Prolific filmmaker Brian Skiba, who went from directing the slick action/thriller Pursuit, starring John Cusack, to the upcoming twisted Nicolas Cage western, Gunslingers, is ready to call it: Hollywood is in the midst of a Western resurgence. In a recent interview with MovieWeb to discuss the other western he recently directed, Guns of Redemption, Skiba said:
“Absolutely… there's a resurgence going on. You know, obviously all of Taylor Sheridan's stuff [Yellowstone, 1923, 1883, Landman] is really resurging. American Primeval on Netflix surged. I think people enjoyed Kevin Costner's film [Horizon]. Unfortunately, the format wasn't working. He should have probably just told the whole story all at once instead of trying to spread it out over three movies. But it was still a beautiful film and a lot of people responded to it.”
Skiba, who also directed the western Dead Man's Hand with Jack Kilmer, Cole Hauser, and Stephen Dorff,...
“Absolutely… there's a resurgence going on. You know, obviously all of Taylor Sheridan's stuff [Yellowstone, 1923, 1883, Landman] is really resurging. American Primeval on Netflix surged. I think people enjoyed Kevin Costner's film [Horizon]. Unfortunately, the format wasn't working. He should have probably just told the whole story all at once instead of trying to spread it out over three movies. But it was still a beautiful film and a lot of people responded to it.”
Skiba, who also directed the western Dead Man's Hand with Jack Kilmer, Cole Hauser, and Stephen Dorff,...
- 3/8/2025
- by Greg Archer
- MovieWeb
Revenge, reclamation, and resurrection fuel Guns of Redemption, a sharply focused post-Civil War tale about a weary soldier hoping for solace yet destined for struggle. Director Brian Skiba’s (The Gunslinger) intentionally straightforward storytelling hones in on four key characters, reigning in any excess. Between its solid cast, gritty action sequences, and alluring American West backdrop, the film intrigues but is several bullets short of being an epic Western.
The film centers around a Civil War veteran named Luke (Casper Van Dien of Starship Troopers and Sleepy Hollow) who hopes to fade away in a small town. Fate has other plans as he’s soon drawn back into chaos when he tries to rescue two women from a traveling brothel run by a sinister fellow named General Bork (Jeff Fahey). That doesn’t end well, and the aftermath becomes the main focus of the film, along with Luke's determination to get revenge.
The film centers around a Civil War veteran named Luke (Casper Van Dien of Starship Troopers and Sleepy Hollow) who hopes to fade away in a small town. Fate has other plans as he’s soon drawn back into chaos when he tries to rescue two women from a traveling brothel run by a sinister fellow named General Bork (Jeff Fahey). That doesn’t end well, and the aftermath becomes the main focus of the film, along with Luke's determination to get revenge.
- 3/6/2025
- by Greg Archer
- MovieWeb
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” a slice-of-life drama that grapples with abortion restrictions, has been in the awards conversation since it premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s gotten nods from the Indie Spirit Awards, National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle. Given the positive buzz, the film is seen as a possible Oscar contender.
Yet one Academy Award voter, filmmaker Kieth Merrill, says he won’t be watching the film due to its subject matter.
Merrill, who won an Oscar in 1973 for the documentary “The Great American Cowboy” and was nominated in 1997 for the short “Amazon,” said he has “zero interest in watching a woman cross state lines so someone can murder her unborn child.”
In “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Sidney Flanagan plays 17-year-old Autumn, who travels from Pennsylvania to New York to obtain an abortion without parental consent.
In a since-deleted Instagram post,...
Yet one Academy Award voter, filmmaker Kieth Merrill, says he won’t be watching the film due to its subject matter.
Merrill, who won an Oscar in 1973 for the documentary “The Great American Cowboy” and was nominated in 1997 for the short “Amazon,” said he has “zero interest in watching a woman cross state lines so someone can murder her unborn child.”
In “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Sidney Flanagan plays 17-year-old Autumn, who travels from Pennsylvania to New York to obtain an abortion without parental consent.
In a since-deleted Instagram post,...
- 2/27/2021
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
The theatrical and VOD / Digital HD release of Dagen Merrill's Atomica from Syfy Films is slated for mid-March, and casting as well as a synopsis for the film kicks off today's Horror Highlights. Also: info on The Bye Bye Man soundtrack from the Newton Brothers, images and release details for the zombie film The ReZort, and a trailer for Hostage to the Devil.
