Reporting from the Denver Film Festival. When it comes to cinematic landscapes, few are as iconic—or at least as mined—as Monument Valley. Located in northern Arizona, home to the Navajo Nation, Monument Valley was placed in the geography of cinema … Continue reading THE TAKING
It’s 1950, and John Ford wants to make a movie: The Quiet Man, from a story by Maurice Walsh, about a retired boxer who returns to his birthplace in Ireland and falls for a vivacious redhead. The movie will star John Wayne … Continue reading RIO GRANDE
There’s a new John Ford/Wayne western available on Blu-ray, and there’s a little something in it about healing a divided country. Seem appropriate. But that’s only one component of Rio Grande. The rest is much more traditional. Wayne stars as York … Continue reading This week in Film — RIO GRANDE
Marion Michael Robinson, aka John Wayne, aka The Duke, was born in Winterset, Iowa on May 26, 1907. If he were alive today, he would be 113. But he’s not. Wayne died on June 11, 1979, at the age of … Continue reading THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE
If you’ll ever listen to some people who are talking, especially in a scene of any excitement, they all talk at the same time. All it needs is a little extra work on the dialog. You put a few words … Continue reading In Their Words — Friday, May 24, 2013
Michael J. Cinema 