Movie thoughts and fiction updates.
A friend of mine, Christopher DiGrazzia, suggested the work of noted perfectionist early filmmaker Erich von Stroheim a while back, and I've kept the option in my back pocket ever since. After the long run of forty films from Clint Eastwood, I was looking for a filmography both less imposing to handle as well as… Continue reading Erich von Stroheim: A Statement of Purpose
I'd happily be wrong if Clint Eastwood managed to find the money for one more film after Cry Macho, but I don't think it's going to happen. His last two films were box office disappointments, he's been on the wrong side of the political monoculture of Hollywood for too long, and the man is well… Continue reading Clint Eastwood: The Definitive Ranking
#34 in my ranking of Clint Eastwood's films. Not nearly the disaster that some critics made it out to be but also not that good either, Cry Macho was a script that author N. Richard Nash had been trying to get made since the early 1970s. It only took 20 years after Nash's death for… Continue reading Cry Macho
So, my mother gave me this account of the making of John Huston's film The Red Badge of Courage for Christmas, and I've just finished it. It's a very engrossing account of the studio system, the intersection of commerce and art, and changing times all at once. Highly recommended. However, I just wanted to note… Continue reading Picture by Lillian Ross
#6 in my ranking of Clint Eastwood's films. There's been something interesting evolving through Clint Eastwood's later career in terms of his view of authority. Going all the way back to Dirty Harry, he was looking at a series of institutions that were inept and maybe corrupt, but never malicious. Even Little Bill in Unforgiven… Continue reading Richard Jewell
David Vining, Author 