Atomica Release Details & Still: Press Release: "New York, NY -- January 11, 2017 -- Syfy Films is pleased to announce the release of the anticipated sci-fi thriller Atomica, in theaters on March 17, 2017, and on VOD and Digital HD on March 21, 2017. The film is directed by Dagen Merrill (“Beneath,” “Broken Hill,” “Murder in the Dark”) and written by Kevin Burke (“Ultimate Spider-Man,” Marvel’s “Avengers Assemble,” “Beneath”), Fred Fernandez-Armesto and Adam Gyngell. The cast includes Dominic Monaghan (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Pet”), Tom Sizemore (“Saving Private Ryan,...
Atomica Release Details & Still: Press Release: "New York, NY -- January 11, 2017 -- Syfy Films is pleased to announce the release of the anticipated sci-fi thriller Atomica, in theaters on March 17, 2017, and on VOD and Digital HD on March 21, 2017. The film is directed by Dagen Merrill (“Beneath,” “Broken Hill,” “Murder in the Dark”) and written by Kevin Burke (“Ultimate Spider-Man,” Marvel’s “Avengers Assemble,” “Beneath”), Fred Fernandez-Armesto and Adam Gyngell. The cast includes Dominic Monaghan (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Pet”), Tom Sizemore (“Saving Private Ryan,...
- 1/12/2017
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will present “Oscar’s Docs, 1955–2002: American Stories” from February 2 through February 14 at MoMA in New York City. This annual collaboration highlights Oscar®–winning and nominated short and feature-length documentary films that explore the history, culture and politics of the United States. All prints are from the Academy Film Archive’s collection. The filmmakers will be present at several screenings (visit MoMA.org for details).
The schedule is as follows:
Sat., Feb. 2, 2 p.m.
American Dream (1990)
Barbara Kopple. This stirring film depicts the effects of a mid-1980s strike by the workers of a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. 98 min.
Sat., Feb. 2, 8 p.m.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)
Freida Lee Mock. A profile of Maya Lin, the young artist who created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington and other politically motivated artistic creations.
The schedule is as follows:
Sat., Feb. 2, 2 p.m.
American Dream (1990)
Barbara Kopple. This stirring film depicts the effects of a mid-1980s strike by the workers of a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. 98 min.
Sat., Feb. 2, 8 p.m.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)
Freida Lee Mock. A profile of Maya Lin, the young artist who created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington and other politically motivated artistic creations.
- 1/29/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Harry’s War (Original Release Date: 1 March 1981)
A number of folks on the Internet appear to believe the Big Bad Government is hiding this movie from us. If more people were aware of it, they reason, it would foment revolution. It would effect change. It would cause people -- if you’ll permit me a corruption (and translation!) of one of the go-to quotes in Kant’s Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung? -- to doff the self-imposed yoke of immaturity, don a new yoke of exaggerated self-worth, and inculcate a similarly exaggerated sense of self-worth in those too stupid or unfortunate to realize the power to shrug off the yoke of immaturity rests on their own shoulders.
Enough of that. The above paragraph is meant to illustrate that you can’t write about movies, politics, and philosophy in the same paragraph without coming across like an asshole. Name dropping makes it worse.
A number of folks on the Internet appear to believe the Big Bad Government is hiding this movie from us. If more people were aware of it, they reason, it would foment revolution. It would effect change. It would cause people -- if you’ll permit me a corruption (and translation!) of one of the go-to quotes in Kant’s Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung? -- to doff the self-imposed yoke of immaturity, don a new yoke of exaggerated self-worth, and inculcate a similarly exaggerated sense of self-worth in those too stupid or unfortunate to realize the power to shrug off the yoke of immaturity rests on their own shoulders.
Enough of that. The above paragraph is meant to illustrate that you can’t write about movies, politics, and philosophy in the same paragraph without coming across like an asshole. Name dropping makes it worse.
- 3/4/2011
- by Thurston McQ
- Corona's Coming Attractions
Film Review: 'Amazon'
Lyrical and upbeat, with spectacularly beautiful imagery, the new filmed-in-Imax "Amazon" is a celebration of the world's mightiest river and the massive, still mysterious and terribly important rain forest that boasts an unparalleled diversity of life.
Starting its no-doubt lengthy run this weekend at the California Museum of Science and Industry's Imax Theater in Los Angeles, "Amazon" presents startling views of exotic animals and breathtaking aerial photography, but it has a strong human element under the assured direction of Kieth Merrill.
An Academy Award winner for his 1974 feature documentary "The Great American Cowboy" and a veteran of several Imax projects, including "Grand Canyon -- The Hidden Secrets," Merrill and cinematographers Michael Hoover and Jack Tankard filmed in several South American countries, including Bolivia and Peru.
