Django (1966)

Django (Pluto TV, Peacock, Plex) is a 1966 Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Corbucci. Uncredited, but the movie is based on Akira Kurosawa's film Yojimbo. The film follows a Union soldier-turned-drifter (Django) and his companion, a prostitute, who become embroiled in a bitter, destructive feud between a gang of Confederate Red Shirts and a band of Mexican revolutionaries. It was a commercial success upon release and has garnered a large cult following. It is widely regarded as one of the best films of the Spaghetti Western genre. Django Strikes Again is the only official sequel, though the name Django appears in many a film title. I've seen it numerous times but can't find that I've ever written a blog post on it. This is one of the Spaghetti Westerns that should go on any list of best of the genre.

*******

It Can be Done Amigo

It Can be Done Amigo (Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, or embedded below via YouTube) is a 1972 Spanish/Italian/French spaghetti western starring Bud Spencer and Jack Palance. I enjoy the spaghetti westerns, and this is a fun one. Bud Spencer is always watchable, and you can't go wrong with Jack Palance.

*******

Quantum Cowboys

Quantum Cowboys (Tubi, Hoopla) is a 2022 animated comedy science fiction western. This is not just fun but thought-provoking. Highly enjoyable and definitely rewatchable. From the IMDb:

Two hapless drifters, Frank and Bruno, team up with Linde to recover her land and trek across 1870's Southern Arizona to find an elusive frontier musician. The complex quantum time theory is blended with philosophical musings about art as the way we understand our history and memories, with gunfights, horses, dance halls, cacti, and saloons.

trailer:

*******

The Scalphunters

The Scalphunters (Tubi) is a 1968 Western film starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, and Dabney Coleman (who died earlier this month). It was directed by Sydney Pollack. It's fine, the cast is good, I won't ever watch it again.

trailer:

*******

North of the Rio Grande (1937)

North of the Rio Grande (Tubi) is a 1937 Hopalong Cassidy Western film starring William Boyd, George "Gabby" Hayes, and Russell Hayden. This is Lee J. Cobb's first film role and is posted today because it's the anniversary of his death.

via YouTube:

*******

Salvation (2014)

Salvation (on Hulu) is a 2014 Danish Western film starring Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jonathan Pryce, and Douglas Henshall. It's nice to see a new take on the Western film. Most reviews are positive.

from Wikipedia:

Following the Second Schleswig War of 1864, Danish war veterans Jon and his brother Peter emigrate to the United States from Denmark and settle somewhere between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Seven years later, in 1871, Jon's wife, Marie and his 10-year-old son, Kresten, arrive. After they all meet, Jon and his family board a stagecoach bound for their small residence while Peter stays behind. ...

trailer:

*******

Silverado (1985)

Silverado is a 1985 Western film starring Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, and Linda Hunt. Priceless casting. We enjoyed it. Reviews were mostly positive.

trailer:

*******

The Walking Hills

The Walking Hills (on YouTube, embedded below) is a 1949 Western film directed by John Sturges and starring Randolph Scott and Ella Raines with Arthur Kennedy, Edgar Buchanan, and John Ireland. The film's plot has film noir elements in its story of a search for an old treasure by nine men including a detective tracking a fugitive, several others who have things to hide, and a love triangle involving the two leads and the fugitive. The movie seems mostly forgotten these days, which seems a shame given the director and cast. There's a lot of talent there.

via YouTube:

*******

After Epiphany I put out snow people.

The Cowboy and the Indians

The Cowboy and the Indians (Tubi) is a 1949 Western film directed by John English and starring Gene Autry and Jay Silverheels. Clayton Moore also has a part. This film takes a sympathetic approach to the native American plight. Part of this movie takes place during the Christmas season.

via YouTube:

*******

Various pillows I've kept from years past:

  

Last night's solstice fire:

The Big Sky

The Big Sky (on Tubi) is a 1952 Western film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Kirk Douglas. It's a traditional Western, though talkier than some.

trailer:

*******

Revelation Trail

Revelation Trail is a 2013 horror western. It doesn't have names I recognize associated with it, but that didn't keep me from enjoying it. You never know how these kinds of low-budget movies will be, but they did a great job here. This is a good example of the horror western and a good place to start if you've never seen one. I can recommend it. Unless you don't do zombies. Be warned, CJ, zombies ahead!

I watched it on Amazon Prime.

trailer:

Please share a drink-related image and join us at Elizabeth's T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering.

The Old Way

The Old Way (on Hulu) is a 2023 American Western film starring Nicolas Cage as a retired gunman who, with his daughter, is on a mission to find the outlaws who killed his wife. I'm glad they're still making westerns and am especially glad they're making westerns without throwing comedy elements all over the place or making the main characters into brave heroes. I liked this one and will re-watch it.

trailer:

*******

And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself

And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (on Max) is a 2003 American made-for-television western film for HBO starring Antonio Banderas as Pancho Villa.

trailer:

Variety has a positive review. History on Film considers its historical accuracy. DVD Talk rates the movie Good on a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor.

