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VERY pleased to announce an excellently fun gig with History Channel–the daunting task of recommending a series of westerns to savvy history buffs. Check out my recs at their History Shop (oh, and buy some westerns for holiday gifts, especially if you or your friend/lover/pard is the laconic hero type!). As a special bonus for this roundup of . . . → Read More: A Fistful of Westerns; or, History Channel Rounds Up Bucko’s Greatest Westerns   2 comments  Best Western Lists, CowboyLands Lists, Film Reviews, The Good the Bad the Fugly, Wild Western Web  acid western, b-westerns, Bucko of Cowboylands, classic westerns, cowboy hero, essential western plots, feminist western, greatest westerns, History Channel, modern westerns, revisionist western, silver-screen western hero, western movies 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 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 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 The Dude totally got them. Roy Rogers harmonized for them in their self-titled theme song by Bob Nolan. The glamorous Supremes sang about them. Jack Palance recited their theme song. The Library of Congress, in 2010, honored them with their song’s inclusion into the National Registry.
Seeeeeeeeeeeee them tumbling down 6 comments Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Reel Life vs. Real Life, The Good the Bad the Fugly, Wrangling a Novel city slickers, novel writing, sons of the pioneers, summer, supremes sing country western, tumbling tumbleweed, western cliches, western movies, when will i ever finish this novel, wild west In a reckless land…In a lawless place…Sometimes one man can make all the difference. –voice-over of trailer, The Miracle Rider
The story is an old one. Clichéd even. But satisfying. Writer’s hopes for perfect manuscript leading to speedy publication, six-figure salary, film, and several homes around the world are killed in some suitably dramatic, bloody way. The writer, . . . → Read More: The Miracle Rider; or, How Tom Mix Saved My Novel 4 comments Cowboy Moments, Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Movie Quotes, Reach for the Skies!, The Good the Bad the Fugly, What Would Gary Cooper Do?, Wrangling a Novel 1930s serials, b-westerns, cowboy hero, cowboy up, novel writing, silver-screen western hero, the miracle rider, tom mix, western cliches, western movies, western serials, westerns, when will i ever finish this novel, writing novels is great Westerns = Greek drama. And shut up, Aeschylus is so not rolling in his grave. He’d have appreciated the golden-boy good looks of John Wayne in John Ford’s Stagecoach and the film’s subtle yet sharp critique on so-called civilized society–the stagecoach journey as a vehicle for a development of a humane community that cannot survive in . . . → Read More: Men Will Be Men and Women Will Be Women; or, The Sexual Frontier of Epic Westerns 2 comments Cowboy Mythos, Cowboys Gone Wrong, Cowgirl Mythos, Men Were Men and Women Were Women, State of the Union 2011, The Good the Bad the Fugly american west, cimarron, cowboylands, epic westerns, essential western plots, silver-screen western hero, western cliches, western genre, western men, western movies, western themes, western women, westerns, wild west Reel-life cliffhangers in western serials run a narrow range. But cliffhangers in real life are much more subtle, devious, and hair-raising. Cue exclamation points here, and lots of them. IN REEL LIFE: A wagon hurtles over a cliff! (Don’t fret: The hero will jump off in the nick of time.) A powder . . . → Read More: The Reality of Cliffhangers; or, Real-Life Versions for Real-Life People 4 comments Cowboy Mythos, Cowgirl Mythos, Reach for the Skies!, Reel Life vs. Real Life, The Good the Bad the Fugly, What Would Gary Cooper Do? b-westerns, cliffhanger, cliffhangers, cowboy hero, essential western plots, getting western, linda stirling, silver-screen western hero, western cliches, western cliffhangers, western heroines, western movies, western serials, women gunslingers, women in westerns, zorro's black whip |
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