Westerns With Dad

1968’s Hang ‘Em High is Clint Eastwood’s first American Western and the first film of his production company Malpaso, marking it as a significant entry in the canon of American westerns. Following the journey of a lawman who survives his illegal lynching, it explores the fine line between justice and revenge set against the backdrop of the hangman’s noose! This is a film that may in fact be the definitive film on the western trope of hanging, although it has more than a few ideas it doesn’t fully articulate. It ends up being a lot more fun as a studio style western, featuring a roster of great character actors, such as Ben Johnson, Pat Hingle, Bruce Dern, LQ Jones, Ed Begley and Dennis Hopper. It also offers a look at the coming style of 70s Westerns, in their dark, non-photogenic ugliness of both complexion and theme! The conversation spends much of its time exploring the meaning and significance of hanging in the westerns, but also manages to snake around to a lot of undeserved slandering of Pat Hingle, Eastwood’s West contrasted with John Wayne’s, references cited in Blazing Saddles, the weakness of Inger Stevens’ female lead, Eastwood’s handsome manliness and the villain’s surprising sense of poetic irony. In the end, I think Hang ‘Em High isn’t a particularly noteworthy film, but that said, it’s kind of just fun to see Clint Eastwood and a bunch of character actors doing western stuff at one another, with a lot of hangings. Great movie for hangings. And yeah, Dad’s sound is off a bit in this one. It’s my fault, but you can hear him fine.

We talk briefly of some other movies we’ve watched of late, such as Swiss Army Man and Hunt For the Wilderpeople, and Dad talks a bit about catching little bits of westerns on TV, and we ponder about how to cover some of those on the show. If you have any ideas about that, or requests for movies, or requests for TV, why not, email them to us at westernswithdad@gmail.com, and also please visit us on iTunes to rate and review the podcast. It’s in our best interest! Next time on Westerns With Dad, we’ll be talking about the newly Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water, something we’ve been building up to since it came out last August.

Hang ‘Em High was directed by Ted Post and stars Clint Eastwood, Pat Hingle, Inger Stevens, Bruce Dern, Ben Johnson and a bunch of others.

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One of the few Westerns to see major release in the Aughts, Open Range is a great collaboration between Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner, proving correct the notion that all a movie needs is to be a good story, well told. One of Dad’s favorites, and in my opinion the best Costner Western, this is probably a bit underrated and deserves to be seen by anyone even reading an episode description of a podcast such as this. It’s got pretty much got everything you could want from the genre, evil ranchers and whatnot, and of course features Robert Duvall at the height of his Western game, which is pretty much a sight to behold. Topics of conversation include the Western as a labor of love for Creatives, the location of craws, the narrative difference between Justice and Revenge, Dad’s crush on Annette Bening, the effectiveness of casting Albus Dumbledore as a sneering villain, character actor Julian Richings, the trope of the gunfighter haunted by his past, the video game concept of ludonarrative dissonance, and a number of foul Irish accent attempts. Freegrazers!

Afterwards, we talk about of number of films, many of them starring Steven Seagal (Dad received a collection of his films for Christmas), and I dither a bit about La La Land, trying to explain why I liked it and other might not but also with no spoilers. Whatever, it’s a nice movie, check it out. There’s a bit of Game of Thrones talk in there as well, which despite what I say, results in no particular spoilers. Next episode, we’ll be taking on the early Clint Eastwood revenge picture Hang ‘Em High. In the meantime, why not leave a review and/or star rating for us on iTunes, as it will surely grant you luck and advantage in the coming year! You can also reach us at westernswithdad@gmail.com

Open Range was directed by Kevin Costner and stars Robert Duvall, Costner, Annette Bening, Michael Gambon, Michael Jeter, Diego Luna and Abraham Benrubi. And Julian Richings.

