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Western

This tag is associated with 30 posts

‘Yojimbo’ (1961): The Samurai with No Name

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa || Produced by: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa Screenplay by: Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni || Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Kato, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Atsushi Watanabe Music by: Masaru Sato || Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa || Edited by: Akira Kurosawa || Country: Japan … Continue reading

‘Bacurau’ (2019): When Weirdness Meets Western

Directed by: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles || Produced by: Emilie Lesclaux, Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt  Screenplay by: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles || Starring: Sânia Braga, Udo Kier, Bárbara Colen, Thomas Aquino, Silvero Pereira, Karine Teles Music by: Mateus Alves, Tomaz Alves Souza || Cinematography: Pedro Sotero || Edited by: Eduardo Serrano || … Continue reading

‘Saloum’ (2021): Spaghetti-Western Filmmaking North of the Gambia

Directed by: Jean Luc Herbulot || Produced by: Pamela Diop Screenplay by: Jean Luc Herbulot, Pamela Diop || Starring: Yann Gael, Roger Sallah, Mentor Ba, Evelyne Ily Juhen Music by: Reksider || Cinematography: Gregory Corandi || Edited by: Nicolas Desmaison, Alasdair McCulloch, Sebastien Prangere || Country: Senegal, France || Language: French, Wolof Running Time: 84 … Continue reading

‘Asuran’ (2019): Family Feuds, Gang Violence, & Land Grabs

Directed by: Vetrimaaran || Produced by: Kalaippuli S. Thanu Screenplay by: Vetrimaaran, Manimaran || Starring: Dhanush, Manju Warrier, Ken Karunas, Teejay Arunasalam Music by: G. V. Prakash Kumar || Cinematography: Rajamani Velraj || Edited by: R. Ramar || Country: India || Language: Tamil Running Time: 140 minutes One of the more amusing aspects of the … Continue reading

‘Prey’ (2022): The Hunt Pulls Me Back In

Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg || Produced by: John Davis Jhane Myers, Marty P. Ewing Screenplay by: Patrick Aison || Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp, Julian Black Antelope, Bennett Taylor, Dane DiLiegro Music by: Sarah Schachner || Cinematography: Jeff Cutter || Edited by: Angela M. Catanzaro, Claudia Castello || Country: United States … Continue reading

2021: My Last Try at Oscar-Bait?

One of the earliest attempts by my high-school friends and I at “branching out” from Hollywood blockbusters (Star Wars [1977-]! Jurassic Park [1993-]! The Dark Knight [2008]!) and our childhood favorite genre movies (e.g. Aliens [1979-]! Predator [1987-]!) were the annual Oscar nominations, or Academy Awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and … Continue reading

‘Rurouni Kenshin’ (2012, 2014, 2021): Gonzo Samurai Action

Directed by: Keishi Ōtomo || Produced by: Osamu Kubota1, Satoshi Fukushima2-4, Hiroyoshi Koiwai4 Screenplay by: Kyomi Fujii1-2, Keishi Ōtomo1-4 || Starring: Takeru Satoh, Yōsuke Eguchi [1–4], Emi Takei, Munetaka Aoki, Yū Aoi [1–3], Eiji Okuda, Kōji Kikkawa, Teruyuki Kagawa [1], Yūsuke Iseya, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Tao Tsuchiya [2–3], Tatsuya Fujiwara [2], Kasumi Arimura, Issey Takahashi, Nijirō Murakami, … Continue reading

Star Wars: Space Western or Space Opera?

A fellow blogger‘s preliminary review of the pilot episode of The Mandalorian (2019-), as well as discussions of the contemporary Walt Disney era Star Wars (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) films by Red Letter Media, prompted this question: Is the Star Wars franchise more “Space Western” or “Space Opera?” If those hybridized genre amalgamations sound weird … Continue reading

‘Sordo’ (2019) & ‘O Matador’ (2017): A Latin Western Double-Review

Directed by: Alfonso Cortés-Cavanillas [1], Marcelo Galvão [2] || Produced by: Juanjo Lopez [1], Marcelo Galvão, Letícia Marques [2] Screenplay by: Alfonso Cortés-Cavanillas, Juan Carlos Díaz Martín [1], Marcelo Galvão [2] || Starring: Asier Etxeandia, Marian Álvarez, Hugo Silva, Aitor Luna, Imanol Arias, Olimpia Melinte, Ruth Díaz, Jorge Basanta, Stephanie Gil [1], Diogo Morgado, Nill … Continue reading

A Craig Zahler Sampling: ‘Bone Tomahawk’ (2015), ‘Brawl in Cell Block 99’ (2017), & ‘Dragged Across Concrete’ (2018)

Directed by: S. Craig Zahler || Produced by: Jack Heller1-3, Dallas Sonnier1-3, Sefton Fincham, Tyler Jackson, Keith Kjarval [3]  Screenplay by: S. Craig Zahler || Starring: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Lili Simmons, Richard Jenkins [1], Vince Vaughn2-3, Jennifer Carpenter2-3, Don Johnson2-3, Udo Kier2-3, Mel Gibson, Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Laurie Holden, Thomas … Continue reading