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Post by petrolino on Jan 24, 2021 5:40:36 GMT
I'm no western expert either. I was just trying to drum up conversatiuon on a slow board. Westerns mean nothing to me in the grand scheme of things.
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Post by moviemouth on Jan 24, 2021 5:42:21 GMT
Perhaps, but I don't think that is likely. The time of filmmakers like that is long gone and there are plenty of old movies that I haven't seen yet. I spend more time watching old movies than I do new movies these days and there is a vast amount of them to watch. I don't mind this at all. I'm no western expert either. I was just trying to drum up conversatiuon on a slow board. Westerns mean nothing to me in the grand scheme of things. I was just saying that you should just try and find good movies you haven't seen from the past. There are so many. I think there are still plenty of good movies made these days, but you just have to look a bit harder. They just aren't the type movies that get a lot of marketing. Unfortunately franchise movies get all the spotlight these days. I don't think 2021 is going to cause the quality of modern movies to change much.
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Jan 24, 2021 8:03:35 GMT
I'd like to see Refn make a western. Bleak, minimal and highly stylised with only a few lines oblique dialogue. Not sure sure how it'd go in resurrecting the genre but his fans like myself would welcome it. I'm particularly fond of westerns that subvert the genre and take it strange arty directions (Johnny Guitar, Man of the West, The Shooting, Dead Man).
Elements of the genre were worked into his hypnotic and uncompromising limited series Too Old To Die Young.
Aronofsky is another current director with a unique style and vision who I think could bring something new and interesting to the genre. I love how he works with spirituality, obsession and religious allegories.
I'd love to see Jarmusch have another crack at it, Dead Man is my favorite of his and one of the best films of the 1990s.
I also loved Kelly Reichhardt's Meek's Cutoff and look forward to seeing First Cow, her second attempt at the genre.
We don't need to resurrect it to the point of a new Western coming out every couple of weeks, but a couple of interesting entries into the genre every year or so could be exciting.
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Post by politicidal on Jan 24, 2021 15:51:59 GMT
Let Christopher Nolan direct one.
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Post by petrolino on Jan 24, 2021 16:00:31 GMT
I'd like to see Refn make a western. Bleak, minimal and highly stylised with only a few lines oblique dialogue. Not sure sure how it'd go in resurrecting the genre but his fans like myself would welcome it. I'm particularly fond of westerns that subvert the genre and take it strange arty directions ( Johnny Guitar, Man of the West, The Shooting, Dead Man). Elements of the genre were worked into his hypnotic and uncompromising limited series Too Old To Die Young. Aronofsky is another current director with a unique style and vision who I think could bring something new and interesting to the genre. I love how he works with spirituality, obsession and religious allegories. I'd love to see Jarmusch have another crack at it, Dead Man is my favorite of his and one of the best films of the 1990s. I also loved Kelly Reichhardt's Meek's Cutoff and look forward to seeing First Cow, her second attempt at the genre. We don't need to resurrect it to the point of a new Western coming out every couple of weeks, but a couple of interesting entries into the genre every year or so could be exciting.
You make some interesting points, thanks.
The Italians were prolific western filmmakers in the 1960s and 1970s. They used the Roger Corman method of building reusable sets and miniature locales and redressing them, or utilising studio sets when they weren't in use for a small hire fee. Spain followed and before long westerns were being made in France, England, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary ... and this was back when film stock was expensive and equipment was heavy and hard to move around. The landscapes of Mexico, Brazil, Australia and other countries also lent themselves well to conjuring visions evocative of the old West.
Today, all you need is an abandoned outhouse in a desert and you can make an atmospheric western for very little money. You can shoot exteriors elsewhere, find or build your interiors, and with talent, imagination and a lot of hard work, kickstart a new western cycle.
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Jason143
Junior Member
@glaceon
Posts: 1,242
Likes: 610
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Post by Jason143 on Jan 24, 2021 23:09:33 GMT
They wont revive it in this world of pc correctness. Traditional westerns push forth the notions of toxic masculinity, white male leads and harmful gender stereotyping.
