Once while in Dallas I had the pleasure of talking to an old hat maker. He told me the movies that had cowboys wearing bowlers were the most authentic. That the bowler, not the cowboy hat, was the most popular worn in the old American West.
For The Ones Who Like Westerns..
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Natives made all that noise to intimidate....a sorta war cry. I cannot say that I blame them, either.
Precisely, until the Unforgiven there were no true westerns again. Unforgiven changed that and it was suddenly OK to make western agaiin. Yhey are a buit dirties but theuy have basically gone back to an old formula wit just a slight change. Lonesome Dove, Open Range, 3.10 to Yuma, Dances With Wolfes, The Missing. Even slightly modified to our yime like No Country for Our Men. Tarantinos Django. But still we have those tries to add something to the western genre which must often crashes.. Cowboy and Aliens was an superior example of that
One of my native clients was in the movie Dances With Wolves. We watched a tape of this and it was so cool seeing him in it. The movie was made in Alberta.
Never been a big fan of Westerns. I was always on the Indians' side. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood drove me nuts. And they never paid enough attention to the horses.
But, there are some exceptions, and they aren't even strictly Westerns.
Hidalgo is my favorite, because the horse is not only the star, but a Mustang.
Open Range is a great film. Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner make you want to jump out of your seat and cheer.
Django Unchained. It's bloody and brutal, but it's awesome.
And my all-time favorite Western is a book. They tried to make a movie out of it, and failed miserably. Smokey the Cowhorse by Will James is a story based off of a horse that Will James owned in real life, and Smokey is the kind of horse that reminds you of why you love horses.
Oh, Rango is a pretty good Western too.
I loved Hidalgo, too. Such a great movie. And Django. I haven't seen Open Range but I will look for it.
It amazes me how humor and death are always present in a Western movie, you can't have one without the other. I've recently read "In the Dessert" by Karl May and "Anything for Billy" by Larry McMurtry, both good books, even if they don't fit what you would call "high literature".
"Slow West" with Michael Fassbender is another good Western movie that I like. I got a chuckle out of seeing two of the characters trying to dry their clothes in a less conventional manner.
For dress up.. not the real cowmen.. wide brimmed cowboy hats were essential.. still are.
I'll mention an exception: Silverado. Some years before Unforgiven. Not a serious Western, just a fun one. Took all the Western cliches (except for Indians, and that's OK) and executed them right. Lawrence Kasdan wrote and directed. Great lines. Scott Glenn was born to play the laconic, iconic cowboy. We own it and enjoy it tremendously.
I agree it is a good one. What i meant was that it was not until Unforgiven that western took itself serious as a genre again. Silverado was good. Scott Glenn was Great and Kevin costner good as his little brother. But I see it as a loving spoof of western executed with care from all hands. But it didn't take the western as genre seriously. I remember another that tried to take it seriously, The Long Riders by Walter Hill (1980) about the James-Younger gang. He went in Peckinpahs steps and it was therefore bloody and violent but it was good. But it was also more of an hommage to Peckinpah than a try to take western serious again as a genre.
Starred and directed.
I just got the DVD yesterday, and plan to watch it today. I ordered quite a few of Eastwood's movies. I got the man with no name trilogy yesterday, and Hang 'em High also.
You must not miss The Outlaw Josey Wales!!
"You're wanted, Wales............."
I've got that on order, just waiting for it to ship. I also got Pale Rider. I knew I was forgetting one.
I have all of John Waynes westerns.. and most of Eastwoods (if not all.. need to check on that)... and a ton more of others. I wish they would become popular again and make some good ones.
"I wish they would become popular again and make some good ones."
So do I.
I have cable, and the biggest part of the time, there is nothing on worth watching. I think if they made one good new western series, they would find out that people are tired of all the reality crap.
Next on my list to order is the John Wayne westerns. I just loved the way he walked, and talked.
So do I.
I have cable, and the biggest part of the time, there is nothing on worth watching. I think if they made one good new western series, they would find out that people are tired of all the reality crap.
Next on my list to order is the John Wayne westerns. I just loved the way he walked, and talked.
If youre into Eastwood westerns there are also High Plains Drifter and Two Mules for Sister Sara (with Shirley MacLaine as a nun!!)
One of my all time favorite movies. So many good lines in it.
Josey Wales: When I get to likin' someone, they ain't around long.
Lone Watie: I notice when you get to DISlikin' someone they ain't around for long neither.
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Captain Terrill: Not a hard man to track. Leaves dead men wherever he goes.
I know what you mean. From Stagecoach onwards he made several classic western, among the best made, with masterdirectors like John Ford and Howard Hawks.
I just saw High Plains Drifter last Saturday. Every Saturday, the AMC channel has westerns on, and I caught that one. Did't understand why he wanted that town painted red though.