Tormented (Unforgiven, 1992)

One night in a small town, local ranch hands are visiting the local whorehouse. One of the ranch hands becomes enraged with the girl he is with and brutally attacks her, leaving her scarred. When the Sheriff, Little Bill, arrives, he sets the penalties for the ranch hand. The Madam, Strawberry Alice, finds his verdict horribly insufficient. They start to pool their money to hire a gunslinger to kill the man.

Elsewhere, we meet Will Munny. He is a pig farmer with two kids. When a young man calling himself the Scofield comes to try and recruit him for help with killing the ranch hand, Munny explains he does not live that way anymore. His late wife cured him of drinking and his evil ways. But the lure of much needed reward money cause him to rethink his refusal. Bringing along (much to the Kid’s annoyance) his friend Ned, they start to make their way to the town. Meanwhile, Little Bill has discovered the prostitutes’ plan. He makes it clear that nobody will be allowed to kill the ranch hand.

Gene Hackman’s Little Bill is both charming and scary. A former outlaw, he brutalizes an old cohort named English Bob. Bob is followed by a writer who puts his exploits into tabloid books. He starts to be won over by Little Bill, who humiliates English Bob by revealing the truth behind the stories English Bob told the writer.

When the film came out, many people expressed discomfort watching Eastwood struggle to get on a horse or fire a gun. But this is a strength of the film. Unforgiven is an exploration of the effects of violence. As things spiral out of control, Bill finds it harder to fight the darker nature he has put aside all these years.

The Scofield Kid is exuberant and excited, claiming to have killed several men. Munny, of course, sees right through him and has little patience for the Kid’s bravado. Eastwood is not interested in presenting violence as a heroic act. When Munny proves himself to be every bit the frightening killer the Scofield kids expects him to have been, it is tragic. As much as you the viewer may desire to see Little Bill pay a price, it comes at a great cost to Munny.

Personally, I consider Unforgiven to be one of the all time great westerns.

March 26, 2018 0

In Their Prime (Tombstone, 1993)

Wyatt Earp arrives with his wife Mattie in the town of Tombstone during the silver boom. He meets with his brothers Virgil and Morgan and their wives. Shortly after taking over work in the local saloon running the poker table, his friend Doc Holliday shows up.

The town has an uneasy relationship with the gang known as the Cowboys. Things escalate when Cowboy leader Curly Bill shoots the Sheriff Fred White. As much as Wyatt pushes against going back into the law business, he gives in when Virgil and Morgan feel they just cannot turn their backs on the town. In fact, Virgil feels that making money off a fearful and oppressed citizenry is pretty awful.

Things mount between the Earps and the Cowboys, culminating in a bloody ride.

Tombstone has a stellar cast. I mean, if you tell me you have a movie with Kurt Russell, Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton, I am ready to hand you my money. But this film has Val Kilmer, Powers Booth and Terry O’Quinn. It features early performances from Billy Bob Thorton, Stephen Lang and Michael Rooker.

Although credited to George P. Cosmatos (Leviathan, Cobra) as director, the majority of the film was directed by Russell after writer and original director Kevin Jarre was fired. This is, of course, according to Russell. If this is the end result, one wonders why Russell has not tried his hand at directing since.

Now, Tombstone is not a historical document. The film ignores Earp’s legal troubles, and glosses over the fact that his wife Josephine and he were not star crossed lovers (she having a gambling problem and he having affairs). The film also ignore aspects of Mattie’s history, only noting that she eventually died of a drug overdose.

But Tombstone is, admittedly, much more a love letter to the traditional western than Unforgiven only a year before. While violence begets violence here, it is made to feel far more justified. In real life, Curly Bill was not merely freed on a technicality. He claimed it was accidental and Earp even testified to this. So, in the film, it seems to lean more towards flat out murder by Curly Bill. The good guys are good, through and through. The bad guys are largely unredeemable. But if you are able to look past the loose play with history, Tombstone is full of rewards.

March 25, 2018 0

Sick of Waiting for the World to End (Dudes, 1987)

Grant, Biscuit and Milo are three young punk rockers who decide to drive cross country to California. But on the way, a gang robs them and kills Milo. When the police blow them off, Grant is determined to get revenge on the gang.

Along the way, Grant meets a young woman who provides he and Biscuit with new outfits and a car.

Dudes has never quite been able to get outside it’s cult movie status, in large part because it is a amalgam of genres.

The punk rock trio are fish out of water, and yet, the film follows the conventions of the western. To boot there is the supernatural element suggesting Milo and Biscuit are being helped by the long dead spirits of a cowboy and a Native American tribe slaughters by the gang leader. Is he re-incarnated? Is he a great grandson? Is it just a drug induced dream?

