Posts tagged Western
The Magnificent Seven

The latest remake of The Magnificent Seven is out now.  What ever you do, do not take a shot of mezcal for every western cliche you see, it'll kill you.  It is an enjoyable film but, with all these great pieces in place, it is a cliche ridden missed opportunity that could have been so much better.

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Slow West

Having grown up with Westerns, you'd think I'd come to them predisposed to loving them.  Not so much.  For every good Western, there are a saddlebag of worthless entries to go alongside.  But, the Western is the one genre where, against the backdrop of a huge, never ending sky, just about any tale can be told.  The Western in itself has been around since before cinema and hold a place etched in the public's mind.  Given that the period depicted in most Westerns, normally called "The Old West", lasted only about four years, it has been a magnet for our imagination since the dime novel of the 19th Century.  The Western has evolved, slowly, from Cowboys and Indians, to White Hats versus Black Hats, to Revisionism and then to Realism. 

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The Salvation - LFF Thrill Gala

There are fewer triggers in life that get me into a cinema quicker, other than a western and Mads Mikkelsen.  Starting with Westerns, well that is easy, it is my Granma's fault.  She loved a western, good, bad or indifferent, she was nut when it came to them.  And the Rockford Files, for that matter.  Going round to my grandparents would mean a good western, usually staring The Duke or Clint.

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