In the first scene of Mel Gibson’s boring, affected, expensive, gruesomely violent and historically inaccurate curio Apocalypto, a humongous tapir (like a wild boar) charges from the jungle and attacks a peaceful tribe of hunters, who slaughter the animal and eat its testicles. For the next 130 minutes, they search for a better meal. Wouldn’t Read More
Few things are left to give one a sense of constancy in this world, so it’s nice to know the Catholic Church’s willingness to make an ass of itself is one of them. These days, it’s Monsignor Angelo Amato, former No. 2 at the Vatican’s doctrinal office, suggesting that Catholics should take a page from Read More
The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage, by Eli Wallach. Harcourt, 320 pages, $25.
It never mattered whether the part was big or small, whether the movie was wonderful or execrable, Eli Wallach always approached acting like Albert Finney approached eating in Tom Jones: The job wasn’t finished until the last bit of Read More
Best Western
Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the linchpin of the American western genre. Released in the U.S. in 1967 after its initial run in Italy, the film serves as a bridge between the idealized West of John Ford and Howard Hawks and the desolate, violent purgatories of Read More