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It’s the holiday season, and despite the near complete dearth of overlap between Westerns and Christmas movies, we have gone out of our way to find one, and are met with mixed success! The Christmas film in question is 3 Godfathers, a John Ford film from 1948 that ostensibly retells the story of the Three Kings visiting the Christ Child in the manger, but imagines it as a John Wayne Western that has nothing to do with divinity, and only a bit to do with Christmas. It’s a grim adventure tale about sin and death, with an atonal happy ending! It features John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Harry Carey jr. as three bank robbers who, during their escape through the desert, come upon a woman giving birth to a child, and are forced into the role of caretakers for the baby. Along the way, there’s a few things that might kind of remind you of the Christ story, if you squint! But it’s an interesting story nonetheless, and features some beautiful photography, a typically strong Wayne performance, and some more Ward Bond. Topics of conversation range from the melancholy of Streets of Laredo, horrible sandstorms, how to draw water from a cactus, how great The Man Who Would Be King is, what exactly the deal was with the Brementown Musicians (and how involved with Christ were they), and how much people seem to dislike John Ford. Additionally, we talk about a short film by Don Siegel, Star in the Night, a recommendation from one of our listeners! It ends up being what we expected to find in 3 Godfathers, which is an actual retelling of the Birth of Christ as a Western. It’s available on youtube and is well worth a look.

We also have a conversation about the new Star Wars films, Rogue One, and the perennial holiday classic, The Christmas Story. In the new year, we’ll be back with an episode on the Robert Duvall/Kevin Costner throwback western Open Range, one of Dad’s favorites. You can reach us at westernswithdad@gmail.com, where you can make requests for future episodes, and please remember to rate and review us on itunes, which increases our analytics somehow and is good for the podcast! This marks our one year anniversary, so thank you all for listening and making this such a fun project. Looking forward to 2017!

3 Godfathers stars John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, Harry Carey jr., and Ward Bond. It was directed by Ward Bond.

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This episode focuses on Maverick, an adaptation of the old TV show, featuring Mel Gibson in his only stab at the Western. It’s a goofy romp, very laid back and upbeat, and probably a bit better than its reputation at this point, by virtue of being so lightweight. Featuring a script by William Goldman, it’s a story riverboat gambling, con artists and some brief Saturday afternoon adventure, featuring Gibson, Jodie Foster, and the star of the original Maverick, James Garner. In the end, I think we’re mostly pretty positive about it, but in truth, if you’re a fan of digressions, this is the episode for you. Free of the obligation placed on us by having to speak about a truly important film that people really care about, we follow Maverick’s lead and just amble around discussing all manner of Mel Gibson related tidbits and the like. Topics of conversation include fairly detailed examinations of Lethal Weapon 4 and The Beaver, the palpable chemistry and friendship between Gibson and Foster (despite all logic to the contrary), the huge number of Western stars appearing in silent cameos, the romantic mystique of Riverboat Gambling, an excised Linda Hunt subplot, Rocky and Bullwinkle style satire, the greatness of Jack Lemmon, how much we miss Sean Connery and Gene Hackman, and a fair bit about the most effective comedy in the film, some pointed jokes involving Graham Greene. It’s more of a hangin’ out podcast than usual, but we had a great time recording it. Hope it plays for you!

We also spare a moment at the end to discuss Mel Gibson’s latest offering, the war film Hacksaw Ridge, and then a bit about the Seattle Seahawks, and how they’re doing. Next time, we’ll be talking about a Christmas Western, the John Wayne starring The Three Godfathers, which apparently is a Western version of the Bible story of the Three Kings visiting Christ in the manger. We’ll certainly see how that goes! You can email us at westernswithdad@gmail.com, and please remember to leave ratings and reviews on our iTunes page!

Maverick stars Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner. It was directed by Richard Donner and written by William Goldman.

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Described as ‘The Citizen Kane of Westerns’ (by some guy on Rotten Tomatoes), this 1962 John Ford film certainly has a murderer’s row of great Western talent, starring no less than John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Lee Marvin. It’s also a deeply considered rumination on the building of America, and all civilization, and the role of both politics and men of conscience within that world. Heady stuff, but also the very core of what Westerns are all about! It’s also a film with nostalgic significance for both Dad and I (as many of these John Wayne films are), and as such, we’ve got a lot on our minds in this one. If anything, biggest surprise is that we have any reservations at all. Of course, in the end, we really think it’s great and that you should see it. Topics of conversation include some Deadwood nerd talk, the significance of the name Liberty Valance, emasculation semiotics, the representative politics of Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne, Andy Devine’s irritating shtick, the internet’s pejorative use of the term White Knighting, the famous theme song which does not appear in the film, John Wayne’s aptitude with concise, surprising violence, and our enormous admiration of Lee Marvin. Impersonations include, as you would expect, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne and Andy Devine (but NOT Lee Marvin). And considering this has been called the most political of westerns, you’ll be glad to hear we pretty much completely evade discussing recent events, such as elections!

