The Movies

[BubbaMD]

Sounds like a threat, Bubba. How about I just kill you?

That sounds like something William Munny would say.

Top westerns are:

Silverado
The Sacketts
Wyatt Earp
Lonesome Dove
Conagher
Unforgiven
Open Range
Tombstone

Also, my comment wasn't directed at you. It seems you do indeed know what you're talking about.

[Chiaki Nitya]

Open Range! I'd forgotten about Open Range. Robert Duvall really stole the show in that one. Rip, if you haven't seen Wind River or Hell of High Water, give 'em a watch. Not exactly westerns, but great movies filled with western motifs.

[Chop_Top]

Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven has to be on a Western list. If it isn't, then you haven't seen it or don't know what you're talking about.

Unforgiven is epic, so many great characters with their own backstory, and the actors; Eastwood, Hackman, Freeman, Richard Harris, GREAT.

Top 3 Eastwood westerns (my favs)
Unforgiven
Josey Wales
High Planes Drifter

[Jenni]

So much goddamn tension through the whole thing.

I enjoyed the tension. It's almost foreplay. Or like those minutes when you first see someone from across a room when all the possibilities are in the air. Tension, anticipation. That whole movie is a psychological double entendre. Every time you watch you'll notice something you hadn't before.

I could watch Tombstone and Conagher every day and be happy but my Western list would also include Ride the High Country.

[JD Thomason]

Watched Wind River again today, great film. Jeremy Renner at his best, and I never developed the desire to punch the Olsen girl in the face. What sets WR apart is the action scenes- direct payoff of the story, explosive and out of nowhere. I greatly enjoy what JRs hunting rifle s to a bad guy at close range. Lot of power in those rounds (6.5 Creedmoor?)

[JD Thomason]

Got caught up on podcasts during a long drive this weekend. I liked the horror movie show- one I think you missed from about 15 years ago - "The Descent". When I was a Captain, I watched this with a bunch of guys in Afghanistan and some of my peers screamed aloud. great!

[Mark Rippetoe]

I have tried to watch The Descent twice. Couldn't get past the sorority sisters with perfect teeth.

Here's some catch-up:

Fail-Safe (1964) is the non-funny movie about the end of the world, in contrast to Dr. Strangelove (also 1964). Excellent performances, and directorial tension, soundtrack, and lighting. Fonda and Matthau at the height of their powers.

Shane (1952) has been revered as one of the best westerns, if not films in general, of all time. It is very good, with editing and direction ahead of its time, but in my opinion it doesn't compare with more modern work. I'm watching Stagecoach now, and the same is true. These things develop like everything does, generally advancing as time goes on, and if you want to be nostalgic instead of objective, that's fine.

And the sequel to 28 Days Later is 28 Weeks Later, a fine horror film, as good as the first one. In fact, these movies may be responsible for the sillyass response to COVID -- we want to participate in the adventure so badly, just to break up the monotony. I got an idea: just watch these movies and leave everybody else alone.

[JFord]

I have tried to watch The Descent twice. Couldn't get past the sorority sisters with perfect teeth.

Here's some catch-up:

Fail-Safe (1964) is the non-funny movie about the end of the world, in contrast to Dr. Strangelove (also 1964). Excellent performances, and directorial tension, soundtrack, and lighting. Fonda and Matthau at the height of their powers.

Shane (1952) has been revered as one of the best westerns, if not films in general, of all time. It is very good, with editing and direction ahead of its time, but in my opinion it doesn't compare with more modern work. I'm watching Stagecoach now, and the same is true. These things develop like everything does, generally advancing as time goes on, and if you want to be nostalgic instead of objective, that's fine.

And the sequel to 28 Days Later is 28 Weeks Later, a fine horror film, as good as the first one. In fact, these movies may be responsible for the sillyass response to COVID -- we want to participate in the adventure so badly, just to break up the monotony. I got an idea: just watch these movies and leave everybody else alone.

Fail Safe is an amazing movie. Not much "action", but a riveting, possibly plausible storyline. Phenomenal performances by Fonda and Matthau but don't leave out Larry Hagman's excellent portrayal of the president's translator. Also, it was a very short role but Nancy Berg gave a strong performance as Matthau's "groupie" who showed up in his car after his lecture on nuclear war.

I SO agree with you on the sound and lighting. The radio transmissions with their ambient sound and technical "imperfections" were realistic and so tense! Just out of curiosity, would this movie count as "film noire" or does that only apply to detective and mystery movies?

If you like the orignial Fail Safe, you should read the book which gets much more into the heads of the characters and was also excellent.

Shane was okay but to steal from Oscar Wilde, if you can watch this scene without laughing your ass off, then you must have a heart of stone: Ending of Shane

[Jdcuth]

I have tried to watch The Descent twice. Couldn't get past the sorority sisters with perfect teeth.

Here's some catch-up:

Fail-Safe (1964) is the non-funny movie about the end of the world, in contrast to Dr. Strangelove (also 1964). Excellent performances, and directorial tension, soundtrack, and lighting. Fonda and Matthau at the height of their powers.

Shane (1952) has been revered as one of the best westerns, if not films in general, of all time. It is very good, with editing and direction ahead of its time, but in my opinion it doesn't compare with more modern work. I'm watching Stagecoach now, and the same is true. These things develop like everything does, generally advancing as time goes on, and if you want to be nostalgic instead of objective, that's fine.

And the sequel to 28 Days Later is 28 Weeks Later, a fine horror film, as good as the first one. In fact, these movies may be responsible for the sillyass response to COVID -- we want to participate in the adventure so badly, just to break up the monotony. I got an idea: just watch these movies and leave everybody else alone.

28 Days Later and it’s sequel are great films. The female co-protagonists merciless response to her unfortunate colleagues infection early in the film is brutal….. and I love the scene where he wanders around a deserted London at the beginning

[Gerald Boggs]

Just watched “Fritz the Cat” for the first time. Interesting to compare some of what the cartoon characters said with what certain groups of Americans are saying today.