Wednesday, April 18, 2012

F This Movie! - Our Favorite Westerns

Saddle up and ride out with Patrick and JB as they count down some of their favorite westerns, debate "huckleberry" versus "huckle bearer" and drink a large glass of warm gin with a human hair in it.



Download this episode here. (34.2 MB)

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Also discussed this episode: Man of the West, Chinatown, Popatopolis, The Spirit

16 comments:

  1. My favorite westerns (that I've seen; too many classic westerns sit unwatched in my 'kevyip' pile):

    5. THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES;
    4. JOHNNY GUITAR;
    3. THE WILD BUNCH;
    2. HEAVEN'S GATE (Extended Version);
    1. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

    Honorable mentions: The Magnificent Seven, Guns for San Sebastian, Open Range, Rio Bravo, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Winchester '73, Wyatt Earp ('93), The Baron of Arizona.

    Serious question: can "Dances with Wolves" and "Blazing Saddles" be categorized as westerns? The latter is a comedy but, as I recount the plot, to me it qualifies as a (very funny) western up until the fourth wall-breaking final few minutes. Costner's epic qualifies (frontier setting, lives are changed by Dunbar's presence in their world, etc.) but the plot and the story don't seem like western material, more like dramatic/Oscar bait conventional stuff. What do you gents think?

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  2. I always assumed Dances With Wolves was a comedy.

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    Replies
    1. Whereas I thought Blazing Saddles was a drama, because racism.

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  3. Great podcast, I asked in an e-mail a few months back for more on westerns, so I’m really glad that you did this show. As always with shows featuring JB I came away feeling like I’ve really learned something.

    For me it’s between The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in The West and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (it was me that brought it up in the Oscars blog) for the #1 western, so I’m glad they were all discussed.

    Also, having watched Bad Day at Black Rock recently, would you guys class that as a revisionist western? I personally would, but I know others that don’t think it is.

    I really enjoyed the brief discussion of Chinatown and would love to hear you guys do an episode about it.

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  4. What's with the "How the West Was Fun" poster, was this even mentioned on the show?

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    1. Didn't you hear the '100th Podcast spectacular' podcast? It's part of the tongue-in-cheekness of the 'F' heads' so-called humor. :-) But yes, this is the first time Patrick uses a movie poster of something that wasn't even remotely mentioned in the podcast. Like poverty and my deductible mortgage rate, the humor parameters of 'F This Movie' expand exponentially to the topic at hand.

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  5. You sure you don't mean "Wagon Master" (1950) RR? Because 1994's "Wagons East" (no apostrophe) is John Candy's last movie filmed before his death, and it doesn't have a shred of Ford's mise-en-scene anywhere near it. ;-)

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  6. I'm surprised that Patrick didn't go with "Big Money Rustlas'" as the poster, ha ha.

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  7. Post disapeared.....weird.

    FYI, Corman's World does include the Nicholson getting choked up moment in the main feature. It really was the icing on the cake with that documentary.
    I wasn't too sure if it was a set up or genuine, because I have sene Nicholson being interviewed a few times before and this moment was so out of character for him. I am going to assume it was genuine because it makes it so wonderful.

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  8. In JB's talk about how Westerns are a prototype that other genres have since been impressed upon (the Star Wars talk), I wonder whether referring to it as "Westerns" is the most accurate term. What I mean is, did something come before Westerns that established the blue print that the Westerns used? Is referring to Westerns as the originators completely accurate?

    Yes, I realise that this is not relevant, and I am not trying to poke holes in anyones arguement here, more just curious. Because Westerns get a lot of credit for a lot of things, and I always wonder about the factual nature of those claims vs the preferential bias of the person making them.

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  9. Suggestion for the F this Movie Glossary, re JB's comment about Jack Nicholson.

    Hoo-Ha! - When a bad performance got a great response and then the actor uses that performance for the rest of their career. Obviously in reference to Pacino's post-Scent of a Woman campaign to make us all wonder what the hell happened to him.

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    Replies
    1. Good suggestion. Johnny Depp is dangerously close to being in this category thanks to Captain Jack Sparrow.

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    2. Yeah, what happened to him? I was watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and was struck dumb by how interesting his performance is in there. Of course he's doing a straight up impersonation, which is what most his acting seems to consist of, so maybe that's it.

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    3. Your suggestion for 'Hoo-Ha!' was just mentioned by Patrick on the "Heat" podcast. Congratulations Grey Weirdo, you're famous now! :-)

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  10. Great episode - I am in my 50s so when I first saw "The Searchers" in college it was a bit confusing. In fact my roommate was incensed that the "hero" John Wayne was a racist; and I was not eloquent enough to express what the hell was going on so my defense was rather lame. Also, I was not very perceptive about some of the plot; I am better about understanding all sort of entertainment now. Too bad my roommate isn't around to hear this podcast. Thanks again.

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  11. I am SO happy you talked about The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford! I've wanted to hear your opinions about it for a while because I absolutely love that movie, and I think it is an underrated masterpiece which I hope and think will become a classic in the years to come.

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