Spaghetti with a Dash of Dostoyevsky
Who is "Blondie," Clint Eastwood's character in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly? We never learn his real name, where he came from, who his daddy was. A man of few words, he's unconcerned with social niceties, having no interest in women, good or otherwise, no long-range plans, dreams, or ambitions. He dresses well, however.
Read the rest of my column on Three Quarks Daily.
Read the rest of my column on Three Quarks Daily.
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Jim
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Sep 19, 2014 11:19AM
I read and enjoyed your column. You have pointed out a major detail that had basically eluded me through dozens of viewings: my favourite westerns have no women! Well, at least not as main characters. And excepting Once Upon a Time in the West . I think I watched that one several times just to look at Claudia Cardinale.
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I've got to thank you for encouraging me to watch that one, Jim. I was put off by the length, kept procrastinating, but it was SOOOO good I ended up watching it through a second time with the commentary track turned on. (By the way, Cardinale said she enjoyed filming her sex scene with Henry Fonda. She called it "beautiful.")
16 year old Jimmy was extremely jealous of Fonda, hated him ever since. My memory plays tricks on me lately...have you reviewed The Wild Bunch yet?
Nope. Should I put it on the list?I watched Night of the Living Dead the other night and am getting ready to review it. Cheesy, but in a good way. The little girl chowing down on her mother's forearm was a particularly nice touch.
Gawd! Zombie movies leave me cold! Although The Walking Dead series on TV is good for the interplay among the main characters - the zombies are incidental.Ah! What can I say about The Wild Bunch, other than I have watched it more than any other movie ever, and that includes The Searchers. It is still relevant: I recently showed it to my son's girlfriend and she was gobsmacked. It has rooted itself into my psyche to the extent that I am in the process of reading the biographies of everyone who acted in it. There are shooting competitions where men and women dress like the characters in the movie and shoot the same guns.(before you ask, yes, yes I do).
You must watch The Wild Bunch Lisa!
I'll watch it, but afterwards you've got to promise to show me a video of you dressed up shooting one of the character's guns!Re: Walking Dead, George Romero (the director of Night of the Living Dead) was apparently approached to direct an episode but turned it down. "I didn’t want to be a part of it. Basically it’s just a soap opera with a zombie occasionally. I always used the zombie as a character for satire or a political criticism and I find that missing in what’s happening now."
Regarding The Walking Dead, I'd like to suggest that Lisa in particular, and also Jim, take a look at a blog post I wrote shortly after its second season began. (Incidentally, in scanning it I see a sentence I'd like to redo, but mostly I stand by it.) The show changed at that point, when creator Frank Darabont departed, and while I continue to enjoy it, I don't admire it as much.My impression of The Wild Bunch is that it represented some kind of apotheosis of the Western, but I can't venture any more than that at this distance in time. Meanwhile, I love the teasing description of Blondie posted here and am about to read the full essay.
I already read it AND commented on your essay, back in 2012. But I will link to it when I get around to posting my review of Night of the Living Dead, hopefully by the end of the weekend.
Oops! I should've scrolled all the way down in my post. Thanks for the tactful reminder.
