“Pictures were made to entertain. If you want to send a message, try Western Union.” That quote was originally attributed to film mogul Samuel Goldwyn.* It proves that, ever since the dawn of the motion picture business, studio heads usually didn’t give a damn about making an artistic statement. They are, as a great American […]

Let’s get something out of the way first. Despite being a strong supporter of responsible gun control, I absolutely love gunfights in movies. From John Woo’s acrobatic bullet ballets like Hard Boiled to the urban warfare in Heat, if a director can stage an action sequence involving firepower in a creative and compelling way, I’m so there. That’s where it gets […]

God spoke to Nat Turner on May 12, 1828. Turner was a highly intelligent man, deeply religious, and a lifelong slave in Southampton County, Virginia. While toiling in the cotton fields that day, Turner remembered that he, “heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent […]