Posts Tagged ‘The American Review’
Score Your Week | Once Upon a Time in the West
The American, which was released this past week, is a fantastic ode to spaghetti westerns and one film in particular. Once Upon a Time in the West was obviously a huge inspiration on director Anton Corbijn as the film has many references to Sergio Leone’s masterpiece. Once Upon a Time in the West is my favorite western for many reasons, such as: Henry Fonda’s diabolic turn, the spaghetti western using vast western iconography, the magnolia plot weaving to Charles Bronson’s ultimate reveal, but the one that matters here is Ennio Morricone’s score. Morricone is responsible for some really great work throughout the years (The Thing, The Untouchables, Mission to Mars, State of Grace), but it is with Leone that he created some to the most iconic movie music of all time.
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Once Upon a Time in Italy | Review of “The American”
The latest George Clooney movie The American is not a kick-ass Bourne style action flick as the trailer would have you believe. It is however a kick-ass modern western made with superior skill and filled with great performances. It’s a film that uses the clichés of the hitman genre with refreshing restraint while making them seem new again.
The movie was made by Ductchman Anton Corbijn, the same director of the best music biopic you never saw, 2007′s Control. A sleek black and white piece about Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, that makes Walk the Line look like an episode of American Idol. Corbijn uses more of his minimalist stylings and deliberately slow pacing present in that film here. While the general audience may dismiss this as boring, the rest of us will be entertained as the film slowly builds to it’s conclusion. Read the rest of this entry »
