And with that question, film critic Joe Queenan isn't questioning movies like Beowulf or 300, with CGI background or characters. I might have been with him on that.

No, Queenan is lamenting what the advent of the information age has done to movies. His case in point: Psycho. If it were set in today's world, TripAdvisor.com and her PDA could save Janet Leigh from that fatal shower at the Bates motel.

I sort of see his point: I'm as tired of post-Matrix computer-age drivel as anyone else. But the pre-cell-phone-era films Queenan applauds, such as Beowulf, American Gangster, and No Country for Old Men, have something in common (aside from limiting cutting-edge technology to spear manufacturing or bolt pistols): a decided lack of strong female roles. You might as well call the Coen brothers' movie No Country for Women at All. … continue reading