Richard Boone

[7] This American/Japanese animated venture would be the first feature-length movie journey into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Produced by Rankin/Bass (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Last Unicorn) and animated by the studio that would later become Studio Ghibli, The Hobbit is a brisk 77-minute adaptation that features many folksy songs and a notable voice cast led by John Huston as Gandalf. While it may be …

[6] John Wayne stars as a crotchety loner cowboy who goes in search of the gang who kidnapped his grandson. Big Jake is not a serious western. It’s more of a nostalgic love letter to old big-studio westerns. Sometimes that love undercuts the drama. Even though a boy’s kidnapping is what spurs the characters into action, they begin their adventure like a trip to Disney …

[7] Paul Newman reunites with director Martin Ritt (Hud, The Long Hot Summer) for this ensemble Western based on the novel by Elmore Leonard. It’s an Eastwoodesque performance from Newman, playing a reticent loner raised by Apaches who ends up having to protect a stagecoach crew that initially thumb their noses at him. I don’t think the ending was particularly well executed, but the characters …