The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Manifest Destiny on film' Edition
According to AMC, Western Films or TV programs are the major defining genre of the American film industry... This indigenous American art form focuses on the frontier West that existed in North America (and) often portrays the conquest of the wilderness and the subordination of nature, in the name of civilization, or the confiscation of the territorial rights of the original inhabitants of the frontier. They truly show 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'
events of that part of our history. Love'em or loathe'em, their impact on our culture can not be denied...
If you are a fan what are your top 3 Western Films or TV programs and who are your favorite actors?
If you are not, feel free to rail away. I understand. I have Ojibwe ancestors (Sault Tribe of the Chippewa) and they suffered at the hand of the White man via broken treaties and confiscated land here in Michigan...
DanD opines...
Well, while John Wayne is not a "favorite" actor per-se, He and Jimmy Stewart (along with whomever the director was) did what I consider the ultimate "tongue-in-cheek" job of vilifying America's "going West" motivation in the film "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence". Of course, the tongue-in-cheek was that of the Director's, as Wayne -- and even Stewart -- played their parts with no guile whatsoever. Anyway, the film quite depreciative covers everything from the far-reaching consequences of post-Civil War slavery to the grand scheme of urbanized environmental destruction, and does so completely "straight." Jack Benny would'a (and probably was) been proud.
My next best actor (for a limited time) was David Carradine (I don't buy the asphyxia-oriented, auto-erotic allegations of his recent death; I think he was murdered as a final "tying up loose ends" function starting with the assassination of Bruce Lee) in the western (or super-far Eastern maybe) Kung Fu. Before Archie Bunker (I think), Kwai Chang was showcasing the slope-head underbelly of racism in America.
Finally, I appreciated Clint Eastwood's "The Unforgiven." It went where John Wayne's "The Shootist" only began in a commonly antiseptic way.
(hoo ha, Gene Hackman played one mean, evil bastard in The Unforgiven, I'm tellin' ya)
Sjmcros came up with...
BTTB Bob, this is a tough one, really difficult to pick just three, but here goes:
The movies
The Magnificent Seven
True Grit
Lonesome Dove
The actors
Robert Duvall
John Wayne
Clint Eastwood
As a baby boomer who grew up on westerns, I really hate to see so few being made. A few recent ones (Tombstone, Free Range, The Proposition, Appaloosa) had given me a little hope that the genre wouldn't die out, but they just don't make that many any more. Shane. I mean, shame.
Marilyn from Bellaire picks are...
Movies
1. High Noon
2. Magnificent Seven
3. Rio Bravo
Actors
Bette Davis
Paul Newman
Cary Grant
Jeff C. detailed...
Rio Bravo - starring John Wayne, Angie Dickinson, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan. Directed by Howard Hawks. John Wayne is American westerns, more so than any other actor, because most of his non-westerns have been entirely forgettable. Rio Bravo is his best western, in my opinion. The chemistry between the characters is wonderful, Angie Dickinson is mucho sexy, oh my Jesus, and Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson perform an admirable cowboy duet. I watch this movie every time it comes on television. And I have the DVD.
Fistful of Dollars - the spaghetti western version of Akiro Kurosawa's classic Yojimbo, starring Clint Eastwood, directed by Sergio Leone, music by Ennio Morricone. Unlike The Magnificent Seven, this is actually a good rendering of a Kurosawa story, almost equal to the original.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef, directed by Sergio Leone (again), music by Ennio Morricone (again). This movie, in my opinion, is the best of all westerns, tying together a great story, great directing, seminal music, and the best showdown in all of moviedom.
SallyP(al) in her usual form writes...
Hi B2BB, (Hi Pally... Thanks for the birthday greeting)
This week you query: If you are a fan what are your top 3 Western Films or TV programs and who are your favorite actors?
I respond: Only three?? (Sigh... Yes, Pally, only three... Now stop whining and get on with it, haha!)
