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Alfred P. Pseudonym posted:The real Gore Verbinski western to watch is Rango. Rango is such an odd beast, because it’s a western but meta because it’s about how we use stories in our lives but it’s also Chinatown but it’s also for kids.
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Nov 20, 2018 15:56
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Stagecoach is also a must-watch, but it’s pretty easy to find as well. Westworld’s not so much a western as it is a weird sci-fi/horror movie, but it’s definitely worth watching, especially if you’re a horror fan and want to see one of the main inspirations for Michael Myers.
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Nov 20, 2018 16:09
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I’m not particularly well-verses on Westerns, but it’s a genre I want to get more into. That said, I agree that Once Upon A Time In The West is better than any of the Man with No Name Trilogy (grantees I’ve never seen the theatrical cut of The Good...). I’d say check out My Darling Clementine for a good Ford western, it’s wonderful.
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Nov 20, 2018 19:34
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Basebf555 posted:I agree with all of your points but for me The Searchers was my first Ford film, and even though I didn't "get it" in full context until a few years and a few viewings later, the grandeur and scope of the whole thing won me over instantly. So I think if there's one thing about it that makes it a good entry point, it's that Vistavision format where the vivid colors of Monument Valley just fill the screen and if you have a decent home set-up it really is an eye opener on blu ray in a way that the earlier stuff filmed in the Academy ratio aren't. This was my exact experience with The Searchers, I didn’t care for it overall but goddamn it’s a gorgeous movie. I need to watch more Westerns before rewatching it or watching Unforgiven for the first time.
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Nov 20, 2018 20:34
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Wheat Loaf posted:One thing I'm quite interested in is neo-westerns, of which I can only say I've seen a few and would be keen to check out more, which essentially take western storytelling and visuals and put them in the late 20th and 21st centuries. No Country for Old Men is a good example; Hell or High Water is another. One that I particularly like is a movie directed by Walter Hill (who has said that all of his movies are "westerns") called Extreme Prejudice, starring Nick Nolte as a grizzled Texas ranger. It's also something of a tribute to The Wild Bunch. I’m pretty sure Carpenter has said that Escape from New York is his take on westerns, but he also has Ghosts of Mars, which is not a good or great movie, but you can have some fun with it. There’s also the classic vampire western Near Dawn, starring Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton, and directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
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Nov 20, 2018 21:40
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FreudianSlippers posted:Assault on Precinct 13 is a gritty 70s remake of Rio Bravo I've never bought this line, they're very VERY different from Rio Bravo, unless you count less than 5 minutes from the finale, shot and presented in a very different way from Carpenter's movies.
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Nov 21, 2018 01:47
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I’ve decided I want to get more into Westerns this year, so I recently watched Johnny Guitar and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Both were great movies, and I like how the myth of the American West allows filmmakers to craft these over-the-top, melodramatic stories about love, crime, and death without feeling hokey or cheesy. I also appreciate the character acting on display, like a younger Ernest Borgnine in Johnny Guitar, or a menacing Lee Van Cleef or an older scene-chewing Edmond O’Brien in Liberty Valance.
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Feb 6, 2020 15:42
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Franchescanado posted:Check out Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country, with Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea. I need to watch more of Peckinpah's westerns. I’ve seen The Wild Bunch, which is a goddamn amazing movie. It’s a little obvious with the symbolism but I don’t mind at all, it’s a gut-wrenching, intense movie. I love the editing of the shootouts, they’re completely disorienting and give you just enough sense of what’s going on but they’re just confusing, unsatisfying, and overwhelming. It rules. Franchescanado posted:You mean Edgar G. Ulmer, director of the noir classic Detour? Sold. 
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Feb 6, 2020 16:23
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Goddamn, The Ox-Bow Incident. Just, goddamn. I feel like it left a hole inside me. Incredible movie.
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Feb 22, 2020 17:46
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Paddyo posted:This. That's how you make a movie with a message people. It’s not subtle at all, but it’s exceptionally well-made. I love that it’s a sub-90 movie with about a dozen main characters that all have their own personalities, motivations, lives, and reasons for why they act the way they do. It also struck me how The Ox-Bow Incident was made in 1942, but it was a takedown of vigilante justice in Westerns, and I thought metatextual Westerns only started in the 60s and 70s. Westerns are a genre I, and many MANY others, have really taken for granted.
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Mar 10, 2020 14:18
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During quarantine, I've been working through a list of Westerns, and in the past few weeks I've watched The Great Silence, Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and The Tall T. I didn't know noir westerns were a thing until the Criterion Collection tweeted about them, so I've added a few more to my list (I've got The Naked Spur on the way. The same men as Winchester '73!). The Great Silence was really good. Wonderful music (RIP to tha gawd Morricone) and great location shooting. Silence is such a great character for someone who has no lines, and the way it builds all the characters it great. I loved it. The only problem is that Klaus Kinski was a piece of poo poo child rapist, but I can't really hold that against the movie. Red River was incredible any time John Wayne was an active presence in the story. It kinda sags without him and the ending is a major letdown. From what I read, the original story ends with Matt shooting Tom and burying him on the ranch, which would have been a lot more satisfying of an ending. But drat, I love this kind of Western morality tale. Also it's gay as hell. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon did absolutely nothing for me. I didn't hate it, but it didn't really move me. It felt very reactive, like a season of Mad Men. It felt like there was supposed to be more narrative or thematic throughlines that just... didn't show up. Weird Confederate apologia didn't help. But goddamn did Ford know how to shoot a scene. The Tall T was exactly what I needed, a noir western I'd never heard of. Played out similarly to The Hitch-Hiker, just a small, intense, intimate crime thriller about ordinary people in over their heads. Swift, lean, and mean, it was gripping from start to finish, and particularly nasty. Also pretty gay.
