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"The Mild, Mild West" 

By Lee Pfeiffer

The Warner Archive has released the 1965 comedy "The Rounders" on Blu-ray. The film is primarily notable for the  teaming of Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda, two estimable Hollywood stars who could be relied upon to play convincingly in both dark, somber dramas and frolicking comedies. "The Rounders" was directed and written by Burt Kennedy, who adapted a novel from by Max Evans. Kennedy was a veteran of big studio productions who worked his way from screenwriter to director. If he never made any indisputable classics, it can be said that he made a good many films that were top-notch entertainment. Among them: "Support Your Local Sheriff", "The War Wagon", "Hannie Caulder" and "The Train Robbers". While Westerns were Kennedy's specialty, he did have a prestigious achievement with his screenplay for Clint Eastwood's woefully underseen and under-praised 1990 film "White Hunter, Black Heart". It's...

Here’s yet another “inspired by true events” film , just in time for the somber Fall season. Somber, the right word for this one. Unlike this weekend’s other non-fiction flicks, it’s set in the not too distant past, not decades ago, but in this decade, the 2010’s. It concerns a group of men who regularly risk their lives, and often make the ultimate sacrifice, in order to protect their fellow men. And it shines a light on the families that must stay behind and hope that all goes well. You may be thinking that’s it’s another those on the front line, our soldiers overseas sagas as in the films The Hurt Locker and American Sniper. Well, these heroes aren’t on foreign soil, though they are on the front line, one made of flame. And with their special clothing and gear ,they could be mistaken for soldiers.

If you've been to the movies any time over the last century, you're familiar with men like Eric Marsh. They're hard-ass guys, often stoic but capable of being sensitive and, in rare cases, prone to sentimentality. Their flaws and temper-flares are balanced out by their virtues: staunch professionalism, a salt-of-the-earth nobility, an almost stubborn loyalty to their men. The kind of dudes who treat their enemies – in this case, the massive forest fires that annually scorch acres of Arizona landscape – with something close to respect. ("What are you up to?...

In June 2013, the Yarnell wildfire in Arizona spiraled out of control and killed 19 firefighters from nearby Prescott, marking the highest death toll for U.S. firefighters since 9/11. Only one member of the group, a lookout stationed elsewhere, survived the massacre. That’s the setting for “Only the Brave,” but it takes almost the entire running time to get there. The movie is so cautious about avoiding disaster movie tropes that you can practically sense the resistance to arriving at the tragic finale. The result is a tasteful, well-acted bore, but so out of sync with traditional studio filmmaking it deserves some kudos anyway.

The two-hour plus working class drama stars Josh Brolin as the hardened leader of the group and Miles Teller as the eventual lookout struggling to find his place in the pack. That makes it stand apart from other approaches to adaptations of real-life catastrophes: Avoiding the morbid...

Actor John Carroll Lynch first caught the attention of moviegoers in 1996 when he played Frances McDormand’s husband in Fargo (“People don’t much use the three-cent stamp”). A native of Boulder, Colorado, Lynch spent the next decade popping up in supporting roles in a variety of films including Volcano, Face/Off, and Gothika. It was his chilling, scene-stealing turn in David Fincher’s Zodiac in 2007 that made moviegoers really take notice and when he went from being ‘that Norm Gunderson guy’ to ‘John Carroll Lynch, – dynamic character actor’. Lynch continued to impress in roles on the big screen in films like Gran Torino, Shutter Island, Jackie (where he played Lyndon Johnson), and The Founder, where he played one of the McDonald brothers. On the small screen he’s entertained audiences as John Wayne Gacy on American Horror Story and even had his own stand-alone episode of The Walking Dead.

Rock Hudson and Donna Reed star in a kidnapping-vengeance-pursuit western filmed in large part in gorgeous Sedona, Arizona, in 3-D and (originally) Technicolor. It’s another 3-D treasure from the 1950s boom years. The trailer is in 3-D too.

Gun Fury 3-D

3-D Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1953 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 82 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Rock Hudson, Donna Reed, Phil Carey, Roberta Haynes, Leo Gordon, Lee Marvin, Neville Brand.

Cinematography: Lester WhiteMusical Director (Stock Music): Mischa Bakaleinikoff

Written by Irving Wallace, Roy Huggins

Produced by Lewis Rachmil

Directed by Raoul Walsh

I have a new theory for why the 1950s 3-D craze only lasted about 2.5 years: they couldn’t find any more one-eyed directors to make them.

Gun Fury arrived at the end of 1953, in the thick of what would be called the ‘fad’ of 3-D. Columbia Pictures jumped into ‘depth pictures’ as if it were a gimmick,...

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver argued that President Trump's controversial pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio was a "doozy" compared to Abraham Lincoln pardoning a man for attempted bestiality. Oliver explained that Arpaio's unnerving treatment of prisoners and Trump's clemency order was "a slap in the face to the very rule of law itself."

The 85-year-old Arpaio, a former Maricopa County lawman, touted himself as "America's toughest sheriff." After concluding a three-year investigation in 2011, the U.S. Justice Department determined Arpaio oversaw a "pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos,...

Welcome to PeekTV, your daily look at the best that television has to offer. In each installment, we make three picks for the best shows to watch and…toss in a little extra.

Tuesday, May 30

“The Americans” (FX, 10 p.m.) – In the season finale, Philip and Elizabeth race against the clock as a life hangs in the balance, while Stan faces an uncertain future.

It’s your last chance to savor a new hour with the Jennings family until 2018. Unsurprisingly, this whirlwind season has built to a pretty thrilling conclusion.

“Animal Kingdom” (TNT, 9 p.m.) – A risky heist misfires and the boys blame Smurf, sending shock waves through the family, in the Season 2 premiere. Also: Baz deals with being a single parent; and Deran plans for the future.

As one family saga goes on hiatus, one returns for another round. Ellen Barkin and company are back for more tales from...

The laid-back, plot challenged non-violent western gets a boost in this folksy comedy about two aging cowboys with less sense than the horses they tame. Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda star together for the first time, leaving behind their older images… they’re too tender-hearted for their own good. If the sex comedy wasn’t quite so dated, Burt Kennedy’s picture might be a classic.

The Rounders

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Sue Ane Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Freeman, Joan Freeman, Denver Pyle, Barton MacLane, Doodles Weaver, Peter Fonda, Peter Ford, Bill Hart, Warren Oates, Chuck Roberson.

