Cowboys & Kiwis - AKA Beauty & The Bodice

By Bennett Owen

The film is called ‘Good For Nothing’ and will go down as the first western movie ever filmed in New Zealand, which I guess is good for something.  It’s been doing the rounds of the film festivals to generally positive reviews and will see limited US release this spring.

Credit: GoodforNothingMovieFrom what I’ve seen of it, the scenery alone might be worth the price of admission…

Credit: GoodforNothingMovieThe title takes on a fully new meaning as the film unfolds.  Basically it tells the story of a young British lady kidnapped by a merciless desperado…who in turn is ‘humbled’ in his efforts to make a woman of the lass.  

The Hollywood Reporter describes the film thusly: “Imagine a Kiwi Spaghetti Western filtered through the offbeat sensibilities of early Sam Raimi or the Coen brothers.”

Director Mike Wallis and his fiancée, co- producer and female lead Inge Rademeyer, funded the shoot.

Credit: GoodforNothingMovie"We were going to buy a house but instead we made a movie," Rademeyer said.

This is also Rademeyer’s film acting debut and US critics have given her positive reviews.

Five years in the making, the very fact that this project is seeing the light of day is a tribute to the grit and determination of its makers and their utter defiance of the odds.   The pioneer spirit, alive and well down under.

Django Unchained - QT Cooks Up Some Spaghetti

By Bennett Owen

 Credit: - © Touchstone Pictures; Photo: Chris Large

If all goes well, Kevin Costner will soon be back in the saddle and up on the big screen and that is good news because both he and the western genre are making a making a big time comeback. Hopefully Quentin Tarantino’s spaghetti western will do for Costner’s career what “Cowboys and Aliens” is about to do for Harrison Ford, namely, catapult him back to the top of his game.

Credit: The Golden Closet

Tarantino wants Costner to play ‘Ace Woody,’ a character described as a ‘sadistic bad guy.’  Sounds like a role made for Costner, doesn’t it? Christoph Waltz, the Oscar-winning Austrian actor from Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ reportedly also has a role, as do Leonardo di Caprio and Samuel L. Jackson. 

As one critic put it, “Like him or loathe him, Tarantino has the rare ability to reboot a genre.”  Put me in the loathe category, but hey … it’s a western with Kevin Costner … so it will get my money.

Costner gets a lot of flack for his wooden acting style but like Brad Pitt, give him the right role and he’s golden.  He first caught my eye as ‘Jake,’ a young buck full of mischief in Silverado…

Credit: idiotflashback

Credit: idiotflashback

Watch a scene from Silverado at MovieClips.com.

Then came “Dances With Wolves,” “Wyatt Earp” and “Tin Cup” …  well, OK, “Tin Cup” isn’t a western but it’s set in Texas and features Rene Russo  …  a star that has affected my life in ways she will never know.  Come to think of it Costner’s character is ‘Jake,’ reincarnated as a West Texas golf pro…

Costner also directed “Open Range,” and starred alongside the mighty Robert Duvall.  It’s one of my all time favorites.

As his film star status flickers, Costner’s is a rising country western talent, with his award-winning band, “Modern West.” They’ll be performing next week at the Cheyenne Frontier Days. He’s also teamed up with German pop legend Nena (remember 99 Red Balloons?) on an upcoming album. Here’s a recent Modern West performance at the Grand Ol’ Oprey.

Kevin Costner leads his band Modern West Thursday night at Showcase Live. Credit: Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe

Well, OK, he’s no Waylon Jennings. But then again, Waylon probably wouldn’t have gotten too far with a gal like Rene Russo.

Arnie – Back in the Saddle Again

By Bennett Owen

Credit: Forum.santa.barbara

The Terminator – The Governator – The Philanderer – call him what you like, Arnold Schwarzenegger will reportedly begin filming this fall on a western tentatively named, “The Last Stand.” Sources describe it as “an old-fashioned western specifically designed for a 63-year old broken-down guy with a moral decision.”  An unnamed studio executive tells Deadline Hollywood, “We always needed an iconic figure for it.”

Credit: Dentonrc

Apparently the film will be a classic western that takes place in the present with Schwarzenegger playing a sheriff of a small border town in southern California.

Credit: joblo.com

Well, if they’re calling it a western, I’m counting it as one, further cementing my theory that the western genre is riding the crest of a comeback. Look at the evidence from the past 12 months alone:

• True Grit
• The Warrior’s Way
• Rango
• Meek’s Cutoff

And in just two weeks time and counting … Cowboys & Aliens! Surely the cinematic event of the summer!

