Canyon Passage (Blu-ray) by Stuart Galbraith IV I should probably preface this review by noting that, normally, I don't much care for A-Westerns of the 1930s and 40s not directed by John Ford. There are exceptions, of course, but other than Ford's films (and Howard Hawks's Red River, of course) most A-level Westerns, sometimes in Technicolor and headlined by big stars like Gary Cooper, Glenn Ford, and Tyrone Power strike me as pretty ordinary, gussied-up productions but with uninteresting scripts and characters not much different from cheaper but more efficiently-made Bs. When Ford's Stagecoach (1939) was released, B-movie mogul Herbert Yates was baffled by Ford's efforts: Why was he wasting money and effort on the kind of picture Republic made better than anyone else? Yates was dead wrong about Stagecoach, to be sure, but the sentiment wasn't far off. Canyon Passage (1946) proves another exception to the rule. This i...Read the entire review »

Ford v Ferrari (Blu-ray) by William Harrison THE FILM: I am ashamed that I have let life get in the way of seeing movies in the theater over the last couple of years. I used to be the guy that saw everything on the big screen; from critically acclaimed dramas to big-budget action flicks to escapist horror. Lately, I have just not done a great job getting out to the theater, perhaps because the multiplex in my town is not my favorite due to both frequent presentation issues and rowdy audiences. If I can drive the hour to visit the Alamo Drafthouse for a screening I do, and that is where I saw most of the movies I did see in theaters in 2019. I tell you this because Ford v Ferrari is a film I absolutely wanted to support on the big screen. James Mangold is an excellent director, and his cast here, led by Matt Damon and Christian Bale, is superb. As a man who will always be fascinated by speed and cars, thi...Read the entire review »