Tag Archives: Movies

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How Monument Valley became a symbol of the West

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Towering red rock formations and big blue sky make up the classic backdrop of the American West. But the rocks we see in so many movies aren’t typical of the area at all. In fact, they are unique to one place: Monument Valley.

Monument Valley is on the Utah-Arizona border inside the Navajo Nation Reservation, and until the 20th century, it had barely been visited by non-indigenous people. But when John Ford made Stagecoach — the 1939 blockbuster that mainstreamed Western movies and the actor John Wayne — that all changed. More filmmakers followed suit and used the location as their movie backdrop, creating a deep association between Monument Valley’s iconic landscape and the mythic American West.
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Superman II – WTF Happened To This Movie?

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In this recurring series, we’ll be taking a look at a variety of films that had historically troubled productions or controversial problems in making it to the big screen. Some were massive hits despite their problems, while others died a slow box office death. Regardless of where they ended up, we have to ask the question: WTF happened to this movie?

This episode we dive into the tumultuous production of Superman II, which saw director Richard Donner fired and replaced by Richard Lester, which caused a series of massive changes that disrupted Donner’s original vision for the film. Decades later, The “Donner Cut” would be released and more light was shed on what went down during production.