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
joseph McBride
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
Film Forum: That Sinking Feeling, Titanic Town Goes Under
Titanic Town, the fictional story of a Northern Ireland woman who mounts crusade for peace in 1972, is not the first movie to attempt to trade on James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic. The European film The Chambermaid on the Titanic barely managed to beat Cameron to the screen but had its title changed to The Chambermaid in 1998 U.S. advertising. That probably discouraged … [Read more...] about Film Forum: That Sinking Feeling, Titanic Town Goes Under