u/bnx01

This treads on sacred territory for some. Hear me out before you blast me.

The title tune of Giant Steps is one of the weakest songs in Coltrane's entire catalogue. Three chords are the melody, and it's a weak one. Sing it. It's not melodic at all.

It's not even an interesting harmony. The song modulates in a cycle of three major thirds using II-V turnarounds, the most common chord combination in Jazz. Musicians find it difficult to play because the key changes happen quickly and in unusual places.

The structure might be unusual, but it's more of a clever novelty than a groundbreaking innovation. If anything, the structure is constraining. Maybe someone, somewhere has done something interesting with it, but I've never heard it turned into a moving ballad and attempts at new arrangements sound stale. I have other things to say about A Love Supreme and the Vanguard record with Dolphy, but that'll have to wait. It's all The Emperor's New Clothes.

Coltrane's legacy suffers from guitar hero syndrome. Fans focus on the pyrotechnics of his "sheets of sound" and hsve created a Shaman-like mystique around his eccentric writing. That moves the emphasis away from his beautiful tone, his soulful blues and work as a sideman. That's where his genius was. He was a much better player than composer.

Mexico. 1966

Written by no less than Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Carlos Fuentes. Directed by Arturo Ripstein, who had just finished working as an assistant director to Luis Bunuel on Exterminating Angel.

This is a dusty, ambling revisionist western with a strong moral center and philosophical bent. Martínez de Hoyos is amiable and empathetic as Juan Sayago, a gentle giant who insists on remaining decent in the face of terrible injustice. You can’t help but pull for him.

If you insist on action in a western, this one might be a challenge. It’s well worth the effort.

I called it revisionist, but it’s also very traditional in an important sense. It has the moral center that you find in the best of the genre.

Anyhow, I really liked it. Highly recommend. It’s on YouTube, Prime and Apple.

Western. Mexico, 1966.

Written by no less than Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes. Directed by Arturo Ripstein, who began his career as an assistant director to Bunuel. The internets credit Ripstein with founding independent film in Mexico.

If you’re accustomed to action filled Westerns, this film will be challenging. Well worth the effort though. The influence of Bunuel is heavy, as is the voice of the authors in the dialogue.

This is a slow, dusty revision of a classic western theme, told in an elegantly philosophical way. I enjoyed it enormously, highly recommend.

Finally got around to Wendy And Lucy. Damn.

So much tension without a hint of histrionics. The story hinges on our investment in Wendy.. Michelle Williams is fantastic, I was with her every step of the way.

This film exemplifies the consequences of poverty in an intimate, powerful way. Brings to mind The Florida Project. I think Wendy And Lucy is a better film, but they share the same goal

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The current circumstances are urgent and the stakes high. Allegory is insufficient. Can a film make a political statement without being didactic under these conditions?

Many effective, well known movies have been made with the same POV and no didacticism. I don’t see the possibility of that kind of film right now. Maybe the time of socially responsible film has passed.

Watched The Searchers for the 20th time last night . Quick observations:

The big battle scene at the end is expertly done. Obscured by clouds of dust, it’s chaotic and has a strong “fog of war”vibe. It’s suspenseful, and paced exactly right.

It was a good choice to have Martin kill Scar. Ethan dominated him to the point of humiliation. Martin came into his own by saving Debbie from both Ethan and Scar.

Hank Worden as Mose steels the show. What a fantastic job and a well written character.

Loved the lush, elegant black and white. A mysterious, tension filled story, and solid performances that don’t call attention to themselves. You could credibly call it horror but that’s not what I walked away with.

I’m ambivalent about the ending, but I haven’t finished processing it so I’ll withhold judgement.

Based loosely on a true story, The adverb in that description would lead me to think that the story has been altered in a way that makes it neater and probably leaves out the interesting bits. The thought that this film toned down the real events only makes it more horrifying.

There are some exquisitely brutal moments here, all carried out off screen. The knowledge, the very idea of what’s happening was more than enough to make me squirm.

An allegory is clearly intended that could have been developed more, and the ending is questionable. Still,it’s strong enough that I didn’t dare glance at my phone or grab a snack. It’s one beautiful scene after another, and the unnamed source of dread is haunting.

I can understand how this film might be polarizing. I’m firmly on team “loved it”

Do these films constitute a genre? They share strong themes of crises in male identity. Most involve extreme, self-destructive behavior, though a few are a quiet, slow boil. All of them are anchored to a single powerhouse performance.