Okay, my first thoughts on the, "Western" would be thoughts of the old western radio shows. But since you are a kid, and probably don't remember such shows, I will jump to the TV. (Forgive me if I don't feel deprived)
Number one has to be my all time hero, "The Lone Ranger," Clayton Moore.
Number two is Gene Autry;
Number three would be Roy Rogers.
The show, "Bonanza" comes in a close third, as does "Wagon Train." These were the daily or weekly shows which were a big part of my youth.
As for the "Western movie," yes, I can remember them very well - probably more from my, "Tween" years. Sitting in the darkened theater, watching the innocent White people, on a wagon train, heading out west. The camera goes to the bluff over looking the trail, and we see the, "evil" Injun scout watching the train. Then, he silently slips off to get some other sinister-looking injuns to help him sneak down to the camped train that night, where they steal the horses - stranding the train. A runner is sent out to the Fort for help - but we doubt that he can make it in time...
Early the next morning, the camera returns to the bluff and we see hundreds of injuns waiting for a signal from the Chief. We don't have to be told who he is of course, he sits up there upon his black stallion, or palomino - headdress of full eagle feathers, face painted (mostly black) and then, depending on the hero of the movie, probably, the Indians descend on the helpless travelers within the circled wagons - and we see men and women firing their rifles killing as many injuns as possible. Bodies were strewn as far as the eye could see but disclaimers were always shown at the end of the movie telling us that, NO HORSES WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS FILM.
In some cases the Indians won the wagon-train round, but they were always chased and killed thereafter.
Nevertheless, our favorite films featured the scout getting to the Fort safely, and as the injuns were surrounding the poor White wagon train folks, we hear the BUGLE sounding the arrival to the troops - who charge in by the thousands - killing every dern injun in sight - which caused the theater audience to whoop with delight - because we all knew that, "The only good injun was a dead one..."
Thank God in Heaven for my LIBERAL collage (sic) education, which has made me ashamed of ever having attended such films - even if I was on about 10 years old at the time!
I will say this, thanks to the three radio/TV shows listed above, I learned that not all Indians were bad (in fact most weren't) and they were usually depicted in a humane way - until Hollywood discovered that peddling hate was SO much more profitable, that is... Thus, as you said, B2BB, is the impact the, "Movie Western" has had on our culture, and yes, it cannot be denied!
Okay, you probably knew you would not be getting off with a simple answer here, huh?? (Ya think?)
That's about it for this poll, Pally!
Charlie Y said...
This is tricky. There are many that I like, sometimes in spite of myself, and wouldn't call myself a fan of the genre. Though the question mentions westerns as being the defining genre of the American film industry, many of my favorites are of the spaghetti variety. I will reluctantly name Clint Eastwood as my favorite western actor, though by no means all of his westerns are that great (Hang 'em High was lousy, and I didn't like High Plains Drifter all that much). Clint was also upstaged by Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and maybe by Lee Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More. I will, however, give an American Eastwood movie as my #1 pick.
Favorite movies:
1) The Outlaw Josey WalesM
2) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
3) They Call Me Trinity
(I had to get that last one in here somewhere)
Actors:
1) Eastwood
2) Lee Marvin (If only to balance Eastwood's politics)
3) Eli Wallach
All three have done fine work outside of the western genre, of course.
I can't think of anything that really deals well with the Native American Genocide, though perhaps someone here will mention something. Films Like Little Big Man and Dances With Wolves gave it a try, but came up short, in my view. I've never seen the HBO movie of Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, although I read the book shortly after it was published.
Well, all righty then, Poll-fans. Here are my choices...
Movies
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Dances With Wolves (particularly the Lakota 'tribal conferences' scenes)
Jeremiah Johnson (I loved Will Geer's character 'Bear Claw' and upstaged Redford in no small manner))
Actors
Clint Eastwood
John Wayne as 'Rooster Cogburn'
Sam Elliot
Some fun trivia about Eastwood can be found at the Internet Movie Data base website. The best one is that in all his movies he never killed an Indian. Also he claims 'Josey' as his own favorite movie and Johnny Carson declared it the greatest western of all time...
