Few actors have ever done cool like Steve McQueen. And no, I don’t say that simply because he was a Marine (but it no doubt helped). He’s far more famous for his far more famous movies like Bullitt and The Great Escape, but I got a chance to watch my personal favorite today: Tom Horn. …
I was talking with my son the other day about the upcoming summer and job possibilities, and we got on the subject of minimum wage. Which is about, what, $7.25 these days? Yeah, I can hear all the pissing and moaning from here about “kids these days” and how “Minimum wage is pretty good money” …
Mondays can be weird, sometimes in a good way. Because it rained here last night, the weather guessers were besides themselves racing to beat each other to the “BEWARE THE WINTRY MIX” warnings, which of course caused the Federal Gubmint to delay its arrival to work this morning (like the gubmint actually works, much less …
Earlier this month, I posted about the movie Night of the Hunter, which was recommended by a friend as a candidate for the movie category of the continuing discussion of redneck noir. I haven’t yet had a chance to watch the movie (other than a spellbinding black-and-white trailer). But — because I’m lucky enough to …
Writers are always talking about muses, those mythical goddesses who lurk and inspire. Yeah, me, too. They can be tricky, because you never know when they’ll come calling. So you have to wait. Trying to stir them up does no good, but you can try. One good way for me to do that is with …
Raylan Givens is back, starting at 10 pm tonight on FX. And not to overlook great shows, Southland also returns. I’m late to this party, but I have to give it to FX for putting together shows and line-ups worth tuning in for. I picked upon Southland last year, after my son tipped me off. …
Well, now that my football season is officially over, it’s time to find ways to fill that space. Sure, I’ll watch the remainder of the playoffs and the Super Bowl, but not with any of the fervor I did before the Saints turned the ball over 5 times in San Francisco last weekend. But, as …
This movie came recommended to me as an example of redneck noir, so I gave it a shot over the weekend. Unfortunately, it’s heavy on the redneck, light on the noir. This Rod Lurie remake of the Sam Peckinpah original missed the mark for me, in several areas. Here’s the set-up. Hollywood screenwriter, David, and …
“I’m a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can’t, and then tries the short story, which is the most demanding form after poetry. And, failing at that, only then does he take up novel writing.” –William Faulkner I’m not about to say that all writers are alike, but Mr. …
Following up on my last post, here’s a few more war novels that didn’t make my all-time favorites list, but are still very good reads. All Quiet on the Western Front: I read somewhere that Elmore Leonard became inspired to be writer after reading this one. It didn’t have quite that effect on me — …
Phillip Thompson 