Wow, Chris, you're postin' your heart out and I appreciate it. I'm not trying to come off as some kind of correctional officer, but I'm noticing a pattern to your occasional flubs. In Ulzana's Raid, a flick I appreciate but not as much as you, the star is Burt Lancaster, not Reynolds. Keep at it!

P.S. I love Lonely Are the Brave!

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
the star is Burt Lancaster, not Reynolds. Keep at it!

P.S. I love Lonely Are the Brave!

My bad again, I made a slip. Give credit where credit is due. ULZANA is one of Lancaster's better roles, if not his best, role. Robert Aldrich was a real interesting and eclectic director who made all sorts of films well.

After watching The Aviator recently, I decided to check out Howard Hughes' The Outlaw. A little long but I enjoyed it. Starring Walter Huston as Doc Holliday, Thomas Mitchell as Pat Garrett, Jack Buetel (who?) as Billy the Kid and of course, Jane Russell as Rio. My favorite line was Rio's "You're not gonna die, I'll get you warm" to a wounded Billy the Kid though they never showed her cuddling up with him (I know, 1943). With all the publicity about Russell's breasts, I had assumed she was in more scenes than she actually was. Great casting of Huston and Mitchell, two marvelous actors.

Lots of good movies mentioned!

My favorite western--also my favorite film period--is THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE. Probably one of John Ford's best films, great acting all around (James Stewart, Vera Miles, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Ford's stock cast).

I'm also a big fan of Anothony Mann's films with James Stewart (WINCHESTER '77, THE NAKED SPUR), and I like Ford's cavalry trilogy (FORT APACHE, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, RIO GRANDE). Other favorites: HIGH NOON, RIO BRAVO, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, OPEN RANGE (I feel like the only person on the planet that liked this), HORSE SOLDIERS, TRUE GRIT, THE COWBOYS, MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, LONESOME DOVE series.

LET'S SEE NOW...RIO BRAVO..THE GOOD,THE BAD,THE UGLY..HANG EM HIGH..THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN..HIGH NOON..THE QUICK AND THE DEAD..BUCK AND THE PREACHER.

One of my favorites is "High Plains Drifter," for how plain bizarre it is. Clint Eastwood plays a man on horseback who drifts into a tiny outpost town; the town is being terrorized by some bad guys, and Clint agrees to help the town defend themselves, on one condition: that they paint the entire town red and rename it "Hell."

quote:

Originally posted by Commontone:
One of my favorites is "High Plains Drifter," for how plain bizarre it is. Clint Eastwood plays a man on horseback who drifts into a tiny outpost town; the town is being terrorized by some bad guys, and Clint agrees to help the town defend themselves, on one condition: that they paint the entire town red and rename it "Hell."

perhaps you should pay more attention,high plains drifter is a story of revenge beyond the grave,eastwood is the spirit of the sheriff who was killed by those men and exacts his revenge.

I bet he knew that.

My all-time favorite western is The Searchers, but I wanted to add a new title to the discussion -- The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Has anyone else seen it and care to comment on whether it deserves to be considered as one of the greatest westerns released since Unforgiven? I thought it was amazing, myself -- I didn't think Tommy Lee Jones had a film like this left in him.

quote:

perhaps you should pay more attention,high plains drifter is a story of revenge beyond the grave,eastwood is the spirit of the sheriff who was killed by those men and exacts his revenge.

Yeah, I knew that, what made you think I didn't? Part of the fun of the movie is figuring that out, and I didn't want to be a spoiler..

I read that TLJ doesn't consider "Three Burials" to be a Western per se, and didn't approach the making of it that way. Still it certainly has some western elements. I too thought it was fantastic, an amazing directorial debut. I have to admit I'm surprised TLJ made something on that level, just as I am that George Clooney made "Good Night, And Good Luck."

sergio leone's the good the bad and the ugly. cmon kiddies. its a no brainer

The terrible shame of modern film making is that the Western has not only gone out of fashion, but that it should have ever been considered a 'fashion' at all.

The Western at its' best is the most pure form of cinema.

How much more filmic do you want than the opening action of 'The Wild Bunch', in which the most extraordinary editing, and framing, take us wordlessly through at least two relationships, the nature of violence to children, and the atmosphere of US communities on the Mexican border on the eve of WW1? Huh, huh??

If you haven't spent time with any of the great Westerns, and you love movies, please, please, do yourself a favour.

"Maybe I will, Milhouse. Maybe I will." Guess I'll have to look for "The Wild Bunch" the next time I'm out. Personally, my favorite Westerns are "Unforgiven", "Tombstone", & "Dances with Wolves". However, I do have a couple Western-Comedy favorites, too! "Maverick", "Lightning Jack" (Hey, Ish, an austrailian cowboy, & that's where I got the name for my monkey, KinKaid. From the Kincaid gang at the end of the movie! ) & "Back to the Future Part 3", respectively .

hey there Son of Kong, cool to know Lightning Jack did something for the world beside ...sucking big time!!!

Sorry, but we Aussies die a little every time that gem is mentioned.

Mate, you really got to check out some classic Westerns. They are the Americans one true gift to the silver screen...well, that and Jennifer Jason Leigh...hee, hee.

quote:

Originally posted by Ishmaels coffin:
hey there Son of Kong, cool to know Lightning Jack did something for the world beside ...sucking big time!!!

Sorry, but we Aussies die a little every time that gem is mentioned.

Oh, I know. For some odd reason lotsa folk don't like it, but I laughed quite often. It's not because I'm a Paul Hogan fan or anything, I didn't like ANY of the "Crocodile Dundee" movies. Nor, is it because it has Cuba Gooding Jr., either. It makes me laugh, just because.

...and that's aaaaaallllllllright!

One excellent western which (I think) no one has mentioned yet is 'Pat Garret And Billy The Kid' by Peckinpah. I guess its a sort of sibling to 'The Wild Bunch'. The music by Dylan is amazing and Kris Kristoferson And James Coburn make superb stars for the roles. A definite modern western classic.

Totally agree Honza. Peckinpah made a number of great Westerns. The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a particular fave.

quote:

Originally posted by Honza:
One excellent western which (I think) no one has mentioned yet is 'Pat Garret And Billy The Kid' by Peckinpah. I guess its a sort of sibling to 'The Wild Bunch'. The music by Dylan is amazing and Kris Kristoferson And James Coburn make superb stars for the roles. A definite modern western classic.

Amazing?!?! It's a friggin' brilliant film in spite of Dylan's presence and his Gawd awful musical contribution. It's my favorite Peckinpah.

quote:

Originally posted by Ishmaels coffin:
Totally agree Honza. Peckinpah made a number of great Westerns. The Ballad of Cable Hogue is a particular fave.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue is an epiphany and Peckinpah's own response to The Wild Bunch AND his pre-response to his forthcoming Straw Dogs. Those are my three fave Peckinpah flicks, if only for their unpredictability (at least at the time).

Peckinpah could certainly blend horror and beauty in equal measures, but sometimes, he was able to separate them. He was a great elegiast.