Narrated by Linda Hunt, "Amazon" has a minimal plot that chronicles the parallel journeys of real-life ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin and a Bolivian Callaway shaman (Adrian Villanueva) as they both seek medicinal plants in the rain forest. The connection between indigenous peoples' approach to healing and Western culture's quest for cures to human ailments is clearly and persuasively documented for lay audiences.
From the majestic Andes Mountains to underwater scenes of the seasonally flooded forest, "Amazon" is a feast for the senses and a terrific introduction to the region's often bizarre denizens -- both animal and human. The menagerie of wildlife includes pink dolphins, fula piranhas, sloths, monkeys, jaguars, electric eels, the 120-pound capybara (the world's largest rodent) and grotesquely beautiful insects.
When the focus turns to the many Indian tribes that have tried to stay hidden from the march of civilization, the viewer is treated to scenes of veteran frontiersman Sydney Possuelo interacting with the Zoe tribe, whose adult members wear a labret of white "poturu" wood. Although there is the possibility of even more "lost" peoples, the Zoe were first encountered in the late 1960s and remain largely unaffected by contact with modern mankind.
Approximately 16,000 species of plants, about three-fourths of the plant species known in the world, live in Amazonia, with their potential as healing drugs still largely untapped. Plotkin, author of the nonfiction book "Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice", argues that the plants and the knowledge of the people who live in the rain forest are invaluable resources that could hold the key to the future of Western medicine.
AMAZON
MacGillivray Freeman Films
Ogden Entertainment
A Kieth Merrill film
Director Kieth Merrill
Producers Jonathan Stern, Kieth Merrill
Writers Kieth Merrill, Loren McIntyre
Executive producer Isaac Palmer
Line producer Scott Swofford
Director of photography Michael Hoover
Aerial photography Jack Tankard
Editor Stephen L. Johnson
Music Alan Williams
Sound Michael McDonough
Color/stereo
Narrator Linda Hunt
With Dr. Mark Plotkin,
Adrian Villanueva, Sydney Possuelo
Running time -- 38 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Starting its no-doubt lengthy run this weekend at the California Museum of Science and Industry's Imax Theater in Los Angeles, "Amazon" presents startling views of exotic animals and breathtaking aerial photography, but it has a strong human element under the assured direction of Kieth Merrill.
An Academy Award winner for his 1974 feature documentary "The Great American Cowboy" and a veteran of several Imax projects, including "Grand Canyon -- The Hidden Secrets," Merrill and cinematographers Michael Hoover and Jack Tankard filmed in several South American countries, including Bolivia and Peru.
Narrated by Linda Hunt, "Amazon" has a minimal plot that chronicles the parallel journeys of real-life ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin and a Bolivian Callaway shaman (Adrian Villanueva) as they both seek medicinal plants in the rain forest. The connection between indigenous peoples' approach to healing and Western culture's quest for cures to human ailments is clearly and persuasively documented for lay audiences.
From the majestic Andes Mountains to underwater scenes of the seasonally flooded forest, "Amazon" is a feast for the senses and a terrific introduction to the region's often bizarre denizens -- both animal and human. The menagerie of wildlife includes pink dolphins, fula piranhas, sloths, monkeys, jaguars, electric eels, the 120-pound capybara (the world's largest rodent) and grotesquely beautiful insects.
When the focus turns to the many Indian tribes that have tried to stay hidden from the march of civilization, the viewer is treated to scenes of veteran frontiersman Sydney Possuelo interacting with the Zoe tribe, whose adult members wear a labret of white "poturu" wood. Although there is the possibility of even more "lost" peoples, the Zoe were first encountered in the late 1960s and remain largely unaffected by contact with modern mankind.
Approximately 16,000 species of plants, about three-fourths of the plant species known in the world, live in Amazonia, with their potential as healing drugs still largely untapped. Plotkin, author of the nonfiction book "Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice", argues that the plants and the knowledge of the people who live in the rain forest are invaluable resources that could hold the key to the future of Western medicine.
AMAZON
MacGillivray Freeman Films
Ogden Entertainment
A Kieth Merrill film
Director Kieth Merrill
Producers Jonathan Stern, Kieth Merrill
Writers Kieth Merrill, Loren McIntyre
Executive producer Isaac Palmer
Line producer Scott Swofford
Director of photography Michael Hoover
Aerial photography Jack Tankard
Editor Stephen L. Johnson
Music Alan Williams
Sound Michael McDonough
Color/stereo
Narrator Linda Hunt
With Dr. Mark Plotkin,
Adrian Villanueva, Sydney Possuelo
Running time -- 38 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/12/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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