Here are some examples. Paul Schrader is over represented because he's made a career of these movies, and they're all familiar titles. There are many more.

Raging Bull Schrader, Robert Deniro

Taxi Driver Schrader, Deniro

 
First Reformed  Schrader, Ethen Hawke (part of the "Man In A Room" trilogy, all of which share the same theme.)

Shame Steve McQueen, Michael Fassbender

The Wrestler Darren Aronofsky, Mickey Roarke

Bad Lieutenant Abel Ferrara, Harvey Keitel

Affliction Schrader, Nick Nolte

Last Tango in Paris Bertolucci, Marlon Brando

In A lonely Place Nicholas Ray, Humphrey Bogart

These are only a few, but the post is already too long. If they constitute a genre, what would you call it?

Watching the Vienna Philharmonic on television recently. One of the bassists seemed to be holding the neck of his bass like a baseball bat. His left thumb was clearly visible. He also used his ring finger in second position.

Not sure about his left hand grip, but I know that the third finger in lower positions was part of the Viennese Method, That was taught in the 18th century, when Austrian basses had a significantly smaller neck and body and used a system of gut frets. Combined with gut strings, they must have had much less tension.

That method was specific to those basses, but his bass appeared to be a modern size and shape. The rest of the section played modern basses and used standard Rabbath/Simandl technique.

I can’t find information about the section online. Ever seen this? He would need to be a Sasquatch to manhandle a modern instrument like that.

I could be mistaken about the bass, but I can’t imagine that a historically accurate instrument could produce enough volume or depth in that setting. What say ye? Could this just be the idiosyncrasy of a shaved Sasquatch?

He’s been great in some roles. No one else could have played the Wolf. He was decent in Reservoir Dogs. But he was awful in Bad Lieutenant. IMO, he was terrible in Taxi Driver (I know that’s a controversial take but I think the argument is strong on that one.)

He’s probably done a good job in others I’m not remembering. But more often than not, he’s a scenery chewer.

Bad Lieutenant in particular screams “look at me being a great method actor !” I was embarrassed for him, it ruined my opinion of him. He wasn’t much better in Taxi Driver, he almost ruined the movie.

Streaming services have been making the same movie over and over for a long time: a former special forces/ black ops / spy or general badass comes out of retirement to save someone or the world. The bar for quality was in the floor a long time ago. They’re at risk of dumbing down the entire industry.

They’re doing just as much damage as the Marvel franchises. Think about what they could do with all that money.

An incomplete list:

Netflix
Back in Action (2025) – Retired CIA
Exterritorial (2025) – Retired Special Forces
A Line of Fire (2025) – Retired FBI
The Gray Man (2022) – CIA/Mercenary
Extraction 1 & 2 (2020, 2023) – Mercenary/Special Ops
Polar (2019) – Retired Assassin
The Killer (2023) – Professional Assassin

Amazon Prime Video
The Assassin (2025) – Retired Killer
The Beekeeper (2024) – Retired Elite Operative
The Contractor (2022) – Retired Special Forces
Without Remorse (2021) – Navy SEAL/CIA
Samaritan (2022) – Retired Superhero/Enforcer

Apple TV+
The Family Plan 1 & 2 (2023, 2025) – Retired Government Assassin
Matchbox (2026) – Former CIA Agent
Ghosted (2023) – CIA Agent (Action-Comedy)
Hulu / Disney+
Tin Soldier (2026) – Retired Special Forces
The Old Man (Series, 2022-2024) – Retired CIA
The Princess (2022) – Elite Fighter (Action/Fantasy)
Max (formerly HBO Max)
The Protégé (2021) – Professional Assassin
The Little Things (2021) – Retired Detective/Investigator

Howard Hawks, 1935. Set in San Francisco during the gold rush of the 1890’s.

Miriam Hopkins. Edward G Robinson, Joel McCrea, Walter Brennan, Harry Carey, and David Niven as a drunk sailor being thrown out of a bar.

Some places on the internet say it’s a Western, and you can call it that by virtue of the setting. I’d say more of a melodrama, but they’re not mutually exclusive. Plenty of Western melodramas out there..

It’s a curiosity, that’s for sure. At 90 minutes, it’s worth the time just to see Edward G Robinson in ruffled shirts and a hoop earring. It moves pretty fast, and the plot is interesting enough. Worth a watch if you have a few minutes to spare.