Once Upon a Time in the West

[Zagor]

This is one of the good things of that terrible movie Kevin Costner did Wyatt Earp.

Why did you find it terrible? It was ridiculously long but I didn't feel it was a bad film.

[august]

.... It Happened One Night, which I remember as a really funny and enjoyable romantic comedy (and I am not a fan of the genre - although the old ones were generally better and less schmalzy than the ones made today

It's definitely a must-see. It was actually sort of a sub-genre of romantic comedy, popular in the 30's and early-40's, called "screwball comedy." Usually centering around a love story (which even action movies did in those days) but a lot faster-paced, with more outrageous characters and situations, and often a lot of slapstick. Probably my favorite of that type is Bringing Up Baby, with Cary Grant as a slightly befuddled paleontologist, and a stunning young Katharine Hepburn as a wacky heiress. ("Baby" is a pet leopard.) Another good one is His Girl Friday, with Grant as a conniving editor, and Rosalind Russell as his star reporter (and ex-wife.) And come to think of it, another fave is from the early 50's, Monkey Business (not the Marx Bros. film of the same name) with Grant as a slightly befuddled scientist who tests a youth serum on himself, Ginger Rogers as his wife, and Marilyn Monroe as, surprisingly, a hot young blonde.

All three of those Grant films were directed by Howard Hawks, who was responsible for that fast-paced, back-and-forth banter in El Dorado. Like Curtiz, whom we were talking about earlier, his career is just remarkable, moving back and forth from stark, somber dramas to hilarious comedies to witty action films in western and detective settings.

And I'm with Zagor on that Wyatt Earp film (and its clone, the one with Kurt Russell.) Both were kind of boring and I've never been able to watch either all the way through, but I didn't see anything terrible about either...

[Boomstick]

Tombstone has action and fun characters, Wyatt Earp is long, flat, and boring which equates to "bad" in my opinion.

[RobRoy]

Why did you find it terrible? It was ridiculously long but I didn't feel it was a bad film.

Ridiculously long sums it up. The story lacked proper pacing, and had limited narrative structure. We were introduced to a complex man at his crossroads, but getting to that point was a laborious task of sifting through facts as they were presented in a bland, dry, odorless and colorless way. If I may be allowed to use one of my more colorful metaphors, the film layed on the screen like a bored hooker.

[Boomstick]

I think that metaphor is a little too good for it, even. :bg: I'd explain further, but I think we might spin a little too far off topic. :laugh:

[Boomstick]

The wild rampage of western movies continues!

Westworld
I've wanted to see it for over ten years now, after always being fascinated by the cover on the old VHS copy that one of the local rental places had. Young James Brolin and Christian Bale look so much alike, IMO. I couldn't get over that.

A fun movie to watch, and impressive that Michael Crichton wrote and directed something this good on what was, as far as I know, his first foray into films. I wonder if James Cameron ever saw this movie...

The Sabata Trilogy: Sabata, Adios, Sabata, Sabata Returns

Spaghetti western series starring Lee Van Cleef in the first and third films. Yul Brynner plays the role in the second film because Van Cleef was busy -get this- playing Chris in one of the Magnificent Seven sequels!

The films are very highly stylized, full of oddball characters and unlikely scenarios. Van Cleef's Sabata carries all sorts of gadgets and specialized weapons, and generally always has the upper hand on situations. Brynner's uses only a modified rifle and explosives, and is perhaps slightly more vulnerable.

Several of the same actors play essentially the same role in the three films, but they're supposed to be different characters. It's a little disorienting at first if you watch the films back to back.

The plots are very similar, you have Sabata, his three sidekicks (boisterous Mexican and two weirdos who do all sorts of acrobatic stuff and use weapons powered by their bodies rather than guns), and another ally who can never be trusted. Viewing the three films back to back probably isn't a good idea; it gets a little tedious, IMO. Still, if you like Leone's films and haven't seen these, I'd recommend them.

By the way, nice to see a source that Robert Rodriguez ripped off in his Mariachi films. :bg: Some of those things I thought were so original, I now see were taken from the character named Banjo in Sabata.

Return of the Seven a.k.a Return of the Magnificent Seven
Not great, but what can you expect following the first movie. Some bad casting here, most of the seven are extremely dull. Robert Fuller is miserable as Vin. Of course you can't replace McQueen, but they could have at least got an actor with blond hair and given him the same style hat that McQueen wore. Fuller doesn't take any character traits from McQueen's portrayal, either, but then neither did the script.

One thing I didn't get was that one of the characters said he was chasing down Apaches that had, essentially, forced him to kill his wife. When he dies, he tells Chris that he finally did it, implying that he got the last of the Apaches he was after. Problem is, they were fighting Mexicans. Did I miss something again?

[august]

Return of the Seven a.k.a Return of the Magnificent Seven
Not great, but what can you expect following the first movie. Some bad casting here, most of the seven are extremely dull. Robert Fuller is miserable as Vin. Of course you can't replace McQueen, but they could have at least got an actor with blond hair and given him the same style hat that McQueen wore. Fuller doesn't take any character traits from McQueen's portrayal, either, but then neither did the script.

One thing I didn't get was that one of the characters said he was chasing down Apaches that had, essentially, forced him to kill his wife. When he dies, he tells Chris that he finally did it, implying that he got the last of the Apaches he was after. Problem is, they were fighting Mexicans. Did I miss something again?

All three Magnificent Seven films are on Turner Classic Movies this coming Thursday, 9/3, starting at 8 PM.

[Boomstick]

Hey, I should be home in time to see the third one!

[august]

[august]

Nine years later, I'm curious if Boomstick has tracked any of these films down! :bg:

[Boomstick]

A good friend of mine recently cleaned out his parents place following their passing, and gave me a copy of Shane that they had. I haven't watched it yet. I can't believe this thread is 9 years old, and I still haven't watched The Wild Bunch...