‘World Film Locations: Athens’ Is Equal Parts Film Scholarship and Travel Guide
These essays provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of Athens, its relationship with the cinema, and how that relationship has evolved.
Christopher Forsley
A Calm Surface, an Inner Rawness: ‘World Film Locations: Florence’
Like the other entires in the World Film Locations series, this Florence installment acts as a great starting point for serious scholars of film.
‘Sundance Cassidy and Butch the Kid’ Was Supposed to Make Italy’s Greatest Boxer a Movie Star
Sundance Cassidy and Butch the Kid is proof that the athlete-to-actor transition is no natural one, but it's worth seeing if your expectations aren't too high going into it.
‘The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe’ Is One of the More Action-Packed and Violent Spaghetti Westerns
The stylized violence of kung fu and the lawless conflicts of the spaghetti western genre coalesce in this action-packed 1973 hybrid.
If Not for the Terrifying, Sustained Threat of Sexual Assault, ‘The Last Gun’ Would Be Emotionless
This spaghetti western is clearly a prelude to Sergio Bergonzelli's later sexploitaiton films.
In ‘The Bounty Killer’, Tomas Milian Plays a Victim Turned Victimizer
Eugenio Martin's 1966 spaghetti western is a thrill ride all the way to the close, which features one of the most dramatic death scenes in the genre.
Reading ‘The Hospital Suite’ Is Rather Like Watching a Play Adapted from the Dairies of a Dying Man
If the unprepared reader gives the man and his book a chance, that reader will learn to appreciate, and possibly even love, John Porcellino's storytelling.
To Appreciate ‘Johnny Yuma’ You Have to Embrace the Overzealous Campiness and Violence
This will intrigue those who value the creative freedom of the genre, alienate those with conservative views of the genre, and confuse anyone expecting the typical Hollywood affair.
Clint Eastwood Took to His Role in ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ as Though It Was His Destiny
Clint Eastwood may not have been a star when A Fistful of Dollars was released, but everything changed for him not long after that.
‘Gunfight at Red Sands’ Is Not, As the Lyrics to Its Featured Track Suggest, a Racist Film
Gunfight at Red Sands is the best Spaghetti Western I have seen that was made before Sergio Leone's genre defining Fistful of Dollars.
Compared to Most Spaghetti Westerns, ‘Dead for a Dollar’ Is a Feminist Film
After Dead for a Dollar, you'll never eat turkey the same way again.
‘The Big Gundown’ Has a Cat-and-Mouse Rhythm of Chasing and Escaping
For fans of spaghetti westerns, The Big Gundown is a must-see crowd pleaser.