Movies Posts Tagged as 'Western'
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High Plains Drifter (1973)

Gunslinger makes a rest stop in a town with soft men and untrained women. Bandits have overpowered the town and laid police to rest. The men can't find the balls to fight back. When the stranger proves himself a survivor, the town convinces him to be their savior. The savior lacks adequate morals but he's kind to minorities and is rapey to women (that's how people flirted then.) He'll fight the enemy and them too. The action is a natural CGI-less wonder. I believe this was how life was and it appeared it. A great modern cowboy defined by the people who experienced him. The cowboy was a unique quip master with a ton of hilarious scenes. The women exerted their power and were heard. Little man was a sweet sidekick. A rousing blockbuster. 14-Jan-2024
Rebel Moon: A Child On Fire (2023)

The handsomest director in Hollywood makes a movie of wonder. It's a what if Star Wars account of what a boy imagines. The movie is crisp and lighting glows with clarification. He brought all the elements but kept it, mostly western. The effects glide, Anthony Hopkins is a beautiful thing, Djimon Hinsou wowed in a semi birthday suit, the alpha bodies were to die for, the story never strayed from its path and the action sequences held. Unfortunately, our heroine was flat, unsympathetic and a cold lesbian killing machine. It was realistic to see a man kick the shit out of a woman, threaten rapes of virgins and pretty straight boys and for races to exist as different societies. Snyder recreates scenarios oft repeated and makes them look bright but not all the senses can see. 23-Dec-2023
Hondo (1953)

A wife/mother abandoned by hubby on Apache terrain staves off conflict when an Indian head takes a liking to her son. Apaches don't cry and revere baby boys as gifts. An ultimatum is issued. She must decide on an Indian for a husband or the Apaches will kidnap and raise her son. She keeps hoping her husband returns but the Apaches think he's dead. In struts John Wayne as a half Apache gunslinger that causes as much ruckus as he does saving. The best westerns contain wide landscapes, big hearts and simple writing. Society (Apaches) has the right to teach a boy to become a man for the benefit of his survival. Wayne is classic and Geraldine has the audacity to stand up for her son and protect their homestead. The kid is precious.
(If you want to be an asshole, you can count how many times the make-up runs off Apache legs or you can just enjoy a great story.) 26-Dec-2021
Bullwhip (1958)

Half-breed cowgirl can't reclaim her inheritance unless she marries. The lady wields it, cracks it and entangles it around a very pretty cowboy that she sets up to hang unless he marries her. The bullwhip is a symbol and not really part of the act. Woman betrays cowboy. Cowboy resolves that a lesson must be taught. Lady with a whip refuses to be slave to any man. She is a man. Cowboy is smitten with her fierceness but ruffled by her lack of heart. The best way to shut a woman down is with life lessons. A woman counters by being more of a woman. Cowboy gets mushy but remains tough as heinous crimes are rewritten. It's B-grade candy, flavored by Rhonda Fleming luminescence and Guy Madison heart thumps. It preferred fistfights to guns which begat a stuntman showcase. 14-Aug-2021
Johnny Guitar (1954)

At no point did I strum for Johnny when Joan was the instrument. She cowboy'd up, accomplished some manly maneuvers, looked great, flicked her own and sent the lesbian and her male posse out to the western stratosphere. Pazuzu from "The Exorcist" (Mercedes McCambridge) was the town Karen, interfering in bisexual woman's business by inciting a mob of lawmen to protect the town from unclassified hedonism. Battle ensues as the lesbian pretends she has a soft spot for one of Joan's goons. "Bitch, there's only one man in the room and her name is Joan!" 08-Jul-2021
Calamity Jane (1953)

The tunes are zippy, the production is cartoony and energized but the whole is detached from reality. It's overcompensating for a loss. 18-Jun-2019
Magnificent Seven, The (2016)

There is no magnificence.
The actors playact while embodying minute swagger.
The writers fudge a story whose heft relied on outlaws braving to protect a Mexican village that couldn't help themselves from marauders. The victims are mostly white christians which wafts of self-service. Though the cast is inclusive we are not privy to anything more from them than a diversity stamp.
The director lends no distinction or heroism to the action, has no sense of panoramic beauty and no credibility in the western genre. If you let the music tell half the story, your task remains incomplete. 20-Dec-2017
Westworld (1973)
We are much closer to revolutionizing the design set up in this 70s cautioner. It makes sense, its fun and it lays the infrastructure for future films that aspired trump. Arnold is the ultimate terminator but Yul created the mold. 03-Jan-2017
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
Its earnestness and respect deserve attention. Ford considers everything but he can only represent what these people stood for, he can't embrace them with a soul because he can't find a way for us to understand them. He doesn't let Sal Mineo talk so he ends up prancing and shedding like a ditched peacock. Besides a point of view Dolores Del Rio's Spanish Indian makes little sense especially with paltry backstory. Ricardo Montalban can unseat Capt. Kirk but he can't overcome an Indian language or accent without betraying that he hears the same drums but his feet need to move. So we are left with the beauty that was Carroll Baker and the plains manipulated by a master.
The intermission, Part 2 of this movie is strange. It made no sense because it seems to continue then backtrack. It's also not as understanding as the first or complementary, or courageous. 22-Jul-2016
Cat Ballou (1965)
It's a fun ride led by the charming/beautiful Fonda and the welcome support. Zip and swing is added by Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye as the shouters. Inclusive fresh comedy western. 15-May-2016
Adventures of the Wilderness Family, The (1975)
The landscape is lush, the animals are questionably cute and well trained and the family headed by daddy squish is pleasant. You don't watch for common sense, acting or enlightenment. It's Adam & Eve with one child of each sex and a dog fighting and engaging with the wilderness. If you start to ask questions like what happens when the kids get to puberty, the one dog that is they're constant savior dies, incest, etc., you will not enjoy it as much. Bring your kid fantastic. 11-May-2016
Purgatory (1999)
It had my attention until it diverted to rah rah rah macho posing and schmaltz. Style would have saved most of it and horror could have defined it more but it insists that we must dispense with reality altogether and that these historical killers deserve a chance at heaven. The concept can make the brain bleed if you try to add it up. 29-Feb-2016
For A Few Dollars More (1965)
I wanted to be tired of Leone's antics but the stylist dragged me in. The story is basically a "big dick" contest and the acting is all macho posing. Though with the lack of women I don't really understand who they are posing or fighting for but Leone delivers and he knows how to map a movie. 04-Feb-2016
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Ang Lee can shoot the hell out of a panoramic view but has no understanding of his gay subject. Not one actor pulls off their accent and Heath's choice ends up cartooning the character. He's more Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction than Clint Eastwood. This a tepid straight story replaced by gay characters whose nuances wouldn't make a gay person like myself associate with them. I've never met men with these sensibilities and I don't want to. Romance goes out the window once rape is introduced and butt sex goes out the door when beans are consumed. It may have honorable intentions but they are just flat macho cutouts. 25-Jan-2016
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
There are many things wrong with Leone's direction. I don't get how he celebrates every successful cut with strange interludes of music and cartoon showmanship. The dubbing is bad esp. during close-ups. I would have loved to have seen a sober telling of this story. In spite of that Clint got my attention and I cared how the double dealing went down. I even celebrated. 07-Jan-2016