Western

Three Amigos

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Three Amigos
  • IMDb: link

Three Amigos DVD reviewToday’s Throwback Thursday post takes us back to the 1986 comedy which united Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short as a trio of silent B-movie stars mistaken for the western gunfighters they portray on film. In many ways the film proved to be a precursor to Galaxy Quest (or, as I like to call it, the best Star Trek movie ever made) which took the same premise of Hollywood stars and threw them into a world they had only pretended to live in. While Three Amigos is no Galaxy Quest, the zany comedy still holds up relatively well three decades later with the trio’s amusing antics, the accidental death of the Invisible Horseman, and a trio of original songs from Randy Newman.

Borrowing the basic set-up from Seven Samurai, a woman from a small Mexican village (Patrice Martinez) seeks the help of gunfighters to defend her home against the bandit El Guapo (Alfonso Arau) and his outlaws. Watching part of a film starring the western heroes, and believing them to be gunfighters, Carmen enlists the help of the Amigos who mistakenly believe they are being offered a role in a prestigious film with an in-famous co-star. Hilarity ensues.

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Silverado

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Silverado
  • IMDb: link

Silverado movie review

Today’s throwback Thursday post takes us on the road to Silverado. Lawrence Kasdan‘s post-modern western about four strangers (Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, and Danny Glover) coming together to fight injustice in a western town ruled over by corrupt sheriff (Brian Dennehy) and greedy landowner (Ray Baker) is as entertaining today as when it was released in theaters 32 years ago.

Shot on location New Mexico by cinematographer John Bailey and set to the Academy Award nominated score by Bruce Broughton, Silverado is a love letter to the classic western focusing on themes of frontier justice, hard choices, and standing up for what’s right. Each of the four characters is given their own arc as Paden (Kline) finds his loyalties tested, Emmett (Glenn) and Mal (Glover) both stand up for family, and Jake (Costner) fights his own impulsive nature. The film is peppered with entertaining supporting roles from the likes of John Cleese, Rosanna Arquette, Linda Hunt, Jeff Goldblum, Lynn Whitfield, Amanda Wyss, and Jeff Fahey as the menacing Tyree.

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The (Not-Quite) Magnificent Seven

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
  • IMDb: link

The Magnificent SevenThe remake of 1960’s The Magnificent Seven starts in much the same manner, with a over-the-top villain (Peter Sarsgaard) threatening the prosperity of a peaceful farming town. Unable to protect themselves a small group (Haley Bennett and Luke Grimes) leave the town looking to hire gunmen with their meager resources. What they find is bounty hunter who helps recruit a motley crew of cowboys and outlaws willing to take on impossible odds for little reward.

There are some important differences between the two films (and not only the fact that the setting is moved from Mexico to a nondescript location somewhere in the Old West). The first is choosing to make the quest personal for one member of seven which changes the climax of the film in ways that aren’t necessarily improvements. As with the other changes (such as the town’s reaction to the outlaws, the makeup of the seven themselves, and a more dramatic tone to the movie), choosing to make the lead character’s choice as much about vengeance as justice is an important distinction. Because of this, and the more dramatic slant to other aspects of the story, the remake lacks the larger rousing heroic scale of the original.

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Coming Soon – Outlaws and Angels

/ / Film News & Trailers
  • Title: Outlaws and Angels
  • IMDb: link

 

 

With a posse on their trail, a gang of bank robbers chooses to hide out in a farmhouse where one of the outlaws (Chad Michael Murray) takes a shine to one of the farmer’s daughters (Francesca Eastwood) in this western from writer/director JT Mollner. Madisen Beaty, Nathan Russell, Luke Wilson, and Teri Polo also star. After premiering at Sundance, Outlaws and Angels opens in limited release in select cities on July 15th.

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Jane Got a Gun

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Jane Got a Gun
  • IMDb: link

Jane Got a GunWhen the past catches up with them, Jane Hammond (Natalie Portman) is forced to reach out to her former lover Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton) to save the lives of herself, her wounded husband (Noah Emmerich), and her young daughter from the wicked John Bishop (Ewan McGregor) and his band of outlaws.

Aside from casting a woman in the main role, Jane Got a Gun is a fairly conventional western. However, the choice to make Jane (rather than Dan) the central character in the story is an important one. Presented from her perspective, it’s Jane who slowly opens up about her road after separating with Dan during the Civil War (in which she believed he had died). The heartbreaking reveals mend the relationship between Jane and Dan just in time for one final fight against the men responsible for destroying their lives.

Propelled by character and the looming threat more than plot, Jane Got a Gun succeeds on the strength of its leads while McGregor and Boyd Holbrook provide the right notes as the movie’s black hats.

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