Dead Man [1995]

An accountant from Cleveland, Walter Blake, comes out west on promise of a job working for an eccentric tycoon – only to be turned away – and become an outlaw.

This was a great star studded dark comedy – which also made for a great western. Neil Young’s soundtrack was exceptional and made Blake’s journey more unnerving. Jim Jarmusch’s direction as interesting – he allowed for very static shots where nothing was happening while the distorted guitar would blare – and somehow it worked at being interesting as opposed to being annoying. Johnny Depp was off kilter as Blake – he had some great acting chops even back then - I wish he’d have gotten the credit and continued down that quirky road – instead of being Burton’s go-to puppet. I loved how this film could be left up to interpretation as to what was actually happening. I loved how it seemed like this film was kind of a commando production done in the back woods. It was most certainly dialogue driven in a better way than Tarantino’s films. I really loved the metaphysical change in Blake from an inept accountant to outlaw.

Overall – it was a great film – my presumption disparity may be off on this one – so the shock of being pleasantly surprised may tamper my long run view of the film – but I really liked it.

The Magnificent Seven [1960] blu-ray

A small town is under attack by a gang of hoodlums – and they go out and hire seven gunfighters to protect them.

I had fond remembrances of this film – it’s good – not great – not sure how people could really say that it is better than SEVEN SAMURAI with a straight face. It’s a cute film – but it’s just too Hollywood’ed up. This viewing what I really took away from it was how great a performance Eli Wallach put into this film – how Robert Vaughn’s character is the most interesting and complex of the Seven – and how skivvy Steve McQueen’s character made me feel. I mean, did he really long for the simple life? Or did he just want to rape some women? I felt he was far too aggressive with the women and the town folk had every reason to hide them away. And I still want to samurai sword chop that “kid” and his romance story.

Anyway – this was a really great looking blu-ray conversion. Everything was crisp and clear and nice – up until there was a fade out scene – then things got really muddy. This being a Hollywood western – there were many fade-outs – but I wouldn’t know how you’d fix something like that. I saw only a few small scenes where the full picture wasn’t as crisp as you’d hope – but the blacks were black and not grainy. If I loved the film – I would get the blu-ray of it.

Quick Picks - Sept 4, 2011 Edition

Peep World [2010]

A bunch of adult kids have taken divergent – yet miserable - paths in life after they left the nest – and it’s all their asshole daddy’s fault.

I didn’t like this movie. All the characters were fairly weak caricatures and that made them boring. One son is aloof (Rainn Wilson) – the other is struggling architect (Michael C. Hall) – the daughter is a bitch (Sarah Silverman) – and the youngest son is profiting off their misery in his thinly veiled novel about the family (Ben Schwartz) – and they all hate their father with good reason. I felt the writer of this movie has some daddy issues – and made a movie – not that there’s not potential in it but you got to do better than this. I wanted to shake each and every one of them and tell them to grow up and make your own decisions – live your own life – grow up!

I hated the penis joke – so fucking dumb – I almost turned off the movie at that point – make a dark comedy and have fun – but a penis joke? Why not make some poop and fart jokes? I didn’t hate the movie – I really hated parts of it – I kind of liked other parts – but it’s not funny in a way that I would recommend.

Rango [2011]

A pet lizard finds himself lost in the desert and wanders into a town of desert creatures – where he saves the day and takes over as the town sheriff.

I really enjoyed this fun little spaghetti western homage. I loved the two “cameos” in both a nod to Depp and a nod to the genre – and because I was pleasantly surprised the cameos will go nameless in my blurb. The animation was beautifully done – though it’s animated it’s not a film made for kids – kid friendly most certainly – but too much over the head dialogue. I liked how the town animals were modeled after Leone’s town folk characters – even the snake was a nice nod to Lee Van Cleef. Overall, there’s not much to say – it appealed to some of my likes – but it was a good enough movie – never really grabbing me and pulling me in – but also not disappointing me.

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid [1969]

Infamous bank robbers Butch & Sundance rob some banks and escape the law!

That’s one of the more difficult synopsis I’ve had to write – because what do they do in this movie? They love on their women – rob some banks – and escape the law – then the ending comes on. I can appreciate it for what it is but I’m not really sure what exactly it is.

