Meek's Cutoff (2010)

Whew. This is a desolate film with some great performances, but man is it ever desolate. A group of settlers are traveling west and depend on their guide, Meek, to get them over the mountains with enough time to beat winter, but even more important, before they run out of supplies. Some people in the party doubt Meek's ability.

A western without bad guys.

Rango (2011)

A clever and dark, superbly executed animation. The creatures of the desert are brought to life and given such detail just in their appearance that it is almost unnecessary to have a story - but it does, and it's a gooder.

Self named lizard Rango stumbles into the western settlement of Dirt, a town struggling to maintain subsistence levels of water. He decides to reinvent himself as a real tough guy (having to lose the hawaiian shirt along the way) and is soon adulated by the dusty population.

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Summer Love (2006)

Definitely the worst film I've watched all year. Incoherent. Unintelligible (a bunch of polish actors pretending to be in the wild west). Ridiculous.

Beware. The film goes by two names: Summer Love and Dead Man's Bounty.

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True Grit (2010)

Loved the absolutely sharp dialogue in this film. Tremendous performances by Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and the new Hailee Steinfeld. Great and gritty western!

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Reel Injun (2009)

This survey of Native Americans as depicted on film and television is both enraging and inspiring which makes it a very useful documentary, Canadian made no less!

The film's opening line is delivered by the host who grew up on a northern Canadian reservation. He describes going to watch movies, usually westerns, in the church basement and cheering for the cowboys as they shot the indians not realizing that they themselves were indians.

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Australia (2008)

I highly anticipated this film from Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge). He adds unrestrained style and flair to his films which is refreshing since so many films cater to as broad an audience as possible and become bland as a result.

The story centres on a woman who, after just arriving in Australia, becomes the manager of a cattle ranch in the outback. The ranch provides the only competition to a massive cattle producer during wartime. A relationship forms between the Mrs. and her drover. But the film doesn't end there. Luhrmann tackles several historical elements of his native land - the main one being the whites' relationship with aboriginies and those of mixed race. 

The film goes on for 2.5 hours and the climaxes don't necessarily increase. Many of the performances are superb and there is hardly a boring moment in the film. I found the computer generated cattle somewhat unbelievable, but it is hard to find good bovine actors. 

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Don't Come Knocking (2005)

Don't Come Knocking is a slow, presumptuous film.

An aging, disreputable actor runs away from a set in the desert to find himself. His journey takes him to various characters in his past that give him perspective on how he has screwed up his life.

It is difficult to gauge what the filmmakers expectations for their viewers are. There were several moments when I didn't laugh when obviously there was something meant to be laughed at and other times when I didn't feel sympathy for the characters when clearly there was an effort to evoke such emotion. I just found the film flat mostly.

There is some merit to the film as the message of confession and forgiveness are central. The pacing and character development just brings it down a few notches.

Truth: Atonement should always be sought, despite whatever may stand in the way.

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There Will Be Blood (2007)

Being a fan of PT Anderson's work (Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love), I have been anticipating this film for a year. My expectations were blown quite literally out of the ground.

Daniel Planview (whose portrayal by Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for best actor) seeks riches with all his being. He risks his life and others' lives while mining and then drilling for oil. Being able to play the part of a father or a Christian when opportunity knocks helps his image until image isn't important anymore. In one confession, he says that he really does not like people. Added to the plot of this oil tycoon is a religious wacko (Paul Dano of Little Miss Sunshine fame) who overtakes the community in another fashion, though with perhaps similar motives.

The film moves effortlessly across three decades and culminates in one of the most stirring and disturbing endings I have ever seen. The last two words echo for days and days.

Anderson takes this film to a new plain. The music is not typical of a sweeping western or epic drama. It resembles more a horror film. The effects of the early 20th century oil drills are stunning and so are the violent accident scenes (realistic to a fault perhaps). As I can not compare the book to Anderson's screenplay, I can't say who wrote the story better, but Anderson's version is supernatural. The film haunted my dreams through the night and into the next day.

Truths: When a person rejects what little blessing his or her father gives him or her, they take on the curse. Living for yourself yields no joy and it yields a distrust and hatred for others.

