ICM Forum

Western Challenge

Thriving on physical sensation, wedded to violence, dominated by the need for domination, and imprisoned by its own heroic code, the Western appeals finally beyond all these to whatever it is the high-up hills betoken.

- Jane Tompkins, West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns

All but the smallest countries have regions. Few have a region of such historical and mythological import as the West does in the United States. No wonder, then, that the largest and most powerful film industry in the history of cinema developed a genre dedicated solely to the region. No wonder that this genre became America's most popular during its long mid-century heyday. Small wonder that the genre collapsed in on itself during the same era when the entire American project became attenuated and dubious. And yet, the West -- as a place, a concept, or a constellation in the social imaginary -- continues to beguile and intrigue us.

Goal:
Watch Westerns. Discuss them.

Rules:
- I leave eligibility up to the discretion of participants. I ask only for good-faith submissions. Please be mindful that not every movie set in a Western state or featuring some tropes typical of the Western is truly a Western.
- Challenge runs from May 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024.
- A feature film (at least 40 minutes) counts as one point.
- 80 minutes of short films or miniseries/TV episodes count as one point.
- Films must be watched one at a time, at single speed (not sped up), and in their entirety.
- Not a rule but a request: When you post what you have watched, please include your reaction or at least a rating so that other people can learn about movies they might not know about. Also, the challenge is more fun and interesting when discussion is ample.

Stats & Formatting:
- Title (Year) is the preferred format.
- Don't edit posts to include new movies you've watched. Always make new posts.
- Please note that I will be traveling for the first two weeks of May. There will be few or possibly no updates of the leaderboard until I return home.

Previous Editions:
2012 - Led by sushantv10 with 84 points.
2013 - Led by sushantv10 with 30 points.
2014 - Led by Kasparius with 46 points.
2015 - Led by Chemosh6969 with 57 points.
2016 - Led by PUNQ with 113 points.
2017 - Led by PUNQ with 189 points.
2018 - Led by RogerTheMovieManiac88 with 85 points.
2019 - Led by PUNQ with 157 points.
2020 - Led by PUNQ with 86 points.
2021 - Led by PUNQ with 342 points.
2022 - Led by PUNQ with 206 points.
2023 - Led by PUNQ with 110 points.

Official Lists:
BFI's 100 Westerns
The Spaghetti Western Database's Essential Top 50 Films
IMDb's Western Top 50

Bonus Challenge -- Blocho's Recommendation
Watch The English. Here's my review from last year's challenge:

Spoiler

There’s a long conversation in the first episode between an Englishwoman new to the West and a middle-aged man who vows to show her “the real America,” a promise full of portent. They sit at a table in a darkened house on the high plains, with plates of bull testicle as their meal. Their dialogue is tart and abstruse, well-mannered but full of threat. We know one of them will die imminently. The episode, so quick to move through plot and action at other times, lingers here uneasily. This conversation feels in many ways like the modus operandi of the miniseries. The English barrels through narrative at rapid speed, introducing plenty of fascinating characters while giving them little time to develop. And then it slows to drink from deep wells of menacing dialogue. Fast and slow. Writer/director Hugo Blick loves the rhythms of the Western and all of its narrative possibilities.

He also loves a vibrant and colorful Western landscape. All of you who dislike desaturated cinematography will be happy with this series. The landscapes are some of the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen in a Western. A little too gorgeous. These look like composite shots, with the sky and background layered in. We’re miles away from traditional studio sets.

Our story concerns the aforementioned Englishwoman and a Pawnee man, a former cavalry scout. These two heroes traverse a slice of the Great Plains (from Oklahoma up to Wyoming) in 1890, finding a constant array of bandits, ranchers, lawmen, Indians, and migrants. Most of them are deadly. All of them are desperate. As the Englishwoman says in one episode while recounting just a couple of the killings she’s witnessed in her short time in the West, “There’s just something about this country.” This is an exploration of the Western as epic, a vast historical and social canvas. We will hear about the Dawes Allotment Act, about the Land Rush of 1889, about the new germ theory of disease, and about bloody incidents like the Fetterman Fight and the Sand Creek Massacre. There are complicated narrative turns, sharp dialogue, and philosophical musings. There’s even a game of cricket.

