Movie Review: The Searchers (1956)

The posse considers their options.

Movie Review: The Searchers (1956) directed by John Ford Texas, 1868: Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) finally returns to his childhood home, three years after the end of the American Civil War. He evades questions about where he’s been, though he was emphatically not in California. Ethan gets reacquainted with his brother Aaron’s family: wife Martha, eldest… Continue reading Movie Review: The Searchers (1956)

Movie Review: Magnum Force

Harry may not like the system, but he's not hearing a better offer.

Movie Review: Magnum Force (1973) directed by Ted Post San Francisco is a city riddled with crime. Police Inspector “Dirty Harry” Callahan (Clint Eastwood) knows too well that the system is often rigged in the favor of criminals. Sometimes it seems like the police are drowning in regulations and procedures. He does what he can by… Continue reading Movie Review: Magnum Force

Movie Review: Fort Apache

Miss Thursday, Lieutenant O'Rourke, and Captain York chat on the stairs.

Movie Review: Fort Apache (1948) directed by John Ford Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) was a general during the American Civil War. He showed his brilliance in a particular battle, at the cost of his friend Sam Collingwood’s (George O’Brien) career (that man is now a captain.) After the war, Thursday lost his brevet rank… Continue reading Movie Review: Fort Apache

Movie Review: The Comancheros

Jake and Paul have a contentious relationship at first.

Movie Review: The Comancheros (1961) directed by Michael Curtiz In 1843, gambler and womanizer Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman) kills a man in an illegal duel in Louisiana. This ordinarily wouldn’t be a problem, except that the dead man (who’d falsely accused him of cheating at cards to eliminate him as a romantic rival) had a politically… Continue reading Movie Review: The Comancheros

Book Review: Swords for Charlemagne

Book Review: Swords for Charlemagne by Mario Pei For seven long years, brother knights Thierry and Huon of Anjou have served their liege lord Roland of Brittany in Emperor Charlemagne’s war to free Spain of Islamic rule. They are proud to have done their bit for chivalry and Christendom. Now, only one Moslem stronghold remains,… Continue reading Book Review: Swords for Charlemagne

Book Review: Web of Everywhere

Book Review: Web of Everywhere by John Brunner Hans Dykstra is a criminal. Along with the blind poet Mustapha Sharif, he uses illegally obtained location codes to visit abandoned teleport stations and photograph their surroundings. This time they’ve found a surprisingly intact house in Sweden, the former owners dead of personal violence rather than war… Continue reading Book Review: Web of Everywhere

Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992)

Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992) directed by Peter Jackson Times have been tough on Skull Island since the colonialist exploiters stole the island’s biggest attraction, King Kong, back in the 1930s. And now another colonialist has come for a specimen of the Sumatran Rat Monkey, which despite the name is found only on Skull Island. Explorer Stewart… Continue reading Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992)

Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad

Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad by E. Randall Floyd American history is full of offbeat people, some downright weird.  The author was (like many a lad) fascinated by their stories when he was young.  Then he got to interview Erich von Daeniken (Chariots of the Gods) and decided to make writing about… Continue reading Book Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Mad