"Paint Your Wagon"..........anyone??..............anyone.................??
I could go on for pages about Westerns. The great thing about them is that there have been as many brilliant offerings as turds. Granted, the formula is pretty bulletproof (sorry), but I think the truly great ones have transcended the genre' and are as much a reflection on society or the human condition as any of the great cinematic masterpieces.
I'd be pretty hard pressed to put them in any kind of quantifiable rating, but certainly in my Top Ten are:
Outlaw Josie Wales ("You boys gonna pull them pistols, or just sit there whistling
Dixie?")
Once Upon a Time in the West (Fonda's personal favorite character he ever played)
Tombstone ("I'll be your huckleberry" f-ing brilliant!!)
The Shootist (Wayne's life mirrored his movies & vice-versa)
The Searchers (Probably should include ALL of the John Wayne / John Ford films.)
Ride the High Country (Early Peckinpah, back when story meant as much as bloodshed. An underappreciated gem.)
Unforgiven (Eastwood's homage to The Shootist & his apology for a career glorifying violence for the sake of violence)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (Pretty much an anti-Western Western)
The Wild Bunch (A masterpiece! A great artist at the top of his game. I could go on for pages just on this film. Don't worry, I won't)
The Good the Bad and the Ugly (Also a undeniable masterpiece. Tied w/ Wild Bunch for my #1. If Fellini had made a Western, it would have been this.)
Lost of other worthy contenders which have been mentioned previously.
Ok, I'll shut up now.
-JP
Speaking of people coming out of the closet. Michael Stipe of REM just come out.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