Everyone in this series speaks obliquely. Instead of saying someone likes scalping her enemies, she’s described as “partial to lifting our hair.” I love this kind of dialogue, though the conversations occasionally wander a bit too aimlessly. The Pawnee character’s development is never fully realized. And there’s a bit too much preoccupation with physical deformity. Those are the only faults I can find here. In all other regards, The English is excellent.

And the score is great too.

Participants

Rank	Participant	# of Points	The English
1	RogerTheMovieManiac88	50	---
2	gunnar	37	---
3	PUNQ	28	---
4	sol	23	Partially
5	silga	17	---
6	ororama	12	Yes!
7	frwnk	11	---
8	frbrown	10	---
9	Simba63	9	---
10	jdidaco	6	---
10	blocho	6	---
12	Lonewolf2003	5	---
13	FilmWalrus	4	---
13	Melvelet	4	---
15	AB537	2	---
15	Minkin	2	---
15	vortexsurfer	2	---
18	VincentPrice	1	---
18	Good_Will_Harding	1	---
18	Obgeoff	1	---
18	zzzorf	1	---
18	hurluberlu	1	---
18	peeptoad	1	---

1. And God Said to Cain... (1970)

The first half hour is slow, but the remaining hour is amazingly atmospheric, with the avenging protagonist stalking a desert town during a single stormy night, and it all climaxes with a

Spoiler

"Lady from Shanghai"-style shootout among mirrors

1. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) 6/10

Not nearly as good as I was expecting.

It got plenty of promising turns in the story, beautiful scenery and photography.

However, it was all let down by very subpar acting and some ridiculous moments in the third act.

1. The Grey Fox (1982) - 7/10
2. Lonesome Cowboys (1968) - 2/10

1 - Day of Anger (1967) - 7.5/10 - Scott does the dirty work in the town, picking up garbage, sweeping floors, etc., and is treated poorly by many of the residents as a result. About the only one who treats him kindly is Murph, the man who runs the stables. Scott falls in with a deadly gunfighter named Talby, becoming his apprentice and learning from him. This also causes quite a change in his demeanor. This was pretty entertaining right from the beginning. It's a fairly simple tale, but also very effective.

2 - Run, Man, Run (1968) - 7/10 - Cuchillo is a thief with a talent for throwing a knife. He ends up in prison with a poet revolutionary named Ramirez for a cellmate. Ramirez enlists Cuchillo's help in recovering $3 million in gold hidden in the United States so that it can be used for revolutionary purposes. This leads Cuchillo on an adventure where he has a number of allies and enemies along the way.

3 - The Long Riders (1980) - 7/10 - The film follows the rise and fall of the James-Younger gang over a period of time in the 1870s-1880s. The gang robs a number of banks, trains, and stagecoaches, but the Pinkertons are after them and sometimes the townsfolk are also ready. I thought it was a decent film and I liked the casting of actual brothers to portray the four sets of brothers shown in the film.

Naturally I'm joining, but unsure how I'll approach it this year. Done all the searches I usually do. Both old and new. Sadly, this is all the unseen westerns from 1930 to 1951 I was able to find. Might be record low numbers when getting ready for this challenge.

According to IMDB, I've seen 1,803 western feature films from those years. That means there are over 700 features left to find. But judging by the number of people who have rated those films, it's mostly obscure ones left. uloz.to used to be great place to find those films, but now I'm without sources and most of these films might be lost to the pre-streaming days of the internet.

I've also found 30 modern westerns, but the last few years of modern westerns has been downright depressing, so I'm not looking forward to it. Might not even do it, and instead rely on what I find from 1952. But I'm doing that strictly chronologically, so I won't have time to include everything from that year either. Doubt I'll make it six wins in a row unless I find a magical source for rare old school B-westerns again.



