This movie is probably awful, but MAN what a concept.
Sugar Hill’s man is killed by the mob, so she goes to a voodoo priestess to raise zombies to hunt the men down.
The 70’s were WILD.
Month: February 2024
On the Horizon: An American Saga
I realize yesterday’s post was about a Western, and I swear I didn’t plan this, but today’s post is about Kevin Costner’s upcoming Western, Horizon: An American Saga.
Yesterday’s teaser for Horizon made this look mid at best, but this trailer has me on board. Not excited, but I’m willing to give it a chance.
The difficulty Westerns face is that they are a quintessentially American genre, in an era in which Americanness is under assault from all sides. We are forbidden to celebrate the westward expansion, and the cowboys, cavalry, and railmen must always be the villains. Which is precisely what a Western must not be about.
I’m hoping this movie manages to sidestep all those issues and deliver something truly excellent, but until I see it, it’ll stay firmly in the “cautiously interested” column.
Blast From the Past: Tombstone
30 years old, almost 31, one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Val Kilmer, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Dana Delany, and Kurt Russel: how they got this powerhouse of a cast, I have no idea. Filled with eminently quotable—and quoted—one-liners and block-busting performances, I promise you this trailer if anything undersells the experience of watching the film.
This dramatization of the shootout at the OK Corral, and the events leading up to it, and those after it, is gripping and visceral. And while not 100% factual, it absolutely puts you in the feel of the Old West, the heat and dust, the edge of the frontier, the lawlessness and the need for law.
Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp turns in one of the best performances of his long career, as does Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday. Michael Biehn as the sociopathic Johnny Ringo is chilling, and Powers Boothe as the leader of the Cowboys is gregarious but just as murderous.
The movie moves fast, and provides plenty of action, but has time to develop the characters, even side ones (aided by impeccable performances even in minor roles). It is, wall to wall, simply a great film.
If you’ve never seen the movie, watch it. If you have seen it, watch it again. Don’t sleep on this classic.
Winnie the Pooh and Bearer of the Ring
Came across this delightful comic on Twitter today—and I do realize a lot of these posts start off like that, thank you very much—and it was amusing but also made me think.
It’s cute, but my problem is that TIGGER IS JUST NOT A HOBBIT.
So I began thinking about who to cast. And, while no casting is perfect, I’ve come up with some solid answers.
First off, Pooh is so obviously the Ringbearer. He loves comfort and eating, is the main character, but despite his complaints is surprisingly resilient in the face of disaster and deprivation.
Piglet is Samwise, loyal friend to Pooh. Always supportive, always there, just as resilient.
Owl is wise, just as Gandalf is. Kanga and Roo are the other two hobbits, used to the comforts of home but willing to leave and do the right thing. Eeyore is Gimli, dour but doughty.
Rabbit is Boromir, selfish but he always helps in the end. Christopher Robin is Aragorn, the wise prince not yet come into his own. And Tigger is Legolas, mostly by process of elimination but also by courage and unearthly abilities.
So who would you cast? Leave your comments down below!
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Mankind Returns to the Moon
A historic achievement: Thursday, for the first time since 1972, a lunar lander touched down on the moon. The 14 foot tall unmanned private-firm built lander, launched by a SpaceX rocket, became the first lander since Apollo 17 to land on the selenian orb. From a New York Post article on the historic achievement:
The six-footed carbon fiber and titanium lander — towering 14 feet — carried six experiments for NASA and other cargo. The space agency paid $118 million to the tech firm to build and fly the lander as part of its effort to commercialize lunar deliveries ahead of plans to put humans back on the moon within several years.
Returning to the moon, despite being a phenomenal accomplishment in and of itself, is but the first step in landing men on the moon, and eventually building a lunar base. And even a lunar base is seen as a first step towards future missions to Mars and a possible colony there.
It’s exciting to see so many factors, long in development, finally culminating in such an accomplishment. Makes me excited for the future.
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