The Running Wild Blog
Articles on the craft of filmmaking and the films we create.
MOVIE MONDAY: Reviews of Speak No Evil, Watcher, and A Banquet
My weekly movie reviews. You can also read these on letterboxd. This week focuses on three 2022 releases on Shudder. Speak No Evil (2022) Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars Christian Tafdrup's new film is smarter and more philosophical than most of the nihilistic horror...
MOVIE MONDAY: Western Movie Reviews – Week 180 – Little Big Horn
Each Monday, I continue to share Western movie reviews. I have now launched a podcast about the making of Westerns and the overall filmmaking process. Click here to listen. Week 180: Little Big Horn (1951) It's fascinating that the debut Westerns by the...
BONUS WESTERN MOVIE REVIEW: 7 Men from Now (1956)
I decided to have another look at Burt Kennedy's writing work for other directors for the book I'm writing about his own Westerns. 7 Men From Now holds up viewing after viewing as one of the best of the genre. It's astounding that this was Burt's first script...
MOVIE MONDAY: Reviews of Near Dark, The Keep, The Hidden, and Prince of Darkness
My weekly movie reviews. You can also read these on letterboxd. This week focuses on four 80s horror movies programmed by Criterion Channel. Near Dark (1987) Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars This was my second look at Kathryn Bigelow's vampire film. The last time I saw...
Some Thursday Thoughts: I’M NOT GOING TO FORGET
As Americans, our greatest weakness might be our inability to remember what happened two weeks ago. The news cycle is almost designed to make us forget. Our lives are also too busy, too full of information to retain what happened in the months or years before. That...
MOVIE MONDAY: Western Movie Reviews – Week 179 – Cattle Empire
Each Monday, I continue to share Western movie reviews. I have now launched a podcast about the making of Westerns and the overall filmmaking process. Click here to listen. Week 179: Cattle Empire (1958) What stands out most about Charles Marquis...
Some Thursday Thoughts: THE PROPHETIC VISIONS OF JOHN CARPENTER
Near the beginning of John Carpenter's paranoid horror film In The Mouth of Madness, a character proclaims, "Nothing surprises me. We fucked up the air, the water, we fucked up each other. Why don't we just finish the job by just flushing our brains down the...
BONUS WESTERN MOVIE REVIEW: South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000)
In all my recent conversations about the Western genre, whenever the subject of Dwight Yoakam's only directorial debut comes up, it is already met with a negative reaction. I saw the movie years ago and have retained fond memories of it so it was time to test...
MOVIE MONDAY: Western Movie Reviews – Week 178 – Trooper Hook
Each Monday, I continue to share Western movie reviews. I have now launched a podcast about the making of Westerns and the overall filmmaking process. Click here to listen. Week 178: Trooper Hook (1957) My study of director Charles Marquis Warren's...
MOVIE MONDAY: Reviews of Cat People, The Addiction, American Gigolo, and Dangerous Game
My weekly movie reviews. You can also read these on letterboxd. This week focuses on a pair of double features by directors Paul Schrader and Abel Ferrara. Cat People (1982) Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars Call me crazy but I think Cat People is the best film Schrader...