1. Outlaw Justice (1932, Armand Schaefer) [***]
--- For a poverty row western it's good. For a movie in general it's bad. Jack Hoxie carried himself well, but they couldn't give him many lines because he couldn't read, which was the main reason for the downfall of this former silent cowboy hero, even if he was one of the most credible looking of the western stars transitioning to sound. The film tries to carry a decent story, but there is also a lot of dead time to take you out of it. Just like the average western of the era did. Gained some kind of notoriety in recent years for a movie poster of Outlaw Justice (1932) appearing on the TV-series Better Call Saul, but there is no reason to seek the movie out because of that. Just a random prop.


2. The Western Code (1932, John P. McCarthy) [***]
--- The standard Tim McCoy western where he tries to deliver his lines in a cool way and always ends up slightly awkward.


3. The Wyoming Whirlwind (1932, Armand Schaefer) [**]
--- Adele Lacy might be the cutest lady to ever appear in a poverty row western. Of Norwegian ancestry, she was too. A actress that appeared in all three big musicals of '33, we're talking Gold Diggers of 1933, 42nd Street and Footlight Parade, all small chorus girl bits, that was leading lady of B-western stinkers before those gigs. One was an all-time bad western in Tom Tyler's When a Man Rides Alone (1933), and this one, a tiny bit better, called The Wyoming Whirlwind (1932). Oh, and the lead cowboy was Lane Chandler. Nobody cares about him. He was a tall, handsome and awkward actor that came through the silent era and got to be a cowboy star the first half of the 1930s before settling for small parts as extra the next four decades. The film is as rough as any no-budget cowboy flicks of its era. Sometimes even a weird in how it wanted to entertain. Let's just say it's a mess, and leave it at that.


4. The Fugitive (1933, Harry L. Fraser) [***]
--- Stars Rex Bell, aka Mr. Clara Bow, a agent undercover who escapes prison with their mark going west in search of stolen money. Hardly a exciting B-western, but at least it had a purpose, and not just throwing things together. George 'Gabby' Hayes gets involved, and it's a larger than usual role for Bob Kortman.


5. Saddle Aces (1935, Harry L. Fraser) [**]
--- Saddle Aces (1935) is a great name for a western. Too bad it's a terrible Rex Bell oater it's attached to.


6. Wildcat Saunders (1936, Harry L. Fraser) [***]
--- Fred 'Snowflake' Toones is so valuable in poverty row productions. The only one that actually creates a little life. To think he had to run a shoeshine stand in between acting gigs, instead of getting top-billing in the pictures he appeared in is such weird thing. He did over 200 films in just 17 years and he was still Hollywood's shoeshine boy.


7. Smoky Trails (1939, Bernard B. Ray) [***]
--- It's a Bob Steele western, but since it's the era of singing westerns they brought in a guy called Bruce Dane to do the singing. He stayed around in Hollywood a year doing these cheap pictures before he disappeared only to turn up on TV a decade later for the soap opera Hawkins Falls, Population 6200. Smoky Trails (1939) might be his finest moment as a movie actor. Anyway, this is your standard poverty row western, and very good if you take into account Harry Webb Productions did the job. They put out some real stinkers the years they were around. Most films don't even exist anymore, that's how sought after they are. Loved that they even tried some special visual effects for one of the song!


8. Jeepers Creepers (II) (1939, Frank McDonald) [****]
--- Roy Rogers getting to play second fiddle to the Weaver Family in a semi-fun country comedy that should have been so much more funny, but wasn't. Good time and all, but doesn't reach any great levels. Best when Roy was courting.


9. Buzzy Rides the Range (1940, Richard C. Kahn) [**]
--- Some producer tried to build a franchise around 9-year-old Robert 'Buzz' Henry. Only lasted two attempts. No wonder. The production quality was below the usual poverty row standard. They made it more kids friendly, so there is some charm to it, but the first film is not anywhere close to being good.


10. Buzzy and the Phantom Pinto (1941, Richard C. Kahn) [**]
--- The second and last Buzzy western was so unremarkable that the only good time it had to offer was when they changed up the tempo for a relaxing song.


