THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS [1992] movie review
December 31, 2011
I imagine the pitch to the studio for THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS started something like this, “Daniel Day-Lewis will look really, really cool running through the woods in deer skin clothes, long hair flowing back, toting a very long rifle.” He did in fact. The story itself is surprising too. A look at the Revolutionary War from the perspective of colonists semi on the British side.
BEND OF THE RIVER [1952] movie review
December 31, 2011
A western in motion, BEND OF THE RIVER follows a wagon train of 100 people going cross country from Missouri to Oregon with James Stewart as their hired guide through the wilderness. Well paced and offering a real feeling of the hardship and hope of packing everything to head west, RIVER offers an unusual western with strong family characters.
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE [1946] movie review
December 31, 2011
For years I imagined some postman arriving on the front porch of a home with something other than mail to deliver when I heard of the movie, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. However, there is not a single postman in the movie. There is a drifter, and unbelievably beautiful woman, Lana Turner, working in a hole in the wall roadside diner, and one lucky man who owns the diner and is married to the woman. As things tend to in old movies, relationships accelerate fast and from first meeting to planning a murder together, it seems only a few days takes place. Maybe people were far less cautious back then.
POSTMAN is classic film noir set in a roadside diner instead of a big city. Is the movie itself a classic? For me, no. There is a lot of malice, a lot of nonsensical decisions, and the biggest thing is I do not believe regular people can be so quick to resort to murder to solve semi-nonexistent problems.
Turner wants to make something of herself and run a successful restaurant business, but she does not love her much older husband. She has fallen in love with the drifter. If there were only a way she could keep the business and the drifter. Of course the decision falls to murdering the clueless husband.
There is little tension in the movie either in their murderous plotting or whether or not they will get caught. In fact the movie suddenly breaks out into a trial movie of sorts that I found not very compelling and annoying trying to figure out who is trying to con who.
The ending makes the viewer think why did I even watch this movie if these are the fates that are going to be meted out?
PLUNDERERS OF PAINTED FLATS [1959] movie review
December 31, 2011
PLUNDERERS OF PAINTED FLATS suffers from a cumbersome name as well as being only a very ordinary western with a nondescript rich man not wanting any squatters setting up on his land, despite their legal right to. He uses harsh tactics on innocent characters we do not yet care about because they have not been established. There is one aging gunslinger on the side of the squatters that someone seems to be too big of an obstacle for the land baron so he hires a younger, faster gunman to come to town to take care of him.
THE BRAVADOS [1958] movie review
December 31, 2011
For 90% of its running time THE BRAVADOS [1958] was a good movie. The ending was very good. Though seemingly a simple revenge plotline, the story itself was actually very compelling and with better direction the movie could have been even better.
THE MAN FROM LARAMIE [1955] movie review
December 31, 2011
I really liked WINCHESTER ’73, a collaboration between director Anthony Mann and James Stewart, however their final western together, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is a very forgettable, average at best movie.
MONSTERS, INC. [2001] movie review
December 31, 2011
I saw MONSTERS, INC. when it first came out, no doubt with the extra incentive of being able to exclusively see the first teaser trailer for ATTACK OF THE CLONES, but I still remember liking MONSTERS. Upon my second viewing this evening, thankfully, I did not remember much so the exceptionally clever plot was a total surprise to me still.
CALIFORNIA PASSAGE [1950] movie review
December 31, 2011
A strong story and compelling character arcs make CALIFORNIA PASSAGE a very good hidden gem of a western. A naive 20-year old woman and her kid younger brother head west to meet up with their older brother. However, things are not what they expected once the stagecoach gets them to town.
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