Western
The Lone Ranger (2013)
Hey you, Silver . . . go aw-a-a-a-y! Are cowboy movies relevant anymore? In an era that covets Batman, Iron Man, Superman, Thor and The Avengers, is there really room for a dusty, out-of-date property like The Lone Ranger? Will kids care about a lawman of the old west? Calling it dusty and out-of-date might […]
Blackthorn (2011)
Blackthorn is one of the cleanest westerns that I have ever seen. I don’t mean the content, like the language or the violence; I mean the sets, the actors, and even the dirt look polished and cleaned-up as it were prepared for a commercial. That might work for a John Wayne picture, but modern westerns […]
Meek’s Cutoff (2011)
My mental imagery of the American West of the 19th Century is more or less shaped by American movies, specifically the westerns made by John Ford. I can see in my mind John Wayne leading a wagon train across the prairies, Winchester in hand, while Max Steiner’s score thunders on the soundtrack. Along the way […]
True Grit (2010)
It is almost general principle with me that I usually detest the idea of a remake. They are, from my experience, less a movie experience than a filmed deal. The exception, however, is when a filmmaker finds a new spin on the original material. That seems to be the case with True Grit in which […]
Goin’ South (1978)
I never do this, but in preparing to write a review of Goin’ South, I read some reviews from the past, mostly by critics who disliked the film for a variety of reasons. The response was mixed, but there wasn’t one overriding problem that anyone could pinpoint. I wanted to see for myself. For me, […]