The American West is burned into the world’s psyche. There are few cultures on the planet that haven’t been influenced by the lore of the west, the stories of rugged frontiersmen, the aesthetic of the shootout, the grand clash between modern and pre-modern civilization. It has inspired an entire genre of literature and film in … Continue reading
Getting married and moving across the country to start a PhD program doesn’t leave lots of time in your schedule for going to the movies. (How I managed to go to the theater every week in film school, I’ll never know.) So, I didn’t see as many films this year as I would have liked. … Continue reading
Besides school shootings and Paris Hilton, America is known for two things: 1) Western movies 2) Romantic comedies Both westerns and rom-coms are beautiful things. Westerns, especially, have “America” stamped all over them. As Cormac McCarthy has pointed out, wherever you go on this planet, people have heard about and been fascinated by the lore … Continue reading
Last night, I re-watched Munich, Spielberg’s second best film. (Jaws remains his masterpiece.) The film is about the kidnapping and murder of 11 Jewish athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and about Israel’s covert, systematic assassination of the terrorists involved in the plot. On the film’s DVD, Spielberg gives a brief introduction, saying … Continue reading
