Scout Tafoya

Video Essayist and Critic at RogerEbert.com

just the worst. https://t.co/Vhv5drPJjW… https://t.co/5OsPpdXgwQ

Articles

The Unloved, Part 137: Immortals

3 weeks ago | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

With the unforgiving heat of a global warming summer upon us, let's look back at a blockbuster that made its money back but somehow didn't end up with its director, the unimpeachably singular Tarsem Singh Dhandwar, whose career was put on pause in this country. While movies are now drained of color, his cinema was alive with it. He had a healthy attitude towards plot contrivance and never let the impossible stand in his way.
Lookin's Free: Joe Don Baker (1936-2025)

1 month ago | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

Joe Don Baker was one of the first to teach me what screen acting was. As a kid, I was a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" obsessive, wearing out our VHS collection, buying the DVDs, taking near the entirety of my life to work out what every joke meant. As any other diehard will tell you, one installment stands head and shoulders above the others: Andrew V. McLaglen's "Mitchell!".
The Unloved, Part 136: Ironweed

1 month ago | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

This week, my friend Bridget Mallon passed away in her sleep at the age of 34. The country's been going to hell in a hurry, but there's always a way for things to get worse, and the loss of one of my best friends was that. At times like this, you forget that things can get better, let alone that they will, because it just seems implausible that the world stays this desperate and terrible forever.
The Most Unsung Leading Man of His Generation: Val Kilmer (1959-2025)

2 months ago | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

When he died on Tuesday at age 65 of pneumonia, everyone had their image of Val Kilmer at hand to personally mourn. There was the wonderfully showy Juilliard valedictorian, youngest actor ever accepted into the prestigious school, the young Brando who made his method bonafides known with theatrical, physical turns in "Tombstone," " The Doors," and " Wonderland ".
The Unloved, Part 135: Adoration

2 months ago | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

The untempered version of world events right now: Things are not getting better. There's no opposition coming, there's no reckoning on the way, there is no stopping the free fall. And art is not going to save us. I don't have much use for the untempered version, even if, on my worst days, I believe it. So, I continue to make my art about art, and I continue to seek out the opinions of people who have not given up. And hope for the best and do what I can for people who need help.
The Unloved, Part 134: A Dandy in Aspic

Mar 10, 2025 | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

By Last month, I released my third book, "The Black Book: An Anthony Mann Reader." (You can order your copy here.)To celebrate a month of Mann madness, here's a very special unloved on "A Dandy in Aspic," the great director's final film, the last of the Anthony Mann B movies, and a beautiful haunting object it is. Enjoy this look at a true final film, a spy caper in which the central identity crisis comes to reflect the death of its maker.
I Think Of Them As The Work: Gene Hackman (1930-2025)

Feb 28, 2025 | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

Don't go to the masterpieces, the classics, the five-star pictures you have memorized from a hundred montages and telecasts. Pick one at random, one you don't know. There are about 80 that meet this description. Pick ... Andrew Davis' " The Package" from 1989. It's no one's favorite film who doesn't have a favorite armchair where he watched it whenever it came on TV at 3 PM on a lazy Saturday. It's just an action movie.
Book Excerpt: An Anthony Mann Reader by Scout Tafoya

Feb 6, 2025 | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

We're happy to present an excerpt from Scout Tafoya's new book on the work of Anthony Mann. The synopsis from Amazon is below, followed by the excerpt. Get your copy here. He brought sadism and shocking violence to the western, he staged the French revolution on a backlot for a pauper's pittance, he remade the Hollywood epic, he died in the middle of his last film before he could be properly appreciated, and he's still relatively unheralded.
The Unloved, Part 134: The Better Angels

Feb 3, 2025 | rogerebert.com | Scout Tafoya

With the state of Democracy a shambles and hope being sucked out of the country like helium from a balloon, I thought I'd offer a micro vision of hope, a poem about the humble beginnings of a man who would, one day, do great and terrible things, but who believed in whatever this country is.
The best shows on Apple TV+

Jan 3, 2025 | cultofmac.com | Scout Tafoya

Some of the world’s greatest creative talents are making the best Apple TV shows. Directors like Martin Scorsese, M. Night Shyamalan, Rupert Wyatt and Kim Jee-Woon, writers like Min Jin Lee, Paul Theroux, Emily Dickinson and Isaac Asimov, high-concept premises and legendary ensembles all meet on Apple’s streaming service. The result is a collection of art worth signing up for. As the service goes free for everyone this weekend, here’s a look at the best shows on Apple TV+.