The tale takes Grant and Biscuit from nihilism to life with a purpose. Grant and Biscuit are both likable young guys. And you really have got to try hard to not like Catherine Mary Stewart.

Dudes is a fun adventure with a group of surprisingly endearing characters.

March 24, 2018 0

Fast and Furious (The Quick and the Dead, 1995)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one…a mysterious drifter comes to town with a purpose only known to her.

Ellen wanders into a small town ruled by Herod. Every year, Herod holds a quick draw competition. Gunfighters from all over come to show off their skills. He is a cruel and vindictive man. He has a former partner in crime, Cort, in chains. Cort walked away from his criminal ways and became a preacher. But Herod is trying to push Cort into cast away his faith.

Ellen is a hard drinking and tortured woman. She has arrived for the competition. But as she grows closer to her goal of fighting Herod, the weight of vengeance starts to wear her down. She takes some comfort with Herod’s young and cocky son, called the Kid.

The Kid is tired of living under his father’s shadow. This is one of the closest points to being human Herod has. He tries to force the Kid out of the contest when it is clear the kid aims to go against his father.

Meanwhile, Cort tries to convince Ellen to walk away…leading to Herod seeing an opportunity and set Ellen and Cort against each other a shootout to the death.

If this sounds like a mass of western cliches…well, it should. This is the point of Sam Raimi’s film. He is paying a very loving homage to the classic spaghetti western. At the same time, this is shot with the classic Raimi style. Weird angles, impossible visuals and over the top characters.

This is Gene Hackman at his scene chewing best. His performance as Herod is the classic “Evil Town Leader” mold, and a whole lot of fun. As the Kid, Leonardo DiCaprio is a lot of fun to watch. He is immensely over confident, but that is kind of his charm. Russell Crow’s performance as Cort is a bit more understated. And it serves the character well. Cort is a bit like Bill Munny from Unforgiven in that he turned from evil and seeks a more righteous path. But his past refuses to make this easy.

Raimi fills the background with a remarkable cast of character actors. Lance Henrickson is the fancy Gambler and gunfight Ace. Keith David is the bounty hunter hired by the town to kill Herod.

The Quick and the Dead is a great love letter to the westerns of Sergio Leone and entertaining as all git out.

March 23, 2018 0

Judge, Jury and… (Hang Em High, 1968

Jed Cooper is a former lawman. After buying some cattle, he finds himself at the mercy of a posse. Believing he killed the owner and stole the cattle, they hang him. He is found before he suffocates by a lawman who brings him to see the Judge. After being found innocent, the Judge convinces him to return to being a lawman.

Between jobs the judge sends him on, Jed tries to find and arrest the men who hung him, a prominent Rancher known as Captain Wilson and his employees.

Hang Em High kind of broke out of the standard Eastwood mold. Jed is not really a mystery man. He is a guy who is trying to quietly live his own life unencumbered by others. But he is an innocent guy who gets pulled into a terrible situation. It is interesting to see that many of the men who participate in the hanging are nit hateful mob types. Instead, several really want to make sure he might not be guilty. And one even turns himself in upon learning that Jed was found innocent.

This is also a bit unique as, Jed is trying to bring these guys in alive, so it is not a straight out revenge tale. And at one point, he argues for mercy of one of the men who helped hang him. The notion that Jed is an upstanding lawman is important to this tale. His love interest is a local woman with a horrible past seeking Justice…her story reflects his, in that they are both forced to confront the question of “what if they don’t get justice”.

The film has a great cast supporting Eastwood. Pat Hingle is the no nonsense judge who finds being the final arbiter of Justice both a bit intoxicating and more than a bit of a burden. Bruce Dern is one of the more straight up bad guys in the film…and hey, it is a solid early Dern performance.

Hang ‘Em High makes for a good transition from the old school western to the modern one.

March 16, 2018 0

All Stand Together Pt 5 (The Magnificent Seven, 2016)

While there had been a two season TV series in the late 90’s, the Seven Samurai inspired franchise had remained quiet. Certainly, plenty of films have used the “group of gunslingers or outlaws step up to help people in need. It is one of the most popular western motifs. But it took until 2016 for it to come back to life.

Set in 1879, Tycoon Bartholomew Bogue has overtaken the town of Rose Creek. He owns the Sheriff and has had his men deputized. Forcing the people into labor, they are living in misery. After he has some of the towns people killed to “lay down the law”, they seek the help of Sam Chisolm, a U.S. Marshall. Chisolm starts recruiting people, starting with gambler Joshua Faraday, who is trying to get his horse back, but lacks funds. As they work their way back, they reach out to various individuals…a Mexican Outlaw named Vasquez, an old trapper named Jack Home. He also brings in former Confederate officer named Goodnight Robicheaux and his partner Billy Rocks. Finally, they bring in exiled Comanche Warrior Red Harvest.

