Showing posts with label Western. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Western. Show all posts

Thursday, June 3, 2010

June 3rd: Support Your Local Sheriff!


Okay, so your not a western person. They bore you, maybe. The mellow drama. They're slow paced until the very end when there's an ending tat only makes sense if you've payed attention the whole time, and you just woke up. Not to mention the reason you fell asleep was because most westerns you've seen have the exact same plot and choppy cuts that's traditional for them, aside Spaghettis. Nobody blames you at all. A lot of people really can't get into westerns. This movie, however, will give you an entirely different perspective on the genre 'western'.

Support Your Local Sheriff came out in 1968 starring James Garner. If you are a girl or have ever had a girlfriend you more than likely have seen Garner play the old man in that boring The Notebook film (Yeah, Westerns are boring but The Notebook is a modern classic, right?....sure). Here, though, Garner is much younger playing a Mr. Jason McCullough, a man just passing through a small territorial town on his way to Australia (which he somehow is getting to by going through the country-land very very slowly).

On his way through town, Jason already demonstrates his Smart-Elec cunning and sense of humor, and that (Aside his amazingly impressive gunman ship) lands him a quick job as a sheriff. The remainder of the film is his week long adventures training the town to his liking and getting the new-coming miners to behave if they want the gold they came so far for, as well as flirting with the mayors Daughter, Prudy (Poor kid. Hope it's short for Prudence), who is a little to ditsy to be a lady, but has a good heart all the same.

Now, what sets this movie apart is that its first genre is not western; it's Comedy. The movie is written first and foremost as a comedy, not a drama like other movies that take place around the same time. So, the adventure is filled with witty dialog and physical comedy that any age would get a kick out of. The movie is G rated, and the photography is such that you won't notice that it's any older than anything coming out today, they only thing that really gives it away is the starchy audio quality.

Here's a scene I found on YouTube that just so happens to be my one of my favorites in the movie.It's a few minutes long right after Jason gets the job after watching a quick murder in the saloon.




Its really a great family movie, only about an hour and a half long, and didn't leave me fidgety at all.

This is the Flick Chick, Signing off.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

May 26th: One-Eyed Jacks


Westerns are unlike any other genre in a few different ways. Thee is the obvious is the Cowboy fixation, but they are also filmed choppier to hold a different suspense from Dramas. Anyone who's watched even Mock-westerns in the odd T.V. show knows what I mean about this, seeing severe close-ups chopped up with far shots; It's not hard to recognize.

Spaghetti Westerns, however, are whats separated from the other western genre. Italian directors introduced sweeping camera movements into the western idea and this style has adapted into a mini- genre for westerns. One-Eyed Jacks is a good example of this.

The movie came out in 1961, starring and directed by Marlon Brando, who we all know as the Godfather. Brando Stars as "Kid" Rio, a bandit in 1880 with his partner and best friend, "Dad" Longworth (Karl Malden). Rio is a serious womanizer and total schmuck at the beginning of this film. After robbing a bank in small town in Mexico, the two are running from a posse, and get nearly cornered. They decide their horse is too weak, so Longworth goes and leaves Rio to get fast horses and come back. Except he never comes back. Rio ends up in jail for 5 years and comes out a changed man, for the most part.
Rio travels to Monterey, California, seeking revenge on Longsworth for letting him go to jail, but stays in Monterey, waiting out the new relationship with his 'Old Pal' , and falling for his beautiful Mexican Step-daughter.

The movie gets pretty intense once Rio's new buddies stir up to much trouble, and his anger at Longworth swells. The movie is in color, but more than two hours in length, being rather long-plotted. Still, really really good.






The movie can be seen here in one full piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26yb93rjos

Project continues well. Last day of school tomorrow then I belong to my blog for the summer!

The Chick of Flick