Cinematography: Paul Vogel

Film Editor: John McSweeney

Original Music: Jeff Alexander

From the Novel by Max Evans

Produced by Richard E. Lyons

Written and Directed by Burt Kennedy

Producer Richard E. Lyons is...

This early John Wayne oater displays the natural star quality and winning personality that sustained him through the 1930s -- it's a naïve, charming western that features some of The Duke's closest early associates. 'Neath Arizona Skies Blu-ray Olive Films 1934 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 52 min. / Street Date July 19, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 24.95 Starring John Wayne, Sheila Terry, Shirley Jane Rickert, Jack Rockwell, Yakima Canutt, Weston Edwards, Jay Wilsey, Earl Dwire, George 'Gabby' Hayes. Cinematography Archie Stout Film Editor Charles Hunt Original Music Billly Barber Written by Burl R. Tuttle from his story. Produced by Paul Malvern Directed by Harry L. Fraser

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Want to see where our western film heritage really came from? Big studios made giant wagon train movies, epics about the railroad and star-driven biographies of Billy the Kid, but the genre was sustained by a steady diet of six reel 'oaters,...

John Ford's best war movie does a flip-flop on the propaganda norm. It's about men that must hold the line in defeat and retreat, that are ordered to lay down a sacrifice play while someone else gets to hit the home runs. Robert Montgomery, John Wayne and Donna Reed are excellent, as is the recreation of the Navy's daring sideshow tactic in the Pacific Theater, the 'speeding coffin' Patrol Torpedo boats. They Were Expendable Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 135 min. / Street Date June 7, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Jack Holt, Ward Bond, Marshall Thompson, Cameron Mitchell, Paul Langton, Leon Ames, Donald Curtis, Murray Alper, Harry Tenbrook, Jack Pennick, Charles Trowbridge, Louis Jean Heydt, Russell Simpson, Blake Edwards, Tom Tyler. Cinematography Joseph H. August Production Designer Film Editor Douglass Biggs, Frank E. Hull Original Music Earl K. Brent, Herbert Stothart, Eric Zeisl Writing credits Frank Wead, Comdr. U.S.N. (Ret.), Based on the book by William L. White Produced and Directed by John Ford, Captain U.S.N.R.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

They Were Expendable has always been appreciated, but hasn't been given a high roost in John Ford's filmography. Yet it's one of his most personal movies, and for a story set in the military service, his most serious. We're given plenty of service humor and even more sentimentality -- with a sing-along scene like those that would figure in the director's later cavalry pictures, no less. Yet the tone is heavier, more resolutely downbeat. The war had not yet ended as this show went before the cameras, yet Ford's aim is to commemorate the sacrifices, not wave a victory flag. By 1945 Hollywood was already rushing its last 'We're at War!' morale boosters out the gate and gearing up for production in a postwar world. Practically a pet project of legendary director John Ford, They Were Expendable is his personal tribute to the Navy. Typical for Ford, he chose for his subject not some glorious victory or idealized combat, but instead a thankless and losing struggle against an invader whose strength seemed at the time to be almost un-opposable. They Were Expendable starts at Pearl Harbor and traces the true story of an experimental Patrol Torpedo Boat unit run by Lt. John Brickley (Robert Montgomery), his ambitious second in command Lt. Ryan (John Wayne) and their five boat crews. The ambience is pure Ford family casting: the ever-present Ward Bond and Jack Pennick are there, along with youthful MGM newcomers Marshall Thompson (It! The Terror from Beyond Space and Cameron Mitchell (Garden of Evil, Blood and Black Lace) being treated as new members of the Ford acting family. Along the way Ryan meets nurse Sandy Davyss (Donna Reed). Despite their battle successes, the Pt unit suffers casualties and loses boats as the Philippine campaign rapidly collapses around them. Indicative of the unusual level of realism is the Wayne/Reed romance, which falls victim to events in a very un-glamorous way. There's nothing second-rate about this Ford picture. It is by far his best war film and is as deeply felt as his strongest Westerns. His emotional attachment to American History is applied to events only four years past. The pace is fast but Expendable takes its time to linger on telling character details. The entertainer that responds to the war announcement by singing "My Country 'tis of Thee" is Asian, perhaps even Japanese; she's given an unusually sensitive close-up at a time when all Hollywood references to the Japanese were negative, or worse. MGM gives Ford's shoot excellent production values, with filming in Florida more than adequate to represent the Philippines. Even when filming in the studio, Ford's show is free of the MGM gloss that makes movies like its Bataan look so phony. We see six real Pt boats in action. The basic battle effect to show them speeding through exploding shells appears to be accomplished by pyrotechnic devices - fireworks -- launched from the boat deck. Excellent miniatures represent the large Japanese ships they attack. MGM's experts make the exploding models look spectacular. Ford's sentimentality for Navy tradition and the camaraderie of the service is as strong as ever. Although we see a couple of battles, the film is really a series of encounters and farewells, with boats not coming back and images of sailors that gaze out to sea while waxing nostalgic about the Arizona lost at Pearl Harbor. The image of civilian boat builder Russell Simpson awaiting invasion alone with only a rifle and a jug of moonshine purposely references Ford's earlier The Grapes of Wrath. Simpson played an Okie in that film and Ford stresses the association by playing "Red River Valley" on the soundtrack; it's as if the invading Japanese were bankers come to boot Simpson off his land. Equally moving is the face of Jack Holt's jut-jawed Army officer. He'd been playing basically the same crusty serviceman character for twenty years; because audiences had never seen Holt in a 'losing' role the actor makes the defeat seem all the more serious. The irony of this is that in real life, immediately after Pearl Harbor, Holt was so panicked by invasion fears that he sold his Malibu beach home at a fraction of its value. Who bought it? According to Joel Siegel in his book The Reality of Terror, it was Rko producer Val Lewton. John Wayne is particularly good in this film by virtue of not being its star. His character turn as an impatient but tough Lieutenant stuck in a career dead-end is one of his best. The real star of the film is Robert Montgomery, who before the war was known mostly for light comedies like the delightful Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Montgomery's Brickley is a man of dignity and dedication trying to do a decent job no matter how hopeless or frustrating his situation gets. Whereas Wayne was a Hollywood soldier, Montgomery actually fought in Pt boats in the Pacific. When he stands exhausted in tropic shorts, keeping up appearances when everything is going wrong, he looks like the genuine article. Third-billed Donna Reed turns what might have been 'the girl in the picture' into something special. An Army nurse who takes care of Wayne's Ryan in a deep-tunnel dispensary while bombs burst overhead, Reed's Lt. Davyss is one of Ford's adored women living in danger, like Anne Bancroft's China doctor in 7 Women. A little earlier in the war, the films So Proudly We Hail and Cry 'Havoc' saluted the 'Angels of Bataan' that stayed on the job, were captured and interned by the Japanese. Expendable has none of the sensational subtext of the earlier films, where the nurses worry about being raped, etc.. We instead see a perfect girl next door (George Bailey thought so) bravely soldiering on, saying a rushed goodbye to Wayne's Lt. Ryan over a field telephone. Exactly what happens to her is not known. Even more than Clarence Brown's The Human Comedy this film fully established Ms. Reed's acting credentials. The quality that separates They Were Expendable from all but a few war films made during the fighting, is its championing of a kind of glory that doesn't come from gaudy victories. Hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, the Navy, Army and Air Corps units in the Northern Philippines that weren't wiped out in the first attacks, had to be abandoned. The key scene sees Lt. Brickley asking his commanding officer for positive orders to attack the enemy. He's instead 'given the score' in baseball terms. In a ball club, some players don't get to hit home runs. The manager instead tells them to sacrifice, to lay down a bunt. Brickley's Pt squadron will be supporting the retreat as best it can and for long as it can, without relief or rescue. Half a year later, the U.S. was able to field an Army and a Navy that could take the offensive. Brickley's unit is a quiet study of honorable men at war, doing their best in the face of disaster. According to John Ford, Expendable could have been better, and I agree. He reportedly didn't hang around to help with the final cut and the audio mix, and the MGM departments finished the film without him. Although Ford's many thoughtful close-ups and beautifully drawn-out dramatic moments are allowed to play out, a couple of the battle scenes go on too long, making the constant peppering of flak bursts over the Pt boats look far too artificial. Real shell bursts aren't just a flash and smoke; if they were that close the wooden boats would be shattered by shrapnel. The overused effect reminds me of the 'Pigpen' character in older Peanuts cartoons, if he walked around accompanied by explosions instead of a cloud of dust. The music score is also unsubtle, reaching for upbeat glory too often and too loudly. The main march theme says 'Hooray Navy' even in scenes playing for other moods. Would Ford have asked for it to be dialed back a bit, or perhaps removed from some scenes altogether? That's hard to say. The director liked his movie scores to reflect obvious sentiments. But a few of his more powerful moments play without music. We're told that one of the un-credited writers on the film was Norman Corwin, and that Robert Montgomery directed some scenes after John Ford broke his leg on the set. They Were Expendable is one of the finest of war films and a solid introduction to classic John Ford. The Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray of They Were Expendable looks as good as the excellent 35mm copies we saw back at UCLA. This movie has always looked fine, but the previous DVDs were unsteady in the first reel, perhaps because of film shrinkage. The Blu-ray corrects the problem entirely. The B&W cinematography has some of the most stylized visuals in a war film. Emphasizing gloom and expressing the lack of security, many scenes are played in silhouette or with very low-key illumination, especially a pair of party scenes. Donna Reed appears to wear almost no makeup but only seems more naturally beautiful in the un-glamorous but ennobling lighting schemes. These the disc captures perfectly. Just as on the old MGM and Warners DVDs, the trailer is the only extra. We're told that MGM shoved the film out the door because victory-happy moviegoers were sick of war movies and wanted to see bright musicals instead. The trailer reflects the lack of enthusiasm -- it's basically two actor name runs and a few action shots. The feature has a choice of subtitles, in English, French and Spanish. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, They Were Expendable Blu-ray rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent Supplements: DTS-hd Master Audio Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English, French, Spanish Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 6, 2016 (5135expe)

Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com

Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...

John Ford puts a Technicolor sheen on Monument Valley in this second cavalry picture with John Wayne, who does some of his most professional acting work. Joanne Dru plays coy, while the real star is rodeo wizard Ben Johnson and the dazzling cinematography of Winton C. Hoch. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1949 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 103 min. / Street Date June 7, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen, Mildred Natwick, George O'Brien, Chief John Big Tree. Cinematography Winton Hoch Art Direction James Basevi Film Editor Jack Murray Original Music Richard Hageman Written by Frank Nugent, Laurence Stallings from the stories War Party and The Big Hunt by James Warner Bellah Produced by Merian C. Cooper, John Ford Directed by John Ford

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Have you never seen real 3-Strip Technicolor used for terrific outdoor photography?...

Coleen Gray actress ca. 1950. Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing and – as far as B horror movie aficionados are concerned – for playing the title role in The Leech Woman, died at age 92 in Aug. 2015. This two-part article, which focuses on Gray's film career, is a revised and expanded version of the original post published at the time of her death. Born Doris Bernice Jensen on Oct. 23, 1922, in Staplehurst, Nebraska, at a young age she moved with her parents, strict Lutheran Danish farmers, to Minnesota. After getting a degree from St. Paul's Hamline University, she relocated to Southern California to be with her then fiancé, an army private. At first, she eked out a living as a waitress at a La Jolla hotel...

Coleen Gray actress ca. 1950. Coleen Gray: Actress in early Stanley Kubrick film noir, destroyer of men in cult horror 'classic' Actress Coleen Gray, best known as the leading lady in Stanley Kubrick's film noir The Killing and – as far as B horror movie aficionados are concerned – for playing the title role in The Leech Woman, died at age 92 in Aug. 2015. This two-part article, which focuses on Gray's film career, is a revised and expanded version of the original post published at the time of her death. Born Doris Bernice Jensen on Oct. 23, 1922, in Staplehurst, Nebraska, at a young age she moved with her parents, strict Lutheran Danish farmers, to Minnesota. After getting a degree from St. Paul's Hamline University, she relocated to Southern California to be with her then fiancé, an army private. At first, she eked out a living as a waitress at a La Jolla hotel...

The Loft Film Fest is the first American festival member of the International Confederation of Art Cinemas (Cicae), which brings together more than 3,000 screens and approximately 16 festivals across Europe and around the world to promote the production and exhibition of quality independent films from all countries in all countries.

The Cicae award is designed to bring attention to excellent films in order for them to be seen in art houses around the world. The Cicae award is given out at festivals including the Berlinale Forum and Panorama, the Sarajevo International Film Festival, the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

The Loft Film Fest jury for documentary features includes Peter Belsito, film biz consultant, fest panelist and guest blogger for SydneysBuzz on Indiewire, actress/writer/producer Yareli Arizmendi ("Like Water for Chocolate," "A Day Without a Mexican") and Beverly Seckinger, director of University of Arizona Center for Documentary and Docscapes.