This film has a very conscious eye towards diversity. Billy Rocks is a Korean immigrant skilled both with knives and guns. Chisolm is a black man. And even the Confederate is explicitly portrayed as “not the racist kind”. He clearly has a longstanding friendship with Chisolm and his relationship with Rocks is an equal partnership.

But this works in the favor of the film. These characters all come from desperately different backgrounds, but come together to form a solid unit that trusts each other. I found myself genuinely liking these characters. Granted, a certain amount of this is due specifically to the cast. Denzel Washington tends to bring a sense of authority to every role. Chris Pratt of course has a likeable sweet boyishness that tends to run through his roles. Byung-Hun Lee is just kind of a dashing hero type. You can always depend on D’Onofrio and Hawke to deliver terrific character performances.

And Peter Sarsgaard’s Bogue? He is a clear cut, unambiguous bad guy. He does not even see himself as the hero of his story. He just believes in “might makes right”. When we are introduced to him, he steps into a church and shows no sense of respect for the faith of the parishioners.

Overall, this film is quite exiting and smartly chose to create an entirely new set of “Seven”. It is also a bit darker and grittier. That is not to say it is not fun, it definitely has it’s moments of levity. I feel like the addition of a revenge element for one of the Seven was unnecessary, and even kind of undermines the idea of the willingness of these guys to sacrifice themselves for the town.

But director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter and the Equalizer) delivers a pretty solid energetic modern western with the Magnificent Seven.

March 13, 2018 0

All Stand Together Pt 4 (The Magnificent Seven Ride!, 1972)

Years after the original film, Chris Adams is a marshal. A friend seeks his help with a gang of bandits. He refuses, but after both his wife and friend are killed in a robbery and attempted apprehension, he brings in a group of men to take out the bandits.

And Van Cleef is certainly a better choice of stand in for Brynner, even making a lot of sense as an older and wearier Adams.

But really, this feels like the last gasp at trying to make the franchise matter. And it really does not work. It is kind of a boring retread.

Simply put, this final sequel is not the enjoyable ride the original film was.

March 12, 2018 0

All Stand Together Pt 3 (Guns of the Magnificent Seven, 1969)

Revolutionary Quintero has been captured by the Federale. He gets $600 to Max to continue the cause. Bandit and revolutionary Lobero wants him to use the money for guns and ammo, but instead he hires Chris Adams. They put together a new Seven to free Quintero.

The film attempts to ground itself in a sense of social awareness (in part with characters like Bernie Casey’s ex-slave Cassie and the treatment of the peasants they encounter). But the story is less than engaging.

Without Yul Brynner, this film feels like it could be any western. I like George Kennedy, but Chris does not feel like Chris here. The Guns of the Magnificent Seven is just not the return fans needed.

March 11, 2018 0

All Stand Together Part 2 (Return of the Seven,1966)

Chico settled down in the village that the Seven defended years before and now they face a new threat by Rancher Lorca. He has kidnapped the town’s men to force them into labor.

The town seeks the help of Chris and Vin (Vin now played by Robert Fuller) who assemble a new crew to help the town.

I do not have a tremendous amount to say about this one. I like Yul Brynner’s (the only holdover from the original) Chris, but Robert Fuller is not Steve McQueen. And making the setting the same village instead of making them a heroic force for a new group (an orphanage or something? I don’t know).

The most notable thing to me about this movie is that the screenplay is by the 70’s/80’s horror director Larry Cohen. But this is a pretty lifeless script.

March 10, 2018 0

All Stand Together pt 1 (The Magnificent Seven, 1960)

Bandit Calvera and his gang are terrorizing the people of a small Mexican town. After one raid, he promises to return to steal more from the people. The leaders of the village put together what they have to invest in weapons.

Chris Adams steps in suggesting hiring gunfighters. While reluctant, after helping select the other gunfighters, Chris agrees to help defend the town.

The Magnificent Seven cleverly sets up it’s two main leads Chris and Vin (Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen) as decent tough guys. They discover the local coroner has an issue. There is a body that needs transporting. But the deceased is Native American and the white locals are refusing access to the cemetery. The two volunteer to take the hearse to the cemetery. This seen is really full of charm and gets you pumped to follow these two. And they manage to succeed in their mission with only a couple of flesh wounds. These men are not cold blooded killers. They are willing to do as little harm as possible.

This is a stellar cast of tough guys, but not in some cheap sense. They are mostly good and decent (Harry Luck is a bit mercenary, joining up because he believes there must be treasure if Chris is involved, but even he ends up willing t risk his life for the town). Eli Wallach, of course, makes for a great villain.

The music is energetic and fun, especially the heroic theme song.

The Magnificent Seven is a truly great and fun western.

March 9, 2018 0