We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
Me, too. Wish they'd make more of them.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
Instead, we get the umpteenth remake of a movie we never wanted to see in the first place. Or a bad TV show turned into a bad movie. It's our own fault. They'd have to stop making crap if we stopped paying to see it.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
Maybe that's the problem. We are too far removed from the time when westerns ruled radio, tv and the movies. Of course every now and then something might pop up but over all, it's CGI or bust. But talking about westerns, where would we start? Randolph Scott, Gene Autry, The Duke, Eastwood or maybe Jimmy Stewart. And that's not counting all the great ones without the big stars. I was just telling someone the other day how much I liked Stewarts work vs. Waynes even though he made more films.
The older I get, the better I was.
It seems like there have always been folks who decried the use of special effects and cutting edge technology being put to use in film making. It shouldn't be the be-all-end-all of movie making, but technological advances (be they animatronics, CGI, whatever) have allowed for people to tell different kinds of stories that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. If the story is good and the movie is enjoyable, I don't care if it has CGI or not.
Would like to see more good westerns though. Stuff like 3:10 to Yuma, and True Grit, doesn't get made much anymore.
Well, there was Cowboys and Aliens...
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Actually I didn't hate that movie, although I was a little disappointed in the end. Still, Harrison Ford was awesome in it. And the aliens were cool. The ending just felt needlessly sad to me with some of the character deaths and where they wound up by the end of the story.
Clancy Brown was cool in it too. Actually playing a good guy for a change; it seems like he's more often cast as an antagonist.
^Angel Eyes (I love Van Cleef movies)
The most recent of both movies were remakes of an earlier movie of the same name. Both the originals and the remakes were good, though.Originally Posted by aith01
3:10 To Yuma starring Glenn Ford 1957
3:10 To Yuma starring Russell Crowe 2007 (50 years later)
True Grit starring John Wayne 1969
True Grit starring Jeff Bridges 2010 (41 years later)
There does seem to be a dearth of original, high quality westerns being made these days.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
The popularity of westerns waned when the space race kicked into high gear. Consequently, science fiction movies got more popular in the late 50s & 60s. Even kids at that time no longer wanted to be cowboys when they grew up. They wanted to be astronauts.
I used to tease my dad that the term "good western" was an oxymoron. But that was because he'd watch anything that was a western. I see the appeal of them but the vast majority of westerns I've seen disappointed me. They also seem to have a tendency to do dumb shit, whether it's a bad decision by a character or just dumb writing. I remember really liking Open Range, with Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner... until the big shootout and Costner managed to fire off 9 or 10 rounds from his six shooter. I also have a serious aversion to arid landscapes and way too many westerns take place in the southwest.
There have been some decent ones made more recently, tho, so if you haven't seen some of these, check them out. I thought the Coen Bros remake of True Grit was really good but since it didn't improve on the original I didn't see the point. I also liked The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Revenant, Bone Tomahawk, The Hateful Eight, Hell or High Water, and The Ballad of Lefty Brown. About the best thing I've seen in the 21st century is the short "All Gold Canyon" (starring Tom Waits) from the Coen's anthology, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a movie I wasn't all that thrilled with. The Tom Waits segment, however, is just about worth the price of admission.
And if no one's seen it, check out Godless, too. It was a limited series on Netflix. Both Jeff Daniels & Merrit Wever (Nurse Jackie, The Walking Dead, et al) won Emmys for their roles in it.
An oldie I watched not too long ago was The Cowboys, with John Wayne. Hadn't seen it since it was released in '72. It was as good as I remembered.
And before someone brings it up, no, I haven't gotten around to seeing Deadwood, yet, which I've heard is really good. Now that the TV season is just about over and Game of Thrones is no more, I'll be getting to it soon.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
When the remake came out they bragged that they went to the Charles Portis novel and came up with a completely different movie. Well, the John Wayne movie also used the novel as the source. The movies were not that different from each other. And though I love the Coen Brothers' movies, and Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors, John Wayne was Rooster Cogburn.Originally Posted by Hal...
I saw and enjoyed all these, except The Ballad of Lefty Brown, which is not in my library system, and I haven't spotted it in stores. Another good western I saw recently that I can recommend you is The Sisters Brothers (2018). It is slow paced, as was the real old west, but it is very well done.I also liked The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Revenant, Bone Tomahawk, The Hateful Eight, Hell or High Water, and The Ballad of Lefty Brown.
I haven't seen The Cowboys in quite some time. I liked that one, especially Bruce Dern as the villain. I watch Wayne's final movie, The Shootist, every chance I get. I have seen the 19th Century homes in Carson City, Nevada, where the story is set and where parts of the movie were filmed. They merely covered the street pavement and curbs with dirt to make it authentic.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
My dad once complained, "Why don't they make westerns anymore". What he meant was "Why doesn't Hollywood produce westerns by the boatload, the way Ford, Chevy, and Dodge produce cars". I reckon "the public's imagination" moved on to other things, sci-fi, horror, spy movies, etc.
