The Duel: Movie Review

Too many storylines spoil the intrigue and mystery.

The Duel’s description suggested that it was going for a mystery/thriller twist on a classic western. It feels about perfect time for such a send-up of genres. But the movie is actually a collection of about a dozen great ideas, only half thought out, all clashing with one another. There’s a good movie in there somewhere, but it’s hard to find. A Texas ranger is sent to a small community investigating mysterious deaths, and he got lost – or the movie did.		2016 Directed by: Kieran Darcy-Smith Screenplay by: Matt Cook Starring: Woody Harrelson, Liam Hemsworth

A Million Ways to Die in the West: Movie Review

Funny when it's parodying the west, less funny when the plot drags on.

This time, Seth MacFarlane has decided to adventure out in front of the camera as Albert Starks, a guy who does not belong in the American west in 1882. And, indeed, the funniest jokes in “A Million Ways to Die in the West” stem from the point of view of somebody from modern times who couldn’t understand why anybody would even want to try living in western times, because there probably really is a million ways to die.		2014 Directed by: Seth MacFarlane Screenplay by: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Giovanni Ribisi and Charlize Theron

Django Unchained: Movie Review

Django’s story of revenge, romance and redemption.

It’s time to take a step backwards – for humanity that is, not for anybody involved in the making of “Django Unchained”. Quentin Tarantino’s newest film is an homage to spaghetti westerns including “Django” (1966), but it’s a masterpiece all on its own and one does not need to have seen or even have an interest in the Western and Samurai films that came before it. This is how you tell the story of a slave.		2012 Directed by: Quentin Tarantino Screenplay by: Quentin Tarantino Starring: Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson

Get Low: Movie Review

A stylized drama - part comedy, part psychology.

"Get Low" is, in part, considered a psychological drama, it's also one of those films that can be classified as almost anything because the actors are able to add so many layers of interest with intrigue and comedy. Starring an almost unrecognizably old Robert Duvall and a Jarmusch-styled Bill Murray, respectively, as a hermit wanting to host his own funeral and a funeral home director wanting his business.		2009 Directed by: Aaron Schneider Screenplay by: Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell Starring: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek