Lost in Space

I don't know what psychopath decided to spend so much money on a movie version of Lost In Space, but I can say that the completely heedless application of money, special effects, and ornate set design represents the only joys in this completely misguided first step in trying to create a new franchise from a…

Wanted

I don't really know why I own this movie, but I do. I remember seeing it in theaters, thinking it was mildly entertaining, and then, for some reason, deciding that I would like to have a copy of it on my movie shelf for the rest of my life. Alcohol may have been involved. Things…

Rio Lobo

#29 in my ranking of Howard Hawks’ filmography. Howard Hawks' last movie reminds me of Family Plot, Alfred Hitchcock's last film. It's a final film steeped in the well-worn conventions of an individual director's work. Not exactly their best, it has a lot of the same charms of his best, even if it had been done…

El Dorado

#18 in my ranking of Howard Hawks’ filmography. I think that the commercial and critical failure of Red Line 7000 made Howard Hawks simply retreat. He effectively remade his most successful film of the previous twenty years, Rio Bravo, using some of the same cast, another established movie star, and the same basic premise for most…

Red Line 7000

#36 in my ranking of Howard Hawks’ filmography. When talking about Red Line 7000, I think it's required to talk about both Rio Bravo and Hatari! because the earlier two films point to what Hawks was surely trying to do in the latter. The two adventures with John Wayne were loose collections of character moments brought…