I can think of no better place to start my list of twenty movies than with one of my favourite kinds of movies, the western, and specifically one of my favourite westerns, Tombstone from 1993. If you want something to watch this summer, try this one. While there are many aspects to the movie that [...]
Directed by Gene Kelly Bawdy in the tamest of ways and as generically western as they come, the western-comedy The Cheyenne Social Club still has something going for it. Two things, actually: Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. Despite being a western in an almost early TV fashion (meaning not very inventive or, frankly interesting), the [...]
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen The Rare Breed is one of those many older movies that has become a series of contradictions: it’s good and it’s bad, it’s timeless and it’s dated, it’s memorable and it’s forgettable. I suppose that last, forgettable, is one of its ruling characteristics given the number of people I’ve encountered [...]
I’ve just started reading Marc Eliot’s book, Jimmy Stewart: A Biography. Having just begun, I can’t say anything about it’s merits, though I can say I read Eliot’s book from a few years ago, Cary Grant: A Biography and enjoyed it. I’m not sure why, but I like reading biographies of Hollywood’s luminaries of the [...]
Directed by Stuart Heisler Here’s a review of a movie no one else seems inclined to review. It’s the review of Along Came Jones that I posted on Amazon … Overall, this is an entertaining movie though it moves slowly. It’s not a great film, but definitely worth seeing and a bit of a curiousity [...]
Directed by Henry Hathaway One of the things you discover watching older movies, especially Hollywood movies, is that some of the tricks and strategies we see now are not so new. They’ve been used many times before. For example, 1968′s Five Card Stud could almost be a contemporary film in that it attempts to be [...]
Directed by George Marshall I think the best word to describe this movie is fun. Following the disappointment a few weeks ago of Five Card Stud, this western, Destry Rides Again, was a real treat. Made in 1939, this is both a traditional Hollywood western in some respects, and in others a great spoof of [...]
Directed by Otto Preminger This is by no means a great movie but, for some reason, I like it. For one thing, I love the song. It’s horribly corny, but … well, I like it. Go figure. I think I’d call River of No Return a comfort movie. Like another movie I get the same [...]
by Bill on December 28, 2008
Having come across 3 Godfathers in a number of “top Christmas movies” lists, I decided to watch it. A second time. I had watched it about two years ago but I couldn’t recall it, and definitely didn’t recall the Christmas aspect. Now, having seen it again, I see the Christmas angle but I don’t personally [...]
Directed by Don Siegel For me, The Shootist (1976) is a funny movie. Not funny “ha-ha” but funny in the oddball sense. I really enjoyed it. It’s a good, maybe even close to great movie. But at the same time, there are aspects of it that don’t quite work for me. I think what I [...]