tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post3851020090959440995..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: ROBIN WOOD AND RIO BRAVODennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-13711397074544729792010-01-10T10:12:57.948-08:002010-01-10T10:12:57.948-08:00Boy, I love Hawks, but there's nothing wrong w...<i>Boy, I love Hawks, but there's nothing wrong with 3:10 To Yuma. </i><br /><br />Agreed. Far better than just about anything Hawks made after 1940.<br /><br />Seriously, Rio Bravo is unwatchably dull. I'd rather watch the worst ten minutes of Wayne in Hatari on an endless loop than be forced to sit through Rio Bravo.<br /><br />And I wouldn't worry about Robin Wood. He's dead.Chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-81952815476383122722010-01-08T16:50:58.962-08:002010-01-08T16:50:58.962-08:00It's a good question, Jeff. To offer my own me...It's a good question, Jeff. To offer my own metaphor, I often think of the kind of stuff you get at <i>HE</i> as equivalent to a car crash where the driver comes stumbling out of the wreckage saying all sorts of things you'd like to think he'd keep to himself if he weren't in shock. But as far as Wells' comments re Wood and <i>Rio Bravo</i>, I guess some things are just too inappropriate to <i>not</i> comment on.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-71298435628634033722010-01-08T16:40:05.432-08:002010-01-08T16:40:05.432-08:00Why does ANYBODY pay attention to ANYTHING Jeff We...Why does ANYBODY pay attention to ANYTHING Jeff Wells says or does anymore? He's the movie-blogging equivalent of a grizzled panhandler on a street corner.Jeff McMahonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455194268519396055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-20971513896664562382010-01-07T22:03:33.650-08:002010-01-07T22:03:33.650-08:00O, good lord, Dennis: Thanks for this. I've ...O, good lord, Dennis: Thanks for this. I've been tweeting and FBing and posting stuff about Wells (on "Rio Bravo" as well as his obsession with man-fat) over the last 48 hours because it made me so damn mad. As if an ignoramus like that has anything to say about what a great film scholar chooses to treasure on his deathbed! Just finished writing an all-too-brief appreciation of Wood, too -- and I see you've "borrowed" the same image I did for the top of your piece. Good on you!jim emersonhttp://blogs.suntimes.com/scannersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-72281106239795930652010-01-07T12:15:57.328-08:002010-01-07T12:15:57.328-08:00Who doesn't know at this point that Wells is a...Who doesn't know at this point that Wells is a sociopathic moron? He claims to be in touch with the Film Godz but had no clue that Robin Wood adored RIO BRAVO or had written extensively about it over the years.christianhttp://christiandivine.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-66499328237045207152010-01-06T22:51:30.337-08:002010-01-06T22:51:30.337-08:00I am certain people will still be reading Robin Wo...I am certain people will still be reading Robin Wood, long after Jeffrey Wells shuffles off this mortal coil.Peter Nellhaushttp://www.coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-20773259087959838632010-01-06T15:40:00.396-08:002010-01-06T15:40:00.396-08:00RIO BRAVO's in my top 5 as well, and I never t...RIO BRAVO's in my top 5 as well, and I never tire of reading appreciations of it. But it's maybe the only favorite movie of mine where I don't mind hearing critical arguments against it (and there's definitely plenty of them out there). I say this because the magic of RIO BRAVO to me is the can't-put-your-finger on it feeling a couple of times in the movie where you feel like pulling up a chair right next to Sheriff Chance.<br /><br />It's the "hangout factor" that's been mentioned many times with RIO BRAVO that makes it so special, but I don't expect everyone to experience that feeling with it, and that's why it's one of a kind.Adam Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11968051066147134504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-39149752279235790382010-01-06T14:40:12.011-08:002010-01-06T14:40:12.011-08:00Excellent!