At the end, we discuss some recent blockbusters. Dad gives his take on Doctor Strange, and I offer my harsh judgement of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. On the next episode, we’ll be venturing back to the 90s with Richard Donner’s Maverick, starring Mel Gibson!

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was directed by John Ford and stars John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, Vera Miles, Andy Devine and Woody Strode.

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After watching new and/or weird versions of the Western, this week we’re returning to what can only be described as a classic, Howard Hawks and John Wayne’s most popular team-up, Rio Bravo. Featuring Dean Martin as a drunk, this beloved genre favorite has been remade both loosely and explicitly near half a dozen times, and has been referenced as a touchstone by filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. It’s also not one of Dad’s favorite John Wayne films! That disparity of opinion provides much conversation on whether this film is a plodding, overlong and uneventful slog, or one of the more interesting and exciting Westerns of the era, and one where I think our positions might end up being a bit surprising. Conversations include Dean Martin’s substance abuse, John Wayne’s extreme dislike of High Noon, the appeal of sultry, tough-talking gals, the short careers of teen heartthrobs, the ugliness of hats, and how Dad kinda looked like the film’s villain, back in the day. Impersonations include Walter Brennan’s wacky old man and Wayne, of course. Always Wayne. This episode contains more interesting backstory and information about Rio Bravo than we’re typically want to do, which is a distinction I am pleased with and hope to emulate in the future!

At the end, we discuss the Christmas film Love, Actually, which Dad has clearly watched far too early in the year, and the new Marvel film Doctor Strange. We are also looking for suggestions for Christmas-themed Westerns, a pretty much non-existent subgenre, so if you’ve got any suggestions, please let us know at westernswithdad@gmail.com. And also, rate and review us on iTunes! It’s been helping a lot! Next week will bring more John Wayne, with The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Rio Bravo stars John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson and Walter Brennan. It was directed by Howard Hawks.

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The attempt to focus on Halloween/Horror based Westerns in October continues with the cult classic Ravenous! A cannibal horror yarn, talking place in the wilds of Northern California during the Mexican American War, this 1999 feature balances a lot of craziness within its runtime. From the impressive ensemble cast to the strange, discordant musical score to the unusual cannibal mythology, Ravenous defies easy description with it’s dark comedic tone. More or less ignored upon release, its gained a cult following because of its total weirdness. It’s one of those movies Dad would never have watched without this podcast, and so thanks for helping facilitate that! Conversations range from our various experiences with star and lead cannibal (and Full Monty headliner) Robert Carlyle, the finer points of the cannibalism superpowers, the effectiveness of a completely outrageous musical score, Dad’s ignorance of the rich, Wendigo folklore out there, the unfortunate circumstances surrounding character actor Jeffrey Jones, what the grossest moment is, and the sad paucity of Horror-themed Westerns. This film was a request from Keef from Scotland, and thank you Keef, it was an excellent pick.

In the end, we talk more about Halloween, including my recent visit to Salem, Massachusetts. Other movies discussed at the end are the new Ben Affleck thriller The Accountant and the seasonal masterpiece Halloween III: Season of the Witch. You can reach us at westernswithdad@gmail.com, where you can make requests like this one (more weird ones, please!) Also, please rate and review us at iTunes, because it helps visibility on the podcast! Next week, we’ll be returning to the traditional western, with the oft-remade John Wayne classic Rio Bravo, another listener request!

Ravenous was released in 1999. It was directed by Antonio Bird and stars Robert Carlyle, Guy Pearce, Jeffrey Jones, David Arquette, Jeremey Davies, Stephen Spinella, Neil Mcdonough and John Spencer.

