Confession time: I was a fan of “Gossip Girl” for longer than I like to admit. Though it was a guilty pleasure, the high-camp, high-class, histrionic exploits of wealthy young New Yorkers made for entertaining TV. That vision of New York City as a playground for the ultra-rich and ultra-beautiful is one shared by Xavier…
Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs” released theatrically in 1971. Based on the novel “The Siege of the Trencher’s Farm” by Gordon Williams, it came out the same year as “A Clockwork Orange,” “The French Connection,” and “Dirty Harry,” causing quite the uproar from conservative Americans, who were worried about the increase of violence in movie houses….
There is a reason most Americans stay well clear of the deep South: They don’t like outsiders. In the trailer for Straw Dogs, L.A. screenwriter David Sumner and his wife Amy find out the hard way that good ‘ole boys ain’t always so good. It is a damn good way, however, to discover what you’re…
