Dogs Bark

It's A Slow Death - - The Deadly Companions (1961, USA, Color, 93 min) - - 23 August 2022

Not recommended. Over a ten-year run, from Ride The High Country in 1962 to Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid in 1973, Sam Peckinpah’s direction dominated the Western movie, and for good reason. Probably no filmmaker other than Ford was as innovative in the genre or as successful with audiences . . . and in a much less sympathetic time. But he had to start somewhere, and The Dangerous Companions was his kindergarten. He had two veterans recently paired in The Parent Trap, Maureen O’Hara (Rio Grande) as a dance-hall girl and Brian Keith (The Violent Men) as an embittered ex-Union officer; however, Peckinpah had none of the auteur-ity employed in The Wild Bunch, his masterpiece. There are moments of quiet, quirky intensity - - particularly Chill Wills (Giant) as a loony gambler - - and this is Sam’s introduction to Strother Martin (Cool Hand Luke) . . . but the pace and logic of the plot are just awful.     

The High Lonesome - - A Love Song (2022, USA, Color, 81 min) - - 20 September 2022

Recommended. It is sad that Roger Ebert never gave us the distaff side of the Stanton-Walsh Rule, identifying female character actresses that can enrich a movie. Maybe the Ritter/Arden Rule? I think Thelma and Eve would highly approve of Dale Dickey (Winter's Bone) and also that she finally gets to be the headliner in this wonderful, wistful homage to Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy). Although the plot, from writer/director/rookie Max Walker-Silverman is as evanescent as a Colorado sun shower, minimal chit-chat and Dickey’s remarkable face makes the most of every raindrop . . . refracting the spectrum between hope and resolve. Wes Studi (Last Of The Mohicans) - - who’s spent more time than Dale at the top of a marquee - - quietly plays a long-lost love calling at Dickey’s Colorado campsite. I loved the odd family of cowpokes who show up in front of Dickey’s trailer from time to time, searching for a misplaced grave. 

Arnold Died For Your Sins - - Prey (2021, USA, Color, 99 min) - - 8 August 2022

Recommended. Why would I be reviewing the latest installment of the Predator franchise? Because it’s that good! Apparently, the director/screenwriter Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) got one of those odd and original inspirations to pit the intergalactic villain against one of the greatest warrior cultures on earth . . . the Comanche Nation, or at least one small member of it. A light bulb popped, and the prey became a teenage girl. Naru is mistakenly considered not worth concern by both her tribal brethren and the Beast. This all works because of the fierce acting chops (literally) of Amber Midthunder (Hell Or High Water) as Naru. Jhane Myers herself a Comanche documentarian produced Prey. Despite all that representation, the movie would blow dead buffaloes without its tight script, great cinematography (Jeff Cutter, 10 Cloverfield Lane) and fine cast. I particularly liked the horse-mounted fight between Naru’s brother (newcomer Dakota Beavers) and the Predator.