11. The Girl from Alaska (1942, Nick Grinde & William Witney) [****]
--- Wilderness adventure across rough terrain from Republic Pictures starring Ray Middleton & Jean Parker with good support from Jerome Cowan, Robert Barrat and Ace the Wonder Dog! Never too exciting, but it's such a different environment for many of these actors that it had its appeal. But I think the biggest weakness was Middleton as leading man. Simply didn't generate much energy for the part.

1. Yellow Sky (1948)

Had watched this a few years back and enjoyed it a fair amount, but it never really stood out in my memory since then. But I recently watched a video of South Korean director Park Chan-Wook discussing some of his favorite films that he watched recently, and this one came up. After revisiting it, I do still see where the technical prowess lies here and get why Park would appreciate it so highly, but I myself still can't quite embrace it as one of my personal favorites of the genre.

The video I referred to:

1. Rocky Mountain-1950: C

4 - Yellow Sky (1948) - 8.5/10 - Stretch Dawson (Gregory Peck) leads a gang that robs a bank and then flees into Death Valley to evade the posse that pursues them. Hungry, thirsty, and tired, they happen upon a ghost town where the only residents are a young woman (Anne Baxter) and her grandfather, each armed and not looking for company. The story, acting, and setting are all very good. The supporting cast of characters in the gang also features some nice talent to complement the leads.

5 - 10,000 Dollars for a Massacre (1967) - 5/10 - A bounty hunter called Django is hired by a man to rescue his kidnapped daughter and to take out the gang that took her. Unfortunately, this is pretty mediocre in terms of the story and acting. The music was kind of annoying, too.

I also watched A Dog's Will to get back my IMDb Western platinum, but I don't really consider it a western so I'm not counting it here.

Spoiler

1 - Day of Anger (1967) - 7.5/10
2 - Run, Man, Run (1968) - 7/10
3 - The Long Riders (1980) - 7/10

How the West was Platinumed

1. The Grey Fox (1982) - 7/10
2. Lonesome Cowboys (1968) - 2/10

3. Fah talai jone ~ Tears of the Black Tiger (2000) - 6/10

1. 10,000 dollari per un massacro [10,000 Dollars for a Massacre/10,000 Dollars Blood Money] (1967, Romolo Guerrieri): 6.8

1. Robbers of the Range (1941) * 61 min.
Tim Holt's B-westerns are of consistently high quality, but the earlier ones generally seem a little fresher. This was one of the best ones that I've seen.

*First time viewing

1. No Name on the Bullet 1959 7/10
Very interesting concept that could have been truly great with a better script

2. Stranger on Horseback (1955)

Some very good direction by Jacques Tourneur, especially in the outdoor scenes toward the end

Spoiler

1. And God Said to Cain... (1970)
2. Stranger on Horseback (1955)

2. Jonah Hex (Jimmy Hayward, 2010) 3/10
3. Rango (Gore Verbinski, 2011) 9/10 (rewatch)
4. The Bushwhackers (Rod Amateau, 1951) 4/10

When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings

1. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) 6/10
2. Jonah Hex (Jimmy Hayward, 2010) 3/10
3. Rango (Gore Verbinski, 2011) 9/10 (rewatch)
4. The Bushwhackers (Rod Amateau, 1951) 4/10

3. From Hell to Texas (1958)

Really good, complex screenplay, and great performances all around, especially Don Murray in the lead

Spoiler

1. And God Said to Cain... (1970)
2. Stranger on Horseback (1955)
3. From Hell to Texas (1958)

How the West was Platinumed

1. The Grey Fox (1982) - 7/10
2. Lonesome Cowboys (1968) - 2/10
3. Fah talai jone ~ Tears of the Black Tiger (2000) - 6/10

4. The Last Sunset (1961) - 7/10

1. Giù la testa (1971)
2. El Dorado (1966)
3. Open Range (2003)
4. My Darling Clementine (1946)
5. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)
6. The Avenging Angel (1995)

Here's an example of the western pace if I just follow 1952 chronologically. About half the TV-episodes I go through are westerns and here I got two B-westerns out of the 12 features I watched since the last update.


12. Montana Incident (1952, Lewis D. Collins) [***]
--- Coming toward the end of Whip Wilson's movie career, Montana Incident (1952) is a very uneventful western. Tries to create good vibes from it's characters, but little excitement comes out of it when it comes time to bring the action. Mostly a yawn.