And waiting in the wings we have -

• The Lone Ranger, with Johnny Depp as Tonto –
• Blood Meridian - Hollywood’s take on the classic by Cormac McCarthy

And several more are in the initial production stages. Then there are the true classics of the genre ... I think its time to do some additional research and put up the “Do Not Disturb” sign while I watch ‘The Outlaw Jose Wales’ for the 245^th time …

Credit: Lucchese

Obscure Westerns #3 Young Maverick – Call the Spinoff Doctor!

by Bennett Owen

Photo courtesy of PeterBrown.tv

Of all the Western TV shows, perhaps none has created more ill fated, forgettable spinoffs and re-makes than the purely awesome Maverick. Producers tried to capitalize on that loveable con man, Bret Maverick. But alas, there was only one James Garner…a man and a character that made women swoon; men chuckle and applaud in equal measure; and in its heyday, regularly outperformed the legendary Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen shows.

Photo courtesy of TriviaTribute.com

With kind of drawing power, it’s no surprise that the spinoffs came fast and furious. Here’s a sampling:

• Bret Maverick TV movie
• Bret Maverick TV series
• The New Maverick TV movie
• Maverick, the 1994 feature film

Courtesy of Movieposter.com

Well OK, Mel Gibson came close and James Garner did have a cameo.

But the most obscure of them all, and deservedly so, was a little-watched 1979 stinker called Young Maverick, starring Charles Frank as Bret’s younger cousin, Ben.

Where do they dredge this stuff up?  Garner (on hiatus from the Rockford Files) reprised his role for a few minutes in the opening episode. And when Bret and Ben part at a crossroads, one critic noted that, „audiences couldn’t help but think the camera was following the wrong Maverick.“

The series was gone in less than two months.

And in case anyone needs reminding, this is what made the original so endearing:

True Grit

by Bennett Owen

10 Outstanding Westerns of the New Millennium

The movies on this list surely will rank among the classics of the genre and are proof positive that westerns continue to attract both audiences and A-list actors and directors:

1)    3:10 to Yuma –
2)    The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
3)    Open Range – (any movie with the mighty Robert Duvall automatically makes my list!)
4)    Appaloosa
5)    All the Pretty Horses
6)    The Virginian (A darn good made for TV version)
7)    Shanghai Noon
8)    Brokeback Mountain
9)    There Will Be Blood

And rounding out the top 10 - True Grit – relentless, gritty, box office gold.  It’s opening the Berlin Film Festival on February 10 and My-West will be there. 

Update:

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning. True Grit has been nominated for these categories:

• Best Picture
• Best Actor
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Best Adapted Screenplay
• Best Art Direction
• Best Cinematography

Plus a slew of technical categories that brings the tally to 10 Academy Award nominations in all, not to mention $140 million domestic box office and still among the top five a month after its release. That is True Grit. That is what a western movie can do in the sure and steady hands of America’s most wanted cinematic gunslingers, the Coen Brothers. 

And like the report of a sharps rifle echoing down a narrow canyon, True Grit has delivered an unmistakable message to Tinseltown: Westerns are making a comeback. Consider this from VOA:

“The new True Grit exudes nostalgia for old western notions of bravado, justice and blood lust for vengeance...The film is an Oscar hopeful and a favorite at the box office, showing that American movie goers are still rooting for good westerns, a genre that has faded since the 1950s but might reclaim its old glory with the right amount of grit.”

Hmmm. Last year Jeff Bridges won an Oscar for his role as an alcoholic country western singer. This year he might make it back-to-back as an alcoholic US Marshall.

And for those who still think the original outshines the remake here’s a trip down memory lane…a return to the Colorado locations where the movie was made…long but well worth the time.

Here’s Roger Ebert putting this year's True Grit into proper perspective:

“This is the first straight genre exercise in their (the Coen Brothers) career. It’s a loving one. Their craftsmanship is a wonder. Their casting is always inspired and exact. The cinematography by Roger Deakins reminds us of the glory that was, and can still be, the Western.”

Ebert points out that Jeff Bridges’ breakout role was “The Last Picture Show” in 1971…where his character goes to the theater to see “Red River” starring…John Wayne.

John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn



Of course this sets the stage for a summer blockbuster with the best title in years…Cowboys and Aliens.