*******

The Ruthless Four

The Ruthless Four is a 1968 spaghetti western starring Van Heflin, Gilbert Roland, Klaus Kinski, and George Hilton. I like this sub-genre, and I like these actors. It's a win as far as I'm concerned. I watched it free on Tubi.

via YouTube:

The Spaghetti Western Database has a positive review.

*******

There's always enough spearmint to let most of it bloom.

Dead for a Dollar (2022)

Dead for a Dollar is a 2022 western film starring Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, and Rachel Brosnahan. I'm glad to see they're still making traditional westerns. This is definitely worth watching if you like westerns, but it won't go in my re-watch queue.

trailer:

Home Sweet Home still needs some work -for example, I thought it would be easier and much less expensive to make this twin bed look like a couch- but all in all we're settling into a pleasant routine. Hoorah!

Shanghai Noon

Shanghai Noon is a 2000 martial arts western action comedy film starring Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Lucy Liu. According to Wikipedia,

The film, set in Nevada and other parts of the American West in the 19th century, is a juxtaposition of a Western with a kung fu action film with extended martial arts sequences, as reflected by its title, which is a wordplay on the iconic western High Noon. It also has elements of comedy and the "Buddy cop film" genre, featuring two vastly different heroes (a Chinese Imperial Guard and an American Western outlaw) who team up to stop a crime. It is reminiscent of the iconic drama film of the genre from which it is largely inspired: Red Sun, with Charles Bronson (Wanted Cowboy) and Toshiro Mifune (Imperial Samuraï), but in the comedy register.

This is laugh-out-loud funny. You can watch it free if you subscribe to Amazon Prime.

trailer:

Roger Ebert's site concludes a glowing review with this:

Chan, who does his own stunts, creates moments of physical comedy so pure, it's no wonder he has been compared with Buster Keaton. If you see only one martial arts Western this year (and there is probably an excellent chance of that), this is the one.

Empire Online says, "A no-frills, unpretentious mixture of cowboy clichés, martial arts licks, buddy-buddy movies and low comedy, Shanghai Noon is the kind of fun flick that will never generate tons of hype or expectation, but is all the more refreshing for it" and says it "really works".

The sequel Shanghai Knights is also woth watching if you like this first one.

El Dorado

El Dorado is a 1966 traditional Western directed by Howard Hawks and starring Robert Mitchum and John Wayne with Paul Fix as the town doctor. James Caan costars. I'm not sure how it happened that I had never seen this movie but am happy to have rectified that. I watched it on Amazon Prime.

via Daily Motion:

Roger Ebert gives it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and opens with this:

"El Dorado" is a tightly directed, humorous, altogether successful Western, turned out almost effortlessly, it would seem, by three old pros: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and director Howard Hawks. You could call it, of course a "John Wayne Western." I guess that means it has the Duke in the saddle once again, drawl and all, making his laconic comments on the state of the universe and marching through old Western cliches. But "El Dorado" is more than that. It is a very good John Wayne Western.

Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 100%.

Mystery Road

Mystery Road is a 2013 award-winning neo-Western-style crime film starring Hugo Weaving. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The characters are fully-formed, and the plot is engaging. I watched it on Amazon Prime. I would watch the sequel film or the television series, but they're not available on any service we currently subscribe to. We already subscribe to several and are happy with them. I have no interest in adding even more expenses to my entertainment budget.

trailer:

Variety describes it as " An impressively crafted, immensely satisfying contempo thriller that astutely tackles the hot-button issue of tensions between indigenous and European Australians." The Guardian gives it 4 out of 5 stars and offers a thorough plot description. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 92%.

A Million Ways to Die in the West

A Million Ways to Die in the West is a 2014 American Western black comedy film directed by Seth MacFarlane and starring Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, and Liam Neeson. This movie is funny, and I liked it well enough as long as you're not expecting much. Critics weren't kind. I watched it on HBO Max.

trailer:

The Gold Rush (1925)

The Gold Rush is a 1925 silent comedy film starring Charlie Chaplin. I watched it on HBO Max, but it's also available on Amazon Prime, free on Tubi, free on Plex and via YouTube:

Criterion calls it "an indelible work of heartwarming hilarity" and says,

Charlie Chaplin’s comedic masterwork—which charts a prospector’s search for fortune in the Klondike and his discovery of romance (with the beautiful Georgia Hale)—forever cemented the iconic status of Chaplin and his Little Tramp character.

Silent Film says,

The Gold Rush is his greatest and most ambitious silent film; it also was the longest and most expensive comedy film produced up to that time. The film contains many of Chaplin’s most celebrated comedy sequences, including the boiling and eating of his boot, the dance of the rolls, and the teetering cabin. However, the superb quality of The Gold Rush does not rest solely on its comedy sequences but on these scenes being so fully integrated into a character-driven narrative. Chaplin had no reservations about the finished product. Indeed, in the contemporary publicity for the film, he is quoted as saying, “This is the picture that I want to be remembered by.”

Film Site has a lengthy article. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 100%.