Movie Reviews
Film and television reviewed the way I’d want to read them — with a rating that means something, an honest accounting of what works and what doesn’t, and craft notes for writers who want to understand how the machinery operates.
Each review includes a craft notes section for writers — specific observations about structure, character, world-building, and what the film does that you can actually use. Not theory. Technique you can steal.
Western (12)
Jun 6, 2026A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)
Ana Lily Amirpour's black-and-white Iranian vampire Western is the genre's most striking recent debut. A stylish 7.5/10 reviewed at Master of Worlds.
May 17, 2026Hell or High Water (2016)
Mackenzie's 2016 modern western. Chris Pine and Ben Foster as bank-robbing brothers, Jeff Bridges as the Ranger. Taylor Sheridan screenplay. Best of the modern westerns.
May 16, 2026High Noon (1952)
Fred Zinnemann's 1952 western shot in real time. Gary Cooper as a marshal abandoned by his town. The clock is the antagonist. The town is the villain.
Jun 6, 2026Near Dark (1987)
Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark strips every vampire cliche and builds a Western instead. A feral, frightening 8.5/10 reviewed in depth at Master of Worlds.
May 17, 2026Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Leone's 1968 spaghetti western. Bronson, Fonda as the villain, Cardinale. Morricone score. Three-hour patient masterpiece that defined the form's outer limit.
May 14, 2026Shane (1953) — Review
George Stevens's foundational classical Western. Alan Ladd as the title gunfighter. Palance and deWilde Oscar-nominated. "Shane, come back!" 9/10.
May 16, 2026Stagecoach (1939)
John Ford's 1939 western that took the genre from B-movie pulp to American art. Nine strangers in a coach, each a study in social position.
May 14, 2026The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) — Review
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly defined the Western. Leone directing. Eastwood, Wallach, Van Cleef. Morricone score. The Sad Hill Cemetery standoff sequence.
May 15, 2026The Man With No Name Trilogy (1964 / 1965 / 1966) — Review
The Man With No Name trilogy is one of the great achievements in commercial cinema and the foundation document of the spaghetti western genre. Sergio Leone directed all three films. Clint Eastwood starred in all three. Ennio Morricone composed the scores. The trilogy was produced and released...
May 16, 2026The Searchers (1956)
John Ford's 1956 western. Wayne as Ethan Edwards, racism poisons his own rescue mission. The film that taught New Hollywood to subvert genre.
May 17, 2026The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Huston's 1948 gold-greed Western. Bogart deteriorating, Walter Huston dancing, Tim Holt holding the moral center. Won three Oscars.
May 14, 2026Unforgiven (1992) — Review
Clint Eastwood's foundational revisionist Western. Won four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Hackman won Best Supporting Actor. 9/10.