Johnny Guitar (1954) Truffaut said of Johnny Guitar that the cowboys die like ballerinas. There's also a lot of animalistic action in the cinema of Ray--check out that v-flock behind Mercedes McCambridge. Sterling Hayden plays the title character, but Joan Crawford is the star. She never had this much sympathy in a performance again. To… Continue reading My favorite Films of the 50s
Naked Lunch (1991) Burroughs explained the title Naked Lunch as, "A frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork." The naked lunch served up in Naked Lunch is the moment a man realizes he is homosexual, but married to a woman he half-despises and both of them are hooked to… Continue reading My favorite films of the 90s
Jim Thompson is the antidote to all the fetid tastes of modernism. The Getaway is two-thirds detailed fallout from a caper and one-third descent into metaphorical hell. It shows a mastery of cause-and-effect tension for a long while, but then throws it all away for modes of expression that are directly antithetical to plot-based crime.… Continue reading The Getaway
8 1/2 (1963) It has become commonplace to call 8 1/2 the greatest film about filmmaking, but that's a disservice to Fellini's wildly imaginative rumination on creation. It's about all of us. It's about the moments we become so consumed by the past that the present disappears, the moments during writing/painting/masturbating when we lose all… Continue reading My favorite films of the 60s
I'm going to do a reread and review of Death of Jezebel. I haven't had much enthusiasm for reviewing, so I hope this project gets me back into the swing of things. Will I like the book as much as I did way back when? Only time will tell. That's the first bit of news.… Continue reading February 2024 Update
James Scott Byrnside 