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Because there’s an exciting new HBO television series based on it, we decided it was time to take an in depth look at the Michael Crichton SciFi classic, Westworld! Featuring Yul Brynner, playing off his Magnificent Seven performance, this dry run for Jurassic Park features a Western-themed amusement park of the future, where guests can live out their cowboys and indians fantasies (and fantasies of a more lurid sort as well). In classic SciFi tradition, things go haywire and the cowboys run amok! It turns out that calling it a classic is probably a gross overstatement, but it’s hard not to have a little bit of fun with this whackadoo premise, and Dad and I certainly did. Topics of conversation range from Dad’s nostalgia for the Disneyland parks (which he visited as a child the year of its opening), the history of scary clowns, a lot of wistful theme park talk, the desire to live out western movie tropes, the morality of robot sex, the complete and frankly unbelievable fallacy of the science as presented in Westworld, and the likelihood of a park fully encumbered by rich schlubby fat guys. It’s a lot of having fun at the movie’s expense, which is pretty much what the movie deserves. We also spend a bit of time discussing the first few episodes of the thus-far vastly superior HBO series, and as a note, the music included in the episode is from that (it’s just way better).

After that, we spend a bit of time talking about other things we’ve watched, in this case, the Laurence Olivier version of Wuthering Heights and the Donald Sutherland Venice-based horror film Don’t Look Now (which we completely spoil, by the way. If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it and skip over that part). Next time, we’ll be celebrating Halloween with the Horror-based Western, 1999’s Ravenous. More cannibalism! See you then!

Westworld stars Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin, and was written and directed by Michael Crichton. Reach us online at westernswithdad.com, or by email at westernswithdad@gmail.com!

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Brand new, in theaters right now, we’re doing the big Western release of 2016, Antoine Fuqua’s remake of The Magnificent Seven! The is remake brings the podcast to the movie theaters, and even flirts with relevance for a moment, as we discuss in detail something one rarely gets to look at when discussing Westerns, a brand new film. We’re slightly of two minds on this, but for the most part I’d say we agree it’s a big, silly Adventure yarn, full of winning, if surface level, performances. Topics of conversation include Peter Sarsgaard’s career playing creeps, the relevance of cool in the modern age, weaponized jars of bees, whether or not Denzel Washington has ever rode a horse before, the mortality rate of messing with the Magnificent Seven in off hours, magic gatling guns, and oddly enough, anthropomorphized badgers, which in turn leads to me explaining the Furry community to my father. It’s a lot of laughing, but I think we get into why this new Magnificent Seven is both no great shakes and a fun time at the movies anyway.

Beyond that, we talk about sequels to the original film, The Return of the Seven and The Guns of the Magnificent Seven, both of which are not especially good (and Guns replaces Yul Brynner with George Kennedy, which is just undeniably a downgrade). It’s a veritable Magnificent Seven-Palooza! Next week, we’ll be taking another furtive stab as “timely” by visiting the original Westworld, as the new HBO show starts airing. You can reach us as westernswithdad@gmail.com, and hey, why not leave a positive review on iTunes? It costs you nothing!

The Magnificent Seven was directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Peter Sarsgaard, Hailey Bennett and Vincent D’Onofrio. It’s out in theater right now, and if you’re the type to listen to this podcast, it’s probably a solid choice to watch as some point!

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This episode focuses on a film (barely) released earlier this year, Gavin O’Connor’s Jane Got a Gun. Imagined as a star vehicle for Natalie Portman, this attempt at a Western from a feminine perspective had a long and tortured route to the big screen, going through various cast changes and a director who abandoned the film on the first day of production. The strain in evident in the finished film, and I believe this is the most negative we’ve been inclined to get on a movie, which is kind of doesn’t sit well, I have to admit. That said, it’s not a bad watch, and if you’re a fan of the surprising number of name stars (and of course, the Western genre, as we are), it’s still a totally watchable attempt at a modern western exercise. Topics of conversation include Natalie Portman’s screen presence, the maudlin and embarrassing reliance on flashback, how to represent heavy trauma on screen, the status of today’s westerns as passion projects, and a bit about the Star Wars prequels of course.

Going unmentioned, because we’re quite frankly not the most professionally minded podcasters out there, are the various ways you can contact us and help the show. We are reachable by email at westernswithdad@gmail.com, and we would love it if you would like to write us a review on iTunes, or even just give us a star rating there. Please overrate us, if you don’t mind!

