latest.

"GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE never bores, but—like a human trapped in an A.I.'s virtual reality—one has a gnawing suspicion that there should be something more real beneath its sheen."

www.micahrickard.com/film/good-lu...

Trial of Hein Reveals the Incomplete Construction of Society — micah rickard Movie review of Kai Stänicke's Trial of Hein, about a man who returns to his island home only to be met with suspicion of being an imposter. Brecht and Kafka are clear influences on this film as his t...

2026 Berlinale #2. TRIAL OF HEIN is a slippery mystery of identity and communal memory that "characterizes the way a society projects its idea of itself to take the place of the truth."

www.micahrickard.com/film/trial-o...

The Rom-Com Meets a Harsh Reality in No Good Men — micah rickard Movie review of Shahrbanoo Sadat's No Good Men, starring the director and Anwar Hashimi, a romance drama set in the harsh reality of 2021 Kabul.

I'm getting around to posting my reviews out of this year's Berlinale Film Fest. First up, the festival's opening film, NO GOOD MEN.

"This does not set out to be a straightforward romcom. The real world is always close at hand, always a threat.

www.micahrickard.com/film/no-good...

Trump’s Unauthorized War The Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the power to mobilize the military—and for good reason.

“Democracy allows people the freedom to make stupid decisions, so long as they make them collectively. But a system that allows a country to be dragged into war at the whims of a single person is not much of a democracy at all.”
@qjurecic.bsky.social

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Introducing the wife to Twin Peaks (and David Lynch in the process)

The American-Israeli Strikes on Iran are (Again) Manifestly Illegal After weeks of threats, the United States, joined by Israel, has launched military strikes against Iran. It remains to be seen whether these strikes will be fairly limited, or are the opening of an ex...

"Whatever happens, though, one thing is clear – that this use of force by the US and Israel is manifestly illegal. It is as plain a violation of the prohibition on the use of force in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter as one could possibly have."

@ejiltalk.bsky.social

www.ejiltalk.org/the-american...

folks theyre saying the pale rider doesnt want us to break the seventh seal, theyre saying no one has the strength to handle it. what do you think folks, what do you think of that pale rider. should we do it?

*crowd going absolutely ape shit*

i dont know, i want to but they say I shouldnt

People are always like what’s something you miss from the past and one of mine is antitrust laws

The Egyptians had their gods. We have this sick calf thing. Look at it, it's even gold, just the raddest thing

screenshot of a tv user guide, showing two channels under Tue 8PM: MSNOW - State of the union TCM East- Gaslight

Masterful Troll, TCM.