13a. Sky King - S01 - E10 - The Man Who Forgot (09.08.1952, Hollingsworth Morse) [******] - 27min
13b. The Cisco Kid - S03 - E02 - The Puppeteer (10.08.1952, George Cahan) [*****] - 26min
13c. The Cisco Kid - S03 - E03 - The Talking Dog (17.08.1952, Eddie Davis) [******] - 26min
13d. The Lone Ranger: A Cartoon (1936, USA) [**] - 3min


14a. The Adventures of Kit Carson - S02 - E02 - The Baron of Black Springs (09.08.1952, John English) [****] - 25min
14b. The Adventures of Kit Carson - S02 - E03 - Danger Hill (16.08.1952, Lew Landers) [****] - 26min
14c. The Adventures of Kit Carson - S02 - E04 - Wild Horses of Pala (23.08.1952, John English) [****] - 25min
14d. Poetic Gem: The Old Prospector Talks (1935, Deane H. Dickason) [***] - 9min


15. The Kid from Broken Gun (1952, Fred F. Sears) [****]
--- Charles Starrett movie career ended almost the same way Lash La Rue's career ended earlier that year. This was the year they killed off the old school B-western, and the final Durango Kid ends with extended flashbacks suing footage from a previous film, here using The Fighting Frontiersman (1946) as the basis of a court case. In other words, they didn't bother to shoot a whole movie to conclude the contracts. The '46 film was one of the lesser Durango Kid films, and the newly shot courtroom portion of the film was far better, so at least there was something to appreciate for Starrett swansong, while Lash's farewell was just sad.

Smiley Burnette was having a laugh in court and was probable the best bits from this bastardized release! After six years of being Durango Kid's screen pal, the former Gene Autry sidekick would return for the final run of Autry films in 1953 before turning up in Hillbilly sitcoms like Petticoat Junction and Green Acres a decade later.

Spoiler

1. Outlaw Justice (1932, Armand Schaefer) [***]
2. The Western Code (1932, John P. McCarthy) [***]
3. The Wyoming Whirlwind (1932, Armand Schaefer) [**]
4. The Fugitive (1933, Harry L. Fraser) [***]
5. Saddle Aces (1935, Harry L. Fraser) [**]
6. Wildcat Saunders (1936, Harry L. Fraser) [***]
7. Smoky Trails (1939, Bernard B. Ray) [***]
8. Jeepers Creepers (II) (1939, Frank McDonald) [****]
9. Buzzy Rides the Range (1940, Richard C. Kahn) [**]
10. Buzzy and the Phantom Pinto (1941, Richard C. Kahn) [**]
11. The Girl from Alaska (1942, Nick Grinde & William Witney) [****]
12. Montana Incident (1952, Lewis D. Collins) [***]
13. Sky King - S01 - E10 - The Man Who Forgot (09.08.1952, Hollingsworth Morse) [******], The Cisco Kid - S03 - E02 - The Puppeteer (10.08.1952, George Cahan) [*****], The Cisco Kid - S03 - E03 - The Talking Dog (17.08.1952, Eddie Davis) [******], The Lone Ranger: A Cartoon (1936, USA) [**] - 3min
14. The Adventures of Kit Carson - S02 - E02 - The Baron of Black Springs (09.08.1952, John English) [****], The Adventures of Kit Carson - S02 - E03 - Danger Hill (16.08.1952, Lew Landers) [****], The Adventures of Kit Carson - S02 - E04 - Wild Horses of Pala (23.08.1952, John English) [****], Poetic Gem: The Old Prospector Talks (1935, Deane H. Dickason) [***]
15. The Kid from Broken Gun (1952, Fred F. Sears) [****]

5. Hidalgo (Joe Johnston, 2004) 7/10
6. Soldier Blue (Ralph Nelson, 1970) 6/10

When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings

1. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) 6/10
2. Jonah Hex (Jimmy Hayward, 2010) 3/10
3. Rango (Gore Verbinski, 2011) 9/10 (rewatch)
4. The Bushwhackers (Rod Amateau, 1951) 4/10
5. Hidalgo (Joe Johnston, 2004) 7/10
6. Soldier Blue (Ralph Nelson, 1970) 6/10