We’ve got some good requests coming up, so get ready for those, but next week, we’ll be talking about 2016’s major Western release, Antoine Fuqua’s remake of The Magnificent Seven. That’ll be two weeks from now, and I’ll also be trying to watch the three sequels made to the original Yul Brynner picture. We’ll see how that goes! At the end of the episode, we discuss other stuff we’ve been watching, specifically John Carpenter’s They Live, a SciFi social satire from the 80s starring ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, and a bit about Seattle sports. That might be something we talk about from time to time, now that we’re in the Fall. Sorry!

Jane Got a Gun star Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, and Ewan McGregor, and was directed by Gavin O’Connor.

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The essential Mountain Man adventure, Sydney Pollack’s 1972 Jeremiah Johnson, is the subject of this episode. Starring Robert Redford as the titular trapper, this film is an ecstatic rumination on man’s relationship to nature, as represented by some of the most gorgeous nature photography ever seen in a film. Sometimes, wistful, sometimes bleak, and always thrilling, it’s a flat out awesome film, containing multitudes of ideas, emotions and truths, and Dad & I are pretty much in awe of the whole thing from the start. Topics of conversation include the specific nostalgia and wanderlust engendered by Utah’s Zion National Park, Sydney Pollack’s eclectic career, more Indian killing, the evolution from humanity to the realm of myth of legend, my personal fascination with the works of John Milius, the fluid nature of time and language, Robert Redford stories, and more than anything, the sheer and frightening power of the natural world, all within the context of this cowboy version of Walden. That’s a literary reference I neglected to mention, along with I Am Legend, which the ending resembles slightly. All I managed to get off were a few fairly quick references to Hemingway and Jack London. Anyway, we loved it, and you should check it out.

Afterwards, a brief discussion of Bull Durham and Kevin Costner’s baseball affinity, as well as Lo and Behold: Reveries of a Connected World, the new Werner Herzog documentary about the Internet and its wonders. Next week we’ll be starting off “Current Release September” with the brand new Jeff Bridges Texas Crime thriller, Hell or High Water. Please rate and review us on itunes, and if you’d like to make a request or share a comment or thought, you can reach us directly at Westernswithdad.com!

Jeremiah Johnson was released in 1972 and stars Robert Redford. It was directed by Sydney Pollack.

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The first of Sergio Leone’s famous Man With No Name trilogy, featuring the breakout movie star performance that launched Clint Eastwood’s career, A Fistful of Dollars is one of the more revered Westerns out there. Credited with popularizing the Anti-hero and establishing the Spaghetti Western as a cultural force, it’s undoubtedly a famous an important film. But how does it compare with what came after, in the form of Leone’s further films, especially the iconic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? Or how does it compare with that came before, in the original film this is based on, Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo? For two guys that really love westerns, I was a bit surprised where Dad and I came down on this one ultimately. We talk at length about Fistful and a fair amount about Yojimbo as well, featuring such diverse topics as what makes a good antihero, the woeful dialogue recording made during this film, the central character’s odds of being a human being versus an elemental force of nature, Harry Dean Stanton, and the DVD special features for the film Mystery Men. We also take a moment at the end to try to make sense of Clint’s recent interview regarding his political beliefs! Don’t worry, I cut a lot of that conversation out!

There’s a bit of talk about the Olympics, as well as a frankly pretty perfunctory examination of the films Chariots of Fire and Willow. Next week, we’ll be looking at the Sydney Pollack directed Mountain Man Western, Jeremiah Johnson, featuring Robert Redford and a script by John Milius. You can reach us at westernswithdad@gmail.com, and also, why not give us a review on itunes? That’d be fun, yeah?

A Fistful of Dollars stars Clint Eastwood and was directed by Sergio Leone. Yojimbo stars Toshiro Mifune and was directed by Akira Kurosawa.

