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Recent Posts
- On Randall K. Wilson’s “A Place Called Yellowstone”: Award-Winning History of Yellowstone National Park
- On Candice Millard’s “River of Doubt” and “River of the Gods”: Bugs, Snakes, and Disease Aplenty
- More Alone than “Alone”: On Adam Shoalts’s “Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell” (2025)
- Rachel McAdams film “Send Help” (2026) Makes Comic Gold Out of “Survivor” and “Alone” Audition Videos
- “The Wiggle Room”: A Short Story
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Category Archives: Film
Review of "Oz: The Great and Powerful," Plus "The Paperboy" Meets "The Master"
So last night I stumbled into the new James Franco/Mila Kunis special effects love-a-thon Oz: the Great and Powerful, and could easily do one of those catty, snarky Hollywood send-ups that go, “It was like The Princess Bride meets The … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Film, Nicole Kidman, Pete Dexter, Uncategorized
Tagged Film, Nicole Kidman, Oz: the Great and Powerful, The Master, The Paperboy
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"Django Unchained": Cloudy With a Chance of Spaghetti Western & Meatballs
So I saw Tarantino’s Django Unchained yesterday—out of curiosity, not out of a being any huge Tarantino fan. (At their best, as in Pulp Fiction, Tarantino’s films are clever and zingy, and at worst—that unwatchable B-movie Grindhouse he made with … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Gun Control, Pete Dexter, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, Django Unchained, Film, The West
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"The Evil Dead" as Seminal Precursor to "Cabin in the Woods," With a Remake in the Works for Next Year
So although I’m a fan of last year’s witty (and sometimes gory) film Cabin in the Woods, I’ve been reluctant to say anything about it, as it’s one you don’t want to spoil for those who have yet to see … Continue reading
A Tom Cruise Story That You Won't See on Entertainment Tonight
So what I find irritating about our celebrity-obsessed culture is that we adore our movie stars, then want to tear them down and make them out to be monsters, as if from some elaborate (and national) You Think You’re Better … Continue reading
"Prometheus" at a Cinema in Santa Fe, An Experience in Intensity
So while I was in Santa Fe I caught Ridley Scott’s prequel to Alien (1979), the flashy and eye-catching Prometheus, which is certainly trippy, even if it doesn’t all add up. I guess if I were rating it as such, … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Film, Photography, The West
Tagged Photography, Prometheus, Santa Fe
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John Kennedy Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces" Finally to be Filmed, With Zach Galifianakis playing the Inimitable Ignatius Reilly
So one of the funniest American novels EVER is about to (finally) make it into a film version (in which Hollywood will no doubt muck it up, but so it goes): John Kennedy Toole’s (infamous) A Confederacy of Dunces (1980), … Continue reading
Posted in Art, books, books/film, Film, writing, Zach Galifianakis
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Pete Dexter's Great Novel "The Paperboy" Now Coming Out as a Film, Starring Nicole Kidman, No Less, As a Skanky Prison Wife
So I just stumbled across this little gem of good news: Pete Dexter’s knockout novel The Paperboy (1995) has been made into a film, which is about to be shown at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, starring Nicole Kidman, among … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Film, writing
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James Cameron's Metaphor of Climate Change as the 21st Century Iceberg to Our Big Oil Titanic, Plus a Shout-out to E.O. Wilson's new book "The Social Conquest of Earth" and the Coen Brothers classic "Barton Fink"
So I’m not exactly a huge fan of James Cameron films, full of over-the-top razzle-dazzle, some great images (such as the Titanic sinking, rising into the air and all the unfortunate passengers plummeting into the water) but enough bad melodrama … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Climate Change, Film, Politics, The West, writing
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Review of Noah Hawley's "The Good Father" in the Dallas Morning News
So here’s my review of Noah Hawley’s new novel, The Good Father, published Sunday in the Dallas Morning News (click the hyperlink ‘review’). I liked the novel, even if it’s ultimately a downer story, of a father searching for the … Continue reading
Further Reflections on Scenes Cut From the Film Version of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," Or Films You Wish You Had Seen, and Some You Wish You Had Not
So being a diehard Cormac McCarthy fan (and more than just a little bit suspicious), I feel the hand of God or Fate or Providence in the fact that one of my students this semester was an actor (Baby Eater … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Bad TV, books, books/film, Film, The West, writing
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