Film Ahead is a weekly column highlighting special events and repertory programming for the discerning Camberville filmgoer. It also includes capsule reviews of films that are not feature reviewed. Remembering Fred Ward Clutch character actor Fred Ward died this month. Best known for his turn as Gus Grissom in Phillip Kaufman’s adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s … Read more
EXCLUSIVE: French film sales powerhouse Wild Bunch International (WBI) has unveiled a slew of deals on key titles on its 15-title Cannes 2022 slate. The extensive roster of sales bucks a trend out of Cannes where the optimistic mood, as the event returned to full strength for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, did … Read more
In a surprise move last November, veteran studio chief and CAA co-founder Ron Meyer and former beIN Media Group executive Sophie Jordan were named CEO and co-CEO of European indie powerhouse Wild Bunch AG. Together, the formidable leadership team will help steer the pan-European film, TV and media company into the next era of expansion. … Read more
Wyoming Territorial Prison, Laramie, Wyoming At 2:00 a.m. on June 2, 1899, five masked men robbed a Union Pacific Train near Wilcox Wyoming, near Medicine Bow. The bandits flagged down the train and forced the train crew to separate the locomotive from the rest of the train, and drive it across the bridge, which was … Read more
By Dr. Ken Bridges The 1880s and 1890s saw the rise of some of the most notorious criminals in American History, mostly riding the dusty trails of the West. One of the most infamous was the Dalton Gang, made up of outlaws from Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The Dalton Gang terrorized the frontier, with a … Read more
The filmmaker is set to remake the Sam Peckinpah classic, and recently explained that his version leans into the film’s central concept of “guys with lives of accrued violence.” Even Mel Gibson wasn’t initially sold on his latest filmmaking project. Late last month, the “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Passion of the Christ” filmmaker was confirmed to direct and … Read more
W.K. Stratton was 13 when The Wild Bunch was released in 1969. In that pre-internet time, movie theaters were a prime option for escape, and in director Sam Peckinpah’s radical Western Stratton was transported to a landscape of “agony and dirt…The way the violence was portrayed really got my attention,” says the author of The … Read more
” If they move, kill ’em! “ Golden Anniversaries: Films of 1969 features 6 classic films celebrating their 50th anniversaries. This second edition focuses on 1969 and features a half-dozen films, all screening for free at the St. Louis Public Library (1301 Olive Street St. Louis) over 3 weekends in late summer. (This series kicked off … Read more
Jason Momoa kicked a hornet’s nest with his new photos with Mel Gibson and Peter Dinklage. Some fans were thrilled to see another Game of Thrones reunion for Jason Momoa and Peter Dinklage, despite their respective characters Khal Drogo and Tyrion Lannister never getting to share scenes. On another level, fans were curious whether the … Read more
BOOK REVIEW “The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film” By W.K. Stratton, (Bloomsbury, $28) Grade: A In 1969, the Western movie enjoyed its best year in a decade before drifting off onto a side trail of American culture. There was “True Grit,” a traditional oater showcasing … Read more