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Hondo! This is the episode on Hondo! Your basic John Wayne studio western, Hondo adapts a Louis L’Amour novel about a noble drifter coming to the aid of a single mother and her son living on the outskirts of civilization. The plot resembles Shane in some superficial ways, but this film also has a bit of notoriety as the John Wayne: Indian Killer movie. Indeed, 1950s attitudes about Native Americans are front in center in this movie, and much of the conversation revolves around the film’s portrayal of the Apache, which is layered, to say the least. Hondo! Topics of discussion include the surprising chemistry between John Wayne and Geraldine Page, the seemingly-Italian names for the central Apaches, the superiority of this film’s child actor, the bearlike charisma of Ward Bond, and consistently throughout, the frequent push/pull between the film’s attempt to accurately and sympathetically portray Native Americans and its existence as a film very much of its time, susceptible to innate cultural prejudices of the 1950s. It’s an interesting film, if not an extraordinary one. Dad also has some interesting background on the film, and it turns out, this was possibly his introduction to loving westerns and John Wayne in the first place. Hondo!

Afterwards, we talk about other recent watches, including Dad’s Turner Classic Movies kick. We talk Greta Garbo in Queen Christina, The Prisoner of Zenda, the concluding chapters of the Hunger Games films and the new Star Trek. Join us for the next episode, wherein we’ll be talking about our first Sergio Leone film, A Fistful of Dollars, starring Clint Eastwood!

Please rate and review us on iTunes, as it helps increase our visibility! Also, you can reach us at westernswithdad@gmail.com

Hondo was directed by John Farrow and stars John Wayne, Geraldine Page and Ward Bond.

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After several previous mentions, we finally get to Tombstone, the superlative one, the magnum opus, the towering classic by which all others shall be judged. Perhaps that’s a bit of hyperbole, but by our own standards, it’s hard to come up with a Western that we just purely enjoy more than this 1993 Kurt Russell adventure, a retelling of the Wyatt Earp story, featuring a much-praised turn by Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. From the richly drawn and enthusiastically performed ensemble of characters to the clever, literary dialogue to the cathartic blasts of bloody action to the hints of philosophy and religious dread in the margins to the joyous honoring of just about every Western trope you can think of, Tombstone covers it all, and is quite possibly, the best choice you could make when deciding to watch a Western with your dad.

Another reason this episode is special is it features our first guest, Dad’s brother and my uncle, Gary! Offering a different perspective on the genre, Gary’s just great, and has made it an easy choice to try to get more similarly great guests in the future.

There is one unfortunate bit of business that must be attended to though. The sound quality on this episode is beneath our usual standards, and despite my best efforts, it’s still an issue in this final version. It’s been a busy time in our lives, for reasons that will become clear during the episode, and as such I was unable to prepare for the live recording as I should have. So there’s issues with the levels and issues with a bit of static buzz. It’s mostly all audible, but it makes the listen a bit tougher than usual, and I can’t apologize enough. We considered trying to re-record, but we just liked the conversation we ended up with too much, and decided to release it with this disclaimer. And besides, it’s Tombstone! We’ve been eager to do this one since we started.

And yes, I refer to Dana Delaney’s character as Josephine Baker. It’s Josephine Marcus. I know!

Next week we’ll be back with the John Wayne film Hondo. Tombstone stars Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Dana Delaney, Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn and Stephen Lang. It was ‘directed’ by George P. Cosmatos

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For the first time on our podcast about Westerns, we review a movie that just isn’t a Western, Michael Mann’s frontier epic, The Last of the Mohicans. It is, in fact, about half a dozen other genres before it’s a western, and we discuss it at length, as well as why this film about Native Americans and frontier adventure so plainly is not an appropriate choice for our show. But it’s also a really good movie, with lots of great stuff to recommend in it. Topics of conversation include Daniel Day-Lewis and his facility with American characters, the tweedy rottenness of the British empire, the gorgeous scenery and convincing violence on display throughout the film, the film’s strong Ridley Scott-ish vibe, how horrible it is to run up a hill, how much I bet the movie is like the show Outlander which I’ve never seen, a Burt Lancaster movie called The Kentuckian, and of course, the eradication of the Whitehair Munroe and his seed. Despite not being a Western, it’s a pretty strong film, with good performances and a great sense of adventure. The score’s very strong as well.

