Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Genre: Drama / Western
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone
Time: 206 minutes

 

Members of the Osage Nation, in the Oklahoma of the 1920’s, are getting killed one after the other for the money they got when oil was found on their tribal land. Among the white people targeting them are William King Hale, a man pretending to be a benefactor for the Osage people, and his nephew Ernest Burkhart, who married a native woman called Mollie to then target her and her family.

This is a true epic masterpiece given to us by Martin Scorsese. It is great to see this great director still at it at his age. The cinematography was just magnificent. You can see that Scorsese was passionate about telling this story, and he did it with all the respect and reverence in the world.

The cast was brilliant. De Niro and DiCaprio were both solid, and so was Lily Gladstone. Overall, I loved this film and I intend on seeing it again.

Rating: «««««

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)

Genre: Western
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach
Time: 177 minutes

 

A bounty hunter, a mercenary and Mexican bandit find have theirs paths cross on the search of a mysterious treasure hidden in a cemetery in the midst of the American Civil War.

This film is the third and final installment in Sergio Leone’s Dollars movie franchise. It did push Clint Eastwood to stardom. Of the three films, it is the best. The cinematography here is awesome, with the great music and the long shots. The acting is also solid. The three leads are so convincing in their respective roles 

The only minor fault I can find here is the length. The story takes a few detours too many to get to the payoff, but, all things considered, this is a great piece of cinema.

Rating: ««««

For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Genre: Western
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonté
Time: 132 minutes

 

Manco and Colonel Douglas Mortimer are two bounty hunters who meet in El Paso as they are both trying to bring down ruthless bank robber El Indio and his gang. They decide to work together to accomplish the difficult job.

The on-screen chemistry between Eastwood and Van Cleef is amazing. Both are so convincing in their respective roles. This spaghetti western remains a classic. The story drags a bit in the middle, but, overall, I enjoyed it very much.

Rating: ««««

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Genre: Western
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Marianne Koch, Joseph Egger
Time: 99 minutes

 

A stranger with no name arrives on his horse in the little town of San Miguel, on the border between Mexico and the United States, and he finds himself caught, by choice, between two rival families of smugglers waging war against each other.

This Spaghetti Western is certainly loaded with clichés and violence, and sometimes the acting is over-the-top. That being said, a young Clint Eastwood comes off the screen upon appearance. The man had a presence on screen from the get-go. This is a fun piece of entertainment for the fans of the genre. It has grown into a classic through the years.

Rating: ««««

Cry Macho (2021)

Genre: Western / Drama
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam, Eduardo Minett
Time: 104 minutes

 

Mike Milo is a washed-up retired rodeo star whose life fell apart after his wife and kid were killed in an accident. His ex-boss asks him for a favor: Travel from Texas to Mexico, to bring back the son he left behind with the kid’s mother years before.

This neo-western drama is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Richard Nash. I always have been a fan of Eastwood’s movies. He has a knack for keeping it simple and delivering characters you can relate to and care about. This movie is no exception to that. It’s not hard to care about Milo’s quest and about the kid he is trying to bring back to the US.

I must say, though, that, as an actor, Clint is starting to look his age. It is less and less believable to see him going on like that, though he at least did not make himself out to look totally macho and badass, which would have been too much of a step. The movie carries a cool message about macho being overrated, but the whole thing felt a little incomplete, as if there were some missing elements to the story. Not a bad film, just not up to the usual Eastwood standards.

Rating: «««

Dances with Wolves (1990)

 Genre: Western
Directed by: Kevin Costner
Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene
Running time: 181 minutes 

  

After getting injured in battle and demonstrating bravery in a dire moment, Union Army lieutenant John J. Dunbar gets posted to the American Frontier. Finding himself alone at his military post, Dunbar encounters a group of Sioux people. While the soldier and the Natives are first at odds with each other, a friendship develops over time.

