For me it is possibly William Wyler's epic Western THE BIG COUNTRY. Stunningly beautiful, great performances, incredible score, and a lot to say about violence, pacifism and masculinity through a classic Western tale.
November 9, 2025 at 9:53 PM
For me it is possibly William Wyler's epic Western THE BIG COUNTRY. Stunningly beautiful, great performances, incredible score, and a lot to say about violence, pacifism and masculinity through a classic Western tale.
Share some of the best eyes in movies
August 25, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Share some of the best eyes in movies
Friends, if you haven't come across THE TIN STAR in your Western watching, do yourself a favor and check it out at your earliest opportunity.
Anthony Mann, Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins and simply one of the finest the genre has ever produced.
Anthony Mann, Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins and simply one of the finest the genre has ever produced.
August 17, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Friends, if you haven't come across THE TIN STAR in your Western watching, do yourself a favor and check it out at your earliest opportunity.
Anthony Mann, Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins and simply one of the finest the genre has ever produced.
Anthony Mann, Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins and simply one of the finest the genre has ever produced.
Hey, just a reminder that if you ever just want to flat out astonish your movie-loving friends/family members, throw on THE RAID 2 and sit back and watch their reactions. My teenage daughter now has a grin that will not go away.
What a movie!
What a movie!
July 15, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Hey, just a reminder that if you ever just want to flat out astonish your movie-loving friends/family members, throw on THE RAID 2 and sit back and watch their reactions. My teenage daughter now has a grin that will not go away.
What a movie!
What a movie!
"You looking for trouble Doniphan?"
"You aiming to help me find some?"
In case anyone needed reminding, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a goddamn masterpiece.
"You aiming to help me find some?"
In case anyone needed reminding, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a goddamn masterpiece.
June 30, 2025 at 4:46 AM
"You looking for trouble Doniphan?"
"You aiming to help me find some?"
In case anyone needed reminding, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a goddamn masterpiece.
"You aiming to help me find some?"
In case anyone needed reminding, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a goddamn masterpiece.
#westernwednesday WINCHESTER '73 (1950) One of the best of the genre. If you like Westerns and haven't seen everything director Mann and star Stewart did together, you can rectify that! Start with this one: A stolen prize rifle and the obsessive quest to get it back. Wonderful.
June 9, 2025 at 8:47 PM
#westernwednesday WINCHESTER '73 (1950) One of the best of the genre. If you like Westerns and haven't seen everything director Mann and star Stewart did together, you can rectify that! Start with this one: A stolen prize rifle and the obsessive quest to get it back. Wonderful.
#westernwednesday THE BIG COUNTRY (1958) is fantastic. This is an all-timer of a Western. Anyone trying to master widescreen composition should study what William Wyler does here. Peck, Heston, Simmons and especially Burl Ives are exceptional. Complex themes of violence and masculinity. Greatness!
May 21, 2025 at 6:38 PM
#westernwednesday THE BIG COUNTRY (1958) is fantastic. This is an all-timer of a Western. Anyone trying to master widescreen composition should study what William Wyler does here. Peck, Heston, Simmons and especially Burl Ives are exceptional. Complex themes of violence and masculinity. Greatness!
Western Wednesday: MAN FROM DEL RIO (1956) Excellent Anthony Quinn as a Mexican gunfighter in an all-white town. They like his way with a gun enough to make him sheriff to fight off the rifraff they're scared of, but have no intention of making him part of the community. GREAT final showdown.
May 16, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Western Wednesday: MAN FROM DEL RIO (1956) Excellent Anthony Quinn as a Mexican gunfighter in an all-white town. They like his way with a gun enough to make him sheriff to fight off the rifraff they're scared of, but have no intention of making him part of the community. GREAT final showdown.
Of course! I found myself just staring at the disc itself after watching it. Beautiful stuff!
May 9, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Of course! I found myself just staring at the disc itself after watching it. Beautiful stuff!
Western Wednesday: THE GUNFIGHTER (1950) is a perfect movie. Gregory Peck as a notorious "gunny" tired of his fame and the violence of his past and just wants to leave it behind. No one will let him. Incredible.
(Amazing Criterion art by @jenniferdionisio.com & essay by @melvillmatic.bsky.social)
(Amazing Criterion art by @jenniferdionisio.com & essay by @melvillmatic.bsky.social)
May 8, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Western Wednesday: THE GUNFIGHTER (1950) is a perfect movie. Gregory Peck as a notorious "gunny" tired of his fame and the violence of his past and just wants to leave it behind. No one will let him. Incredible.
(Amazing Criterion art by @jenniferdionisio.com & essay by @melvillmatic.bsky.social)
(Amazing Criterion art by @jenniferdionisio.com & essay by @melvillmatic.bsky.social)
Western Wednesday: John Ford's WAGON MASTER (1950) is everything I want in a Western. Mormon wagon trains! Outlaws! Incredible images of Moab AND Monument Valley! Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr and Ward Bond! See this one if you haven't. A peak movie of the peak decade of the genre.