The short film jury includes Francesco Clerici, director of "Hand Gestures," Max Cannon, creator of the alternative comic strip "Red Meat", and Lupita Murillo of Kvoa News 4 Tucson.

The documentaries in competition are:

"Florence, Arizona"

Florence, Arizona is a cowboy town with a prison problem. Founded in 1866, this bastion of the Wild West is home to 8,500 civilians and 17,000 inmates spread over nine prisons. Through an unconventional lens, the documentary film "Florence, Arizona" weaves together the stories of four key residents of Florence, whose lives have all been shadowed in some way by the surrounding prison industrial complex. The result is an intricately crafted cinematic tapestry, threaded through with deep strands of Americana, humor, intimacy, and pathos, revealing as much about ourselves as it does about our modern carceral state. (Dir. by Andrea B. Scott, 2014, USA, 78 mins., Not Rated) Official Selection: Doc NYC

"Chuck Norris vs. Communism"

In the 1980s, under the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime, Romanians suffered from little access to foreign goods as well as an information blackout the Communist bureaucrats used to ensure ideological purity. But in clandestine screenings at neighbors’ homes of smuggled VHS tapes dubbed by a one-man distribution network, people got a glimpse of the Western world and a culture of muscular individuality with heroes like Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, and, of course, Chuck Norris.

In "Chuck Norris vs Communism," one sees the power of film to change individuals and whole societies. Through the stories of the hardworking female dubber (the most famous voice of Romania), the memories of everyday citizens, evocative re-creations of the time, and an enormous selection of clips from ’80s movies, first-time director Ilinca Calugareanu presents a film about the unexpected consequences of mass entertainment, leading to the conclusion that the greatest threat to Ceaușescu’s dictatorship might just have been the Vcr. (Dir. by Ilinca Calugareanu, 2014, UK/Romania/Germany, in Romanian with subtitles, 83 mins., Not Rated) Official Selection: Sundance Film Festival, Hot Docs

"Bounce"

From Brazilian favelas to dusty Congolese villages, from Neolithic Scottish isles to modern soccer pitches, "Bounce" explores the little-known origins of our favorite sports.

The film crosses time, languages and continents to discover how the ball has staked its claim on our lives and fueled our passion to compete. Equal parts science, history and cultural essay, "Bounce" removes us from the scandals and commercialism of today’s sports world to uncover the true reasons we play ball, helping us reclaim our universal connection to the games we love. (Dir. by Jerome Thelia, 2015, USA / Brazil / Congo / India / Ireland / Italy / Mexico / UK, in English with subtitles, 71 mins., Not Rated) Official Selection: SXSW

"Double Digits: The Story of a Neighborhood Movie Star"

Deep in the recesses of YouTube there is an ingenious artist who cannot be stopped. He consistently churns out 3-4 original feature-length films a year. He’s made action movies, horror movies, westerns and more. He’s not rich, he has no crew, no formal training and aside from his action figures, plays virtually every part. Welcome to the inspiring, imaginative, and often handmade world of Ultra-diy filmmaker Richard ‘R.G.’ Miller, a 50 year-old man who creates impossible blockbusters from his tiny studio apartment in Wichita, Kansas. His dream audience? More than 9 people. (Dir. by Justin Johnson, 2015, USA, 76 mins., Not Rated)

"Right Footed"

Born without arms as the result of a severe birth defect, Jessica Cox never allowed herself to believe that she couldn’t accomplish her dreams. An expert martial artist, college graduate and motivational speaker, Jessica is also the world’s only armless airplane pilot, a mentor, and an advocate for people with disability. Directed by Emmy Award winning filmmaker Nick Spark, "Right Footed" chronicles Jessica’s amazing story of overcoming adversity and follows her over a period of two years as she becomes a mentor for children with disabilities and their families, and a disability rights advocate working in the U.S.A. and abroad. (Dir. by Nick Spark, 2015, USA, in English with subtitles, 82 mins., Not Rated)

"Hand Gestures"

"Hand Gestures" follows the process of creating one of Velasco Vitali’s famous dog sculptures, from wax to glazed bronze, at the Battaglia Artistic Foundry in Milan. The film observes the work of a group of skilled artisans in this 100-year old foundry and reveals the ancient traditions of bronze sculpture making, unchanged since the sixth century B.C. This method is not taught in school, but is passed on in the ancient oral tradition and through apprenticeships from artisans. This documentary observes and feels the work of the Battaglia Artistic Foundry: a place where the past and present share the same gestures and where each gesture is a sculpture itself.

An artist who sculpts, who works the waxes, is treated in the same way as a craftsman who turns that wax into bronze, building and destroying other ephemeral sculptures: they have been making the same gestures for centuries, and by showing this to the camera they reveal historical “jumps” in time. Director Francesco Clerici has made a fine-tuned, carefully-observed study of a glorious thing to watch: artisans practicing their craft on film. Winner of the Fipresci award at Berlinale Forum 2015. (Dir. by Francesco Clerici, 2015, Italy, in Italian with subtitles, 77 mins., Not Rated) Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival

"Beaver Trilogy Part IV" (USA, dir. Brad Besser)

In 1979, Kutv in Salt Lake City acquired a new video camera. Trent Harris, a producer for the station’s offbeat show Extra, ventured out into the parking lot to test the new equipment and happened upon a young man taking pictures of the station’s news helicopter.

The kid, calling himself “Groovin’ Gary,” was the self-proclaimed Rich Little of Beaver, Utah. His infectious personality and small-town impressions of John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone, and Barry Manilow piqued Harris’s interest enough so he gave him a business card and asked that he alert him if anything newsworthy happened in his hometown. What happened next would become the foundation for "Beaver Trilogy," a unique collection of films that documented Harris’s multiple attempts at re-creating the original magic of the Beaver Kid. Director Brad Besser dives deep into the mystique of this cult classic, unraveling the mystery of Harris’s original inspiration. "Beaver Trilogy Part IV" explores the line between the quest for fame and the exploitation of those who pursue it. (Dir. by Brad Besser, 2015, USA, 84 mins., Not Rated) Official Selection: Sundance Film Festival, Hot Docs

The short films in competition are in two programs:

Program 1

Program 2

The awards will be presented on Sunday October 25 before the final screenings of the festival: "Mia Madre" at 7:15Pm and "Eisenstein in Guanajuato" at 7:45Pm.