By July she'll be ready for Midnig...Excellent!<br /><br />By July she'll be ready for <i>Midnight Run</i>!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-41981402085340015032010-01-06T14:34:43.479-08:002010-01-06T14:34:43.479-08:00I was tempted to pull one of AMC's ludicrous c...I was tempted to pull one of AMC's ludicrous choices of "The New Classics" as an example of how far they have fallen, but you filled in the blank for me.<br /><br />Fatherhood is just dandy. A lessening of sleep as you might expect, but little C.C. is a joy, and she turns six months tomorrow!Alonzo Mosley (FBI)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01518458463986396352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-46909853276175323732010-01-06T14:26:35.944-08:002010-01-06T14:26:35.944-08:00TLRHB: Yeah, me too (I like the remake plenty as w...TLRHB: Yeah, me too (I like the remake plenty as well.) It's been too long and <i>High Noon</i> isn't fresh enough in my head, but <i>3:10 to Yuma</i> seems to me a different beast, I think, largely because of the time it takes to color in the relationship between Glenn Ford's killer and Van Heflin's family man-- we see not only Heflin's desperation and his desire to do right by his family, and his son, but also the intense manipulation he's subjected to by Ford's crafty outlaw. It really is a terrific movie. (The movie's director, Delmer Daves, is a name worth investigating further.) I think the remake does a fine job of restaging that conflict, and it may end up, if he doesn't stop working with Ridley Scott, one of the last times (along with this year's <i>State of Play</i>) I will have been glad to see Russell Crowe on the big screen.<br /><br />Alonso: Just one more bit of evidence to hold up AMC as the <b>A</b>merican <b>M</b>ucker-up of whatever <b>C</b>lassics they can find room for when they're not showing <i>Halloween 5.</i> How's fatherhood, by the way?Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-41737901772310508772010-01-06T14:14:58.149-08:002010-01-06T14:14:58.149-08:00On a related note, I caught "Rio Bravo" ...On a related note, I caught "Rio Bravo" on American Movie Classics a week or two ago, and was kinda dumbstruck to see that AMC actually cut the film for time. It was a tiny cut and would have been unnoticable to anyone who hadn't watched the darn thing six or seven times already, but it was still sad to see.Alonzo Mosley (FBI)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01518458463986396352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-57896998511070353172010-01-06T14:12:47.414-08:002010-01-06T14:12:47.414-08:00Boy, I love Hawks, but there's nothing wrong w...Boy, I love Hawks, but there's nothing wrong with 3:10 To Yuma. The original one, anyway.WelcometoLAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05490618592042119755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-40321216454336992452010-01-06T13:24:34.198-08:002010-01-06T13:24:34.198-08:00Ed, I'm off to read your piece right now. It&#...Ed, I'm off to read your piece right now. It's been years since I've seen <i>El Dorado</i>-- my hometown drive-in used to show it every year on July 4 accompanied by a fireworks show-- but I always loved it, and now with your essay in hand I'll dust off my DVD and watch it as soon as I can. The enthusiasm you and EDJ have for the film is contagious.<br /><br />The thing that really bothers me is that Wells couldn't see Wood's list for exactly what you suggest it is-- a lovely and appropriate gesture. He's too worried about the mileage he can get out of it by condescending to the choice and to Wood's memory while puffing himself up in the process.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-61243818634560255722010-01-06T13:14:51.140-08:002010-01-06T13:14:51.140-08:00Wow, that's just obnoxious.
I love that one o...Wow, that's just obnoxious.<br /><br />I love that one of Wood's last acts was apparently dictating this very personal list of beloved favorites. What a touching way for a film critic to say goodbye.<br /><br />Hawks is very important to me, and one or two of his films would doubtless be near the top of any favorite list I assembled as well, though in my case <i>Only Angels Have Wings</i> or <i>The Big Sleep</i> might top the list, with the Wayne Westerns not so far behind. Coincidentally, just this morning I published a review of the great <i>El Dorado</i>, which I consider to be at least the equal of <i>Rio Bravo</i> and possibly even a little bit better; in any event, they're two towering, inspiring works. I've always loved Wood's contention that <i>Rio Bravo</i> justified Hollywood's output all by itself: such a poetic way of proclaiming a film's greatness. I'd say the same thing about Hawks in general.Ed Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18014222247676090467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-24613086368698225982010-01-06T13:06:29.319-08:002010-01-06T13:06:29.319-08:00Come on Dennis nothing says class like picking on ...Come on Dennis nothing says class like picking on a dead man. <br /><br />I have to say I am one of the few who prefers El Dorado. Just because Wayne and Mitchum hit a critical mass of being entertaining. <br /><br />Also because James Caan's "Chinee" joke never gets any less jaw droppingly offensive, no matter if you know its coming or however many times you've seen it. <br /><br />The thing that makes that joke so bizarre is the way it just comes out of nowhere (There's not any other racist material in the film) and leaves the same way. It's just ten seconds of horrendous racism cut into the middle of an otherwise utterly inoffensive movie.Bryce Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17040954580033470664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-196658578466651702010-01-06T12:45:51.349-08:002010-01-06T12:45:51.349-08:00I know, I know... The list of the movies I haven&#...I know, I know... The list of the movies I haven't seen is by far the longest one of all.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-88269007578554409462010-01-06T12:27:11.888-08:002010-01-06T12:27:11.888-08:00You need to see Angel Face.You need to see Angel Face.Gerghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13618932936430598459noreply@blogger.com