I occasionally watch westerns, but I'm not into them the way my dad or some other people are. I know the names of a handful of westerns, I know who John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone were, but I'm not that into the genre. There are a few I'd like to see, though. Wouldn't mind seeing Shane or The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance, or a few others. The Big Country is another one I'd like to see, I know my dad had that on one day, because I recognized the middle part of the Yes version of No Opportunity Necessary ("or whatever it's called", as Bill Bruford called it) when it came up in the score at the end of one scene.
I try to keep my eye on the Encore Western channel, to see when something I might like comes on.
Oh, as far as CGI, that's a funny thing. You guys know I'm a big monster movie fan, right? I remember when Jurassic Park came out, and everyone was talking about how great the dinosaurs looked. When I finally got to see it, on TV, I thought, "I don't get it. That's supposed to look better than what Eiji Tsuburaya did in Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster, or what Ray Harryhausen did in Jason And The Argonauts?!". I mean, it's not that the stuff looks bad, I just don't think it had as any more effective than what was done in the 60's.
And of course, there's been lots of really low rent CGI that doesn't look anywhere near as good as what was in Jurassic Park. The movies where I thought they really nailed the CGI thing, though, was the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. There was pathos and emotion in the work that I think rivaled the stuff Harryhausen did.
Another thing about technology, I don't consider it CGI, as such, but some of the stuff that's in some of the Pixar films looks really awesome, and they do things you couldn't do in hand drawn animations. I remember a POV shot in one of the Toy Story movies, where you could see Buzz Lightyear's reflection in his faceplate, as well as his breath against the faceplate. Another thing was the way they were able to make Sully in Monsters Inc actually look like a real animal, he looks like a stuffed animal come to life. Look at that fur! That's absolutely amazing!
And I think it's worth noting that Peter Jackson once said that some of the stuff in Lord Of The Rings was an out and out tribute to Harryhausen (and if you've seen Monsters Inc, you'll recall the name of the restaurant that Mike took the receptionist to).
Two fairly recent westerns I can recommend :
The Homesman (2014)
Three women who have been driven mad by pioneer life are to be transported across the country by covered wagon by the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy, who in turn employs low-life drifter George Briggs to assist her.
starring Tommy Lee Jones and Hilary Swank
Gold (2013)
In the summer of 1898, a small group of German compatriots head into the hostile northern interior of British Columbia in search for gold at the height of the Klondike Gold Rus
Another good western I saw recently that I can recommend you is The Sisters Brothers (2018). It is slow paced, as was the real old west, but it is very well done.
Good one also!
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
I'll have to look for that. Thanks.
That's not only a great western (the best, imo) but a great movie.
Hopefully someone else here can corroborate and possibly explain this: there have been times I've seen a movie in the theater that had great FX; I've then seen the same movie on TV and something was different. Can't explain what but the quality wasn't the same.I remember when Jurassic Park came out, and everyone was talking about how great the dinosaurs looked. When I finally got to see it, on TV, I thought, "I don't get it. That's supposed to look better than what Eiji Tsuburaya did in Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster, or what Ray Harryhausen did in Jason And The Argonauts?!". I mean, it's not that the stuff looks bad, I just don't think it had as any more effective than what was done in the 60's.
Noted.
Last edited by Hal...; 05-21-2019 at 08:50 AM.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
My oldest son and I saw John Wick III in Montreal just before seeing the Musical Box on Saturday! We had to leave 10 minutes early from the movie to catch the show but it was jam packed with adventure, very cool fight sequences, lots of blood! Just mindless fun! I liked it.
Yeah, that was the line I kept getting back in the 90's, when I'd say I didn't think Jurassic Park was all that, 'Oh you have to see it in a theater!".
Thing is, those great kaiju movies that Ishirō Honda directed and the Harryhausen stuff all looks fantastic on TV! I can only imagine what Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero or Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger must have looked on a big movie screen!
Harryhausen = genius
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
I remember it well, as it's another example of the strange career paths the cast of The Sound Of Music took following that particular movie. But I think if that show seemed weird or naff, as you say, it was down to the writing and the fact that it was a late 70's TV series, produced in America.
During the same era, you had the first two Superman movies, which most people seem to regard as classics. I still say Christopher Reeve was the definitive Superman/Clark Kent. As far as I know, he was the first actor to really play Superman and Kent as if they were two different characters, with different mannerisms, speech patterns (notice the stammer he introduces when the glasses go on). I haven't seen any of the relatively recent Superman pictures, but I thought he embodied the role perfectly.
Has Eastwood done a western in recent years? I hope he's got one good western left in him before he calls it a career (if he hasn't already).
Did anyone catch, Hostiles? Wasn't great but not bad. Just watched, Open Range, a few days ago. Still a gritty film. The gunfight at the OK Coral has been done several times but the version I still like is the one with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. Tombstone, of course is very good. Val Kilmer steals the thing. Oh, Bend in the River, was on last night. Another great Stewart western.
The older I get, the better I was.
Bookmarks