6 - The Breaking Point (1950) - 8/10 - Harry Morgan (John Garfield) runs a fishing boat with a friend (Juano Hernández), but business hasn't been great and he is barely squeaking by. When he gets stiffed on a job and doesn't even have the money to get out of port, he starts considering other options. He's also prideful and doesn't win to give in and also doesn't like the idea of his wife helping make ends meet. This is a nice and entertaining noir.

7 - The Grey Fox (1982) - 7/10 - Bill Miner had a career robbing stagecoaches and was known for doing it in a 'gentlemanly' fashion, perhaps even coming up with the 'hands up' approach. He also spent quite a bit of time in prison. After being paroled from San Quentin in 1901, he travels to Canada, adopts a different name, and takes up robbing trains. Richard Farnsworth gives a decent performance in a fairly laid back film.

8 - Django the Bastard / The Strangers Gundown (1969) - 6/10 - Django shows up in town with a list of names and a wooden cross for each name. There are flashbacks to the Civil War and a few decent scenes, but overall I thought it was kind of mediocre.

Spoiler

1 - Day of Anger (1967) - 7.5/10
2 - Run, Man, Run (1968) - 7/10
3 - The Long Riders (1980) - 7/10
4 - Yellow Sky (1948) - 8.5/10
5 - 10,000 Dollars for a Massacre (1967) - 5/10

Thank you for hosting, blocho!

“I’m a human being, made in the image of God. I can kill anything…” (John Ireland in 'La sfida dei Mackenna')

1. Pagó cara su muerte (Death Knows No Time, León Klimovsky, 1968) 7.5/10
2. Un dólar y una tumba/La sfida dei MacKenna (Challenge of the McKennas, León Klimovsky, 1970) 8.5/10

2. Man Without a Star (1955, King Vidor): 8.2

Spoiler

1. 10,000 dollari per un massacro [10,000 Dollars for a Massacre/10,000 Dollars Blood Money] (1967, Romolo Guerrieri): 6.8

4. Bolek and Lolek in the Wild West (1986)

Polish animated western (!), spun off from a TV series

Spoiler

1. And God Said to Cain... (1970)
2. Stranger on Horseback (1955)
3. From Hell to Texas (1958)
4. Bolek and Lolek in the Wild West (1986)

2. The Wind (1928) * 78 min. 
A great movie with a great performance by Lillian Gish.

Spoiler

1. Robbers of the Range (1941) * 61 min.

*First time viewing

1. E Dio disse a Caino... - And God Said to Cain ... (Antonio Margheriti, 1970) 6/10
2. El Dorado (Howard Hawks, 1966) 7.5/10

9 - The Wonderful Country (1959) - 6.5/10 - Robert Mitchum stars as a gunslinger named Brady who works for a Mexican governor and his brother. Brady travels to Texas to purchase guns for his boss, but breaks a leg and is stuck in Texas for some time while he recuperates. Meanwhile, the arms shipment disappears. The Texas Rangers try to recruit Brady, a major's wife comes on to him, and there is trouble with the Apaches and also with his Mexican employers. Mitchum was not a very interesting or convincing lead here and the story seems a bit tired. The scenery looks nice at least.

10 - A Man Called Blade (1977) - 6.5/10 - A bounty hunter who carries a hatchet in addition to a gun brings a prisoner into a mining town. That's an excuse as he is looking to get revenge. There is also treachery in the wind involving the local silver mine and the mine owner. The movie was okay. I liked the soundtrack.

11 - The Beguiled (1971) - 7.5/10 - A little girl is out picking mushrooms one day in the Confederate South in 1863 when she happens across a wounded Union soldier (Clint Eastwood). She helps him stand and takes him to her school where there are six girls of various ages plus a teacher, headmistress, and house slave with no men in residence. As he recovers, he works to seduce the various women and older girls. This leads to jealousy and a few problems. The film definitely has a fair amount of atmosphere and tension through much of it.