Instead of it being in the guise of Butch and Sundance – Newman & Redford could’ve played just about any cowboys, gangsters or medieval knights. There was nothing particularly special about them in these specific historical figures – other than their chemistry which was great – but nothing that the roles brought. One’s a lover (Butch/Newman) - one’s a fighter (Sundance/Redford) – and those traits could’ve been portrayed in any role they chose to play.

Don’t get me wrong – I liked them together – but I think the story was weak and disjointed. The whole film felt like an interlude to the end gun fight. Butch and Sundance flirted and bickered like an old married couple - but there was no real depth to the characters – other than the bickering which showed they had been together long enough to be comfortable with that layer of male-flirtation. Butch liked to plan and think – Sundance liked to shoot first – but those were clown hammer traits – it would’ve been nice to see more of their characters developed through the story – maybe even a short explanation as to why they were that way.

I’m not wild musical breaks in the story especially if it feels like goofing around filler – and Barry Manilow’s ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’ bike riding sequence and the whole “Dabba dabba” song sequence of Butch & Sundance in Bolivia – really just took me out of the story. It probably worked for the carefree time that the film came out – but it doesn’t hold up for me – and maybe it would have if I didn’t feel like they came out of nowhere as the tone up to that point was light – but not THAT light.

At this point I realize I’m sounding like a film curmudgeon – because I’m aware that this film has been honored as being one of the greatest American films of all time – and it is considered a classic. I can’t help but wonder if it’s really the performances and the fondness people have for Newman & Redford that really make this film a “classic” – not really the film itself.

It was at the same point in movie history that Sergio Leone had completed his work with Clint Eastwood in Spain and created 3 of my favorite Westerns – elevating the genre to something it had not been. Hollywood instead, was having fun with two great actors injecting pop culture into the genre and in a way allowing itself to take a step back – which is disappointing.

I didn’t hate the movie – I didn’t even think it was “bad” – I just found more to criticize about it than to embrace about it. You can find any number of people who would love to tell you how “great” it is – but I simply can’t overlook aspects and do that. I wouldn’t watch it again if I was in the mood for a western – I would watch it again if I was more in the mood for some good male bonding banter.

U is for...

Winner of four Academy Awards, including best picture, director, supporting actor, and best editing, Clint Eastwood's 1992 masterpiece stands as one of the greatest and most thematically compelling Westerns ever made. "The movie summarized everything I feel about the Western," said Eastwood at the time of the film's release. "The moral is the concern with gunplay." To illustrate that theme, Eastwood stars as a retired, once-ruthless killer-turned-gentle-widower and hog farmer. He accepts one last bounty-hunter mission--to find the men who brutalized a prostitute--to help support his two motherless children. Joined by his former partner (Morgan Freeman) and a cocky greenhorn (Jaimz Woolvett), he takes on a corrupt sheriff (Oscar winner Gene Hackman) in a showdown that makes the viewer feel the full impact of violence and its corruption of the soul. Dedicated to Eastwood's mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel and featuring a colorful role for Richard Harris, it's arguably Eastwood's crowning directorial achievement. (synopsis provided by Amazon.com)

released 1992

directed by Clint Eastwood

F is for... [part 2]

A Fistful of Dollars launched the spaghetti Western and catapulted Clint Eastwood to stardom. Based on Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai picture Yojimbo, it scored a resounding success (in Italy in 1964 and the U.S. in 1967), as did its sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The advertising campaign promoted Eastwood's character--laconic, amoral, dangerous--as the Man with No Name (though in the film he's clearly referred to as Joe), and audiences loved the movie's refreshing new take on the Western genre. Gone are the pieties about making the streets safe for women and children. Instead it's every man for himself. Striking, too, was a new emphasis on violence, with stylized, almost balletic gunfights and baroque touches such as Eastwood's armored breastplate. The Dollars films had a marked influence on the Hollywood Western--for example, Sam Peckinpah'sThe Wild Bunch--but their most enduring legacy is Clint Eastwood himself. (synopsis provided by Amazon.com)

directed by Sergio Leone

released 1964