Retro Rants

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Retro Rants

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OPEN RANGE: A Great Western Worth Revisiting

Growing up, I didn’t like Westerns. I wasn’t into horses or the Old West; stories of gunslingers and frontier towns didn’t do much for me. Like many, I started to change my opinion o

Retro Rant: OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN

Living and working in the Big Apple can be tough on a guy, but some people thrive on the pressure. Bart Hughes (Peter Weller) is one of those hardy breed. He’s got his life well in han

Retro Rant: THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR

Any film fan who watches more than, say, three films made somewhere besides Hollywood realizes that different cultures use different storytelling grammars and conventions. In some cases

OLDBOY: Revenge Was Never So Satisfying

Imagine, just for a moment, you are a South Korean businessman named Oh (Min-sik Choi). You’re a better drunk than you are a businessman, and you’re stumbling home, late for your daug

THE REF: There's Nothing Like A Thief To Bring a Family Together

Ah, Christmas. The most wonderful—and heartburn-inducing—holiday of the year, there is a whole panoply of fine cinematic treasures about the Yuletide season. I’m not talking about he

THE PRINCESS BRIDE: Still Heartwarming After All These Years

There is no way to write about THE PRINCESS BRIDE and make it sound cool. Ostensibly, THE PRINCESS BRIDE is a fairy tale that a grandfather (Peter Falk) reads to his sick grandson (Fre

A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING: Thankfully, Classic PEANUTS

Charlie Brown and Snoopy were my favorite cartoon characters growing up, and they still hold a special place in my heart. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSG

THE GODFATHER: A Classic For Good Reason

I have an admission to make: Up until now, I have never seen THE GODFATHER. Despite being an avowed movie fan, I have managed to miss Francis Ford Coppola’s classic repeatedly over the

ROMAN HOLIDAY: A Vacation To Remember

I am all about unconventional love stories about as much as I am into really great acting—amazingly enough, this Oscar winning film has both of these elements and now I am depressed w

RETRO RANT: Michael Mann's HEAT Still Burns

Are there any films made in the last ten years with as much action, smarts and plain ol’ testosterone-driven style as HEAT? The 1995 magnum opus from Michael Mann is one of the legenda

Retro Rant: TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. (1985)

Crime flicks are a standard genre in America. You can generally figure out the outlines of most crime films before the title cards stop rolling, and it’s a tried-and-true formula. Howe

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GODFATHER II: A Masterpiece As Good As The Original

Some sequels are inevitable, due to money or, very rarely, story requirements. In the case of THE GODFATHER, the original made such a splash that a sequel was approved before filming on