Category: Articles
The Cinema of William A. Wellman: A Film Primer
The die, in hindsight, may have been cast in 1968, when iconic American film critic Andrew Sarris, published his iconic book “The American Cinema.” In it, he included William A. Wellman in his chapter called “Less Than Meets the Eye.” Wellman was in good company, lumped in with Billy Wilder and William Wyler among others.…
Women of The Wild Bunch: Peckinpah, Misogyny and a Credible Moral Code
You know you’ve got a good marriage when your wife agrees to watch The Wild Bunch (1969) with you. I must say, I was quite surprised that she made this decision in the first place. Trudi’s sole previous experience with the films of Sam Peckinpah was watching the disturbing, controversial Straw Dogs (1971) years ago—a…
The Westerns of Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott: A Film Primer
I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I am a latecomer to the six Westerns that make-up the collaboration between Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott. (There is a seventh, but I’ll do them the courtesy of pretending it doesn’t exist). These six films, released over the course of just five years between 1956 and 1960, mark…
Reconciling with Cinema: Never Enough Time for Catching Up
Sometime in the late 1990s, cinema and I came to terms with the inevitable. We’d been drifting apart for some time and now it seemed that the distance between us had become too great. It should have been a painful wrench. I’d grown up with movies; they’d been a still point in a peripatetic childhood.…
Understanding the Gap Between ‘Freeheld’ and ’99 Homes’
I recently went on line to buy some socks and bought a big screen TV instead. No value judgement here. They are both fine products which I needed. (Yes, I needed the big screen TV.) I only mention it to point out how we sometimes begin a day with one destination in mind and end…