Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Aging Against the Odds: John Wayne’s Cinematic Brilliance Beyond Accolades and Oscar Snubs
A trophy cabinet stuffed to bursting point with accolades isn’t a prerequisite to going down in the history books as one of the most iconic movie stars in Hollywood history, with few underlining that feeling better than John Wayne. The actor left behind a towering legacy throughout a career that spanned decades. It saw him…
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The Untold Story of John Wayne’s Hollywood Rumble: When Patience Wore Thin
The 1933 drama, which starred Wayne alongside the likes of Barbara Stanwyck and Donald Cook, followed the tale of a strumpet who uses men as stepping stones to success, as she attempts to lay bare a “rags-to-riches” formula. At the time of its release, reviews were critical of the flick, but modern reviews of the…
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John Wayne’s Bold Stand Against Dirty Harry and Clint Eastwood’s Violent Wave in Cinema
John Wayne famously turned down Dirty Harry before Clint Eastwood took the role, which is ultimately for the best, as Wayne’s two 1970s cop thrillers show he was a bad fit for the part. The waning popularity of Westerns throughout the ’60s and ’70s in Hollywood did little to slow down Wayne’s output in the…
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Foot-in-Mouth Moment: Jana Kramer’s Candid Revelation to Clint Eastwood About ‘Million Dollar Baby’
“One Tree Hill” star Jana Kramer regularly recalls embarrassing moments from her single dating days on her iHeartRadio podcast. But in a recent interview with Insider promoting new items in her LuluSimonStudio athleisure line, Kramer confessed that she shared one of the most awkward moments in her life with an ex’s dad — who just…
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Clint Eastwood’s Magnum Opus: Why ‘A Perfect World’ Deserves Its Place Among the Director’s Best
1993’s A Perfect World is somewhat of an anomaly. Eastwood has nearly forty directorial credits to his name and gravitates toward westerns, action films, and thrillers. Based on the premise alone, A Perfect World sounds like it’s right up Eastwood’s alley. Set in Texas in 1963, the film follows escaped convict Butch Haynes (Kevin Costner),…
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Legendary Farewell: Clint Eastwood’s Final Bow in ‘Juror No. 2’ – Everything Uncovered
Clint Eastwood, to put it bluntly, is a living legend. Even as his 93rd birthday draws near, the 4-time Academy Award winner is still making movies and likely plans to continue to do so until he physically can’t anymore. Who’s to stop him, he’s directed two Best Picture winners in Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby,…
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Scandal in Celluloid: John Wayne’s Battle with Columbia Pictures’ Chief and Forbidden Romance
Although he may have his detractors, for the most part, the American screen icon John Wayne is considered to be one of the most celebrated stars of 20th-century Hollywood. Thriving in the western genre alongside the likes of Clint Eastwood and James Stewart, Wayne finished his career in 1976 with one Oscar under his belt,…
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The Oscar That Slipped Away: John Wayne’s Rejected Role and the ‘Adultery’ Controversy
It would be some years before John Wayne would gain the Oscar he so deeply felt he was owed. Appearing in 150 movies in his career, the noted western icon would have to wait until the latter stages of his time in Hollywood before he walked away with the golden statue he so richly desired.…
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24 Years, 14 Movies, 1 Epic Prank: John Wayne’s Hilarious Revenge on John Ford
Having made 14 movies together over a 24-year period and becoming cemented as one of the most iconic partnerships of actor and director in Hollywood history during that time, it’s reasonable to expect that John Wayne and John Ford were so familiar with each other that they’d know exactly how their opposite number would think.…
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John Ford’s Game-Changing Henry Fonda Film – Is ‘My Darling Clementine’ a True Story?
For legendary filmmaker John Ford, telling the story of the American West through a demystified lens is conveyed through a singular image. In 1946, a shot of Henry Fonda sitting on the porch of a local barbershop, leaning back on a chair as he looks upon the open vista is a minimalist example of Ford’s…
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