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Jul 6, 2020 21:20
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Basebf555 posted:The one that's on Prime is what you want. I'm pretty sure Kanopy's version also has the original ending. I had no clue there were any other endings. Franchescanado posted:Criterion Channel added a new curated collection called Western Noir this month. I don't have the Criterion Channel, but I might have to track down Lust For Gold if only for more Ida Lupino. I haven't seen much of her acting work but her directing work is great; The Bigamist is really good, and The Hitch-Hiker is one of the meanest and best noirs I've seen.
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Jul 7, 2020 13:55
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Franchescanado posted:Do you not have an easy way to use the app? If so, you can easily get your money's worth out of using Criterion Channel for a month. I think they still offer a two week free trial. I'm okay watching stuff on my computer, and I think there's a Fire Stick app for the Criterion Channel, but there's always the thought of "do I need ANOTHER streaming service," especially if it's one that no one else in my household will use.
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Jul 7, 2020 14:50
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Franchescanado posted:I finally got around to watching one of the Western Noir films on Criterion Channel, which leaves at the end of the month. I rented it from the library awhile back, and it feels particularly gutsy for a western, especially making one of the main characters a soldier dishonorably discharged for raping a Native American woman. You also get to see Stewart turn in a nasty performance, and he plays it just as well as his more popular good guy roles.
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Sep 25, 2020 21:07
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Joe Gillian posted:I just got done watching Corbucci's "The Specialists", and I've gotta say that I heartily recommend it. Corbucci's "Mud and Blood" (Django, The Great Silence, The Specialists), trilogy is easily some of the most forward-thinking westerns ever made. I've never even heard of it, I'll keep an eye out for it!
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Oct 13, 2020 19:33
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What are the thread's thoughts on The Proposition and Posse? I watched both last weekend, and enjoyed them both. The Proposition starts with a simple story (criminal must find his older brother, else his younger brother be hanged) and uses it as a springboard to examine colonialism in the Australian outback, look into the lives of all the different characters, and just watch all these lovely people interact with each other. It's pretty bleak, but it looks great and has great performances. Posse is Mario Van Peebles' follow-up to New Jack City, and it's a fun time, but kind of sloppy. The editing never gets into a good flow from scene to scene, and the final shootout has terrible editing and geographic sense, but it's such an energetic and exciting take on the genre, I still enjoyed it a lot.
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Jan 29, 2021 18:20
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As I said, Posse's messy, but it's notable for being a Black-led Western made by a Black director. It opens by saying even though 1/3rd of all cowboys were Black, their stories are almost never told by Hollywood, and Posse aims to correct that. Also the cast is bonkers: Tiny Lister, Tone Loc, Paul Bartel, Pam Grier, Billy Zane, and more. I watched it about a week ago and keep turning it over in my mind, because it's one of those movies that's a little too ambitious to be great, but it leaves an impression.
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Jan 31, 2021 21:57
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I know the common refrain that "John Wayne's politics aren't the politics of John Ford's films" but I really couldn't get over the weird Confederate apologia of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. It's some baggage that you sometimes run into. Thankfully, I haven't seen a bunch.
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Mar 1, 2021 22:14
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I know I said earlier in the thread the Posse is messy, but I keep turning it over in my head and liking it more. It’s just so exuberant and celebratory.
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Mar 3, 2021 03:25
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It’s not a western, but I want to see Cross of Iron because Peckinpah fought in the Pacific theater of WWII and was downing multiple bottles a day at that point, and he decided to make a movie about Nazis. It sounds fascinating.
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Jun 22, 2021 00:25
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Kull the Conqueror posted:Been scarfing down these Budd Boetticher Westerns on Criterion Channel and they are such a treat for the enthusiast. They look great, they’re short, and the plot never goes where you think it will. My favorite so far is The Tall T, which features a brilliant bad guy performance by Richard Boone. I watched The Tall T some time ago and loved it, it was a particularly mean mix of noir and western. I really liked Randolph Scott’s performance, and if I remember it felt pretty gay.
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Sep 13, 2021 20:53
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Isn’t there an issue where Netflix forces their productions to use a specific digital camera, which is why a lot of Netflix stuff looks like rear end?
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Nov 12, 2021 03:31
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You should check out The Naked Spur and The Tall T. If you love noir, you'll love those.
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Feb 10, 2022 01:57
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Thomamelas posted:Anthony Mann and Jimmy Stewart are a wonderful combination. Jimmy Stewart always brings that degree of madness to every role. But Anthony Mann brings him to some very dark places. They did three movies together and it gives a very different kind of role for Stewart in all of them. It never really clicked before that the Mann/Stewart combo also made Winchester ‘73, which is an excellent movie. What was their third movie together?
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Feb 10, 2022 15:01
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