John Wayne

Latest Articles

Review: True Grit (2010)

The Coen brothers are True to Grit
Those who saw John Wayne's Oscar-winning, scenery-chewing turn as "Rooster" Cogburn in Henry Hathaway's 1969 adaptation of True Grit might have a hard time shaking that off when it comes to appreciating Jeff Bridges in the same part.
By PETER KEOUGH | February 24, 2011

Heroine chic

Hollywood cashes in on girl power
One of the more satisfying moments in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) occurs when 13-year-old Hermione (Emma Watson) unloads a right hook that staggers the villainous Malfoy. “That felt good,” she says, pleased with herself. “Not good,” offers Ron (Rupert Grint). “Brilliant!”
By PETER KEOUGH | April 12, 2010

Oscar predictions 2010: Locker is a lock

Bigelow, Bullock, and Bridges also will win gold
Except for some pipe-dream scenarios in which the 10-nominee/weighted-voting system could turn out a victory for Inglourious Basterds or some other dark horse, everyone concedes that this year's winner for Best Picture and just about every other significant award is — The Hurt Locker ! How did this happen?
By PETER KEOUGH | March 08, 2010

Drink like Don

Whiskey drinks for people who don’t like whiskey. Yet.
If Mad Men has taught us anything, it's that we shouldn't go to a 1960s advertising executive for health advice.
By JASON O'BRYAN | December 08, 2009

Review: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

A real treasure
Nathan Drake walks like a man. Not so much in a macho, John Wayne kind of way — though there is plenty of that in him — but as if he were a real person occupying physical space.
By MITCH KRPATA | October 21, 2009

Michael Ryan: 1951-2009

A celebration of the good old days by someone who knew him when
Every proper obit should begin with something long-winded and amusing. In this case, that's easy.
By CLIF GARBODEN | August 31, 2009

Bad times for the good earth

How are we going to keep them down on the farm?
You could say that the plight of the Massachusetts farmer began during the Great Ice Age, when the Laurentide Ice Sheet scraped over New England leaving poor soil and, as one farmer put it, "rocks, rocks, rocks."
By D.C. DENISON | August 11, 2009

The long good-byes

Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction, live at the Comcast Center, June 3, 2009
Some time in the late 90s, Trent Reznor holed himself up in a house near the ocean. Ostensibly, he was there to write some music. And while he did use that time to begin piecing together some of the songs that would become Nine Inch Nails's 1999 double-album The Fragile , Reznor.
By RYAN STEWART | June 04, 2009

Frank's way

Simply Sinatra at Theatre by the Sea
Musical revues can be like videos of old golf tournaments — endless, amiable tedium interspersed with opportunities to wake up and smile nostalgically. Not so with My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra , at least not with this terrific production opening the season at Theatre by the Sea (through June 14).
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | June 02, 2009

Two days, a theme, and a prop

Overnight developing
If you see a bunch of people running around town this weekend singing and dancing, John Wayne style, you can bet they drew “Musical or Western” as their 48 Hour Film Project genre.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | August 13, 2008

Mongol

An idealized portrait of Genghis Khan
A beautifully filmed spectacle of questionable historical accuracy, where motivations are as shallow as battles are large.
By BRETT MICHEL | June 18, 2008

The man who wasn’t there

Politics and other mistakes
Imagine you’re a Republican candidate for Congress in Maine’s 1st District whose name isn’t Charlie Summers.
By AL DIAMON | July 18, 2007

Son of a beach

Leave it to state minions to spoil a perfect summer day
The beach at Casa Diablo is closed.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | July 11, 2007

China not so fair

Plus Judith Scott and Vietnam
Feeling self-righteous about having recycled your dinosaur computer?
By GERALD PEARY | June 19, 2007

Cinema of Shadows

We’re five years into the Iraq crisis, and Hollywood hasn't made a film about the war. Or is every film is about the war?
It’s not likely, but Judd Apatow’s pitch for Knocked Up might have sounded something like this.
By PETER KEOUGH | June 06, 2007

The late show

Boston, from 2 am to 6 am
Boston lives after 2 am. It’s just a different city, more of a landscape than a community. Audio Slideshow: Allston, 2 to 6 am Audio Slideshow: Cambridge, 2 to 6 am Audio Slideshow: Downtown Boston, 2 to 6 am
By CAMILLE DODERO, MIKE MILIARD, AND WILL SPITZ | January 31, 2007

Devine DVDs

Film-smart gifts for people who think they’ve seen everything
Sure, we all know Get Smart! is out on DVD in time for the holidays, and the Superman films (all of them, going back to 1948), and Mission Impossible: The Ultimate Missions Collection , sure, sure, as if you could miss the bleating sirens of studio publicity.
By MICHAEL ATKINSON | December 07, 2006

Master of war

Kubrick brings it all home
This article originally appeared in the June 26, 1987 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
By OWEN GLIEBERMAN | November 14, 2006

The Cambridge Castle of Comedy

Inside The Harvard Lampoon , where getting in could be your ticket to Hollywood — or not
“I have a summer castle out on the Cape,” says Harvard senior Kyle Berkman. “But for most of us, this is our only castle.”
By MIKE MILIARD | November 02, 2006

Apologetic masterpiece

Reality is nice in Mutual Appreciation
Recently, on WBUR’s On Point , I heard Harvard conservative Harvey Mansfield plug a book he’s written in praise of “manliness,” a trait he finds embodied today in Donald Rumsfeld.
By CHRIS FUJIWARA | September 13, 2006

Flashbacks: September 1, 2006

The Boston Phoenix has been covering the trends and events that shape our times since 1966.
These selections, culled from our back files, were compiled by Ian Sands and Paul Babin.
By BOSTON PHOENIX FLASHBACKS | August 30, 2006

Flashbacks: June 2, 2006

The Boston Phoenix has been covering the trends and events that shape our times since 1966.
These selections, culled from our back files, were compiled by Jessica Coughlin and Sam MacLaughlin.
By EDITORIAL | May 31, 2006

Pure pleasure

Sushi rolling with the King
John Wayne's recently-opened King of the Roll on Congress Street in Portland's West End is a great addition to the sushi scene in town.
By BRIAN DUFF | May 24, 2006

Once were films

Barbara Stanwyck before the Hays Code
The riveting young Barbara Stanwyck is an embodiment of that blessedly uncorseted but sadly brief era just before Hollywood was battened down by the self-censoring Hays (Production) Code in 1934.
By STEVE VINEBERG | April 04, 2006

Running Scared

The director of The Cooler returns with this Paul Walker vehicle. It was a fluke.
A week after Paul Walker’s beloved sled dogs began their heartwarming fight for survival in Disney’s Eight Below , it’s Walker who needs saving — his new film is for the dogs.
By BRETT MICHEL | March 01, 2006