Almost two decades into the century, quality Western films are alive and kicking. Though doubtful the genre will ever bound back to its silver screen “heyday” of the 1940s and ‘50s, those released now are often top-grade fare. Modern Westerns crafted by film makers like Ron Howard, Gore Verbinski, and Joss Whedon pay a tribute…
The Phantom Empire starring Gene Autry is widely regarded as the first mash-up between Western and science fiction on the big screen. From the singing cowboy to recent films like Cowboys and Aliens, here are seven titles offering up androids and spaceships mixed with six-shooters and stagecoaches. The Phantom Empire (film serial, 1935) Gene Autry’s…
In 2003’s Monte Walsh, a story about the end days of the Old West cowboy, our protagonist played by Tom Selleck tells another long-time ranch hand that as long as there is one cow and one cowboy, it ain’t over. The film closes with Monte heroically galloping away on horseback, leaping over a car stuck…
Most films are released with some sort of hyperbole on their packaging: “The best film to come out of England!” or “An Oscar-worthy performance by Lead Actress!” Understandably, people tend to skim over these glowing reviews, which more often than not reek of prepaid endorsements or blatant lies. All that being said, I have a…
Obsession. The grand passion that drives a nominally sane member of society to destruction, murder, and madness. Great literature of every era has explored this topic: Ahab’s obsession with his white whale, Othello’s obsession with the fair Desdemona, Gollum’s obsession with the One Ring, and of course Plankton’s obsession with the secret recipe for the…
