If Susan Heyward isn't enough to bring ya to the screen then you will still get plenty of action. Jack Elam has a peripheral part as one of the outlaws and in my humble opinion he steals, pardon the pun, the show. I have alwayd thought Power was a bit too much of an over-actor, even for the 50's, but he does a good job here, and Heyward makes all look good. She was much more than a pretty face, and her acting skills were as good as anyone in Tinseltown at the time. I love this movie for its gritty realism, it's sense of humor and danger, and for having a bit of a noir feel to it. I just can't give it more than 7 because, to me anyway, as in 9 out of 10 films from this period, the writing was just not buyable. Fortunately, in Rawhide, the acting is mostly top rate..
Reviews
9 Reviews
Sons of Anarchy
(2008–2014)
Not in the least authentic
30 May 2021
As a 1%'er who spent 16 years in the joint I was looking for to this show, hopeful that it would rock. Unfortunately, it didn't get there. The hardcore Westcoast patched riders are nothing like these guys. I'm not saying that I would expect the program's creators to not shower the actors, take half the teeth out of their mouths, and have them scraping up gas and beer money, but I did expect some realism. I saw very little.
The Mule
(2018)
Bit Of A Letdown
11 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Within the first five minutes of this film you learn, not only all the backstory you need to move ahead, but all the present issues that will take our protagonist on to the dark side. Is that bad? Well, kinda. I love Clint, and I'm well aware that he is a master at putting these films together to where they move quickly, waste no camera time on anything meaningless, and tell a darn good emotional story. But something doesn't really work here, and I'm not a good enough critic, or writer, to say exactly why. The film just gets out of the box too fast, and then spends those first several minutes moving from scene to scene, setting the stage, filling us in with some piece of info we'll need later, and then moving on. We discover in those initial five minutes that Clint plays an aging yet popular and charming divorced small town horticulturist. We also find out that the internet is killing his beloved and once thriving business, that he has Mexican employees with whom he has a sort of jocular, buddy buddy, locker room type relationship. Oh, and his absolute love and devotion to flowers and plants has ruined his family life, divorce and separation, especially from the loving soon to be married granddaughter who just wants her PePa back. All in five minutes.....
Then we are told in writing that we've moved ahead "12 Years Later".
And of course Clint, code named TaTa, becomes a Mule for the cartel. The film is everything that the great Eastwood films are not: formulaic. In fact this film puts the mule in formulaic. That wasn't the case with Million Dollar Baby, or with The Unforgiven...along with several others. I remember reading where Clint said that Gran Torino was gonna be his last acting role. It should have been, because if, like me, you found gran Torino to be a good yet highly predictable and cliche driven film, then just avoid The Mule. I saw nearly everything coming 10 minutes before it happened. This film lets you down in that I saw it coming sense. It's a sad waste of great talent. Clint playing a 90 year old slightly nutty man is....well.....not a stretch. It's an okay cable freebie, but that's all.
The Hateful Eight
(2015)
Okay Quentin, we get it....you're allowed to use the "n" word.
15 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This film has almost taken Tarantino to rock bottom basement. Turning Samual Jackson into a sex-offending racist doesn't make me feel any better about the rest of the racists in the room. If I'm not allowed, and I'm fine with it, to even write a specific word here on this site, what makes Quentin think I want to hear it 100 times in 160 excruciating minutes. Oh my God......my wife is African American; we love(d) Tarantino; what is he thinking? He has fallen into the shock factor safety net syndrome. If things get boring shout NI&&&R, or have Sam Jackson make a washed up rebel officer perform oral sex on him. WHAT? You can see what he was thinking: hey it worked in Pulp Fiction. And what a shame, all that talent, that beautiful cinematography.......what a pitiful shame. Q needs to go back to work at the video store where he was discovered, eat mac & cheese every night.......and use his genius. Write the truth Q. Even though his stuff was out there, it's beauty was in the fact that you heard truth. In HF8 I heard nothing but gratuitous racist crap and forced fake conversation. I was waiting for each character to raise their hand before standing to deliver a speech. Absolute garbage. Absolute trash.
