59 - Posse

Connection To SANTA'S SLAY - Tommy 'Tiny' Lister

The early 90's western - maybe it's because it's my era but I have an affection for it. Young Guns (which was 1988 I know but I found my love for it in the 90's) and it's sequel, the very awesome Tombstone and of course a film I've already covered here The Quick and The Dead, obviously not forgetting of all movies - Unforgiven - Eastwood's awesome farewell to the western genre that made his name.

Posse though for me just got lost in the shuffle and was a film I'd never picked up to own on DVD even when my western shelf was picking up on these 90's westerns, but I genuinely believe if I saw it then I reckon I would have the same affectionate for it as some of them, I think maybe for me I'm just seeing it for the first time some 20 years too late.

For me though now once it gets past the opening scene, despite it's positives I lost interest somewhere along the way despite some nice imagery. I don't have a problem with bad-ass characters at all, except in usually one instance - when they are played by the director, and the most bad-ass of this posse is played by the director himself Mario Van Peebles, while he's nowhere near as bad as Larry Bishop in Hell Ride, who could seemingly make women drop their panties by looking at them, the rest of the "posse" seem to have big man-crushes on Van Peebles.

Billy Zane was fun in a supporting role because he acting like Billy Zane should and be chewing a fair bit of the scenery and to be fair some of the other cast have enjoyable moments such as Tommy 'Tiny' Lister, not Stephen Baldwin though he starts to wear a bit thin after a while.

Overall, Posse is proof that a film needs to seen in the right time of your life, it really isn't bad but in the end it fell into the category of not really doing out for me.

53 - God Forgives... I Don't!

Connection To THE SHERIFF AND THE SATELLITE KID - Bud Spencer

To me a spaghetti western as the ability to be one of the most enjoyable sub-genres of film - the better ones can mix great characters, the right level of violence and beautiful shots. I am happy to report that God Forgives... I Don't is an extremely good movie. This next bit might not really sound like a compliment but it actually is and that's to say it's a typical spaghetti western.

This was the first pairing between Terence Hill and Bud Spencer who ended up doing 19 films together, while most of them where comedies this one isn't and it as a flashback Bill San Antonio (Frank Wolff, who a year later who play the ill fated Frank McBain in Once Upon A Time In The West, not sure one of my favourite spaghetti westerns but favourite film of all time, so for me it was a bit jarring seeing him in a main role here), who accuses his old friend and partner Cat Stevens (Hill - who doesn't perform Father and Son in the film, I think the name is purely coincidental, I've look it up but nothing comes up) of cheating at cards so Bill orders the other out and tells henchman his henchman to set fire to the house, the pair have a stand-up duel and Bill falls when Cat leaves the house the gang has to follow orders and they let Cat leave. In the present (you know what I mean) a train is robbed and passengers are massacred (which the massacred was a great visual) but one survivor before dying identifies Bill and Cat is told this by Hutch (Spencer). That is the jist of early on, I might stop bother trying to do synopsis because I never want to give too much of films and just write about what I thought.

I was looking up information after I watched the film and was surprised there was some critics and that who didn't like it, but yeah I enjoyed it it's give me more thing to watch more spaghetti westerns as well as maybe more Hill and Spencer (I have seen very little of their films together).

One of my favourite scenes is a captured Cat being constantly lowered into the bottom of a well (like dipped in the water) as sort of punishment/torture, I also liked the flashback duel scene including the bit before. There was other bits I liked coupled with some great wide shots it was a good experience for me.

Overall a very enjoyable SW, with three leads that I enjoyed seeing on the screen, it might be a bit overlong even though it comes in at under 2 hours (maybe 90ish minutes would have suited) but I'd say I'd recommend it.

20 - The Quick and The Dead

Connection To NIGHTMARES - Lance Henriksen

After watching Nightmares it was supposed to lead onto Maximum Overdrive, per the Emilio Estevez connection, and You Tube had it on ready and all planned but in the meantime it was took off which as taught me a lesson not to plan too far ahead and just take it has it comes, there is a list of stuff I have saved with possible connections but I think that has taught me not to stay so close to that.

Anyway I digress, so that brings me up to the second western in as many days - Sam Raimi's 1995 The Quick and The Dead. This is the first time I've seen it since the 90's (when I was a teenager) and you know what I really bloody enjoyed this.

I was a would-be filmmaker at one point and this is the sort of western I would have come up with if I had the chance, I mean that more not about the plot or anything but it's certainly a western influenced by the western film rather then historical if this sentence makes sense.

The motive of Sharon Stone's character is straight out of Once Upon A Time In The West and that of Harmonica (the reveal scenes are very similar) but even though she is the de-facto star it feels more like an ensemble piece ( 2 of the co-stars Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio where not a-list yet) and it sort of feels like characters inspired from other westerns all mixed together and see if it works - which it does.

Gene Hackman is the bastard bad guy, who holds an annual dueling competition likely in some points to get rid of potential rivals and to show the townsfolk who fear him how dangerous he is, he as the old Freudian excuse which works in showing how much of a cold bastard he is.

The two main support are the future stars - Crowe and DiCaprio -this was Crowe's first US movie (and wouldn't be embarrassing like what was coming up soon for him - Virtiousity) and DiCaprio had the success already of an Oscar Nom for Gilbert Grape and some other well received films both are great in their roles, Crowe as the Reverend who was once part of Hackman's gang forced into the competition and DiCaprio as the Kid, cocky and the son of Hackman.

There's also some cool supporting players such as Keith David and Lance Henriksen, who both have their moments and considering how many duels are in this movie, none of them are ever boring, one even including a cool shot shown from the back of a bullet going right through a head.

Overall a fun western, I don't know if purest will dislike it but for me it was really well done with great characters and performances and it never has a dull moment.

18 - Goin' South

Connection To CAMP NOWHERE - Christopher Lloyd

Last year I went on a Clint Eastwood binge, this mean't watching a lot of his westerns - seeing many of them for the first time - this is related to Goin' South because it re-sparked my love for the western, it reminded me what I enjoyed so much about these oaters. It's not that I'd gone off the western, it's just being a few years since I got on a roll with them, hell even one of my favourite films is a western (Once Upon A Time In The West).

Anyway this brings me to the 1978 western Goin' South, starring and directed by Jack Nicholson and with a pretty darn cool supporting cast and I think was not successful on original release because it seems somewhat forgotten as far as I know.

Henry Moon (Nicholson) is a robber who is sentenced and to be hanged in Longhorn, but due to bill from the Civil War, that allows a condemned man to be saved from the gallows if an unmarried woman would like to marry him and be responsible for him. Julie Tate (Mary Steenburgen) weds Moon, for him to work in a goldmine on her property, Moon's old gang show up and discover that they are mining gold but Julie and Moon's relationship is changing.

Like a lot of the best westerns you notice how it's shot with a lot of great use of locations, I think this was only 1 of 3 Nicholson actually directed, and none of the films really where too successful at best, his co-star Steenburgen (in her movie debut) plays naive well and has good chemistry with Nicholson and there is enjoyable supporting cast including John Belushi (also making his movie debut technically, this was shot before Animal House but released after), Danny DeVito (whose worked with Nicholson 5 times total I think), Christopher Lloyd (really enjoyed him here), Ed Begley Jr. and Tracey Walter. It's also fun seeing Lloyd lusting after Steenburgen an whole 12 years before the romance of Back To The Future 3.

Overall it deserves to be better known that actually is, Like I said Nicholson and Steenburgen have decent fun chemistry in the leads and have a great cast around them, I'd recommend this for fans of the western genre.