New Joint Marathon: Westerns. Sunday, April 3rd

You’ve read us dissect the Star Wars franchise like a couple of manic fanboys. Then you witnessed our valiant battle through the thick, dangerous jungles alongside John Rambo. Now join Bill from his Movie Emporium and I as we stand off against some of the slimiest, dirtiest foes from the wild, wild west…and possibly against each other! 

That is correct, faithful readers, another joint marathon is on the horizon, and this we shall be studying (god I love typing that even though that’s not even close what I am capable...) a very famous movie genre, one that is loved my film aficionados the world over: the western. It seems as if as long as there have been movies, there have been westerns. There are some obvious tropes, some of which are much appreciated by admirers in how they beautifully define the genre, while others have been mocked at times throughout the decades and evolution of cinema. The fact remains that westerns are still produced in our day and age, perhaps not at the same rate as was the case in the 40s, 50s and 60s, but still. What’s more, there are westerns made in countries other than the United States, the country traditionally associated with the genre, and for which the different cultures provide new flavours and new faces to the tried, tested and true expectations.

Bill and I started an interesting and quite practical format one year ago in the Star Wars marathon, with a review posted on a Sunday and a rebuttal article published the following week, this for each of our respective blogs. We shan’t be tampering with what needn’t be fixed, so that is how things will play out for this partnership. What has me really excited this time is the unexpected nature of our opinions on the films to be discussed. With Star Wars and Rambo, both Bill and I were fans, so the disagreements were far and few between (especially with Rambo, which, while fun to write about and share comments, was a bore in term of arguments). This time, I honestly don’t know what to expect from Bill and I don’t believe he knows what to expect from me.

Strap up your boots, put on your high-crowned, wide brimmed hats, pack your water bottles, and load up your pistols. On Sunday April 3^rd, a couples of new sheriffs will stroll into town.

No place to run. No reason to hide. Not only do Bill and I have no intention of running, but we certainly won't hide from our thoughts and feelings on these movies:

The Proposition (2005, John Hillcoat)

The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008, Kim Jee-woon)

The Wild Bunch (1969, Sam Peckinpah)

The Shootist (1976, Don Siegel)

Open Range (2003,Kevin Costner)

Ravenous (1999,Antonia Bird)

The Quick and the Dead (1995, Sam Raimi)

Pale Rider (1985, Clint Eastwood)

The order of the films will be determined soon. We also reserve ourselves to make some switches in the eventuality that availability of a DVD and/or Blu-ray becomes a concern.

We hope to see you at the showdown...