Thanks to all responders! As ever, Yer the Best!
BadToTheBoneBob
Next question will be September 8th as I'm taking a 'birthday' week off (and to aggravate my SallyP(al), haha)...
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Missing Richard Nixon (nytimes.com)
In the Nixon era, leaders in both political parties were capable of speaking rationally, and decisions weren't as warped by corporate cash as they are now.
Froma Harrop: Children Should Not Be Props on Reality TV (creators.com)
In the beginning, "Jon & Kate Plus 8" had a sweet charm. The little ones would scamper and
Susan Estrich: No Means What? (creators.com)
Every once in a while, and sometimes more often than that, someone sends me a clipping that makes me check the date twice and recheck the lines that look back at me in the mirror, only to realize I have been reading the same stories and writing about them for more than 20 years. Exactly the same. How can that be?
Ask Joe Weider: Red Meat Blues (creators.com)
Tip of the Week: Get your antioxidants, but don't pay an arm and a leg for them.
ROGER COHEN: Advantage France (nytimes.com)
Time bows at the altar of gastronomy in France. In the U.S., time is the altar.
Oliver Burkeman: This Column will Change Your Life (guardian.co.uk)
The energy needed to obtain information when required has diminished to almost nothing, so why bother learning stuff?
"Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink" by Jeff Johnson: A review by Gerry Donaghy
I don't have any tattoos, and I don't really plan on getting any either. It's not that I'm too lame to really pull one off.
Russell Hall: Joan Jett Optimistic About New Runaways Film (billboard.com)
Joan Jett and her creative and business partner Kenny Laguna are expressing optimism for "The Runaways," the film based on the maligned but influential all-female rock band that Jett co-founded and led from 1975-79.
Adaora Otiji: An Interview with Demond Wilson (thecelebritycafe.com)
Demond Wilson tells all about 'Sanford and Son' in new book.
Roger Ebert's Journal: The plague of movie trivia
When people cheerfully tell me, "I have a trivia question" for you, I have a cheerful answer for them, but I rarely express it: "I'm a professional. Ask an amateur." Why in the name of Buster would I want to clutter my memory with useless facts? During long, hard years of being asked trivia questions, I have learned one thing for sure. The person asking me is in the possession of one fact, and is pretty confident I don't know it. Therefore, my admission of defeat will demonstrate their superiority.
Initially, I thought the answer was The Mike Douglas Show, but when I started reading the responses, something seemed amiss.
wrote:
Update
The Fish Lady
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Crazy Town Hall Protester Interviews
You probably get a lot of these, but I'll bet mine is funnier. :D
This is a video I edited (in hi-def with professional audio) of interviews with some very crazy town hall "anti-healthcare-reform" protesters at a San Diego town hall meeting this past Saturday:
Reader Suggestion
some guy
PURPLE GENE'S MINI REVIEW
"TAKING WOODSTOCK"
Taking Woodstock
Directed by Ang Lee
(I BEG TO DISAGREE WITH "BARON DAVE)
I WENT TO SEE "TAKING WOODSTOCK" ON THE BIG SCREEN IN BERKELEY AND I SAT DOWN WITH MY HOT FRESH POPCORN AND PINK LEMONADE ANTICIPATING ANG LEE'S TAKE ON THE GREATEST MUSICAL EVENT OF MY LIFE.
I WANTED TO GO TO WOODSTOCK IN 1969 FOR ONE REASON ONLY...I HEARD BOB DYLAN MIGHT BE COMING (HE LIVED IN WOODSTOCK AT THE TIME) AND I STILL THINK THATS WHY THEY CALLED THE THING "WOODSTOCK!
