The Definitives Mission...

With every entry into The Definitives, I thoroughly examine a movie I consider one of my favorites. This is to be an ongoing archive, featuring appreciations posted at an average of one a month. More analytical than a simple review, The Definitives focus on the respective film’s production, talent involved, possible “reads,” and its place in film history. With equilibrium between old and new movies, I will attempt to include something for everyone. The Definitives will hopefully give you a new outlook on some of your most cherished films, and perhaps introduce you to some new favorites.

Current Deep Focus:

My Darling Clementine (1946)

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Chronicling history by means of the Western, the one genre American cinema can claim to have pioneered, John Ford’s depiction of the West pumped with the blood of Manifest Destiny, the dreamy expression coined by nineteenth century writer John L. O’Sullivan to spread “the great experiment of liberty” over the continent’s horizons. Ford’s ideological vision derived its foundation from utopian imagery found in American painting and the majestic geological formations of Monument Valley, his narratives created by Western mythos. His efforts span fifty years and well over one-hundred films, institute Western archetypes through a breadth of classical filmmaking, and establish a romantic form that subsequent films, Western or not, have used like a blueprint for great storytelling. 

Among Ford’s best films, and there are many, rests 1946’s My Darling Clementine, his gentle and endearing look at what is now the tall tale of Wyatt Earp’s heroism at Tombstone. Though boasting historical accuracy, the film washes over truth to instead achieve Ford’s romanticized view of the West—a land in need of cultivation and civilization, a territory of disorder requiring a hero to bring it law. A theme expanding his career, no other Ford work handles this thesis with the temperance and allegorical poetry that make the film stand out amid the masterworks of this great American artist...

 
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Coming Soon to
The Definitives

'Vertigo' (1958)
'Vertigo'
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Grand Illusion (1958)
Grand Illusion
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Rushmore (1998)
Rushmore
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Touch of Evil (1998)
Touch of Evil