Hi hosses,
This post is a week late, but hey, it’s the busy time of the year for a reason!
This selection of movies ended up being the most oddball so far. I picked these as random as most others, just whatever looked good on cursory glance, but all four deviated from what I was expecting.
Anyhow, this is the halfway point of Project: 100! Admittedly, I’m going at ~50% speed from what I was expecting, but watching movies AND thoughtfully reviewing them is not easy work, especially when comicking is the main priority.
#47. Blindman (1973)
First up in this platter of weird-ass movies is an Italian Western written and starred-in by American Tony Anthony, modeled after the Japanese character Zatoichi . Predating Red Sun by three years, this is considered the first Cowboy/Samurai mashup attempt, and for that, I’m required to give some kudos.
The tonal frequency of this movie is tough to discern. It’s got the hallmarks of a Spaghetti — it’s brutal and direct and ironic — but there’s an American sense of humor in it, too. It’s almost slapstick-y; the visually-impaired protag fumbles around the plot, dodging not only bullets but also a host of bad guys looking to take advantage of him.
The plot: Ciego, known to the community as “Blindman”, embarks on a mission of retribution after being bilked by a colleague on the payment for the delivery of 50 mail-order brides to a group of miners. That semi-absurd story detail is brushed aside as an everyday transaction (fifty??), and Blindman subsequently works his way up the syndicate chain for restoration of his business loss.
A notable actor in this movie is Beatles star Ringo Starr, who plays one of the main heavies. Despite Ringo’s rep as a terrible thespian, he’s actually not too bad in this, doing a fine job as the antagonist Candy.
Blindman is fascinating in that it’s grounded for such a fantastical premise. Worth a watch if you’re into the Euro-style Western, though don’t expect to be too impressed by what you (ahem) see.
#48. Against a Crooked Sky (1975)
“You know, I had a boy like you once. He was as ugly as dirt. Took after his ma. I ended up having to slit his throat.”
Richard Boone is one of my favorite Western actors. Whether it be Paladin from Have Gun – Will Travel, or the many baddies he’s played in films like Hombre or Robbers’ Roost, he brings a strong presence to the screen, often enchanting the performance of his scene partners.
Against a Crooked Sky is a bit of a different beast. In this, Boone plays “Russian”, a crotchety prospector who spouts off folksy wisdoms and makes goofy-ass throaty sounds as a matter of habit. It’s a alternate speed for Mr. Boone, in one of his final roles.
His screen companion is Stewart Peterson, who plays a preteen on the search for his recently abducted sister. This is a sad sort of movie, from the soundtrack to the characters’ backgrounds and dispositions, there’s a real Revisionist quality to it all. The story opens with the troped-up specter of Native violence, but it does give the Indian characters some agency by the end.
The movie is mostly carried by Peterson, who gives a great performance as an eager, valiant boy trying to save his sibling’s life. He and Boone make a fine mismatched pair, which carries the story for the most part. The thoughtful shots of the mountainous Utah terrain are also a boon (heh), which helps ease out some of the more awkward elements of the project.
Against a Crooked Sky straddles the fence between fine and forgettable, nothing really pops. For the most part it does the job it set off to do, and does manage to give us a bittersweet ending that feels earned.
#49. Trail of Robin Hood (1950)
We asked the Google machine for a Christmas Western, and this is what it spit out. Some additional googling helped provide the context on this movie, which is essentially Cowboy Avengers.
When we’re talkin’ 1950, we’re speaking of the height of the Western film, where studios were pumping out genre flicks like a torrent from a hose. Thus, there was a huge pool of actors who operated primarily in that field, many of which show up here.
Roy Rogers, both actor and character, is the lead in this, and most of the cast are dudes playing themselves in a contrived story about fraud at a Christmas tree farm. It is one part Western, another part studio stunt. For the most part, these actors were recognizable, and this sort of movie was intended as a meta treat for fans, particularly kids. It’s the embodiment of the Leo Pointing meme.
The movie’s a drag, though. There’s a lot of winking and nudging toward the audience about these apparently retired actors suddenly all working together to thwart a X-mas scheme against the poor. Moreover, Christmas barely plays a role in the happenings, there’s the trees, obviously, and a couple get-togethers, but nothing about the most joyous of seasons is prominent to the themes or messages of it all. We do, however, have the choice of saturating the visuals through a red and green tint. It changes most of the outfits to an elven green and the actors’ faces show as bumblegum pink. It’s fucking strange!
But the craziest thing, overall? No mention of Robin Hood in the entire script. There’s a bit of an altruism bent within the main conflict, but there’s, like, no reason at all to evoke the bandit from Sherwood. Overall, a strange time capsule of the movie biz and its sensibilities.
#50. First Cow (2021)
“No way for a poor man to start. You need capital, or you need some kind of miracle. You need leverage. Or a crime.”
Director/screenwriter Kelly Reichardt is a filmmaker who operates mostly in the “slow cinema” realm. You know these movies: patient, light-on-plot, contemplative, with an emphasis on humanity and its relationship with setting. The Western genre is built for it, really.
First Cow may be the most methodical entry yet in Project: 100. It takes its good ol’ time. Lingering shots and pregnant pauses eat up the two hour runtime life you wouldn’t believe. There’s a charm to that, sure, but I got places to be, movie!
The story follows two men in 1802s Oregon County: Cookie (John Magaro), a quiet frontiersman baker, and Lu (Orion Lee), a business-minded Chinese immigrant. It’s a decent “mountain man” story, the era of settlement that laid the foundation for the “wild west”. You can particularly smell the dampness of the environs. The sight of wet ground, the flashes of fauna, the rustling of wind on the trees; this flick is excellent at making the viewer feel the Pacific Northwest in all its green/brown glory.
It took me about 40 minutes to grasp the general direction of the plot, which is mostly about Cookie and Lu stealing milk from a wealthy British man (Toby Jones). It’s a story of survival and friendship, and slants hard away from most markers of a traditional Western. It’s a very, very chill movie.
Not a bad watch, at all, but you’ll probably find yourself looking at your watch/phone a few times during the viewing. It’s in no hurry to tell a story, and by the time you finish you’ll have to sorta fill in the blanks for yourself. It absolutely refuses to hold your hand, which can be refreshing but also a challenge in media literacy.
That’s all for the 13th leg of Project: 100. My goal for the next year is to ramp these up a bit, either do a few more movies per post or a few more posts per month. We’ll see. As always…
Westward!
~Jamil