Tickets and passes on sale now at www.loftfilmfest.org.

Part I.

1971 was an incredibly violent year for movies. That year saw, among others, Tom Laughlin’s Billy Jack, with its half-Indian hero karate-chopping rednecks; William Friedkin’s The French Connection, its dogged cops stymied by well-heeled drug runners; Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, banned for the copycat crimes it reportedly inspired; and Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, featuring the most controversial rape in cinema history. Every bloody shooting, sexual assault and death by penis statue reflected a world gone mad.

It seemed a reaction to America’s skyrocketing crime. Between 1963 and 1975, violent crimes tripled; riots, robberies and assassinations racked major cities. The antiwar and Civil Rights movements generated violent offshoots like the Weathermen and Black Panthers. Citizens blamed politicians like New York Mayor John Lindsay (the original “limousine liberal”), who proclaimed “Peace cannot be imposed on our cities by force of arms,” and Earl Warren’s Supreme Court,...

“Ghosts Of Monument Valley”

By Raymond Benson

The great John Ford made many outstanding westerns, and My Darling Clementine (1946) is certainly one of them. I would argue that not since Stagecoach (1939) had there been as good a picture in the genre, and it didn’t even star John Wayne.

Purportedly the story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, the Clanton Gang, and the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the film is hogwash as far as the truth is concerned. But as pure entertainment, it’s right up there with the best of the classic westerns that have given us stylistic and physical imagery that is today considered cliché. And in order to become cliché, whatever it is has to have been great to begin with. It must be a trend setter, a groundbreaker, an artistic decision that resulted in an iconic piece of celluloid. Much of what John Ford did accomplished just that.

Stewart Alexander is a Canadian actor and writer based in London, England. He was born and raised in Lachine, Quebec, and moved to the UK shortly after graduating from McGill University. Having made a number of short films on Super-8 in college, he embarked on a self-appointed apprenticeship assisting in the lighting, sound and editorial departments for a number of production companies in the UK. He also wrote and directed a short film called, “The Leather Jacket,” which was shot on 16mm, and edited, in a pre-digital age, on a Steenbeck. After meeting Kerry Skinner while studying to be an actor, he wrote the stage-play “Body Checks,” which they co-produced to considerable critical acclaim, and then adapted into a screenplay.

Now Alexander and Skinner have co-directed their first feature, the comedy-drama Common People. The film weaves together six stories and over thirty characters to present a dramatic, humorous and sometimes magical tale of romance,...

When they say, "They don't make 'em like that anymore," this is what they're talking about. "How the West Was Won," released in America 50 years ago this week (on February 20, 1963) was probably the most ambitious western ever made, an epic saga spanning four generations, 50 years, two-and-a-half hours, five vignettes, three directors (well, actually four), the widest possible screen, and an enormous cast of A-listers, including James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, and Spencer Tracy. It's hard to imagine any movie, let alone a western, being made on such a grand scale today, when it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Naturally, in a production that massive, there was a lot of chaos behind the scenes. Even fans of the movie may not be aware of the off-camera feud between Peck and his director, the technical challenges imposed by the untried widescreen format,...

Fort Apache

Written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the story by James Warner Bellah

Directed by John Ford

U.S.A., 1948

It has been recognized that one of the greatest natural symbols of the United States that helped popularize the western genre is Monument Valley, located on the Utah-Arizona state line. Its rocky walls and pillars are instantly recognizable for their iconic, curious shapes and arresting beauty. John Ford, who is most known for his classic westerns films, made terrific use of the wondrous sight a number of times in his career, starting with Stagecoach in 1939. In 1948, he would return to Monument Valley yet again for another John Wayne collaboration, Fort Apache. Each of his films had distinct personalities and stories, though he always manged to enrich the experience with the famed vista.

In Fort Apache, Lt. Col. Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) is commissioned with the task of...

Back from the Governor's Mansion in Sacramento to the daily grind of Hollywood, Arnold Schwarzenegger is not only in an action movie that might have been designed for Clint Eastwood, he's also as slimmed-down, craggy-faced and ill-coiffed as his fellow Republican politician. Under the expert direction of Kim Jee-woon (this is the Korean film-maker's English-language film debut), Arnie plays former top La cop Ray Owens, now in semi-retirement as a small-town Arizona sheriff on the Mexican border. What starts out as a cop movie turns into a western when a third-generation drug kingpin escapes from the Feds in Las Vegas and heads south to the border, where a gang led by Peter Stormare are installing a bridge to facilitate his return to Mexico.

There's an allegory lurking here. The FBI are led by decent-minded African American Forest Whitaker who doesn't trust the local sheriff, and when things go pear-shaped, the...

Tombstone

Directed by Kevin Jarre, George P Cosmatos and Kurt Russell (uncredited)

Written by Kevin Jarre

Us, 1993

It’s a strange phenomenon, considering just how much of Hollywood takes Western sensibilities and lends them to very different settings, but 1993’s cult movie Tombstone has the classic Western scenario, story and set up but without the same style and sensibility. Such has been the impact of the Spaghetti era inspired by Sergio Leone and, before then, the imprint of Glenn Ford and John Wayne, that very few incarnations since have taken a fresh perspective and approach to a timeless genre flick. Competing with the same story in a different take in the same, the Kevin Costner led Wyatt Earp, and troubled from the start by behind the scenes wrangles, it’s miraculous that this slice of pulp ever worked out.

The plot, despite at times appearing highly cinematic and over-the-top, is...

A little while back, I had the distinctive honor of talking to horror film director Nick Millard, the genius behind Criminally Insane, Death Nurse, and dozens of other wonderful films. Mister Millard has been in the biz since the 1960s, starting out making sexploitation films like Uta and Nympho. In 1975 he went into horror with Criminally Insane, and in 1977 he made action movie history with .357 Magnum. Nick has always been one of my all-time favorite directors, ranking with Norbert Moutier, Todd Sheets, James Bryan, and Doris Wishman, so I had to restraint my inner fanboy to bring these words to print. Take it away, Nick!

Adam Mudman – I’ll kick things off in the best way possible; by asking how you got your start. How did this all begin? How were you raised, and how did it impact your decision to become a filmmaker?

Nick Millard – I remember how it started.

The great movie pioneer D.W. Griffiths once said “we do not want now and we shall never want the human voice with our films.” Shame he failed to realise that film-making is a technical medium that will always develop. In the last 100 years we have had the introduction of colour, trick photography, 3D and CGI, among other numerous innovations such as CinemaScope - and even Smellovision. But none of these compare to the most revolutionary of cinematic changes: sound.

