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Don’t get me wrong. I would recommend Clint Westwood’s Unforgiven (1992), even if it was just because people who don’t like westerns say they like this western. To them, I’m like, um, this is a total western, so I don’t get what you’re saying, but whatever–it kicked the genre in its dusty ass at a time . . . → Read More: Unforgiven; or, I’ll Never Forgive the Blood-Soaked Retribution Blah, Blah, Blah Bits  I’m often asked how I got into westerns–sometimes with a tone of disbelief, as in how could one possibly like this hoary, cardboard cutout genre?? I barely know myself: I was always the one who insisted on playing the Indian in Cowboys and Indians because cowboys were just so not interesting to me. And watching movies where . . . → Read More: Fact and Fiction: What Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny, and Star Trek Taught Me about the West  4 comments  Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Movie Quotes, Origins and Originals, Reel Life vs. Real Life, The Good the Bad the Fugly  bugs bunny western, cowboy hero, coyote western, roadrunner western, star trek OK corral, star trek western, western cliches, western movies, wild west, yosemite sam western We’ll find ’em in the end, I promise you. We’ll find ’em. Just as sure as the turnin’ of the earth. —Ethan Edwards (John Wayne), The Searchers (1956) The Meaning of Life was easier to know before World War II. They were bad; we were good. Since 1945, it’s been harder to maintain the line in the . . . → Read More: Did the Duke take the Myth to the Grave?; or, Tim Neath’s Search through Western Films 6 comments Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Movie Quotes, The Good the Bad the Fugly, Uncategorized, Wild Western Web cowboys in sheffield, creative spark 2012, did the duke take the myth to the grave, life in an abandoned town, martha and ethan, the searchers, tim neath, western art, western cliches, western movies, western themes “I want to be a cowboy.” –Chin Hao, aka Shanghai Joe, played by Sessue Hayakawa, aka Chen Lee, The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe, 1973 I’ve always said that Silver-Screen Western Heroes come in all shapes, sizes, genders, and nationalities. Whether SSWHs are male or female, from the East or the West, they share a certain stillness in their . . . → Read More: Reward Good, Fight Evil; or, the Western Hero Lessons of The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe 2 comments Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Film Reviews, Movie Quotes, Reach for the Skies!, The Good the Bad the Fugly, What Would Gary Cooper Do? asians in westerns, chin hao, cowboy hero, klaus kinski, land of opportunity, martial arts western, sessue hayakawa, shanghai joe, silver-screen western hero, spaghetti westerns, the fighting fists of shanghai joe, western cliches They’re the snarling thugs behind the mustache-twirling villain. The what’s-his-name-again guys holding prisoner the beautiful cowgirl in distress. The cannon fodder who aim their guns at the well-armed Silver Screen Western Hero. On cue they say “Okay boss,” “Let’s get him!” or just grunt. Let's get 'em, boys! Henchmen come in all sizes, most ethnicities, one gender, and . . . → Read More: Zombie Cowboys; or, Why Western Henchmen Never Die 6 comments Cowboys Gone Wrong, Film Reviews, Movie Quotes, The Good the Bad the Fugly, Wrangling a Novel b-westerns, henchmen, henchmen in westerns, high noon, I need to finish that darn novel, in the nick of time, jack elam, lee van cleef, sisters brothers, the good the bad the ugly, western cliches, western movies Huh. And I thought it was all in the camerawork. A recent (April 2012) study at UCLA funded by the US Air Force has found that humans will perceive a man with a gun as larger than he really is. Study participants were asked to judge the size of men holding things like caulking guns, saws, drills, and . . . → Read More: Reach for the Skies; or, Study Says Guns Make People Look Bigger 2 comments Cowboy Moments, Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Reach for the Skies!, Reel Life vs. Real Life, The Good the Bad the Fugly chilean western, cowboy hero, glenna bell, grace kelly, guns in westerns, guns study, high noon, justified, people larger with guns, sal, silver-screen western hero, southern gothic wedding waltz, western cliches, will Kane Silence is golden. Combine that with a serious western hero, and you have gunpowder to burn. (Just one of the many promos pics of Olyphant aiming a gun. Note the un-western tie.) One of the best modern takes on the classic laconic western hero is U.S. Marshal Rayland Givens, from the master of gab, Elmore Leonard. Leonard’s dialogue–from . . . → Read More: Justified My Love; or, Elmore Leonard Updates Western Hero 6 comments Cowboy Moments, Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Film Reviews, Movie Quotes, Pulp Westerns and Paperbacks; Book Reviews, Reach for the Skies!, The Good the Bad the Fugly boyd crowder, cowboy code, cowboy hero, Elmore Leonard, harlan county western, justified, modern western, silver-screen western hero, timothy olyphant, western cliches It’s a well-worn stereotype that western heroes don’t talk about their feelings. But it’s not that they don’t have them. Western heroes are deep wells of emotion, actually. If you flicked a pebble into one of those wells, that little “plink” would echo and re-echo a thousandfold-fold-fold-fold-fold… Spoiler alert: Coop gets the gal in The Virginian. Take . . . → Read More: Shut up; or, The Eternal Silence of the Western Hero 2 comments Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Film Reviews, Men Were Men and Women Were Women, Movie Quotes, Reel Life vs. Real Life, The Good the Bad the Fugly, What Would Gary Cooper Do? bad day at black rock, cowboy code, cowboy hero, john sturges, owen wister, robert ryan, silver-screen western hero, spencer tracy, the virginian, western cliches Steer the rattling wagons into a tight circle! Protect the women and children! Draw your six-shooters as whooping Indians on painted war ponies streak over the rise of a hill! Look sharp, Tonto! This isn’t just a tired western stereotype, it’s a Silver-Screen Western Hero Equation! c. 2011 es cowboylands In reel life: Earnest pioneers moving to promised . . . → Read More: Circle the Wagons!; or, More Advice from a Besieged Writer I knew where it was going. Anyone who’s done his or her western homework would. There are two American archetypes that were sometimes played against each other in old Westerns. The egghead Eastern lawyer who lacks the skills or stomach for a gunfight is contrasted with the tough Western rancher and ace shot who has no patience for . . . → Read More: Fast Times at Liberty Valance High; or The Reel-Life Politics of Ford’s Anti-Western 9 comments Cowboy Mythos, Cowboys Gone Wrong, Cowgirl Mythos, Film Reviews, Men Were Men and Women Were Women, Movie Quotes, Reel Life vs. Real Life, State of the Union 2011, The Good the Bad the Fugly anti-western, cowboy diplomacy, cowboy hero, essential western plots, ford westerns, james stewart, john wayne, lee marvin, man who shot liberty valance, obama western, rick perry western, vera miles, western cliches, western movies, wild west |
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