RECOMMENDED For decades, one simple question has split the Irish on both sides of the Atlantic into two warring factions: Do you love or loathe The Quiet Man, that 1952 stage Irish classic starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and directed by John Ford? Ford himself was often more Irish than the Irish themselves, making up an ultra-Gaelic name for himself, and playing … [Read more...] about Book Reviews
joseph McBride
Film Forum: Land of the Second Chance
Once the most popular form of American filmmaking, the Western has not fully recovered from the commercial and critical debacle of Michael Cimino's 1980 epic Heaven's Gate. Although a far better film than conventional wisdom would indicate, Heaven's Gate provoked widespread derision because Cimino dared to use the disreputable Western form for a serious purpose, to question the … [Read more...] about Film Forum: Land of the Second Chance
Film Forum: When Brendan Met Trudy
The first original screenplay by Irish novelist Roddy Doyle is automatically a cinematic and literary event. When Brendan Met Trudy offers many quirky delights, but it is an uneven and ultimately disappointing film. Doyle's oddball yarn about a movie-obsessed Dublin schoolteacher (Peter McDonald) who falls in love with a thief (Flora Montgomery) is dragged down on screen by its … [Read more...] about Film Forum: When Brendan Met Trudy
Film Forum: JFK vs. the Joint Chiefs in Thirteen Days
On the morning of Saturday, October 20, 1962, I was in a station wagon with my family en route to Milwaukee's Billy Mitchell Field to hear President John F. Kennedy make a campaign speech for Democratic congressional candidates. As we moved slowly in a long line of cars to the airport, the radio reported that JFK had come down with a "slight cold" in Chicago and was returning … [Read more...] about Film Forum: JFK vs. the Joint Chiefs in Thirteen Days
Dr. Fogarty’s Fantastic Voyage Through the Human Heart
"Tom Fogarty epitomized American ingenuity and has made a lasting and beneficial impact on society." As a child he built model airplanes. As an adult he has saved lives with his medical inventions. ℘℘℘ In this age of skepticism, it's reassuring to know that at least two cherished American myths – Horatio Alger s model of the self-made man and the image of the visionary … [Read more...] about Dr. Fogarty’s Fantastic Voyage Through the Human Heart