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Post by vegalyra on Jan 25, 2021 14:03:32 GMT
Not to totally sidetrack this thread but an aspect of history that has rarely been touched on would be the Spanish period in what is now the United States. Coronado, Cabeza de Vaca, et al and the Spanish Missions in Texas, relations with the Caddo, Apaches, Comanches, and other Native tribes. There is a lot that could be mined here. I know that a lot of films involving the Spanish colonization have been made about Central and South America but not so much regarding north of the Rio Grande, especially in the modern era.
Back to the topic though, I’d love it if the Western in general were revived by a modern Anthony Mann. His Westerns in particular with Jimmy Stewart were always well done and interesting. They hold up today. The Man from Laramie is particulary well done. I liked the attempts to revive the western over the years, Tombstone and Open Range being among the better ones.
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Post by Power Ranger on Jan 26, 2021 17:20:46 GMT
It will never be as popular as what it was in the 50s or 60s. Cultural and demographic shifts mean it won’t ever be as prolific as what it was in those times. Back then, there were hundreds of tv shows alone with a western theme. Also comics and novels. People were more literate about that period and it was a more accessible period of time given that many Westerns were set up to the beginning of the 20th century. Time erodes the romanticism of that period. Also the US was unashamedly interested in itself, especially after first becoming the leading superpower after WW2. I don’t see that kind of patriotism returning anytime soon. Possibly in many generations to come, but not before.
I love Westerns, especially those of the 1970s. I don’t think the genre will ever completely die because so many excellent examples of the genre exist and will continue to inspire filmmakers. Also the setting is rich for story telling.
I just hope that those that are made are done so by those who respect the genre. It’s strengths are more richer than simply the action and gunplay.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 26, 2021 17:39:19 GMT
The situation in the 1960s was driven by the development of cheaper film stock. So you have many more producers and opportunities for making films to be seen outside of Hollywood major.
The trouble currently is the media monopoly.
All the gates are controlled by the same group of people who share the same goals/tastes. They love China, they hate Europe, and they hate media competition. And as already said, their heads are stuck so much up their asses that anything traditional or natural is evil to them. This trailer violates every PC commandment possible:
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Post by sdrew13163 on Jan 26, 2021 21:21:03 GMT
Let Christopher Nolan direct one. I'm not completely sold on his talents working well in the western genre (he's been living by big-action recently), but this might be a cool option for him to consider now that he's left WB. His movies might have to be smaller until he finds a big studio to fund him again, which is perfect for a western.
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Post by sdrew13163 on Jan 26, 2021 21:37:59 GMT
Westerns are hard to do now because no one (except maybe Tarantino) can duplicate the two great sub-genres of the classic era - American and Spaghetti westerns.
American westerns were more about good vs. evil, growth, epic scale, generally upbeat tone, etc. You see much of that in today's westerns too, but they miss the epic scale by shooting lots of handheld and close-ups. Watching both the 3:10 to Yuma and Magnificent Seven remakes can be really rough. They're shot like a 2005 action blockbuster and it just doesn't work.
You never get the longer, slower takes of wide landscapes. Lots of handheld to show chaos, then the rest are closeups.
Then you have the movies that do shoot the western to grasp its majesty (eg. Hostiles), but I've found those to be generally very boring and artsy to the point that you get neither the morally gray fun of a Spaghetti western nor the inspirational classic American western stories.
For something like this to work, I think mixing other genres would have to be the spark. The Mandalorian is already toying with the western with a Sci-Fi angle on TV with huge popularity, and Bone Tomahawk seems to grow in its effectivity over the years as another hit in the horror-western genre.
A little more of those getting big recognition could go a long way in getting straight-up westerns back in the spotlight a decade or so down the line. Then again, Mando showed signs of moving into serial-action territory, so maybe that isn't one to bank on; and Bone Tomahawk is about as far away from mainstream as it gets.
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Post by theravenking on Jan 26, 2021 22:29:04 GMT
There have been some interesting western projects recently which sadly haven't made it into production (yet).
The Brigands Of Rattleborg written by S. Craig Zahler. A grisly revenge tale with some nasty torture scenes.
Far Bright Star based on a book by Robert Olmstead. Following a group of US horse soldiers during Pancho Villa's Mexican revolution. It had Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck attached.
The Creed Of Violence adapted from a novel by Boston Teran. - About an American secret agent in the early 20th century in Mexico. Todd Fields wanted to make this with Christian Bale.
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