All set in the near-future Australia, the three Mad Max films—Mad Max (1979), Mad Max Road Warrior (1982) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)—created a bleak dystopian world while staging some incredible stunts in an era when stunts were done…
Most long-running movie franchises come to a point where they become little more than self parody, and for the Die Hard franchise, this fifth installment A Good Day to Die Hard, is that moment. Given the thin story, dull characters,…
A combination of crude animation and live action, Heavy Traffic (1973) was Ralph Bakshi’s follow up to the popular Felix the Cat. Filled with autobiographical resonance and unmistakably raunchy, Heavy Traffic follows a young New Yorker, as he struggles to…
Released in 1940, Three Faces West is a lesser known entry in John Wayne’s long and varied filmography. Part The Grapes of Wrath and an anti-Nazi propaganda movie, Three Faces West is a bit of an odd duck when considering…
Filmed at a time when director Delmer Daves was delivering some of the best work of his career—his other mid-fifties films include Jubal (1956) (which he also scripted), Cowboy (1958), and The Hanging Tree (1959)—3:10 to Yuma, based on a…
Credited with being the first outdoor western photographed with sound, In Old Arizona was originally shot as a silent film, and later re-filmed after The Jazz Singer, the movies first talkie, captivated audiences and left them wanting more. Modern audiences…
Hank Williams’ death at the age of 29 in the backseat of a baby-blue Cadillac on New Year’s Day 1953 has intrigued fans for six decades. The details of exactly how he died remain unclear, though hardly surprising given his…
Though sweet and predictable, the talented cast’s affable charm makes Quartet impossible to pass up. More than forty-five years after becoming a star on the heels of his role as Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman finally makes his…
Slightly odd and highly saccharine to be sure, The Miracle of the Bells (1948) hasn’t gotten a lot of respect over the years. By 1948, Frank Sinatra’s supposed mob association was openly discussed. As a result, his portrayal of a…
Loosely adapted from the novel by satirist Terry Southern, 1969’s The Magic Christian was largely dismissed upon its release as being “messy,” and “incomprehensible.” Fans of the film contend that this was deliberate, that the film was an attempt to…