There is a lot of value in a film that recognizes its limitations, and very few directors knew this better than Budd Boetticher, whose name is almost synonymous with low-budget, but highly-popular, westerns that grew to amass quite a fanbase in the 1950s. Known mostly for a series of films lovingly-dubbed the “Ranown Cycle” (taken…

There are really only two reasons for anyone to actively seek out One-Eyed Jacks – this first is because it contains one of the rare truly villainous roles played by one of history’s finest character actors, Karl Malden. The second is to bear witness to the first and only film directed by Marlon Brando. Neither…

Not since Alejandro Jodorowsky made El Topo in 1970 has there been a western film as beautifully deranged as Bacurau, the incredibly audacious collaboration between Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, who work together to evoke the spirit of the dormant acid westerns that never fully manifested as a feasible area of filmmaking in their…

Two minstrels (Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole) sing about the legend of Catherine “Cat” Ballou (Jane Fonda) – she was a young schoolteacher on her way home to Wolf City, Wyoming. She’s hoping to start a job there, all the while assisting her elderly father (John Marley) with the running of his ranch, which…

Like its culinary counterparts, the spaghetti western is incredibly popular – safe, reliable and enjoyed by generations across all cultures. However, its also an acquired taste, and like any genre, it’s going to have its share of successes and failures. I’m certainly not someone who advocates heavily for this kind of western, despite having enjoyed…

Paris Pitman Jr. (Kirk Douglas) is a well-known scoundrel who makes his living fleecing rich people of their fortunes. However, he’s not infallible, and one scheme results in him being caught and sent to a penitentiary, where he becomes one of a motley crew of bandits and criminals under the watchful eye of the new…

One of my biggest regrets when it comes to cinema is not having explored John Huston sooner – I only made my proper introduction to his work a couple of years ago, and with every new film I see from him, I am amazed to see what he was capable of doing – whether one…

When it came to finding the intersections between intelligence and mindless action, Sam Peckinpah was one of the best to ever live. A director whose career consisted of some of the most brutal but fascinating portrayals of violence ever produced, his status as one of the most controversial filmmakers of his generation is not ill-earned….

Eli Sisters (John C. Reilly) and his brother, Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix) are a pair of hitmen in the Gold Rush era. They are in the service of a mysterious but wealthy man known only as The Commodore (Rutger Hauer), who sends them on a quest for Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed), a chemist who has…

When it comes to film stars, very few people could match Paul Newman and his decades-long dominance of cinema, especially in the 1960s – with his piercing blue eyes, his subtle conviction in his willingness to challenge himself as an actor and ability to play any role across a number of genres, he truly was…