Additionally, we discuss some other recent releases, including High Rise, an insane British film about wealth inequality and eating dogs, which I am seriously shocked that Dad watched. And I report in on Odd Thomas, an Anton Yelchin film about the unpredictable nature of life and death and also domestic terrorism. It’s a light family adventure rendered more poignant by real life tragedies. Worth a look! Next week, we’ll be taking on the film we’ve been waiting for since we started: Tombstone. We’ve been working up to this one, and it feels like the time is right. And with a special guest!

The Last of the Mohicans stars Daniel Day Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means and Wes Studi. It was directed by Michael Mann.

 

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One of the greatest movies ever made, according to the American Film Institute, this week we’re dealing with George Stevens’ 1953 classic Shane. Setting the basic tone and template for dozens of westerns to come, Shane features Alan Ladd as the titular gunslinger, who arrive out of the mist to help a family of good-hearted homesteaders stand up to a bullying rancher and a sadistic hired gunman. The wellspring for lots of famous tropes of the genre, it features quotable dialogue, gorgeous outdoors scenery and the general cock-eyed optimism of the 1950s. Dad loves this one, and it’s totally endearing to hear him get really excited about it, while I’m all circumspect and Gen-X ironic in my reaction, focusing on the awkward child actor at its center and the accidental emasculation of homesteader Joe Starrett by the film’s hero. Seriously, much of the film is about how much this guy’s family prefers Shane to him. We also touch upon Elisha Cook jr’s. absolute mastery of being a loser, the whimsical nature of deer, how comfortable a suit made of buckskin must be, the importance of backbreaking labor in the Old West, the general foulness of child actors, the excellence of Shane’s barfights, and the practicality of human decency in a lawless world of murderers. Also, Dad revels in some of his favorite lines of dialogue of all time.

We’ve got minor sound issues in this episode, most noticeably in the first few minutes. The dialogue on my end is popping a bit. It’s annoying, but it goes away after three minutes or so, and it’s only on my end. Which isn’t much of a problem, as Dad’s enthusiasm for Shane means he does a lot more of the opening banter than usual. We also briefly talk about the Tom Berenger film Sniper and the Gerard Butler epic Gods of Egypt, both every bit the equal of Shane, and likely future entries on the AFI top 100 list.  On the next episode, we’ll take on Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans, starring Daniel Day Lewis.

Shane stars Alan Ladd, Jack Palance, Ven Heflin, Jean Arthur and Brandon De Wilde. It was directed by George Stevens.

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1991’s big hit Billy Crystal comedy about nostalgia for old westerns is this weeks episode! Featuring an oscar-winning supporting turn for Western legend Jack Palance, this beloved family comedy explores what it means to be honest, to be masculine, and to be happy in the modern age while looking back at the genre that defined many of our expectations regarding those things. A light comedy set in the world of adventure tourism, the film is a high water mark for pretty much everyone involved, from Palance and Crystal to character actors Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby. Dad and I have a good old time revisiting a favorite from twenty five (!) years ago, reminiscing about the dollar theater and reflecting sadly on the passage of time, that has brought me up to speed with the mid-life crises the film characters find themselves in. Topics of conversation cover Palance’s oscar shenanigans, the recent unpleasantness at the Miss America pageant, a mutual love for the ice cream magnate brothers, the jankiness of the music, the motivations of the one dimensional drunk cowboy villains, the potential of a Deliverance-themed adventure vacation, and of course the sad and demeaning failure of the sequel, City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold. There are Palance impersonations, for sure.

We’re a bit all over with the tangents this week, but I think it works. At the end, we discuss the greatness of the Lord of the Rings trilogy a bit, and also reflect on a few Russell Crowe movies, including his latest. The next episode of Westerns With Dad will focus on the all time Western classic, Shane. Also starring Palance!

City Slickers stars Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, and Jack Palance. It was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel and was directed by Ron Underwood.

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In this episode, Dad and I take on the 1956 Bud Boetticher picture Seven Men From Now. The first collaboration between Boetticher and Randolph Scott, this set the tone for a series of formalist westerns and featured a memorable, star-making supporting turn from none other than Lee Marvin. It tells the story of a sheriff looking for justice running up against a pair of tenderfoot settlers and a man of questionable motives from his past. Along the way, you get Indian battles, river fording, box canyon shootouts and sexual obsession! Dad and I also take the time to explore such interesting sidebar conversations as what animal Randolph Scott most resembles, the conflict between impossibly noble stoicism and messy human pragmatism, goofy John Wayne anecdotes, the soft racism of Native American tribes used as window dressing, and as always, the impressiveness of acts of physical prowess in a muscular adventure yarn like this. It’s a good episode all around, and I think gets close to the stated purpose of this show; we’re really starting to look under the hood at what makes westerns tick.