The silent era of the twenties holds little more than curiosity-value for many modern film fans. Other than a few notable exceptions such as Nosferatu (1922) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925), it’s become a long-forgotten part of cinema history. But back then we had the Brad Pitts and Angelina Jolies of their day! Big stars and talented actors who sadly failed to survive the test of time.

The coming of sound was controversial,...

One of the most disappointing box office turnouts of the summer has arrived on Blu-ray and DVD. Despite a solid ensemble cast, intense action sequences and cool visual effects Cowobys & Aliens failed to find it’s footing. Hopefully home audiences will enjoy the disc versions more and help increase the overall box office take.

Cowboys & Aliens would be better, if it had focused more heavily on the western elements in my opinion. I love sci-fi, but the science fiction elements seemed to miss the mark. I found myself just thinking of the aliens as more of group of outlaws than the aliens that they were. The best part of the story is the relationship shown between Harrison Ford’s character and his son played by Paul Dano. I especially loved how Adam Beach’s character seems acts like more of a son in the movie. This dyanmic and relationship is...

Universal is releasing Cowboys & Aliens on DVD today and they have sent out some preview clips. The set below focus on the delectable Olivia Wilde.

Olivia Wilde Stunt

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Explosions

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Other bonus clips include:

Stunts Montage

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Daniel Craig

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Harrison Ford

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A Classic Western

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Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford & Olivia Wilde Star In The Genre-busting, Action-adventure From The Director Of ‘Iron Man’

Cowboys & Aliens

Universal City, October 5, 2011 – This summer’s movie event becomes the holiday season’s must-own Blu-ray™ as a lone gunslinger leads an uprising against an alien threat in the explosive, stunningly-imagined film, Cowboys & Aliens. A blazingly original, cross-genre adventure from acclaimed director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2...

This summer.s movie event becomes the holiday season.s must-own Blu-ray. as a lone gunslinger leads an uprising against an alien threat in the explosive, stunningly-imagined film, Cowboys & Aliens . A blazingly original, cross-genre adventure from acclaimed director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) and top moviemakers Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Cowboys & Aliens features heart-pumping action, spectacular visuals and a first-rate cast.

Arriving in stores December 6th from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the Blu-ray. Combo Pack edition of Cowboys & Aliens bring all of the thrills and fun home with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound and includes a never-before-seen extended version of the movie, over two hours of exclusive bonus features, and a DVD and digital copy of the film that can be viewed anywhere, anytime on an array of devices including laptops, tablets, Internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes.

The Blu-ray...

Howdy, pardner! Step right up, kick off yer boots and sit a spell. We've got several clips from the Cowboys & Aliens Blu-ray on tap with the usual hooch. Take a deep swig, will ya? Much obliged!

From the Press Release

This summer’s movie event becomes the holiday season’s must-own Blu-ray™ as a lone gunslinger leads an uprising against an alien threat in the explosive, stunningly-imagined film, Cowboys & Aliens. A blazingly original, cross-genre adventure from acclaimed director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) and top moviemakers Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Cowboys & Aliens features heart-pumping action, spectacular visuals and a first-rate cast. Arriving in stores December 6th from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack edition of Cowboys & Aliens bring all of the thrills and fun home with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound and includes a never-before-seen extended version of the movie,...

Typecasting is a terrible fate to befall an actor. Many of them have suffered from it over the years, accepting role after role in similar films with similar plots and similar characters simply because they have no real alternative. However, in spite of the risks involved there are also those who subvert this association; those who have elevated themselves to near legendary status within their chosen genre. Their performances define it and are woven inextricably into its rich tapestry. Two such actors are pictured above and are the subject of this article – one, a silent and anonymous loner with no time for small talk and very direct methods of dealing with his adversaries, the other a straight talking, no – nonsense peacekeeper with a trademark southern drawl. Both are perhaps best known for their westerns, although they also directed, produced and starred in a variety of other films too including military epics and ‘unorthodox’ police procedurals.

Director Jon Favreau‘s (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) sci-fi/western mashup, Cowboys & Aliens is coming to Blu-ray just in time for the holidays. Universal Home Entertainment has stuffed this package with a rather large stable of behind the scenes bonus features, and Universal’s very cool, extremely interactive Second Screen feature.

You can check out some video of the Second Screen feature below, along with the full press release listing all the features included on the Blu-ray combo and a link to pre-order your copy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford & Olivia Wilde Star In The Genre-busting, Action-adventure From The Director Of ‘Iron Man’ Cowboys & Aliens

own the extended edition movie only on blu-ray™ combo pack december 6, 2011 featuring exclusive bonus features & a dvd and digital copy of the film, plus universal’s enhanced new second screen feature

Universal City, October 5, 2011 – This summer’s movie...

Yes, it tanked at the box office like a lead balloon, but maybe, just maybe, Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens will find its audience when it hits Blu-ray and DVD! Read on for the initial details.

From the Press Release

This summer’s movie event becomes the holiday season’s must-own Blu-ray™ as a lone gunslinger leads an uprising against an alien threat in the explosive, stunningly-imagined film, Cowboys & Aliens. A blazingly original, cross-genre adventure from acclaimed director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) and top moviemakers Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Cowboys & Aliens features heart-pumping action, spectacular visuals and a first-rate cast. Arriving in stores December 6th from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack edition of Cowboys & Aliens bring all of the thrills and fun home with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound and includes a never-before-seen extended version of the movie,...

Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford & Olivia Wilde Star In The Genre-busting, Action-adventure From The Director Of ‘Iron Man’Own The Extended Edition Movie Only On Blu-ray. Combo Pack December 6, 2011

Featuring Exclusive Bonus Features & A DVD And Digital Copy Of The Film, Plus Universal’S Enhanced New Second Screen Feature

Universal City, Calif., Oct. 5, 2011 – This summer’s movie event becomes the holiday season’s must-own Blu-ray. as a lone gunslinger leads an uprising against an alien threat in the explosive, stunningly-imagined film, Cowboys & Aliens . A blazingly original, cross-genre adventure from acclaimed director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) and top moviemakers Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Cowboys & Aliens features heart-pumping action, spectacular visuals and a first-rate cast. Arriving in stores December 6th from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the Blu-ray. Combo Pack edition of Cowboys & Aliens bring all of the thrills and fun home with...