Based of the book of the same name by Michael Blake, this film is Kevin Costner’s directorial debut. He did a great job, handling both directing and the lead role. The cinematography is superb here. This movie is like a long poem, telling a compelling story with images that keeps your attention.

The acting was solid by all involved. There were a few moments of silliness that seemed out of place to me, but, overall, this is an epic film that is well worth seeing at least once, if not more.

Rating: ««««

No Country for Old Men (2007)

 
Genre: Western/Thriller
Directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Barden, Josh Brolin 

Running time: 122 minutes

 

This film is based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. While hunting, Llewelyn Moss comes across the remnants of a drug deal gone bad. Among the corpses and vehicles, he finds a briefcase of money and leaves with it, which now brings psychopathic hitman Anton Chirgurh on his trail, armed with a captive bolt pistol and a coin.

I saw this film when it came out and I was not in the right mood for it, I think. Watching it again now, I was better able to appreciate its artistic merit. The Coen brothers did a great job setting a tone of isolation and inevitable fate. The three main actors all did a superb job with their respective roles. Barden was particularly creepy as the hitman, weird hairdo and all. The non-ending still bothered me a bit, but this film is truly a solid work of art.

Rating: ««««

 

God Forgives...I Don't! (1967)

Genre: Western

Directed by: Giuseppe Colizzi

Cast: Terence Hill, Frank Wolff, Bud Spencer

Running Time: 109 minutes

Card-shark Cat Stevens and insurance agent Hutch Bessy team up to stop Bill San Antonio, a bandit who faked his own demise to disappear with money but then proceeded to rob a train.

This is one of the early films where Terence Hill and Bud Spencer teamed up. It was in their spaghetti western era, but this certainly was not the best offering. It was overly long and it lacked substance in terms of story and characters. Bud Spencer, for example, was not given much to work with. Great title, though!

Rating: ««

Traded (2016)

Genre: Western

Directed by: Timothy Woodward Jr.

Cast: Kris Kristofferson, Trace Adkins, Michael Paré

Time: 98 minutes

Clay Travis is a retired gunslinger living as a rancher with his wife and two kids. After the family’s 17 year old daughter runs away to Wichita and ends up being sold as a prostitute and sent to Dodge City, the father goes back to his gunslinging ways to get her back.

The story itself is fine. It reminds me of the Taken trilogy, but set in the Old West, where women were openly sold as property. Some of the violent scenes were well done and managed to build tension. It was also a treat to see Kris Kristofferson again on screen. The problem is that the acting and the dialogues were bad, so very bad. It was atrocious and cringeworthy. And some of the characters were so over-the-top, they felt like a caricature of what they were meant to be.

In spite of its few bright spots, this film could easily be skipped without worrying about missing much.

Rating: ««

Man with the gun (1955)

Genre: Western

Directed by: Richard Wilson

Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jan Sterling, Henry Hull

Running time: 83 minutes

Clint Tollinger, a “town tamer” with a heavy reputation behind him, comes to Sheridan City to try to reconcile with Nelly Bain, with minimal success. As they are dealing with the heavy hand of Dade Holman and his gang, the town council of Sheridan City is reluctantly convinced to hire Tollinger to clean up the situation.

Having mostly seen Robert Mitchum in the bad guy role, in such films as the original Cape Fear and Night of the Hunter, it was a nice change to see him as a justice seeker, though with unorthodox methods. Mitchum was the perfect person to carry that role.

Man with the Gun offered some nice twists on the typical western flicks and it was a very entertaining contribution to the genre.

Rating: ««««

Troublemakers (1994)

Genre: Western / Comedy

Réalisateur: Terence Hill

Distribution: Terence Hill, Bud Spencer

Durée: 101 minutes

Deux frères séparés par la vie se voient forcés de travailler ensemble, malgré leurs relations tendues, afin d’en arriver à leurs fins.