Afterwards, we discuss last year’s Best Picture nominee Brooklyn, which Dad had a hard time making sound exciting, and Captain America Civil War, and especially who Black Panther is. Next week, we’ll be venturing for the first time into the modern time period to the Billy Crystal comedy City Slickers. We’ll se how that goes.

Seven Men From Now stars Randolph Scott, GaiL Russell and Lee Marvin, and was directed by Bud Boetticher. It was released in 1956 and is available in its entirety on YouTube. We both liked it, you should check it out.

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This is just a quick note to say we’ll be taking a week off this month, because Dad is going on vacation for a week, an advantage of retirement. But we’ll have our episode on The Naked Spur up by the end of the month for sure. Thanks for your patience!

This episode marks the first appearance of Clint Eastwood on the podcast, and we’ve chosen his first Western directorial effort, The Outlaw Josey Wales. A pure 1970s revisionist Western, this one offers the unusual perspective of heroic Confederates and evil Northerners clashing across the unreconstructed South in the embers of the Civil War. We talk about all that, and to what extent that reflects Eastwood’s own conservative views, as well as how much any of that matters when appraising a work of art. There’s quite a bit going on beyond that in this film though, and in this podcast, which is jammed full of observations on period appropriate music, John Vernon’s inability to escape the legacy of Dean Wormer, a preponderance of messy spitting, some of the better representations of Native Americans put to film, Sondra Locke’s difficult time in Hollywood, and the delightfulness of the Snake Oil Salesman archetype. It’s a packed episode, but there’s a lot going on in this movie. Also, a bit more casual swearing than usual!

At the end, we speak a bit about some other films of note, last year’s Best Picture winner Spotlight, and next year’s presumptive Best Picture winner London Has Fallen. On the next episode, we’ll be discussing the Jimmy Stewart as antihero western The Naked Spur, which I’ve never seen and Dad can’t remember. We’re also going to start taking requests, and see how that goes. If you’ve got something you’d like hear us talk about, send it on over to westernswithdad@gmail.com. Additionally, why not leave us a review and rate us on iTunes? It costs nothing, and you’ll probably end up more popular at work if you do. It stands to reason.

The Outlaw Josey Wales was directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, and John Vernon. It was released in 1976, and is totally good, so you should see it. Or see it again, if you’re the type interested in podcasts like this.

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In this episode, we discuss last year’s low budget cannibal horror western, Bone Tomahawk. Starring the great Kurt Russell, this surprisingly great thriller is many things at once: charming, harrowing, stately, witty, and stomach-churning. Featuring a talented cast of bigger names than you’d expect, this starts as a search and rescue adventure yarn and takes a sharp pivot off into grisly horror about two thirds of the way in. Me and Dad discuss it at length, focusing on the greatness of Kurt Russell and Richard Jenkins, the surprisingly florid and literary dialogue (and its surprising historical precedent), the relative morality of shooting first and asking questions later, the ability of great writing to elevate tension, the questionable realism of progressive ideas about race in the old west, the need for more movies to end with songs that explain the plot, how to cannily evade being offensive to Native Americans, and most of all, the use and precedent set for violence, particularly ultraviolence, in this kind of film. Please note that we will spoil the end of this film, and it’s the kind of movie where a significant amount of tension is derived from the question of who will live and who won’t. If you’re listening for a recommendation, I’d say go ahead and watch it, because we both liked it a ton. Just be aware that it gets pretty damn gruesome at the end, but despite that manages to reach a satisfying and cathartic conclusion.

Additionally, at the end we touch briefly on a few recent releases, Trumbo and The Witch. Join us in two weeks time for the next episode, which will be our first Clint Eastwood entry, The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Bone Tomahawk stars Kurt Russell, Richard Jenkins, Matthew Fox and Patrick Wilson and was written and directed by S Craig Zahler. You can watch it on Amazon Prime!

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