TO PREPARE FOR THIS PREMIER SHOWING OF "TAKING WOODSTOCK" THE WEEK BEFORE I WATCHED THE UNCUT 4 HOUR VERSION OF "WOODSTOCK" THE MOVIE.....WOW....SO FAR OUT...AND THE MUSIC, TO THIS DAY, STILL AMAZES ME....THE SIMPLE FACT THAT ALL THESE STONED KIDS PUT UP WITH EACH OTHER (UNDER SOME TERRIBLE CONDITIONS) FOR THREE DAYS......IT WAS THE MUSIC MAN !
FROM THE MINUTE "TAKING WOODSTOCK" STARTED I WAS FEELING LIKE I WAS GOING ON A BAD TRIP...I MEAN SQUEEKY CLEAN TECHNOCOLOR HIPPIE WALT DISNEY MEETS OVERPLAYED BURLESQUE HILL BILLY LOCAL REDNECKS....
THE SEGUES AND EDITING SEEMED TO BE DISJOINTED (I DON'T THINK ANG LEE TOOK ACID TO MAKE THIS MOVIE) AND I THINK ALL THE CHARACTERS WERE CARACATURES OF THE PEOPLE THEY WERE PLAYING....AND WHAT REALLY DISAPPOINTED ME.....THERE WAS HARDLY ANY MUSIC SOUNDTRACK IN THE BACKGROUND....SOOOOOOOO I AM LEFT TO JUDGE THIS CINEMATIC OFFERING BY THE STORY AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ?????
IT JUST DIDN'T CARRY ME AWAY TO THAT AMAZING MOMENT IN TIME AND....THE MAGIC OF THE MUSIC....
SORRY (BARON DAVE).....THIS WAS NOT A GREAT MOVIE!
PURPLE GENE GIVES "TAKING WOODSTOCK" 5 HITS OF MEDIOCRE WINDOW PANE ACID OUT OF 10 FOR BEING NOT A "BAD TRIP" BUT A BORING ONE.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Not quite as hot, but still unpleasant.
36th Daytime Emmy Awards
Winners
Winners of Daytime Emmy Awards presented at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles:
Drama series: "The Bold and the Beautiful."
Lead actress in a drama series: Susan Haskell, "One Life to Live."
Lead actor in a drama series: Christian LeBlanc, "The Young and the Restless."
Supporting actress in a drama series: Tamara Braun, "Days of Our Lives."
Supporting actor in a drama series (tie): Vincent Irizarry, "All My Children," and Jeff Branson, "Guiding Light."
Younger actress in a drama series: Julie Berman, "General Hospital."
Younger actor in a drama series: Darin Brooks, "Days of Our Lives."
Game-audience participation show: "Cash Cab."
Game show host: Meredith Vieira, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."
Talk show-entertainment: "Rachael Ray."
Talk show-informative: "The Tyra Banks Show."
Talk show host: Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd, Barbara Walters, "The View."
Morning program: "Good Morning America."
Directing in a drama series: "One Life to Live."
Writing in a drama series: "General Hospital."
Performer in a children's series: Kevin Clash, Elmo in "Sesame Street."
Lifetime achievement: "Sesame Street."
Winners
Disney Eats
Marvel
The Walt Disney Co. is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.
Under the deal, which was announced Monday and is expected to close by the end of the year, Disney will acquire the rights to 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.
One point of the deal is to help Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theaters to see Marvel superheroes such as Iron Man in recent years. That contrasts with Disney's recent successes among young women with such fare as "Hannah Montana" and the Jonas Brothers.
Marvel television shows also already account for 20 hours per week of programming on Disney's recently rebranded, boy-focused cable network, Disney XD.
Marvel
Amnesty International's Freedom of Expression Award
Judith Thompson
Montreal-born playwright Judith Thompson has won another honour for her political drama, "Palace of the End."
Amnesty International in the U.K. has given Thompson its Freedom of Expression Award for penning the play, which unfolds in three monologues and is set in Iraq.
The award is given annually to a play that shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and carries a human rights message.
"Palace of the End" - which last year won a Dora Mavor Moore Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and was shortlisted for a Governor General's award - beat out 62 productions for the Amnesty honour.