The Abandoned
(2015)
Had they Abandoned the clichés there'd have been nothing left
12 January 2016
I don't know why I let myself get suckered into the $7.99 rental fee for this film. Generally I'll do enough homework on a horror movie that I won't be cheated, but they got me here. The film was terrible from the start, girl with psychological problems takes a job at the creepy, deserted, dark, Gothic building. Lord.... need I say more. And how bout the obligatory wet t shirt? Spare me. I can't believe I fell for it. Every five minutes somebody says " we gotta get out of here", and I would say, why? But that's exactly what I should have done halfway through this dog......got out of here. But I will not go down easy after putting up 8 bucks. So I stuck it out until the end. And believe me when I say that 3 stars is being overly generous.
Echoes of War
(2015)
Echoes of an empty theater
14 May 2015
This is the worst western I've seen since 1974. That was the summer I filmed my best friend, Jimmy R, with my new Kodak Super 8, wearing a Cardboard Stetson, shooting rubber tipped plastic arrows off the back porch of the ranch he shared with two siblings and his mother and father....When I say ranch, I mean a single level modern home. This was Chicago after all. How is it possible that a screen writer could lay out dialog this unrealistic? This was so off period (If I may coin a phrase) that it seemed to be a sketch for a TV variety show. Western set in the nineteenth century? Please say you're kidding me. These characters speak as if they're millennial's chatting at a Starbucks. I have written several short stories, published a couple. I'm a hack with degree in Creative Writing who's best quality is recognizing great writing, rather than writing great. I suppose that it is for that very reason that I get so irritated when I read a novel, or see a film, that money, a lot of money, has been spent on its production. Nobody saw this coming? Somewhere there is actually an executive producer who read this screen play, stuck a finger in the air, and called out, BRILLIANT? The only redeeming aspect of this two hour cattle pie is a few of the actors who tried very hard to pretend they were in the atmosphere and situation that the set and script called for. Valiant efforts to be sure, but not near enough to prevent me from wanting my money back. And it's sad. I love a good western. Who doesn't? There are several factors that go into writing a screenplay, rules that need to be followed to keep the story flowing smoothly toward its climax. And the rules are followed here. The screenplay and script seem to have been put together well. Technically, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Echoes Of War. It's just a bad bad boring movie that moves along slower than a 90 year old break dancer. Echoes Of War is to be missed. Life is way to short to spend any of it on this film. Trust me on this.
Cold in July
(2014)
Where have all the good movies gone?
26 July 2014
I decided to watch this film based on all the positive reviews I read. WRONG! So predictable, so poorly directed, that I nearly gave up an hour in. And I darn well should have. The protagonist has such a sad pathetic life, with his beautiful family, that he never smiles, never laughs, sweats, worries.....for God's sake this guy makes me nervous. Stop it!! If this is a nine outta ten then I only read from now on. East Texas has nearly become type-casted into this Type pulp crap that makes sure we know that everybody in town is either a good and down to earth liberal person or a God fearin'', gun toatin', S.O.B. Is it well acted? At times. My real complaint is with the over-the-top directing......News Flash To The Directer......This is not No Country For Old Men. Not even close. Sorry....Where Have All The Good Movies Gone?
Raiders of the Lost Ark
(1981)
Great action movie....worth seeing again.
7 June 2014
Only thing on this morn', so I watched it for maybe the third time. It is still one of the best action flicks ever.....Ford was perfect for the roll, keeping that how did I get in to this mess look on his face throughout. Love it. Funny, intense, and suspenseful. Spielberg stays away from mocking anybody's religion, which in a film like this is hard to do. He doesn't make the Nazis look to be bumbling idiots, which is usually the case in action comedy's. If you haven't seen this in awhile, or you have been in Siberia for the last three decades. Watch it..... I suppose it leaves you wanting in some ways, but I guess that's what sequels are for. Great movie.....
The Pledge
(I) (2001)
An okay film.....period
26 January 2014
Easy to tell that Penn was new in the director's chair......A fair movie is the best I can say. Jack, of course, is great, but he can't save it. Penn attempts, it seems, to put together a Who Done It, but this just simply does not work. The acting is first rate, the directing is second. At some point you begin to wonder when this film is going to take off. It seems obvious that Penn desperately follows film making 101 to languish us through the second half of The Pledge. Nice try but no cigar on this one. Penn's later work is better....in fact, each film he makes gets better. Having said all that, I gave the movie a five because it's worth seeing. ONCE.
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