Notes from the sketch book

Ryan Coogler, a filmmaker who has already demonstrated a keen eye for the intersection of genre and social commentary, now plunges us into the humid, fraught landscape of the 1930s Mississippi Delta with Sinners.  The following are kind of spoilers if you haven't seen the trailer or know nothing about the plot of the film. Sinners follows twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, both embodied with a simmering intensity by Michael B. Jordan who delivers Smoke and Stack with distinct personalities while also hinting at the unbreakable bond between them. They return to their rural hometown ostensibly to escape a past...

It's the penultimate film in my Western series and this time we are looking at Eastwood's, The Outlaw Josey Wales. It's a tale that starts off with revenge through violence that morphs into one about survival. Josey Wales, a farmer and family man whose life is irrevocably shattered by the senseless violence of some Union forces in the waning days of the Civil War. His response is not one of reconciliation, it's a deep, simmering rage that propels him away from any notion of a negotiated peace. A sole outlaw, hunted. Initially we are dropped into Josey Wales's world in...

Eastwood, fresh from his Leone collaborations, was already a force to be reckoned with, but with this his second directorial effort, it was a clear assertion of his artistic independence. He wasn’t content to merely inhabit the stoic, laconic cowboy; he wanted to shape the entire landscape. He wanted to mold the narrative to his own unsettling vision. The script was written by Ernest Tidyman, the man behind The French Connection, was already a dark brooding affair. Eastwood, ever the revisionist, injected it with his own brand of moral ambiguity. The stark, wind-scoured terrain of High Plains Drifter offered Eastwood...

As we settle into 2025, the cinematic landscape, as always, presents a curious mix of the predictable and the potentially surprising. One can already sense the familiar churn of franchises attempting to reignite past glories, alongside a smattering of originals hoping to cut through the noise. It’s a landscape where the sheer volume of content often threatens to overwhelm any genuine spark of artistry, leaving one to wonder if we’re not simply treading water. Marvel movies, franchises and I.P have been the go to in the last decade. There’s a creeping sense of sameness to it all, a feeling that...

This art collection is an examination of the Western genre, specifically focusing on Clint Eastwood's transition from television actor to cinematic icon. The series intends to analyze Eastwood's evolution, tracing his rise to prominence through Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy," films that redefined the Western's visual and narrative language. The intention is to observe, assess, and produce artistic interpretations inspired by these films, ultimately culminating in a study of Eastwood's role in the deconstruction of the Western archetype. However, the series initial point of departure is not Leone's work, but Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo." This choice underscores the acknowledgement that cinematic influence...