Archive for Western

Rialto Film,

Terrance Hill, Bud Spencer, Boots Southerland, Ruth Buzzi


Travis (Terrence Hill) has not been home to visit Mama (Ruth Buzzi) in ten years because she set free all the horses he worked hard to steal. He hates his brother Moses (Bud Spencer), but that’s ok because Moses hates him back just as much. But Travis is home, and Mama is going to make sure the brothers get together or die trying. The two start out doing good things, but when they get setup and Moses is sentences to hang from the neck till dead, things go a bit wrong. What follows is mayhem, fights, flirting, dirty tricks, and lots and lots of beans, beans, beans. This is another Bud Spencer/Terrence Hill films after a 9 year hiatus, and though the guys are older, they’re just as bad as ever.

Certainly the “Trinity” series of movies was classic. These spaghetti western films are almost mockeries of themselves, but certainly well worth checking out. This was supposed to be the third in the series, but it didn’t get made for many years due to some supposed legal hassles. But it’s available now, and it is certainly well worth checking out. These characters are superb, and Terrance is the little guy, amazing quick draw, and fast talker who can weasel his way out of anything. Bud on the other hand is a huge monster of a man who can knock a guy out with a fist to the top of the head, or can take a shot with a four by four without flinching. These guys are hysterical. Ruth Buzzi has a little role, as Mama, but she is funny as always and is the only one who can handle these two. This is a very unusual Christmas film, but one of that is very welcome due to the strength of the original characters. Even Spaghetti Westerns can use a bit of Christmas cheer and a carol or two once in a while!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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The Weinstein Company, Columbia Pictures,

Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Dennis Christopher, James Remar, Michael Parks, Don Johnson

Django (Jamie Foxx) is an escaped slave who is in trouble. He’s chained and being taken back for sale when German dentist/ bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christop Waltz) shows up looking for him and wanting to purchase his freedom. Django set out as a team to capture the bad guys and turn them in for cash, while Django’s ultimate goal is to find and rescue his wife who was sold to another slave owner and reek havoc all along the way.

This is a homage to the spaghetti westerns of the 70’s from the music and ambiance all the way down to the cheesy titles in the beginning. It truly succeeds at that. I fondly remember the days when these movies were really exciting. This film mixes that genre with the Kill Bill/Pulp Fiction style which is prevalent in other Quentin Tarantino films, and gives the film the unbelievable gun fights that make very little sense and the ultra slow motion views of bodies blowing apart and such. This is exactly what you’d expect from a Tarantino homage to the previously stated films. Jamie Foxx does a pretty decent job of playing the Clint Eastwood guy who’s supposed to be a hero, but that is one thing I think fails a little bit in this film. Clint Eastwood’s hero/good guy thing is perfect because he has a strong understanding of right and wrong, good and bad, and so on. Eastwood is a really hard guy, says little, and still you know and understand his sense of right and wrong. Django, on the other hand, is a little tougher to read. We understand that he’s had a horrible life, and has really been wronged. We also feel for him that he has a right to go after the guys that did him wrong, but somehow there’s just a little too much glee in the revenge angle. He had a bit too much fun killing these guys. Then again, it may be just a bit of resentment I bring to the movie after Jamie Foxx’s Saturday Night Live performance which was so over the line. The whole monologue bit about “I got to kill all the white people! How awesome is that?” bit kind of struck me as a bit over the line. I was a fan of Jamie’s since the In Living Color days which was one of my favorite comedy shows back in the day, but he’s gotten a lot more militant in his “I hate white people” rants in recent years. I’m sorry he hates me so much when I don’t even know him. So perhaps some of that has tainted my enjoyment of his glee in killing white people in this movie.

Christoph Waltz was really good in this film. He brought a lot of humor to the movie, and was a really good, yet quirky guy, that is perfect for the film. I think the homage to the westerns of old is very well pulled off. Certainly Jamie Foxx does a very good job of the hard edged, cool headed angel of death as well. The camera work was very well done, and the setting was very good. For Tarantino fans, this is every bit as good as his other top notch work, and I can see why it was up for so many awards. There is not a lot wrong with this movie, and it deserved all the nods that it got. Remember, however, that if you’re turned off by violence and gore, this, like any other Tarantino work is very graphic. But if you can look past it, this is very well worth watching.

I have not mentioned the original 1966 Django film starring Franco Nero. It’s a similar story, and one many attribute the entire spaghetti western genre. It is a totally different film though, and has no relation to this story at all (other than the general feel to it) so there is no reason to really compare the two. This is not a remake. However, Tarantino says he was researching the director of Django (Sergio Corbucci) and decided to make what he called a “southern” which is a “western” staged in the deep south. Franco Nero, who starred in the original Django actually had a cameo role in Django Unchained.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Sense and Sensibility Ventures,

James Cromwell, Bailee Madison, Jackson Rathbone, Alicia Witt, Andrew Sensenig, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Frankie Faison, Madison Burge, Louanne Stephens, Leslie-Anne Huff, Drew Waters

Ida (Bailee Madison) is a young girl growing up with her single Mom. She’s a very independent little girl, but she naturally has many questions about her father. Her Mom refuses to discuss it, so armed with just a name, and the info that her Dad is a rodeo rider, she heads out to try to find him. She bumps into “The Sweethearts of the Rodeo” a group of trick riding girls led by a famous ex-rodeo rider named Terrence Parker (James Cromwell).