Universal Home Entertainment has set the release date for Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens Blu-ray and DVD for December 6th. The movie opened up to a lot of mixed reviews, but I thought it was incredibly entertaining. It's a movie I'll definitely be picking up. What did you think of the movie?

Here are the full details for the Blu-ray/DVD:

This summer's movie event becomes the holiday season's must-own Blu-ray™ as a lone gunslinger leads an uprising against an alien threat in the explosive, stunningly-imagined film, Cowboys & Aliens. A blazingly original, cross-genre adventure from acclaimed director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) and top moviemakers Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Cowboys & Aliens features heart-pumping action, spectacular visuals and a first-rate cast. Arriving in stores December 6th from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack edition of Cowboys & Aliens bring all of...

The Duke's grandson Brendan gets the Wayne family back in the saddle, while comic horror Attack the Block takes on new significance in the wake of the UK riots

Wayne's world

A piece of the old west lives on in the blockbuster Cowboys & Aliens, in which a spaceship lands in an Arizona town in 1873. Manning up in the posse alongside Hollywood stars Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford is a certain Brendan Wayne, grandson of cowboy legend John Wayne. California-born Brendan grew up on rodeos and film sets and does all his own stunts playing Deputy Lyle in the new film, finally fulfilling a boyhood dream hatched while watching Duke on set in the original True Grit. Having decided late to study acting at university, Brendan even majored in his grandfather's movies. Now married to an actress and with three daughters, Brendan owns two horses, Out of Money and Deuces, neither...

Amid false reports claiming Casey Anthony was spotted running through the Orlando Airport on Tuesday hiding under a sweater, the search for the 25-year-old liar continues, with NBC's "Today" speculating she might be in California. The morning show believes she could be in Carlsbad, near San Diego.

The private jet that whisked Anthony away following her release from an Orlando jail is said to have landed at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. after making stops in Florida,...

I was saddened to learn this morning that Betty Garrett, the great star of stage, screen, and TV, passed away yesterday at the age of 94 after suffering an aortic aneurysm.

Garrett was one of those rare people — like, say, Jack Valenti — who happened to be a witness to and/or participant in a remarkably high number of historic events of the 20th century. She was a member of Orson Welles’s famed Mercury Theatre company, and was with him on the night that he shook up America with his infamous radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds” (1938); she was Frank Sinatra’s leading lady in two of the earliest great M-g-m musical-comedies, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (1949) and “On the Town” (1949); her career was greatly hurt by the Hollywood Red Scare after her husband, the Oscar nominated actor Larry Parks, refused to name names before the House Committee...

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Let Me In" (2010)

Directed by Matt Reeves

Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment

"Never Let Me Go" (2010)

Directed by Mark Romanek

Released by Fox Home Entertainment

Two of 2010's most underrated films that approach their respective genres from radically different perspectives than most, "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves' "Let Me In" and Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" will finally have the opportunity to stand out on home video. In "Let Me In," Reeves applies some of his own biographical touchstones for this remake of Tomas Alfredson's horror film about the unlikely friendship between a vampire (Chloe Moretz) and a lonely young boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Romanek's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's much-beloved sci-fi novel about a group of children raised apart from the rest of society for purposes that are unknown to them. (Alison Willmore's reviews for "Let Me In" and...

From Texas to New York to Minnesota, and now, with True Grit, to the old west – the Coen brothers' career has been spent mapping the history and geography of America. Tom Shone meets them.

In the gilded hospitality suite of New York's Ritz-Carlton, the Coen brothers are pondering their success. "We are part of the system more than you would suspect," says Ethan, the younger, more combative (and, one suspects, more emotional) of the two brothers. "We are like Hollywood insiders now. It's really weird."

This draws a nod from Joel, the older, more laconic one. (You could imagine him playing bass for Patti Smith.) "One day you wake up and you realise that's happened and it's a shock," he says. "You find yourself at the Academy awards, or wherever the hell it is, and suddenly you know all these people. And you think: 'How the fuck did I get here?...

Amazon is selling the John Wayne Ultimate 25 Movie DVD Collection [1] (which comes with a bonus $5 Amazon VOD Credit) for only $4.99. John Wayne remains one of the most beloved icons in the history of American film. With over 142 lead performances, his prolific career established him as the symbol of an American West that epitomized the virtues of courage, toughness, humor and loyalty. This amazing collection features 20 Westerns, 3 Adventures, one Comedy, and a John Ford Documentary. Titles Included Are: Angel and the Badman, Blue Steel, The Dawn Rider, Desert Command, Hell Town, His Private Secretary, The Hurricane Express, The Lawless Frontier, The Lucky Texan, The Man From Utah, McLintock, 'Neath Arizona Skies, Paradise Canyon, Rainbow Valley, Randy Rides Again, Riders of Destiny, Sagebrush Trail, Shadow of the Eagle, The Star Packer, Texas Terror, The Trail Beyond, West of the Divide, and Wind of the Wasteland. Amazon is also giving away an additional...

Here is Andy’s hand-tooled leather director’s chair from the set of the TV series Wild Bill Hickok on which he played Wild Bill’s sidekick Jingles. Andy’s elaborate parade saddle. A great photo of two old friends on the set of John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: John Wayne and Andy Devine. Personal memorabilia lines the walls, from Andy’s youth in Kingman through his later years. The black & white photo shows the actor with his sons, who appeared with him in Canyon Passage (1946) but didn’t pursue careers in show business. Kingman, Arizona’s ultimate tribute: a stretch of…...

Craig here with today's Take Three

Today: Sterling Hayden

Take One & Take Two:... for Mr. Kubrick or: how I learned to stop worrying and love The Killing

Kubrick didn’t often cast actors more than once in major roles in his films. Apart from Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory, Spartacus) and Peter Sellers (Lolita, Dr. Strangelove) I can’t think of a great many others who received a repeat Kubrick experience. That is, other than Sterling Hayden, who nabbed two great roles in The Killing (1956) and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Hayden was the stern leader of Kubrick’s crime gang in the former, and an integral part of his military circus in the latter.

For Dr. Strangelove he was drawn out of early retirement by Kubrick to play General Jack Ripper, an ever-so-slightly insane, uber-patriotic Usaf Brigadier (bizarrely obsessed with his...

It’s been said that Westerns are to America what Shakespeare is to England. The Western genre has been an important and iconic part of our heritage, whether in film, TV or in print. And one of the most popular and prolific Western authors was Louis L’Amour.

