STAGECOACH!!

John Ford's Stagecoach came out on Blu-ray last week.

Will you buy it for me? Pretty please?

Well look! Here's the thing: it'll definitely inspire me to put the finishing touched on The Deposed Kings of Red Rock, so when I make my billions - BILLIONS! - I'll buy you the Ultimate Wash for your car. That's the one with the wash, wax, undercarriage bath, the bug-buster, Rain-X application, the jim-jam, a wheel cleaner, the finny-fanny, the wrinkle inspector, a whootsy-tootsy and - to top it all off! - a signed Joe Orsulak rookie card. The catch is it was to be at the Solomon's Car Wash because that's where I got the gift card.

I'm kidding, of course. You buy me this, and I'll be thankless. Totally thankless. I might even spit on you. That's how the world works, darlin'. Get used to it.

(Actin like a heartless jackass...I can't quite pull that off, can I?)

From this point forward, anytime you watch a movie that shares the horrendous editing characteristics which include thirty billion quick cuts, pointless slo-mo and close-up shots and way too much CGI - all of which have you thinking, what the hell just happened? - watch this clip from Ford's Stagecoach. 

And then watch this. Scroll to about 1:30 in to see a fabulous example of horrible filmmaking. Please don't watch the whole clip...unless you're unhappy with yourself and wish to wallow...crap.

I don't think being able to comprehend every on-screen image is antiquated in any way. Am I wrong? Am I an old geezer or somethin'? Good filmmaking involves putting images on the screen...that people can see! Why put an image on screen if the viewer can't make sense of it? I don't want to make this about hate, so I'll just say this: I aspire to create sequences like Ford, Peckinpah and Sturges. Those guys knew how to direct.

One last note. I know this is uber-nerdy, but I really do enjoy the art design of the Criterion Collection's releases. They've got some talented folks over there that really know how to capture the essence of any particular film.