Tom Hanks’ new Western genre flick, News of the World dropped on streaming services a few months ago. Hanks’s widowed, ex-Confederate soldier travels from town to town to read newspapers to locals. Each town exemplifies the isolation and exemption they had from the centralized U.S. On his travels he encounters a girl twice orphaned; her […]
Perhaps we have to have to nearly forget our myths to appreciate them again. To some small degree, I think tragedy brought back the Western genre. Collectively, the US (and the world at large) had living after 9/11 on its consciousness. Soon after, a resurgence of Westerns in the shape of period dramas or Neo […]
Stories circle around stories. Behind one are many others that worked to form them much like gravity. It’s a major reason I started this blog, to explore how often a story is the force found behind so many things. As I delved into my favorite mediums throughout the years, I’d also discover the story behind […]
Of Revision And Spaghetti Dishes… As mentioned in part I, I saw Westerns as psychological landscapes. Those deserts and plains and isolated towns put the complexities of human behaviors in sharp focus. As the ‘60s rolled in and the old studio system was dying, films began to use the genre to reflect more on contemporary […]
This is my blatant attempt to persuade you. No more, no less. For those of you who have never delved into this genre, now is the time. The season for the big tent block-bluster sci-fi and superhero franchises ended in December of 2019. The Marvel movies ended a huge chapter, and perhaps you share […]
I had heard about it. I’d seen old promotional materials and posters from it. Filmmakers have talked highly about it, as have film buffs. Quentin Tarantino and even made a big fuss about it by referencing it several times in his ode to exploitation cinema, 2008’s Death Proof. What I gathered about Vanishing Point was […]
Reddit from a December 2019 post The Holidays can have a dual nature for some of us. This time of year can be a downer for some of us as we take stock of the year that has passed or prep ourselves for winter. Although festive, the season can being depressing or sobering as the […]