Judith Thompson
Back On The Charts
Dame Vera Lynn
Forces sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn has became the oldest living artist to make it into the top 20 of the UK albums chart, her record company said. Skip related content
Dame Vera, who kept up the spirits of millions with her songs and personality during the darkest days of the Second World War, entered the album chart at number 20, at the age of 92.
Her album, We'll Meet Again - The Very Best of Vera Lynn, returned her to the charts almost six decades after she topped them in the 1950s.
The album features 24 songs from Dame Vera's golden years, including Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart, which was a number one hit in the US in 1952.
Dame Vera Lynn
Lawsuit Gets Green Light
Paris Hilton
An appeals court has ruled that Paris Hilton can continue pursuing a lawsuit against Hallmark Cards Inc. over the use of her picture and catch phrase "That's hot" on a greeting card.
Hilton sued the company in 2007 after it began selling without her permission birthday cards of a cartoon of a waitress serving a plate of food to a patron. A photo of Hilton's face was pasted on the cartoon's body.
Hilton alleges that the card ripped off her appearance as a waitress in an episode of her reality television show "The Simple Life."
The 9th US District Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling allowing the bulk of Hilton's lawsuit. Hallmark has defended the card as parody, which is normally protected under fair-use law.
Paris Hilton
Sues Over Firing
Former Miss California
Former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean (R-Implants) has sued pageant officials for libel, slander and religious discrimination.
Court records show Prejean sued California pageant executive director Keith Lewis and actress and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler in Los Angeles on Monday.
Prejean was fired in June by pageant officials, who cited missed scheduled appearances.
Former Miss California
Broadcast Standards!
Canadian TV
Canada's public broadcaster broke television regulations when it aired a New Year's Eve skit that joked about the possible assassination of U.S. President Barack Obama, the country's broadcasting regulator said on Monday.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission agreed with a industry-panel report which in May also found the skit inappropriate. The show was aired by the French language network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
In one segment of the "Bye Bye 2008" comedy program, two hosts discussed Obama's election in November 2008. Obama, who took office in January, is the first black U.S. president.
"We're not racists. It will be good to have a Negro in the White House. It will be practical. Black on white, it will be easier to shoot him," one of the show's hosts remarked.
Canadian TV
UK Police To Review Death
Brian Jones
British police said Monday they will review the death of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, whose 1969 drowning was ruled an accident but sparked decades of speculation that he was murdered.
Sussex police in southeast England said they will examine new documents received from an investigative journalist relating to Jones' death.
The Mail on Sunday reported that journalist Scott Jones - who is not related to the musician - has handed over 600 documents to Sussex police.
A coroner said Jones drowned while under the influence of alcohol and drugs, but the ruling did not quiet speculation that Jones' death was not an accident.
Brian Jones
Gobble Rare Metals
Hybrid Cars
The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods.
That makes Toyota's market-leading gasoline-electric hybrid car and other similar vehicles vulnerable to a supply crunch predicted by experts as China, the world's dominant rare earths producer, limits exports while global demand swells.
Worldwide demand for rare earths, covering 15 entries on the periodic table of elements, is expected to exceed supply by some 40,000 tonnes annually in several years unless major new production sources are developed. One promising U.S. source is a rare earths mine slated to reopen in California by 2012.
Among the rare earths that would be most affected in a shortage is neodymium, the key component of an alloy used to make the high-power, lightweight magnets for electric motors of hybrid cars, such as the Prius, Honda Insight and Ford Focus, as well as in generators for wind turbines.
Hybrid Cars
World Record Set
Mariachis
A total of 549 musicians got together to win the record for the birthplace of mariachi Sunday, playing several songs in just over 10 minutes, closing with favorites "Cielito Lindo" and "Guadalajara."
A representative of the Guinness Book of World Records, Stuart Claxton, made it official at the International Mariachi Festival.
The old record belonged to 520 mariachis who performed in San Antonio, Texas, in 2007, said Francisco Beckman, an organizer of the record-breaking attempt.
Mariachis
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