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No Country for Old Men (2007)

Finally. If I had had the chance, I would have seen this on opening night.

Joel and Ethan Coen have once again proven that they are among the top film makers in history. Their adaptation of No Country for Old Men is introspective and visually exciting at the same time. The writing is highly original, but also keeps us grounded in Texas.

Because of their successful cinematic achievements, the Coens were clearly able to handpick the actors because every single character is compelling, right down to the clerks and passersby (kudos to the casting department). The cinematography and sets exposed a barren landscape of fields, parking lots, and cheap hotel rooms.

The topic of the film really deals with the perceived shift in our society - one of anonymity (as opposed to community), greed (as opposed to helping your neighbour and doing the right thing), and loss of respect for life (as opposed to a belief that life is sacred). The truth is that people really haven't changed much. Atrocities have always been and they always will be. We simply have the choice to decide whether we will stand up for the justice or be bought or scared off.

Of course the way these atrocities express themselves changes with time and place. The Coens created a place I sure don't want to visit (and I've never been too fond of Bush's homestate, though Arcade Fire's frontman was born there), though having a coffee with the Sheriff would be nice.

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3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Though I enjoy a good western with a subplot and developed characters, the unrealistic nature of them makes it really difficult for me to get past.

In this film for instance, a man gets shot in the gut. The slug is removed and he's riding a horse a few minutes later. Or the ridiculously good aim these guys have with a 6-shot. But for me to enjoy the film, I've got to ignore it - just like any sci-fi film I suppose.

In Yuma, we get the classic "don't give a damn" outlaw and the "I've got to give a damn" rancher facing off in a doomed mission of the rancher (Christian Bale) delivering the captured outlaw to a train where the outlaw (Russell Crowe) will be taken to prison and hanged. A mutual respect is developed between the two as the journey progresses and the ending is naturally both exciting and tragic.

The layers in the film are thin except for the top one: What is life worth if you cop out of the difficult things like justice, sacrifice, and family? Based on this one major theme, I recommend the picture, though I've seen both actors in better films and I've seen better westerns.

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Wo Hu Cang Long (2000)

Ang Lee directs us to an imaginary China of the not too distant past where martial arts experts are able to fly. And really, it is such a thrill to watch that I dreamt about flying after watching this film. This is sort of an Adult version of Peter Pan that is set in a slightly more realistic land.

Aside from the exquisite beauty of the Chinese wilderness, we are given an intimate look at a relationship that never is, but should have been (kind of like Brokeback Mountain). We also look at expectation vs. desire through the life of a young female warrior. So this film becomes a rich story with rich characters set against a rich backdrop.

What appreciate too, more than the first time I watched the film, is the surreal and tragic ending that leaves us wondering a fair bit. Not many recent films achieve such bittersweetness for their viewers.

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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)

Tommy Lee Jones directorial debut is a modern western and a commentary on illegal immigrant workers in the US. The film brings out the humanity in it's three leading men.

Jones plays a rancher in south Texas who has a Mexican ranch hand who is killed by a border patrolman, played superbly by Canadian method actor Barry Pepper. The film follows the chain of events that surround the death of Melquiades.

Some terrific and not often seen juxtapositions in this film: the old vs. young unhappy wife, the natural man/woman vs. the law/consumerist man/woman, Mexico vs. the USA, living vs. dead etc... I find the film does a terrific job of discussing the title topic - burial. Death and mourning has been so sanitized in western culture that it is something that needs to be explored much further and this film handles it's position very nicely.

Pepper's callous and self-gratifying character is rather brutal to watch at first. his transformation through the film, though expected, can be likened to a rite of passage. Salvation is a strong theme and man's godlessness careens steadily through the plot and the two make another striking contrast.

Melquiades, the wetback, leads a minor subplot too. He hasn't seen his family in five years and I was intrigued by how the film handled this aspect of his story on the Mexican side. It is something I'd like to one day produce a film on and I appreciated it's angle very much.

I recommend this quiet film. It keeps a pretty low profile through the entire movie; for instance though there is a lengthy chase/hunt scene, it doesn't get carried away into an adrenaline pumping, US Marshalls type chase. The characters are mild and generally honest with their feelings. A new kind of western.

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