On the stepladder of movie genres, Westerns are near the bottom: above WWII flicks but below foreign romances.
I mean, ANY movie has the ability to break the mold and surprise you if the director's any good. But it's like Fantasy or Sci-Fi literature: the cards are stacked against it from the start. Get too fancy and you're not "traditional enough" for the genre. But follow the norms and suddenly you're run-of-the-mill or gimmicky.
BEFORE tonight, my Top 5 Westerns were
1) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
2) The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
3) Unforgiven
4) The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
5) Silverado
But, tonight, I watched a movie that dethroned them all! I had just watched 3:10 to Yuma last night (Russell Crowe, Christian Bale), and it was pretty silly. So I wasn't expecting much from tonight's movie, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck)...
Let me just say IT WAS AWESOME...(3 hours long)...but AWESOME!
It was nominated for two Academy Awards in 2008: Best Achievement in Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor (Casey Affleck). It deserved the first (There Will be Blood won) and, if it weren't for Javier Bardem, would have deserved the second.
I don't want to go on too long about it, but: In one scene a shootout takes place in a small room between two gunmen who really don't want to be getting shot at. One's scrambling across the floor and both are basically just pointing and shooting. They're much more scared than angry...probably thinking, "What did I get myself into?" It really convinces you how frightening the situation would be.
The biggest sell on the movie? I finished it an hour ago and am still thinking about it. It forces you to think about romanticized violence in a way that A History of Violence or Natural Born Killers did not. What kind of Western makes you THINK?!
Two thumbs up. Oh, and did I mention Brad Pitt was phenomenal?
7 years ago
5 comments:
I can't believe you only have Silverado ranked as 5th. That is my favorite western!
Hey, now that you are finished reading "Breaking Dawn" (you are finished aren't you???), have you and Chrissa read Stephenie Meyer's other book, "The Host"? It is a bizzare concept but she makes it work out in a really interesting way.
I too enjoyed the 3 hour film about the James Boys. Pitt, always a good bet and Casey is come'n on strong. You need to see him in _gone baby gone_, difficult subject matter but terrific performances all around.
Hey, J. I'm with you on most of your list: I didn't like Unforgiven, and I would have added "All the Pretty Horses". Nice blog, though. What's up with your new background? It's gorgeous! How did you do it.
Thanks, all, for your comments. I'm going to update today or tomorrow, I swear!
Rob, I did see Gone Baby Gone just the other day. Chrissa and I liked it alot.
Marci, good to hear from you. You can get new backgrounds from Pyzam.com [shameless plug].
Hey, I got the cd today. Thank you so much! It has some of the best songs ever. #4 and #14 are two of my favorites that I used to listen to when I lived in Moscow and got super homesick. Although why listening to Italian opera feels like home... I have no idea.
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