Cinema Cycle - Once Upon A Time In The West

Once Upon A

Time In The West

Friday, 02.14.2020

Media

Laserdisc

Attendees

Bruce Johnson

Setup / Background

1. I could just watch the credits for hours.
2. This appears to be the quintessential spaghetti Western.
3. There is almost no real dialogue for the first 30 minutes of this film
4. But I believe the body count is up to eight
5. Cinematography and soundtrack are excellent
6. Watching this film is like watching a motion picture painting, it's just all visual and sensory overload with very little dialogue.
7. The long slow unraveling plot told through a series of random events
8. It all slowly starts to make sense.  But you never know what's going to happen next
9. The great American story, the long-term development of resources
10. It all makes sense in the end.
11. I'm sorry but nobody looked as good as Claudia Cardinale does in this movie.

Cinema Cycle Notes

• 38 miles
• 165  minutes
• Odometer =  11741.1 miles  

He Saw / She Saw - The Homesman

Sue:

I want to watch this movie again...I feel like I missed so much.  A spinster (Hylary Swank),  took on the task of trying to transport three women who had experienced mental breakdowns while living in the old West.  So many twists and turns that I did not see coming.  What motivates a person to help others?  Some help for money (Tommy Lee Jones) some because they just do not like seeing others hurt.  And what happens when you do not get what you want?  In the movie you quit trying and hang yourself.  

Bruce:

Not the film you would expect unless you had read the book.  An interesting study of life on the early plains when towns were weeks apart by horse.  Not so much a story arc as it is a long character development with very interesting characters.  While some might find this a rambling film with little direction, it mirrors life, in that you never know what is coming next, and our interactions with those around us have a profound affect on all our futures. 

Cinema Cycle - Hang'em High

Cinema Cycle - Maverick

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 11/20/2017

TITLE:. Maverick

FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 127 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 28.7 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 8067.7 miles

SYNOPSIS: A young slick gambler makes his way across the west to compete in a high stakes poker tournament.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Western farce that appears to be a bunch of Hollywood “A” listers and their agents getting together to make a formulaic film.

PROS AND CONS:  I had sort of a love hate relationship with this film.  It is well done, but for all the wrong reasons.

The acting and script are walk through affairs with the characters mugging for the camera and getting into comedic situations that are neither funny or entertaining.  

I am a stickler for historical accuracy and do not much care for the stylized version of the west put forth by Hollywood.  That said, this film is impressive to look at.  You can tell that big bucks were spent on production value and scene selection.  That said, this isn’t how the real west was folks.  

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - The Santa Fe Trail

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 11/15/2017

TITLE:. The Santa Fe Trail

FORMAT: VHS

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 110 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 31.5 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 8019.7 miles

SYNOPSIS: Young West Point Officer’s in 1850 set off to capture abolitionist John Browne.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: A re-writing of history to give a silver aura to the American past of racism and slavery.  

PROS AND CONS:  This would be a funny film, if it were not done so badly.  A lot of money was spent making it, based on the crowd scenes and the number of horses.  But not even a young Ronald Reagan (as George Custer) and Errol Flynn (as Jeb Stewart) can make this worth watching.

The film appears to be an “I’m Sorry” card for all the bad things that lead up to the Civil War, and the young West Pointers are portrayed as pious, aw-shucks, good ole boys that are bound for destiny.  These are social studies figures that are blown up way beyond their historical significance.  

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Date: 11/15/2017

Time: 110 minutes

Mileage:31.5 miles

Cinema Cycle - Boots and Saddles

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 05/08/2017

TITLE: Boots and Saddles

FORMAT: VHS

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 50 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 11.6 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 6629.6 miles

SYNOPSIS: A do-good ranch manager teaches a young aristocrat about good old fashioned American values….and gets the girl.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: A propaganda / fantasy film of how the west never really was.  Viewed in today's turbulent times it almost seems angelic.

PROS AND CONS:  I sort of groaned when I saw this come up for viewing.  I was surprised with the film from the start and was engaged throughout.

This is a hokie film to be sure, with simplistic characterizations, and themes of right triumphing over evil.  The film is mediocre with the exception of two qualities.

The writing and storyline (along with the musical numbers) are very good.  They even make bad acting look good.  The other is the scenery.  Filmed in the mid-1930s, it showcases a virgin western landscape that would be hard to find in the present day.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - The Frontiersman

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 01/11/2016

TITLE: The Frontiersman

FORMAT: VHS

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 14 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 17.6 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 3866.2 miles

SYNOPSIS: A ranch foreman solves a cattle rustling problem while mentoring a spoiled young child and a new school teacher.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER:   American propaganda in the western genre.  It has singing school children, right has might iconic imagery and lots of spanking.

PROS AND CONS:  Whether or not you believe this is a good movie depends on your frame of mind.  It is a propaganda film for the American way of life and the concept of core values that the media and the government at the time wanted to indoctrinate its viewers with.  

This is not the real west.  This is the sanitized view of the past were American values were fostered and grew into mighty cultural oaks. A past where the young children were taught to learn to use their minds and not their guns.  Any reference to morphine addiction, prostitution, manifest destiny (at the expense of indigenous peoples) or general lawlessness are never uttered.  This is the promised land, not a cesspool of humanity.

So it is somewhat comical to watch while wearing the mantle of political correctness that we have today.  While William Boyd’s portrayal of ‘Hopalong Cassidy’ was very popular in its day, he seems almost comical by today’s standards.  All dressed in black, with a huge black hat, pearl handled revolvers and a white stallion, he appears to be making more of an idealized fashion statement and seems out of place in a rough and tumble environment such as the old west.  

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - For A Few Dollars More

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE VIEWED: 04/10/2015

TITLE: For A Few Dollars More

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 2 hours 12 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 31.5 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 1499.6 miles

SYNOPSIS: Two bounty hunters pursue an outlaw and his gang with hopes of a substantial reward.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: The Italian West was a bit different than the west of John Wayne and Gary Cooper.  Italian westerns are all about the style.  Best looking cowboys on celluloid.  Lee Van Cleef was the first James Bond.

PROS AND CONS: I don’t believe that I had ever seen this before.  After “The Good The Bad & The Ugly” all spaghetti westerns start to look the same to me.  That being said, this was a good film from an historical perspective.  

It dawned on me while watching this, that ‘For A Few Dollars More’ is what you would get if Puccini or Rossini had made westerns for the opera.  Lots of plot building and character development, over emotional scenes that play for a long time, and staging reminiscent of the theater.

While most will recall this as a Clint Eastwood picture, in reality, Lee Van Cleef is the star of this film and holds his own with Eastwood in the acting department.  His arsenal of guns makes him the first ‘gadget’ super hero on film, although he plays the role deathly strait and somber.  

Finally, there is a lot of gun play in this film.  I mean a lot!  Everything is done with guns.  Oddly enough every shot taken hits its mark, everyone dies with one shot, and there is never any view of blood.  Basically, in this wild west, everyone was a marksman and no one ever missed.

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.