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So Many Choices, So Little to Choose

So Many Choices, So Little to Choose

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Old Man Rant, take one. Lights, camera, Action!

Ask anyone who really knows and loves movies — what was the greatest decade in the history of American film? You will get many different answers, depending on the respondent’s preferences and degree of familiarity with the films of the past.

The familiarity part is essential, of course; without it you may think that the latest entry in the Fast and Furious franchise is the Greatest Movie You’ve Ever Seen, and tragically, you’ll probably be right. (That kind of presentism is why I can’t stand The Ringer’s popular Rewatchables podcast, which I should love, being movie-obsessed as I am; even when they’re talking about a film I like, the unspoken, always-lurking assumption that cinema didn’t exist before Star Wars drives me up the wall.)

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Look for the Light: The Last of Us, Episode Nine

Look for the Light: The Last of Us, Episode Nine

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Well, here it is. The final episode. I didn’t really want to get here for two reasons. One, it’s the end of a most excellent season of a most excellent show. Two, I have absolutely no idea what my next article will be about. There was some comfort in having an article already decided two weeks before it must be written. But enough of the pity party. C’est parti!

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Lawrence Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords Arrives Next Week

Lawrence Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords Arrives Next Week

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Cinema of Swords by Lawrence Ellsworth (Applause, June 15, 2023)

Next Thursday is a big day in the Black Gate offices, as the most anticipated book of the year finally arrives: the hardcover edition of Lawrence Ellsworth’s monumental Cinema of Swords.

What’s in this great beast of a book? Every one of Lawrence’s informative and entertaining Cinema of Swords columns from Black Gate — Over four hundred movies and television shows featuring swashbucklers: knights, pirates, samurai, Vikings, gladiators, outlaw heroes like Zorro and Robin Hood, and anyone else who lives by the blade and solves their problems with the point of a sword — pus full-color stills, poster reproductions, a handy index (both Title and Subject), and plenty of fascinating sidebar articles by Lawrence, covering topics like The First British Invasion (50s swashbuckling TV series from ITV) to Wholesome Buccaneers (family-friendly pirate ) and Mighty Maciste (the roving strongman of two dozen films of the 60s-era post-Hercules peplum craze).

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Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords: Invitation to a Keelhauling

Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords: Invitation to a Keelhauling

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Pirates of Tortuga (USA, 1961)

Once upon a time, back in the mid-20th century, pirate movies were a genre unto themselves, like Westerns, gangster films, or jungle adventures, familiar fare at Saturday matinees with rollicking stories and reliable action, with cutlass duels and fiery ship battles. Though the genre dwindled and then died by the late ‘60s, it evoked fond memories and was regularly revived thereafter in big-budget epics that were mostly too overblown and bloated for their own good.

Fortunately, the original modest but tight buccaneering adventures the blockbusters attempted to evoke are still available to watch and enjoy. Some of them hold up pretty well even in the 21st century, and you can see why they struck a chord with movie audiences back in cinematic piracy’s heyday.

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Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords: Zatoichi at Large

Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords: Zatoichi at Large

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Zatoichi and the Chess Expert (Japan, 1965)

Looking over my notes for the forthcoming Cinema of Swords collection (to be published by Applause Books on June 15th), I realized that there were several five-star entries in the Zatoichi series, absolute gems, that I’d never covered here at Black Gate. Worse, I hadn’t devoted an article to the blind swordsman in almost two years, and there might be newer readers who hadn’t been introduced to Shintaro Katsu and his samurai-era yakuza outlaw hero.

Well, we can’t have that. Herewith are three top-notch features from the Zatoichi series — try any one of them, and then just see if you can stop yourself from watching the rest.

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Left Behind: The Last of Us, Episode Seven

Left Behind: The Last of Us, Episode Seven

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Hello! We’re back with another episode review! This one, judging by the title, is based entirely on what was a DLC to the original game that explored Ellie’s backstory. I’m excited about this one… in a very masochistic way (honestly, the DLC left me sobbing). C’est parti!

I may have mentioned before, but I will again, how much I love the guitar introduction. I remember the game introduction being the same thing, though that might be my memory mixing things up (I do know it was guitar, and I’m reasonably certain it’s the same exact tune, but I’m open to being wrong.)

Winter proper. In the game, we open to a rabbit getting skewered by Ellie’s arrow. It’s probably for the best we don’t see that in the show.

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Still in Hell: Some Random and Rambling Thoughts on the Final Two Seasons of The Walking Dead

Still in Hell: Some Random and Rambling Thoughts on the Final Two Seasons of The Walking Dead

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The only thing more dangerous than the dead are the living

After all the praise, complaints and criticism finally subsided, I decided to watch the last two seasons of The Walking Dead, having taken a long break from the series for my own personal reasons. This is a follow-up to my 2-part article on 9 Seasons in Hell: The Walking Dead, from 2019, BC — Before Covid: 9 Seasons of Hell on Earth, Part One and 9 Seasons of Hell on Earth, Part Two. My thoughts are intended to be somewhat humorous, a bit critical, and slightly satirical. Whether I’ve succeeded or not, well, that’s up to you readers. I may be a day late and a dollar short on writing this article, but I figured there might still be a few fans of the show out there. I’ve written this article for those who have seen part of, if not all, of the TV series.

I know people who didn’t like that The Walking Dead was too character-driven. They wanted more zombie kills. It’s like they wanted Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his posse to walk all the way from the Shire to Mordor, fighting and destroying zombie after zombie every step of the way. I also know people who, like me, loved the fact that the show was driven more by character than by plot, although a little more care in some of the later plotting would have helped the last handful of seasons. But I didn’t need every episode to be about destroying or being eaten by zombies. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions, their backstories, the dramatic situations, and the “family-type” of various storylines.

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Goth Chick News: Good and Bad News About World War Z

Goth Chick News: Good and Bad News About World War Z

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World War Z by Max Brooks (Three Rivers Press, October 16, 2007)

It’s a bit difficult to get my brain around, but it’s been ten years since the release of the movie version of World War Z. The film is based on the novel by Max Brooks, whom I had the pleasure of meeting back in 2015. In the midst of having a full-on fangirl moment I accomplished two things; first, Brooks signed my copy of WWZ, and second, I managed to irk him a bit by asking about a sequel. At the time I wasn’t sure why Brooks didn’t seem keen to talk about it. However, a few months later Paramount pictures announced they had green-lighted a second film, with Brooks signed on as a writer. It then seemed logical that, having just penned the agreement for a film, Brooks could not discuss it and therefore shut down my line of questioning.

And here we are in 2023. The good news is that WWZ fans are getting a special treat from Scream Factory, while the bad news is that a movie sequel seems all but finally and totally dead.

Let’s start with the good news.

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Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords: Banditti!

Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords: Banditti!

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The Bandits of Corsica (USA, 1953)

After the turkeys we covered in the previous Cinema of Swords article, it’s good to get back to something fun, in this case three films about bandits and brigands. We watch these, of course, because bandits are basically land pirates, and everybody loves a good pirate movie! Sword-swinging, wise-cracking outlaw heroes are always welcome, especially when played by Richard Greene, the 1950s Robin Hood, learning the outlaw ropes here in two films that preceded his role in that classic TV series.

When I was rounding out this article by adding Ali Baba and the Seven Saracens, I realized to my shock that its review had somehow gotten overlooked and left out of the Cinema of Swords compilation coming your way from Applause Books next month. So, if you’re some kind of completist collector (like Black Gate’s esteemed editor, John O’Neill), bookmark this post and save it, as otherwise, your Cinema of Swords collection will be… incomplete!

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