Watched John Ford and John Wayne's "The Searchers," last night. The story was believable, the scenery was good, the action was good, the actors were well cast, and John Wayne said this was his favorite role. For those unfamiliar with the film, it's the story of a white girl who's family gets killed by Comanche Indians and is taken away to live with them, causing John Wayne's character to spend the next five years looking for her. This could be the greatest Western ever.
Originally posted by BadwaterYeah, the whole time I was watching it, I thought that they would never make a movie like this today. A modern director would throw in some worse Indians to make Scar look more sympathetic or John Wayne would have to have a gay love interest or something. However, if you put the film in the context of John Wayne's character, then this is the story that get's told. If it were told from Scar's point of view, then you'd have another film.
Could be, but it's not. Too much racial anti-American Indian sentiment for me. That may have been ok in the 50's but it doesn't fly today.
There was another film from about the same time that had a similar effect on me: Run Silent, Run Deep. It's a submarine picture and the whole idea of manliness and duty is explored...undersea. Anyway, the behavior of the commanding officer was reckless and more than a little psychotic. When I see this stuff played out in the movies, I have to wonder: Did people really act like this? Hopefully not. Maybe it's just the screenwriter imagining how people act in times of stress.
Finally saw The Fall by Tarsem. Beautiful film, shot over more than 20 countries. If you see this film and don't feel an urge to visit these wondrous locations, then there must be something wrong with you. Apparently, there's no CGI involved.
Trailer and stills here:
http://www.thefallthemovie.com/
It wasn't what I expected, but I still loved it. The plot of the story being told within the story isn't important at all, but it still works great as an extremely visual portray of a child's imagination. Top for me in 2008.
To quote film critic Roger Ebert on this film: "[...]you might want to see for no other reason than because it exists. There will never be another like it."
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I finally - FINALLY - got around to seeing Jungle Fever. Unfortunately, racism is still alive and well in the USA, and it knows no color. All ethnic or cultural heritages exhibit far too much racism, deep down within their core. I didn't care so much for the plot but fully appreciated it as a device to discuss the issue of racism and for that it can be forgiven.