Ce film est arrivé un peu plus tard dans la lignée des spaghettis westerns/comédie de Bud Spencer et Terence Hill. Hill est aussi le réalisateur de Troublemakers. Je dois avouer que ce film m’a quelque peu déçu. Autant le scénario que le jeu des acteurs semblaient manquer d’inspiration. En plus, les voix françaises du doublage ne sont pas les mêmes que dans les plus vieux films, ce que j’ai trouvé dommage.

Rating: ««

Angel and The Badman (1947)

Genre: Western

Directed by: James Edward Grant

Cast: John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey

Running time: 100 minutes

Quirt Evans is a notorious gunfighter that is feared across the land. Having been wounded and seriously hurt, he collapses on the farmland of a Quaker family, who takes the man into their home without any hesitation. As he gains back his health, Evans starts falling for Penelope, the daughter of the farm owner, who preaches to him the family’s ideas about non-violence. Maybe love is all a man needs to change his ways.

This film is a departure from the usual fast-paced action and gun-slinging westerns John Wayne had offered the public up to that point. There is more depth to it, and the acting is decent enough to carry that change of pace well. Overall, this is a good flick for its genre.

Rating: «««

Winds of the Wasteland (1936)

Genre: Western

Directed by: Mack V. Wright

Cast: John Wayne, Phyllis Fraser

Running time: 54 minutes

Just as the telegraph is about to replace the Pony Express, partners John Blair and Larry Adams are looking for a new business venture in the field of stagecoaches. In Buchanan City, a local businessman offers to sell them a franchise of his own stagecoach line out of Crescent City, a town that is supposedly booming. Blair and Adams take the deal, but, upon arrival in Crescent City, they realize that it is a ghost town inhabited by two men. Hoping to salvage their investment and make Crescent City viable once again, the Blair enters a stagecoach race to win a government contract for the right to deliver the mail in the area.

Winds of the Wasteland offers a whole lot of very bad acting. John Wayne, still quite young then, is OK, but the supporting cast is absolutely atrocious. And, the story is filled with plotholes that took me right out of the film almost from the get-go. Thankfully, this little western was kept short.

Rating: «

The Desert Trail (1935)

Genre: Western

Directed by: Cullin Lewis

Cast: John Wayne, Mary Kornman, Paul Fix

Running time: 54 minutes

A rodeo star and his gambler friend are framed for the armed robbery and murder of the rodeo official and they have to escape the authorities until they can find a way to prove their innocence.

This 1935 western is a cheesy little B movie, the likes of which John Wayne was known for, especially in his early career. Exaggerated fistfights and horse chases, bad acting from most of the cast, and a story on which not much effort was put; all the elements of a B movie were there. Wayne was decent in the main role, though he had not really found his groove yet, and so was Mary Kornman. The horse chases looked like they were going in fast-forward, which made me laugh quite a bit.

Overall, The Desert Trail can be quite easily skipped without worrying about missing much. Unless you’re a fan of John Wayne or of the genre, don’t bother.

Rating: ««

The Hateful Eight (2015)

The Hateful Eight (2015)

Genre: Western

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Running time: 167 minutes

Sometime after the Civil War, Bounty hunter John Ruth is bringing fugitive Daisy Domergue to Red Rock by stagecoach so she can hang. Along the way, they cross the path of another bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren, who is dragging three dead outlaws he is looking to collect on. Warren is accepted on board, and they travel along. Further down the road, they pick up Chris Mannix, a former military man who claims to be traveling to Red Rock to become the town’s new sheriff. He manages to join the clan, who is soon forced to stop at Minnie’s Haberdashery to take refuge from a blizzard that is hitting the area. Other men are there; who are they really and what are their motives?

Quentin Tarantino, who wrote and directed this film, is known for movies filled with violence, comedy, twisted situations and incredible dialogues, and he delivered more of the same with The Hateful Eight. That being said, while the main ingredients are the same, it remains fresh. The famed director has a true knack for creating interesting characters and finding the right actors and actresses to carry the ball to the finish line.

