A classic Western from 1959 recommended by none other than the Middleman! Great cast which includes Randolph Scott, Pernell Roberts, Lee Van Cleef, and a very young James Coburn. Scott plays a bounty hunter with his own reasons for bringing in a killer. Roberts and Coburn’s characters want to bring him in for their own reasons, and the killer’s brother, played by Van Cleef, a viscous, cold blooded killer, doesn’t want to see his little brother hang. Throw in Indian attacks and a beautiful woman (played by the director’s wife) for flavor, and you have a classic Western with Noir elements. Well worth the popcorn and rental fee.
Tag: Western
Monday Book Pick: The Daybreakers
The Daybreakers by Louis L’Amour
Louis L’Amour was one of best known masters of the American western. The Daybreakers shows him at the top of his game. Part of his Sackett series, this tells the tale of how Orrin and Tyrel came out of the mountains and made their way west. One of my favorites from the series.
Friday B-Movie Pick: Django Unchained
Yet another tale of bloody revenge from Quentin Tarantino. He takes on the old American West this time. Django (the D is silent) is a slave rescued by a German bounty hunter, because he can identify three men worth a lot of money dead or alive. The Good Doctor (the German bounty hunter, played by the Oscar winning Christoph Waltz, is also a dentist), finds dead is easier to deal with. He and Django hit it off and become partners. Together they go off to free Django’s wife Brunhilda from the Candyland Plantation in the deep, deep South. Much death and destruction follows. Not much a spoiler, this is a Tarantino movie after all. I say check it out, and I’m pretty sure Joe-Bob Briggs would agree.
Monday Book Pick: The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale
The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale by Mike Resnick
Executive Summary: Steampunk at the OK Corral, with Indian Medicine Men casting real Magick (for a dash of Shadowrun tossed in for flavor). Bonus points for a young Thomas Edison with a specially harded bronze mechanical arm. Other than that, it’s a pretty historically accurate recounting of the events leading up to, and the events after, the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It reminded me a lot of the movie Tombstone, to the point where I heard Val Kilmer’s Doc Holiday in my head while reading the book. This could be because both Resnick and the folks who did Tombstone did a lot of research on the topic. Even with the Steampunk Plus elements, it was a fun read.
Friday B-Movie Pick: Jonah Hex
I caught most of this turkey on cable and oh, it was sooooo bad. Bad acting, bad scrip and Megan Fox. Even a dial in performance by John Malkovich (and a Malkovich dial in is still pretty good) couldn’t help this truely bad film. OK, decent special effects, but a bad film none the less.
Monday Book Pick: The Man From the Broken Hills
The Man From the Broken Hills by Louis L’Amour
The master of the American Western sets the bar high with this tale of Milo Talon showing what it means to ride for the brand.
Friday B-Movie Pick: Sukiyaki Western Django
This flick isn’t just wacked, it’s wiggity wacked! It’s a spaghetti Western filmed in Japan, with Japanese actors speaking English, with a strong Samurai influence, with a dash of Shakespeare thrown in plus Quentin Tarantino as the only non-Japanese member of the cast.
Friday B-Movie Pick: Bandidas
This B-Movie has some delcious eye candy by way of stars Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek. To make it even better, that is they way they like it! This Western female buddy film costars Dwight Yoakam, Sam Shepard and Steve Zahn. It didn’t get any Oscar nominations, but it was a hoot to watch. A fun action comedy that goes well with popcorn.
Friday B-Movie Pick: Frank & Jesse
Back in the early 1990’s, I worked on a project that produced the first commercial grade digitial video servers. One of our customers was the largest pay per view company in Canada. During the early days of their role out, we would digitize and preview their films for quality purposes. Needless to say, I saw a lot of B-Movies while working on that project. Frank and Jesse was one of those.
Monday Book Pick: The Sackett Brand
The Sackett Brand by Louis L’Amour
Classic American Western literture by the master of the genre. First published in 1965, this tale of revenge still grabs the reader with L’Amour’s prose and love for the American West.