COUNTERPUNCH, DECEMBER 22, 2017
“Wind River” and “Hostiles”, two of this year’s highly praised films and clear-cut Oscar bait, have a number of things in common. They both feature bankable white male stars in leading roles as good-hearted saviors of indigenous peoples in the time-honored (speaking charitably) tradition of “Dances with Wolves”: Jeremy Renner and Christian Bale. They also were directed and written by white males who made the transition from acting careers: Taylor Sheridan and Scott Cooper. And, finally, they are both marred by political and artistic shortcomings. After making the case for them being rated “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes, I will conclude with some thoughts on what might go into a Hollywood film about native peoples although I doubt The Weinstein Company (the distributor of “Wind River” that was cut loose by Taylor Sheridan after news broke about its sexual predator boss) would be interested.
This review will reveal the endings of both films but I doubt that by the time you get to that point in the article, you’ll have little interest in seeing either of them.
This review will reveal the endings of both films but I doubt that by the time you get to that point in the article, you’ll have little interest in seeing either of them.–You mean “I suspect”, not “I doubt”, or “I doubt that…you’ll be interested in seeing either
of them.”
Comment by Jon — December 22, 2017 @ 5:27 pm
Yes, Jon, I noticed that myself this morning. I read through my articles 3 or 4 times before submitting to CounterPunch but I don’t always catch everything. I can’t count on Counterpunch’s one-man editorial team to catch them, either. I think most people, like you, will understand what I was getting at.
Comment by louisproyect — December 22, 2017 @ 5:58 pm