Once again, the combination of Tarantino’s words and Samuel L. Jackson’s acting chops makes for great cinema. So many great lines delivered with pure brilliance; it truly has to be seen to be understood. These two make a great team. Jennifer Jason Leigh was also great as female outlaw Daisy Domergue. She gives us a foul-mouthed, rough-around-the-edges-and-down-to-the-core, ruthless and conniving criminal who can take a pounding and keep on coming. Her transformation is great here.

Tarantino always manages to pull off a few nice surprises, and the presence of Bruce Dern and Channing Tatum were two really good ones in The Hateful Hate. The veteran actor and the young sex symbol both did a solid job in their respective roles. It was also nice to see Michael Madsen back in a Tarantino film. Now, I feel like seeing Reservoir Dogs again.

Many people will probably scoff at the abundant use of the n-word in this movie. Racist characters will use racist language. Same goes for the violence against the female character. Tarantino movies are parallel universes where anything goes, sensibilities need to be checked at the door. Otherwise, it is better to stay out. Buyers beware, he has now made eight films, and he has stuck to his guns, so it should be no surprise to anyone. Making omelets leads to broken eggs, 

I love the feel of The Hateful Eight. It has the looks of an old western film, with many modern elements. Once again, Tarantino uses his many influences as a cinephile to tell an original story and deliver a film that has his distinct signature. The movie starts slow and pulls you in a bit a time. By the end, I was fully engrossed by the characters and their fate. I want more.

Rating: «««««

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Genre: Comedy / Science-Fiction / Western

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen

Running time: 119 minutes

Like the previous sequel, Back to the Future Part III starts where the other ended. Stranded in 1955, Marty receives a letter from Doc, who is stuck in 1885 with a broken time machine. Unable to fix it due to the primitive technology in the time period he’s in, he hides it for Marty to find in 1955, along with instructions on how to fix it. The scientist tells his younger friend to do the needed repairs and then go back to his regular life in 1985 without coming for him. As he is about to do what he’s told, Marty finds out that Doc Brown was shot and killed a few days after writing the letter, so he decided to go back to 1885, in the Old West, to save his pal from doom.

In this third part of the trilogy, the franchise started to lose some of its magic and luster in my opinion.

Fox and Lloyd still do a very good job working opposite each other. Mary Steenburgen was also the right choice to play Doc Brown’s love interest. You can actually believe that these two off-beat characters could fall for each other.

I simply find that they tried to stretch things out a little too much with a third movie, diluting the sauce in the process. The western motif was cute, though the sets really looked fake, but the plot dragged on. By the end of it, it offered a nice closure to the series, but it came off as a little too bland for my taste. It certainly pales in comparison to the first two.

Rating: «««

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Genre: Science-fiction / Western

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde

Running time: 118 minutes

I must say that my expectations were not very high regarding Cowboys & Aliens. Mixing two such different genres as Science-fiction and Western can much for a very odd and bizarre combination, but the result on screen was surprisingly better than I expected.

Daniel Craig plays a man who wakes up in a desert with an apparent gunshot in his side and no recollection of anything, including his identity. He also has this weird metal bracelet around one of his wrists. As he fights his way back to a nearby town, he comes to find out from others that he’s a thief wanted by the law. Before he can be brought to justice, extra-terrestrial lifeforms come down and attack the town, taking some of the folks with them. Those remaining, no matter the allegiances and personal issues with each other, will have to band together if they hope to survive this attack.

On paper, this whole thing comes off as kooky as heck, but, as I said earlier, it still works on screen. The story is planned out nicely and the visual effects are pretty darn good. It is an interesting blend of two genres brought together and it makes for an entertaining viewing experience. Is it a great movie that I would care to see again and again through the years? No. That being said, for what it was, it is a good movie that exceeded expectations.

A special mention for Olivia Wilde’s eyes; wow, they are beautiful.

Rating: «««