I have two reviews to write about this. One is extremely horny, about Lee Marvin’s BDE, and the sexual tension between him and Randolph Scott. The other is more analytical, about Budd Boetticher‘s flawless pacing, the absolute genius of the wagon scene, and how much better Scott was for this role than any of the proposed alternatives. Both of my reviews converge, though, on that scene in the crowded wagon, during the storm, in which both of the men who aren’t…

This is a hell of a watch. More happens than in all of the other Ranown movies I’ve watched put together, and it has the biggest supporting cast, too. With the unexpected focus on plot and action, it’s also lot more fun that the others. Yes, there are some laughs, but it’s bigger than that: whereas the others are often built on atmosphere and a single relationship, this is bigger and more actively engaging. In addition, it’s the only one I’ve…

When I was a little kid, a babysitter killed four weekend hours by dragging my younger brothers and me to a revival house for an Errol Flynn double feature: The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood. And she was exactly right in doing so, because Robin Hood is nothing more -- and nothing less -- than a big, glorious cartoon. The colors are blinding, the action impossible and thrilling, and the characters cheerfully two dimensional. It's entirely immersive in…

I'm a history teacher, and when I grade student essays, I constantly encounter work that is unnecessary convoluted -- on the assumption that it must sound sophisticated that way -- and papers clearly written with thesaurus.com open in another tab, in order to sound smart. In my feedback, my constant refrain is "Simple and clean is better. Make what you're saying explicit, and move on." And The French Connection is William Friedkin's perfect history essay. Nothing he's done is easy…