Jeff Nichols © RR It has taken Jeff Nichols just two films to build up a repertoire which many are comparing to that of Terrence Malick. Following on from Shotgun Stories (2007), the director of the much-acclaimed Take Shelter (2011) returns to his native Arkansas with Mud. Stuck on an island in the Mississippi, a mysterious fugitive sets out to find the love of his life with the help of two young boys.   The same closeness to nature, family and tradition...

The Film Department of the Museum of Modern Art is mounting a career retrospective of Mike Nichols, one of the most successful and idiosyncratic filmmakers who has done the almost impossible: create original films with a specific voice within the gears of the assembly line Hollywood system. After a celebrated career as a comedian (part of the incomporable duo of Nichols and May) and theater director, Nichols, at the tender age of 32, took on the twin dragons of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burto...