You know there’s nothing like a good Country and Western movie! It seems there’s never enough of those. This story is probably a little too cutesy for some people. But the little girl (Bailee Madison) is really cute. She’s a pretty good little actress and she carries the lead role good enough. James Cromwell is always great. He’s one of the best of the crotchety old man actors who really revs it up in this movie. The trick riding is well done, and the shows are good. It’s like a sports movie that’s not so heavy on the “big game”. There are a couple back stories on some of the characters that makes it pretty good. I guess the only one who comes off badly is poor Mom, but she does appear to be somewhat of a pain! I’m talking child abandonment, as this poor kid is left alone night after night while Mom’s out dating and stuff. All that doesn’t matter though. Like a Disney “Wonderful World of Color” two part Sunday Night show, this nice little family film takes us through the challenges of a little girl dreaming about who her father is. Will she find him, or is he long gone? It doesn’t really matter in the end, as the story is about the adventure getting there and watching Bailee’s character grow up before our eyes.

Not a heavy story, it’s family fare, for sure, but it’s a worthwhile diversion, and a enjoyable story. I am glad I watched this.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Universal Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, Reliance Entertainment,

Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano, Noah Ringer, Keith Carradine, Adam Beach, Clancy Brown

The year is 1873, it’s in the desert in Arizona and Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes up with no idea who he is or where he came from. The only clue is a mysterious metal bracelet. Meanwhile, life goes on in the town, with some ruffians who think they own the town. Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and his sons and helpers give fits to every decent citizen in the town, but especially Sheriff John Taggart. But there are bigger problems as a race of aliens have crash landed in the desert with a plan to take over the earth. It seems that everyone is going to have to work together to fight the aliens, and as Jake gradually remembers who he is and what he’s there for a mysterious woman (Ella Swenson) seems to know some of the secrets.

This is a very unusual story based on a very unusual book. I have never heard of a story set in the old west that involved outer space killer aliens, but why not? Why are the modern people and the ancient Aztec’s the only ones who could see aliens. I was very excited for this film to come out, but I missed catching it in the theater. There were just too many other films at the time. So now it’s available on DVD.

I am really torn on this film. In one way there is a lot of action, terrible alien creatures that are nightmare inspiring. Harrison Ford is really good, and the western in this film isn’t half bad. But there is something fatally wrong with this film, and it’s really hard for me to put my finger on it. There just doesn’t seem to be any heart here. There is no depth to the story, no meaning, and no feeling. They are fighting alien creatures without purpose other than just to save their skin. If there’s nothing noble or meaningful, then it’s just fighting. Director Jon Favreau is known for his action scenes in films like Iron Man and Iron Man 2, but in this film, there just seems to be action and violence without much purpose.

I don’t mean that it’s a bad movie. I am glad I watched it on DVD, and if you’re a fan of westerns (these are very few and far between in these days), or huge action films with guns and explosions and lots of thing getting blown up, the for sure, catch this if you haven’t seen it. But if you’re look for a touching story, or a real intense drama, I’m afraid this didn’t quite cut it in that department. Acting is passing, storyline is a bit weak, and explosions are plenty. A good action film, and worth the rental, for sure.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Ralph Smart Productions

Chips Rafferty, John Fernside, Helen Grieve, Stan Tolhurst, Pat Penny, Thelma Grigg, Clyde Combo, John McCallum, Nicky Yardley, Morris Unicomb

When thieves steal thier families prize horses, four Australian children living in the bush, They tell their mother they are heading out for a camping trip, but instead, decide to go out and find the horses to save Christmas as their father has told them there is no Christmas this year. They do some serious detective work to find the horses and attempt to save the holiday.

This is a black and white adventure film from 1947. It’s a decent “western-ish” film set in Australia. It’s not a typical Christmas film, as really, Christmas only has a small part of the film. It’s set at Christmastime, but it’s summer in Australia, and the time of year has very little to do with it. This film was remade in the 1980’s starring a very young Nicole Kidman as one of the children. I have seen this film in the 99 cent bin in the dollar store, but I haven’t ever found that version on TV. However this original 1947 version is being shown on Turner Classic Movies this month. If you are interested in the historical nature of this 1947 film, then it’s worth checking out, but as a Christmas delight, it’s not got much to offer. So I’m rating this pretty low, but that’s because I’m looking at it as a Christmas film, and it doesn’t fit that very much. But as a historical film, it does have a lot of significance.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

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