A reflection on Alejandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu’s 'The Revenant'

"Leo is a man. Are you a man?" "I;m not sure he is, Alejandro." "Guys, I'm totally a man. I'm like the dude of all men."

The best description I’ve seen of Alejandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu’s most recent film was by some film critic on Twitter, who described seeing it at year’s end as akin to eating a steak dinner after having already gone through a buffet line. I can’t do better than that, but I will try in the name of Iñàrritu’s excess. I think he of all people will appreciate the masculine ego involved in such a task.

No Shane in Watching: A History of Violence

This started with Shane (1953) about a week ago and continues today with a look at David Cronenburg's take on an age old story: 

I first saw David Cronenburg’s A History of Violence (2005) in the late twilight of Blockbuster. I may have watched it with my parents. I remember having liked it. I remember it having to do with ‘history’ and with ‘violence.’ I watched it again recently. I still liked it. Maybe as much. Maybe not. I can’t quite remember.

No Shane in Watching

This post is in no way current. Then again, what was ever current about the Western? Anyway, I grew up flipping channels between X-Men and Bonanza on Saturday mornings, which meant I had trouble discerning between Little Joe's lost wives and Wolverine's lost memories. I talk about these things when introducing high school students to the idea that films, whether we like them or not, still deserve our attention on a variety of levels. Sometimes to help with that endeavor I write, too. That's what this was: