Dexter: The Seventh Season

There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.

05/21/2013 | Comments 0

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.

05/20/2013 | Comments 0

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.

05/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.

05/17/2013 | Comments 0

Texas Chainsaw

One of the most inconsistent franchises in movie history is the one beget by Tobe Hooper's 1974 classic, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. How does one follow all those less-than-beloved sequels? Lionsgate's latest in the series — the seventh — has a solution: Ignore 'em.

05/17/2013 | Comments 0

This horse doc is a joy for anyone

June 23rd, 2011

Love horses? You're going to love "Buck."

Could do without horses? You're going to love "Buck."

Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, the documentary tells the story of Buck Brannaman, Wyoming-based horse whisperer. He travels three-fourths of the year, conducting clinics all over the nation on breaking horses — and sometimes their owners — of bad behavior.

What's so great about that? Looking like a Will Rogers for the 21st century, this calm, gentle soul is the product of a household of abuse. Rather than bemoan his wretched, nightmarish past, Buck chooses to live for the moment. He's taken his lumps, then his lessons, and moved on.

Opening Friday exclusively at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, his story is inspiring, whether or not you identify with the modern-day cowboy's old-fashioned, stripped-down lifestyle. Without even trying, Buck will have you charmed, and debuting director Cindy Meehl's film will have you laughing, crying and leaving the theater with enough joy in your heart to fill a 10-gallon hat. Take the kids. —Rod Lott