May 3, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Western Wednesday: John Ford's WAGON MASTER (1950) is everything I want in a Western. Mormon wagon trains! Outlaws! Incredible images of Moab AND Monument Valley! Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr and Ward Bond! See this one if you haven't. A peak movie of the peak decade of the genre.
I forgot to post my Western Wednesday! In a better world, we would have a dozen Westerns teaming Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott, but at least we have 1982's THE SHADOW RIDERS, a very fun adventure with the two as Civil War vet brothers (from different sides!) fighting raiders on their family land.
April 20, 2025 at 7:16 AM
I forgot to post my Western Wednesday! In a better world, we would have a dozen Westerns teaming Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott, but at least we have 1982's THE SHADOW RIDERS, a very fun adventure with the two as Civil War vet brothers (from different sides!) fighting raiders on their family land.
Western Wednesday: STELLAR WESTERN ALERT! A contempo (for 1957) Western, Jeff Chandler is a rural county sheriff investigating the murder of a Mexican worker on big bad land baron Orson Welles' ranch. The town wants him to stop digging because the evil rich guy promises economic prosperity. 1/2
April 11, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Western Wednesday: STELLAR WESTERN ALERT! A contempo (for 1957) Western, Jeff Chandler is a rural county sheriff investigating the murder of a Mexican worker on big bad land baron Orson Welles' ranch. The town wants him to stop digging because the evil rich guy promises economic prosperity. 1/2
Western Wednesday: It will surprise no one that our movie this week was 1993's TOMBSTONE, featuring the late Val Kilmer's greatest performance as Doc Holliday. What was weird was that we had already planned to watch it in preparation for our visit to the real town next week. Anyway, perfect Western.
April 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Western Wednesday: It will surprise no one that our movie this week was 1993's TOMBSTONE, featuring the late Val Kilmer's greatest performance as Doc Holliday. What was weird was that we had already planned to watch it in preparation for our visit to the real town next week. Anyway, perfect Western.
Western Wednesday: DEVIL'S DOORWAY (Mann 1950) Robert Taylor is a war hero returning home from the Civil War to run his family's ranch. He's also Native American and soon learns that "the law" only allows white men to own land and he'll have to fight to stay. This one rips. Powerful and very timely.
March 20, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Western Wednesday: DEVIL'S DOORWAY (Mann 1950) Robert Taylor is a war hero returning home from the Civil War to run his family's ranch. He's also Native American and soon learns that "the law" only allows white men to own land and he'll have to fight to stay. This one rips. Powerful and very timely.
Not that I need an excuse to go watch old Westerns, but I decided to make Western Wednesday a thing at my house. 1st up was this blast from 1966. A slam bang "end of the West" action Western, with Lancaster, Marvin, Ryan and Strode as one of the great "we're gonna need a team" lineups of all time.
March 20, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Not that I need an excuse to go watch old Westerns, but I decided to make Western Wednesday a thing at my house. 1st up was this blast from 1966. A slam bang "end of the West" action Western, with Lancaster, Marvin, Ryan and Strode as one of the great "we're gonna need a team" lineups of all time.
That said, I would also like to submit this guy for consideration:
December 30, 2024 at 8:59 PM
That said, I would also like to submit this guy for consideration:
I just read @odienator.bsky.social 's comments on Nosferatu over at the Slate Movie Club (i.e. the best end-of-year movie wrap-up around) and while I liked Nosferatu more than him, this description is not wrong:
December 30, 2024 at 8:56 PM
I just read @odienator.bsky.social 's comments on Nosferatu over at the Slate Movie Club (i.e. the best end-of-year movie wrap-up around) and while I liked Nosferatu more than him, this description is not wrong:
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #954,804!
September 17, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #954,804!
Ah, the costumes at Dragon Con are glorious every year but there are some deep cuts this year that I haven't seen before. I thought @kurtbusiek.bsky.social might get a kick out of this one.
September 1, 2024 at 2:14 AM
Ah, the costumes at Dragon Con are glorious every year but there are some deep cuts this year that I haven't seen before. I thought @kurtbusiek.bsky.social might get a kick out of this one.
Repost with a favorite book from your childhood.
August 24, 2024 at 11:16 PM
Repost with a favorite book from your childhood.
Uh, more of a brag than a question, but you did this sketch of my daughter as Carrie from Whiteout and it remains one of my favorites in my sketchbook. Thanks!
February 29, 2024 at 12:03 AM
Uh, more of a brag than a question, but you did this sketch of my daughter as Carrie from Whiteout and it remains one of my favorites in my sketchbook. Thanks!
Hadn't rewatched this since I saw it at Sundance a decade ago and folks, I am here to tell you that the "Safe Haven" segment, directed by action geniuses Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto is the scariest, goriest, most insane 30 minutes you can treat yourself to this Halloween. #vhs2
October 10, 2023 at 4:48 AM
Hadn't rewatched this since I saw it at Sundance a decade ago and folks, I am here to tell you that the "Safe Haven" segment, directed by action geniuses Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto is the scariest, goriest, most insane 30 minutes you can treat yourself to this Halloween. #vhs2