Movie thoughts and fiction updates.
#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
#1 in my ranking of Clint Eastwood's films. When it comes to Clint Eastwood's directing work, it's important to separate the films he made for financial reasons (The Rookie, Firefox) from the ones that were more personal to him (Bronco Billy, Honkytonk Man, White Hunter Black Heart). This feels like the latter, a script he… Continue reading Unforgiven
#5 in my ranking of Clint Eastwood's films. This is one of those movies where there really should be a co-directing credit. Phillip Kaufman co-wrote the script, went through all of the pre-production, and then filmed about the first two weeks of the shoot before Clint Eastwood convinced the producer, Robert Daley, to fire Kaufman… Continue reading The Outlaw Josey Wales
#11 in my ranking of Clint Eastwood's films. This is just really well-made exploitation, isn't it? I'm not really complaining because Clint Eastwood, in his second outing as director, brings a professionalism and sense of class to both the directing and acting that the basic script doesn't seem to deserve, taking a simple tale of… Continue reading High Plains Drifter
#1 in my ranking of Sam Peckinpah's filmography. What an exploitative, trashy title, and what a sad, beautiful film behind it. Working with independent producer Martin Baum and his connections at United Artists, Sam Peckinpah was able to find funding for the script he had written with Gordon Dawson. Leaving Hollywood behind and filming in… Continue reading Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
David Vining, Author 