12 - The Law and Jake Wade (1958) - 8/10 - Jake Wade (Robert Taylor) is the marshal of a small town who breaks a prisoner named Clint Hollister (Richard Widmark) out of the jail in another town. He sees it as a one time thing where he is paying off a debt, but it ends up bringing a lot more trouble than he bargained for. The two men used to be part of the same gang who robbed a bank years before with Wade burying the take and going straight rather than giving Hollister his share. Now Hollister wants the money from the job. Widmark is excellent as he often is while Taylor is serviceable in his role.

Spoiler

1 - Day of Anger (1967) - 7.5/10
2 - Run, Man, Run (1968) - 7/10
3 - The Long Riders (1980) - 7/10
4 - Yellow Sky (1948) - 8.5/10
5 - 10,000 Dollars for a Massacre (1967) - 5/10
6 - The Breaking Point (1950) - 8/10
7 - The Grey Fox (1982) - 7/10
8 - Django the Bastard / The Strangers Gundown (1969) - 6/10

7. Forest Warrior (Aaron Norris, 1996) 1/10
8. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012) 10/10 (rewatch)

When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings

1. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) 6/10
2. Jonah Hex (Jimmy Hayward, 2010) 3/10
3. Rango (Gore Verbinski, 2011) 9/10 (rewatch)
4. The Bushwhackers (Rod Amateau, 1951) 4/10
5. Hidalgo (Joe Johnston, 2004) 7/10
6. Soldier Blue (Ralph Nelson, 1970) 6/10
7. Forest Warrior (Aaron Norris, 1996) 1/10
8. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012) 10/10 (rewatch)

How the West was Platinumed

1. The Grey Fox (1982) - 7/10
2. Lonesome Cowboys (1968) - 2/10
3. Fah talai jone ~ Tears of the Black Tiger (2000) - 6/10
4. The Last Sunset (1961) - 7/10

5. Warlock (1959) - 8/10

13 - Sabata (1969) - 7/10 - Sabata comes to town and foils a brazen safe theft sponsored by some of the leading citizens of the town. He then gets into a sort of game of cat and mouse with the main bad guy, sometimes aided by a banjo playing gunslinger. Sabata's motivation in all this is pretty murky unless he just likes messing with people, but there are certainly a lot of fun scenes mixed in to the film and Lee Van Cleef is good.

14 - Apache (1954) - 6.5/10 - An Apache warrior escapes from captivity to hide in the mountains. He takes a wife and contemplates taking up farming as well, if only the soldiers in pursuit will let him be. Not the most exciting film, but it was okay.

15 - Lonesome Cowboys (1968) - 0/10 - This was pretty wretched.

Spoiler

1 - Day of Anger (1967) - 7.5/10
2 - Run, Man, Run (1968) - 7/10
3 - The Long Riders (1980) - 7/10
4 - Yellow Sky (1948) - 8.5/10
5 - 10,000 Dollars for a Massacre (1967) - 5/10
6 - The Breaking Point (1950) - 8/10
7 - The Grey Fox (1982) - 7/10
8 - Django the Bastard / The Strangers Gundown (1969) - 6/10
9 - The Wonderful Country (1959) - 6.5/10
10 - A Man Called Blade (1977) - 6.5/10
11 - The Beguiled (1971) - 7.5/10
12 - The Law and Jake Wade (1958) - 8/10

2. Red River 1948 8-/10
3. First Cow 2019 9+/10
4. The Power of the Dog 2021 7/10

Spoiler

1. No Name on the Bullet 1959 7/10
2. Red River 1948 8-/10
3. First Cow 2019 9+/10
4. The Power of the Dog 2021 7/10

3. Per 100.000 dollari t'ammazzo [$100,000 for a Killing/Vengeance Is Mine] (1968, Giovanni Fago): 7.5

Spoiler

1. 10,000 dollari per un massacro [10,000 Dollars for a Massacre/10,000 Dollars Blood Money] (1967, Romolo Guerrieri): 6.8
2. Man Without a Star (1955, King Vidor): 8.2