Joan mentioned this in her post. I would highly recommend The Salvation, with Mads Mikklesen, Eva Green, Jonathan Pryce, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. A very European-feeling western. I have a theory this part is what got Jeffrey Dean Morgan his role as Negan, in The Walking Dead. The actor who plays Mikklesen's brother is also very good, but man, Eva Green outacts everyone, without uttering a single line of dialogue.
I agree with you, Greg. Jeffery Dean Morgan was first really noticed playing a dying heart patient on Grey's Anatomy, and his career took off. Then he was the villain in The Salvation, and I too thought his "evilness" might have lead to the part of Negan. Also, Eva Green was very good in this movie. "The eyes are the windows to the soul."
I thought you meant westerns that took place in modern day. If that is what you are after, LONELY ARE THE BRAVE is perhaps the best of them. As to westerns made recently, I would go with HELL AND HIGH WATER.
(THE HI-LO COUNTRY is also a very good modern western. Wonderful score by Carter Burwell.)
I agree with you, Greg. Jeffery Dean Morgan was first really noticed playing a dying heart patient on Grey's Anatomy, and his career took off. Then he was the villain in The Salvation, and I too thought his "evilness" might have lead to the part of Negan. Also, Eva Green was very good in this movie. "The eyes are the windows to the soul."
Spot-on, Joan. I just posted my thoughts on the Magnificent Seven remake.
just started s.2. it's a murder mystery set in present day Wyoming The main character is kinda boring & cliched but Lou DIamond Phillips is fantastic and I love that the show incorporates the neighboring Indian res into many aspects of the show. brm
ps Robert Taylor looks like Richard Gere crossed with Harrsion Ford!
It's the horror aspect that people I've talked to seem to like, much like the twist in FROM DUSK TO DAWN. Either way, I'm curious. Don't spoil anything for me, though! I want to experience it for my own.
No mention of Cowboys vs Aliens? What's wrong with you people?
The film had six writers. Not a one of them seemed to figure out that you actually had to write a story. Just throwing cowboys and aliens together isn't gonna pass the smell test. (It's kind of sad that Charles Band did this better, with 1994's ridiculous-but-fun OBLIVION.)
JANE GOT A GUN had gorgeous cinematography and a wonderfully hissable villain in Ewan McGregor, but that's all I can remember about it.
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN was a good throwaway, but unlikely to enjoy the classic status of the original(s).
I still maintain that there's a superb two-hour movie somewhere within THE HATEFUL EIGHT's lumbering three-hour frame and I get the sense that Sally Menke (God rest her) would've picked it out.
As for A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST, marvelous score, terrific performance from Liam Neeson and some laughs, but nowhere near enough to justify its two-hour running time. You're better off sticking with BLAZING SADDLES.
I really want to see IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE. Looks pretty fun.
...I'm glad they're still making westerns, but they're no making high budget westerns. Oh, wait, I forgot, they spent $90 Mill on the remake of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. I should have said they don't make "great" westerns. The remake of TMS was a cartoon western. I only wish someone would make a great western again.
I saw the original for the first time recently...frankly it was pretty cartoonish with thin characters to start with. On very rare occasions, remakes do improve on the original, like the Battlestar Galactica tv show. I could see that happening in this case. The original has good actors and soundtrack, but that didnt make it a "classic" to me in any way.
It's the horror aspect that people I've talked to seem to like, much like the twist in FROM DUSK TO DAWN. Either way, I'm curious. Don't spoil anything for me, though! I want to experience it for my own.
If you like horror westerns maybe check out JT Petty's . . . I think it was called The Burrowers . . . From a few years back. Sort of The Searchers but with a horror twist.