L’Amour had a long career writing Western fiction, which he liked to call “Frontier Stories”. L’Amour wrote 89 books from 1930 to the late 1980s. Many of his stories were made into movies and all his books are still in print. He was a favorite author of Western film superstar John Wayne. “The Louis L’Amour Western Collection” brings three film adaptations of L’Amour novels to DVD for the first time.

The first of these L’Amour adaptations is The Sackets, a two-part made-for-tv retelling of two of L’Amour’s novels (The Daybreakers and Sackett) from “The Sacketts” series. The...

Some lucky people are getting out of town for Memorial Day 2010. But some of us are staying at home. Luckily, all your favorite channels are doing mega marathons of all your favorite shows.

Zap2it is the one-stop shop for all your Memorial Day programming. From delightfully bad reality TV like "Real Housewives" and "Jersey Shore" to the quirky 1990s dramedy "Twin Peaks" to the serious TCM salute to war movies, there's something for everyone on TV this weekend. All times Eastern, but check your local listings for times and channel numbers.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

A&E (11 a.m. - 6 p.m.): Flip This House

Animal Planet (1 p.m. - 7 p.m.): River Monsters

BBC America (8 p.m. - 8 a.m.): Doctor Who

Bet (10 a.m. - 7 p.m.): Everybody Hates Chris

Biography (8 p.m. - 3 a.m.): Celebrity Ghost Stories

Bravo (9 p.m. - 2 a.

Blu-ray Review

Tombstone

Directed by: George P. Cosmatos

Cast: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot, Powers Boothe

Running Time: 2 hrs 10 mins

Rating: R

Due Out: April 27, 2010

Buy Tombstone [Blu-ray] on Amazon

Plot: Legendary cowboy Wyatt Earp (Russell) tries to retire from justice with this brothers in the small town of Tombstone, Arizona. Their plans for peace are shortly disrupted by a group of outlaws who force the brothers to take up vigilantism one last time.

Who’S It For?: This 1993 western is best reserved for fans of the genre, as general moviegoers may not have the same tolerance for Tombstone’s pacing or corny moments as those who prefer the likes of John Wayne and even Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy. Also, this for those who think that Val Kilmer can’t act very well – he’s gives a quite a good performance here.

Movie:

Westerns are a difficult genre for Hollywood.

Next month marks the centenary of In Old California, a 17-minute adventure yarn directed by Dw Griffith and the first Hollywood production. Philip French records the changes in film and Us society in the past century, and names the films that defined each decade

1910-1919: The birth of Hollywood

According to Hollywood myth, the first film made there was Cecil B DeMille's The Squaw Man in 1914, after the director decided not to alight in a snowbound Flagstaff, Arizona, but to proceed to Los Angeles. In fact, four years earlier the prolific Dw Griffith had come west to take advantage of the California sunshine, and the 17-minute In Old California, an adventure set in Spanish colonial days, was the first to be filmed in its entirety in the village of Hollywood. Now commemorated by a monument at 1713 Vine Street, it was released on 10 March 1910, one of Griffith's 98 films of that year.

Oscar-winning director William Friedkin.

In July of 1997, I conducted the first of two lengthy interviews with director William Friedkin, regarded by many as the "enfant terrible" of the so-called "Easy Riders and Raging Bulls" generation of filmmakers who, for one brief, shining moment, seemed to reinvent American cinema in the late '60s thru the late '70s. Meeting Friedkin was something of a milestone for me at the time: I was still in my 20s, had been writing for Venice Magazine less than a year, and "Billy," as he likes people to call him, was the first person I interviewed who was one of my childhood heroes--a filmmaker whose one-sheets hung on my bedroom walls when I was growing up.

Below are the two interviews, conducted a decade apart from one another, and posted in reverse chronology. In both, Billy reveals a cunning intellect, a sometimes abrasive personal style,...

Jeff Bridges is outstanding as a washed-up country singer desperate to achieve personal and professional redemption, writes Philip French

Jeff Bridges, with his big, open, all-American face, has been a major presence on the screen for 40 years now, ever since becoming a star at the age of 22 as a small-town high-school senior in The Last Picture Show, a role for which he was Oscar-nominated as best supporting actor. In The Last Picture Show, Hank Williams figures prominently on the soundtrack and the film ends with Bridges seeing John Wayne in Red River before leaving for military service in the Korean war. So it's appropriate that the 60-year-old Bridges should have received an Oscar nomination for his ageing country singer in first-time writer-director Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart and is soon to play "Rooster" Cogburn in a remake of True Grit, the role that eventually brought John Wayne his only Oscar.

Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman have got to be two of the most popular writers in Hollywood right now. Like, love or hate their work, as script writers they have turned into a very hot commodity and are quickly becoming the “go-to” guys for sci-fi scripts. With projects like Star Trek 2, Cowboys & Aliens, View-Master and multiple Fringe episodes on their plate, they have no shortage of work (which in this economy is a good thing).

Recently the great guys and gals at Collider were able to talk to Orci and Kurtzman and they managed wrangle some really good information from them in what turned out to be a lengthy interview. We’ve already discussed the parts about Star Trek 2 and their decision Not to be involved with Transformers 3, which they confirmed during this same interview. You check out the entire interview here, but I’ll go through...

"Swagger." It's a term that's come into some popularity in the past few years. Like the phrase "Red Zone." But the Red Zone is only a Red Zone for the defense; for the offense it would naturally be the "Green Zone." I guess only Tom Coughlin realizes that. But back to swagger. The way the word swagger has been used, especially the way Old Spice advertises it, it's apparently meant to exhibit some kind of machismo, a confidence thing. Something akin to John Wayne strutting out into the dusty streets of Arizona raring to shoot some bad guy who's undoubtedly broken the law or maybe one of those infamous swashbuckling pirates like Calico Jack or Henry Morgan or Bluebeard who, after many lonely months at sea ... well, that may be a different...

Cinema history is replete with great director / actor partnerships. John Wayne and John Ford. Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel. Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe. Paul Ws Anderson and Jason Isaacs. Now it looks like we can add Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau to that pantheon, with Variety's report that the pair are likely to immediately follow Iron Man 2 with the long-gestating Cowboys and Aliens.You might infer from the title that the film is a sci-fi western, which sees cowboys and indians fighting in Arizona until an alien spaceship crash-lands and gives them a new focus, and you'd be right. It's based on an indie comic by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley, published in 2006.Downey has been attached to the project since it was first announced last summer, but until now it's lacked a director. The last we heard, the script was being written by Iron Man...