Movies can tell us a lot about the political and social climate of the times in which they were made. The 70s for instance, as evidenced by movies like this, Death Wish, and Dirty Harry was a time when there was a lot of right wing backlash against the previous decade bubbling up. We had a return of the old masculine heroes of yesteryear, only … Continue reading Rolling Thunder Review
Some movies are defined by the age you were when you first saw them. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is just such a movie for me. As a young squire I was blissfully unaware of how absurd it was that Christian Slater and Kevin Costner were portraying classic British legends. I just thought they were cool movie heroes, and I find, I am able to … Continue reading Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Review
“I need you to be human again…” sobs the longsuffering wife, and mother to the children of America’s deadliest ever military sniper Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) in this gripping film directed by Clint Eastwood. However, after more than 160 confirmed kills (with over 250 probable kills) that may be asking too much for any man. Chris Kyle experienced something no other American and few other … Continue reading American Sniper Review
When I think back on the elements that most of my favorite westerns share, a few things come back time and time again in nearly each of them. First, great cinematography and epic settings. Check. Then you must have a memorable score such as the whistling in the “Dollars” trilogy or the old standard title songs from “My Darling Clementine” and others. This movie has … Continue reading Once Upon a Time in the West Review
There’s an old divide among western fans that is probably mostly forgotten by modern viewers. A few years back I wrote what I consider to be the review I am the proudest of here, of my all time favorite western, Rio Bravo. Rio Bravo was made as answer to “High Noon” starring Gary Cooper since both Howard Hawks and John Wayne disliked the storyline of … Continue reading The Salvation Review
It has been said also that you cannot make a movie about war without glorifying war. Francis Ford Coppola tried with Apocalypse Now, Oliver Stone tried with Platoon, and Stanley Kubrick tried with Full Metal Jacket. But in the end all of these movies failed to take that “new car smell” off of humanity’s second most popular pastime for the past few millenniums. In the … Continue reading Fury Review
I first saw Bridge to Terabithia in 2008, a little over a year after it had released in theaters. It was on a movie channel, Starz I believe. I had never read the book, but I remembered the trailer for it and was excited to see it. I was expecting a fantasy Narnia style film, so I definitely got more than I bargained for. If … Continue reading Bridge to Terabithia Review
Sometimes it’s best to leave childhood favorites in your childhood. This might have been one of those cases. I would have been around ten to twelve years old when I first saw “Beyond The Law”, which also would have been my first exposure to the idea of biker gangs and such, and at the time I thought it was just about the coolest film ever … Continue reading Beyond The Law Review
Here’s the main thing that bothered me at the end of Winter’s Tale. How in the hell did Russell Crowe and Colin Farrell get drawn into what is essentially Twilight for history buffs? This movie is helmed by Akiva Goldsman, an uneven director in the past who has given us both the wonderful ‘Cinderella Man’ and the ambulance chasing would be cash cow “The Da … Continue reading Winter’s Tale Review
One of my favorite mini-genres of movies is the latter day western. In these types of movies, set normally in the early 20th century, you see the last of the true cowboys fighting the expansion/encroachment on their way of life that was surely coming with the rapidly advancing technology and population boom of that time. There’s indeed something quite romantic about being the last of … Continue reading Easy Rider Review
Titanquisitor 