Thursday Movie Picks: Westerns


Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, a weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where each Thursday you have to pick three films to match the week's topic.

This week password is western aka stories involving cowboys, gunfighters, Native American, bandits, bounty hunters, outlaws, and so on. Actually that's not what comes to my mind when I think about westerns. Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach are. Maybe because they were in first westerns I've seen - thank you highschool teacher for that. That being said, even though I liked those films, I went on a different road and picked my favs. 

Slow West (2015)

At the end of the nineteenth century, a 16-year-old boy journeys across the American frontier in search of the woman he loves, joining a mysterious traveler and being pursued by an outlaw in the process. I only watched this because of Michael Fassbender, but it turned about to be such a touching and engaging western, even despite its very slow pacing.


The Hateful Eight (2015)

It's winter in Wyoming, and eight travelers, all headed to the town of Red Rock, seek refuge at a stagecoach stopover, and will come to learn that they many not make it to Red Rock after all. I know a lot of people hated this film, I didn't. It is so insanely brilliant I can't help for love it. There's everything I love about Tarantino, from the witty and engaging dialogue, to the sick characters. And the violence, of course.


Dances with Wolves (1990)

After being exiled to a remote western Civil War outpost, a Union Army lieutenant befriend wolves and Native Americans. Kevin Costner's directorial debut is a spectacular, adventurous and romantic film that tells a story about Native Americans so beautifully. It's a "what if" story, but it's still truly beautiful.
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16 comments :

  1. Brittani Burnham24 November 2016 at 14:12

    I haaaated Dances With Wolves lol. I'm not a Western person at all so this week was hard.

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    1. Sonia Cerca16 January 2017 at 18:31

      Omg seriously? I loved it! The extended version even more!

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  2. joel6591324 November 2016 at 16:14

    Of these three I've only seen Dances with Wolves so far, which I liked but don't see as a Best Picture winner. Still an interesting film. I have Slow West in my queue, hadn't heard of it until today but it's popping up all over the place. I'm not a Tarantino fan so I've avoided Hateful Eight and from what I've heard it just doesn't sound like my thing.

    I'm big on Westerns so I was happy with this theme and actually ended up with four I couldn't decide between so I have a bonus.

    Silverado (1985)-Reformed thief Paden (Kevin Kline), left for dead in the desert is rescued by Emmett (Scott Glenn) who’s passing by on his way to meet his rakish quick draw brother Jake (Kevin Costner) so they can visit their sister in Silverado before heading out to California. Along the way they befriend Mal (Danny Glover) who’s heading the same way. Once there Paden finds the town is run by his old gang led by Cobb (Brian Dennehy) now the sheriff as well as the owner of the saloon operated by the wise Stella (Linda Hunt). There’s a range war brewing and the boys are pulled in leading to a showdown. Solid western directed well by Lawrence Kasdan.

    Hannie Caulder (1971)-After she’s been raped, her home burned and her husband murdered before her eyes by three brothers Hannie Caulder (Raquel Welch) is hell bent on revenge. She tracks down bounty hunter Thomas Price (Robert Culp) and pressures him into training her to be a deadly shot then starts her hunt for justice. Tough, violent western with Welch hard as nails in the lead.

    The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)-When Senator Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) arrives in the small western town of Shinbone for old friend Tom Doniphon’s (John Wayne) funeral a curious reporter pursues him and tries to find out why he would travel so far for a man no one knows anything about. Stoddard shares a story of arriving in Shinbone a greenhorn young lawyer years before and how he rose to his current position by being the infamous Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), a notoriously evil outlaw, and what part Doniphon played. A study of myth building and busting is director John Ford’s last great film.

    Bonus: River of No Return (1954)-Vigorous tale set in the 19th century Pacific Northwest of widowed farmer Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum), recently released from jail for an honor killing, his young son Mark, the beautiful showgirl Kay (Marilyn Monroe) and her ruthless gambler fiancé Harry Weston (Rory Calhoun) who cross their path and a perilous raft journey down The River of No Return in a quest for gold and redemption. Big stars, standard story and beautiful location filming in the Canadian Rockies make this worth seeing. Marilyn sings several good era appropriate songs well including the title song though Mitchum sings it over the credits.
    Side note: Mitchum & Monroe (when she was still Norma Jean Dougherty) knew each other well pre-fame, he worked with her first husband, which adds a bit of background dimension to their interaction in this film.

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    1. Sonia Cerca16 January 2017 at 20:16

      A lot of Tarantino fans I know didn't like The Hateful Eight, so if you're not a fan, you better stay away from it. I believe I have The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance on my watchlist. It should be interesting seeing Stewart in a western.

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  3. Myerla24 November 2016 at 20:41

    Yeah...Slow West is an appropriate title haha but I did really like the film, it was quite touching. Really liked the Hateful Eight but it wasn't my favorite Tarantino but it was violent enough for my tastes.

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    1. Sonia Cerca16 January 2017 at 20:19

      The Hateful Eight isn't my favourite either, but thankfully I was one of those who enjoyed it.

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  4. Birgit25 November 2016 at 03:11

    I still have to see Slow West and The Hateful Eight. I have seen Dances With Wolves more than once and do like it very much but cry every time the wolf is killed....I hate that

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    1. Sonia Cerca16 January 2017 at 20:22

      So glad to know I'm not the only one who cries every time. I always cry when they kill animals. I don't care about humans, they can all die, but please don't touch the animals.

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  5. Katie Hogan25 November 2016 at 14:55

    Aw Dances with Wolves it's long but I did enjoy it. Ah yes another for Slow West. I thought The Hateful Eight would be more popular - brilliant film.

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    1. Sonia Cerca16 January 2017 at 20:24

      I'm glad you liked The Hateful Eight. It really deserves more love.

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  6. Dell25 November 2016 at 17:01

    I really need to see Slow West and Dances With Wolves. I did see The Hateful Eight. I'm with you on it being brilliant.

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  7. Getter26 November 2016 at 22:54

    The Hateful Eight... uh.. like, I could not recommend that. I thought about it, but for me, it just did not go well with. Dances With Wolves I think is one of my mother's favs, but I don't think I've seen it myself.

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    1. Sonia Cerca16 January 2017 at 20:26

      You should watch it. In my opinion it's one of those movies to watch at least once.

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  8. Wanderer1 December 2016 at 11:25

    I really enjoyed Slow West, I definitely did not mind its slowness.

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