flixtime

As luck would have it, the 2007 Western short - THE TONTO WOMAN - which I mentioned in the first post of the thread, is airing tomorrow (January 4th) morning on cable's Sundance Channel at 7:25am. It also re-airs on January 16th and January 27th.

It's a 35-minute Western short film that was nominated for an Oscar (in the Best Live Action Short Film category). The director is Daniel Barber who followed up this effort with the 2009 Michael Caine vengeance flick HARRY BROWN. The two leads are played by Francesco Quinn (son of Anthony Quinn) and Charlotte Asprey (who I quite liked in this short, and who should be cast as the female lead in future Westerns). THE TONTO WOMAN is based on a story by Elmore Leonard.

As mentioned earlier, I very much enjoyed THE TONTO WOMAN...and I really would have liked to have seen the short filled out to a full feature-length runtime.

Anyway, just wanted to mention it in case anyone was interested in giving it a viewing (without having to buy the short film collection DVD).

SkinJob

Open Range. Costner needs to make more Westerns.

Mondo Kane

^My mom & dad loved this.

One offbeat western that I enjoyed:

(Underwater nude Juliette Lewis=Super hot)

Even though I'm an Alamo junkie (And a lover of the 2004 film), anything that takes place before *1870 doesn't count as a true western to me. But with that said, I'm interested in seeing Ash's recommendation for THE IRON MISTRESS.

Of the poll, I haven't seen Ned,Grit,Falls,Missing, and Apaloosa (I've ran into parts of this on cable. It's looked dull)
The last half-hour of Jesse James is pure perfection, but I wasn't that big of a fan on what occurs before. On the other hand, Open Range was one that I admired from start to finish. That would have to be my favorite of those that I've seen.

And I'll echo the mentions of BURIAL/ESTRADA. The storyline easily suggests this could have taken place within the past two centuries (Even DVDAF has the movie categorized as a western) but the contemporary setting causes me to throw it in the "Crime" genre. Great movie, nonetheless.

*Aside from The Good,The Bad,and The Ugly

creekdipper

Only film I haven't seen on the list is True Grit 2010...and that bad boy's goin' down later today ($4 Tuesdays all day at the best cineplex in the region...Woohoo!).

I like all of the choices to varying degrees (own 'em all). I still think 3:10 is overrated and is liked better by younger audiences raised on video games. It's superior plot-wise to Shoot 'Em Up, Crank, and most other modern 'action' movies...especially those based upon video games...but I thought it was way too 'revisionist' from the original. Not so ruinous as Scorsese's butchering of Cape Fear, but still geared way too much to short attention spans. And the running unscathed through the framed-in-buildings with bullets plunking into every two-by-four but somehow missing every open patch was just so 2000's. I also thought Seraphim Falls tried to be too artsy & didn't come across nearly as well as The Proposition, which covered some of the same territory (in tone, at least).

I picked Appaloosa because I loved almost everything about it...the dialogue (thanks to Robert Parker), the direction (thanks to Ed Harris), the performances, the costumes, the music, the scenery. It just seemed to be a return to the classic western style (the anti-3:10 To Yuma, if you will). And no slow-mo or shaky cam to spoil the proceedings...just quick, violent action that was over almost before you blinked. It made me want to go back again and again to watch the shootouts. In this movie, every shot counted. Saw it on opening day with a packed house...when organ music fired up over the closing credits, the audience applauded enthusiastically (in appreciation, I might add).

So far as Zellwiger is concerned, her performance kind of grew on me, although her pinch-faced appearance and semi-whiny voice was a bit off-putting. I would have like to see what Diane Lane would have done with the part...evidently she bowed out at the last minute and Zellwiger was hired right before shooting began. Maybe Lane had had enough of westerns for a while, but she certainly would have made a lot of the movie's critics more happy, fer sure.

Also liked The Alamo quite a bit even with its modern touches (cannon-cam, anyone?). Thought it was a fresh spin on an often-filmed story and made the story more believable than other versions.

Jesse James was a stellar piece of work...kind of reminded me of a Terence Malick film, though...beautiful to watch, but you have to be patient and let things play out at their own pace. Still, I prefer that to breakneck action without much of a plot.

creekdipper

Only film I haven't seen on the list is True Grit 2010...and that bad boy's goin' down later today ($4 Tuesdays all day at the best cineplex in the region...Woohoo!).

I like all of the choices to varying degrees (own 'em all). I still think 3:10 is overrated and is liked better by younger audiences raised on video games. It's superior plot-wise to Shoot 'Em Up, Crank, and most other modern 'action' movies...especially those based upon video games...but I thought it was way too 'revisionist' from the original. Not so ruinous as Scorsese's butchering of Cape Fear, but still geared way too much to short attention spans. And the running unscathed through the framed-in-buildings with bullets plunking into every two-by-four but somehow missing every open patch was just so 2000's. I also thought Seraphim Falls tried to be too artsy & didn't come across nearly as well as The Proposition, which covered some of the same territory (in tone, at least).

I picked Appaloosa because I loved almost everything about it...the dialogue (thanks to Robert Parker), the direction (thanks to Ed Harris), the performances, the costumes, the music, the scenery. It just seemed to be a return to the classic western style (the anti-3:10 To Yuma, if you will). And no slow-mo or shaky cam to spoil the proceedings...just quick, violent action that was over almost before you blinked. It made me want to go back again and again to watch the shootouts. In this movie, every shot counted.

So far as Zellwiger is concerned, her performance kind of grew on me, although her pinch-faced appearance and semi-whiny voice was a bit off-putting. I would have like to see what Diane Lane would have done with the part...evidently she bowed out at the last minute and Zellwiger was hired right before shooting began. Maybe Lane had had enough of westerns for a while, but she certainly would have made a lot of the movie's critics more happy, fer sure.

Also liked The Alamo quite a bit even with its modern touches (cannon-cam, anyone?). Thought it was a fresh spin on an often-filmed story and made the story more believable than other versions.

Jesse James was a stellar piece of work...kind of reminded me of a Terence Malick film, though...beautiful to watch, but you have to be patient and let things play out at their own pace. Still, I prefer that to breakneck action without much of a plot.

Giantrobo

This looks interesting.

Dr Mabuse

They changed the original title after its first release.

I guess 'Blueberry' didn't sound as American movie audience friendly as 'Renegade' does.

Mondo Kane

I was totally unfamiliar with the comic too:

SkinJob

Open Range.