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
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
I, along with many others, have harbored a deep irrational and unfair grudge against Bruce Dern ever since his role in “The Cowyboys” back in the 1970s where he became forever known as the man who shot John Wayne in the back. Other men had done the same deed over the years, but thanks in part to Dern’s memorable lanky facial features and his signature … Continue reading Nebraska Review
“Madness! Madness! Madness! “ That is the enduring battle cry of ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’, a movie about stubborn obstinate people who stick to their guns regardless of the consequences. It is a war movie in the sense that it takes place during a war, but it has more in common with Indiana Jones than it does with Saving Private Ryan. ‘Bridge on the … Continue reading Bridge on the River Kwai Review
We all have our little rituals that guide us through our life. These are the things we do every day, week, month or year depending upon what it is we’re talking about. For every year since I was a small child around this time a year when it is approaching the Thanksgiving holiday I always make it a point to block out some time to … Continue reading Planes, Trains, & Automobiles Review
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” – Samuel P. Huntington With this ten part documentary series (now with two additional episodes on the new DVD release) The Untold History of … Continue reading The Untold History of the United States Review
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprise their roles as the love-struck couple of Jesse and Celine here in this third installment of Richard Linklater’s “Before” series. Before we get into anything else, as expected, Hawke and Delpy continue to have astonishing chemistry together and are both very fine actors who deliver knockout performances here. In the previous two movies, they were still getting to know … Continue reading Before Midnight Review
Before Sunrise begged the question, would you be willing to alter your entire life around one fateful night’s chance meeting? In that movie two twenty something’s met-cute on a train, wandered the streets of Vienna, and fell in love all the while walking and (endlessly) talking about everything under the sun. This movie asks basically the same question now that these two reconnect ten years … Continue reading Before Sunset Review
A guy (Ethan Hawke) and a girl (Julie Delpy), both in their early twenties, meet on a train bound for Paris in summer 1994. It doesn’t take them very long at all to discover that they have a remarkable chemistry together, and as such they begin a conversation on that train that will last the rest of the movie, and for two more movies following … Continue reading Before Sunrise Review
Has there ever been a movie that more effectively utilized a ‘cold opening’ better than Rio Bravo? We start with a dark and murky but still well crowded bar, a down on his luck and desperately drunk Deputy and a smug Gunman who first jokingly offers the Deputy a drink, and then tosses a silver dollar into a spittoon for him on the floor. These … Continue reading Rio Bravo Review
Titanquisitor 