Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

Well, folks, this year's Western Week is drawing to a close.  Thank you all so much for your enthusiastic participation!  I've been loving all of your posts and am eager to read more.  You all make this tradition fun! All of my posts have been scheduled in advance, since I've had a busier week, so today I'm hoping to relax and actually watch a Western in honor of the last day of the party.  (I want to see  Jane Got a Gun again before returning it to the library!) As always, make sure to check out everyone else's posts, which you can find linked in the widget above.  There are also a couple of giveaways that will be ending today and tomorrow, respectively — you can find them here and here . So long, Legends of Western Cinema Week.  Until next year.

{The Plot} American sharpshooter Matthew Quigley answers an international advertisement for a long-distance marksman placed by Elliot Marston, a rancher based in Australia.  Quigley believes he has been hired to kill wild dingoes, but when he arrives, Marston reveals that he has a much more sinister plan for Quigley's rifle:  targeting the indigenous Aboriginal population. {My Thoughts} As of now,  Broken Trail  is still the Western that's closest to my heart.  But Quigley Down Under gives it a run for its money, and it's the one I'll more often turn to if I'm in the mood for a Western.  That's because, while it's every bit as serious as Broken Trail , it's also a heck of a lot more fun .   The tone of Broken Trail is perfect, don't get me wrong; but it is heavy, and it is bittersweet, and it is somber.   Quigley Down Under , by contrast, is a boisterous, self-assured romp of a show that transitions seamlessly between obliterating b...

{The Plot} Close to retirement, Native American-hating army captain Joseph Blocker is given one last order:  to escort a dying Cheyenne chief, Yellow Hawk, back to his home in Montana along with the rest of his family.  Early on in their journey, the troop stumbles across Rosalee Quaid, a grieving homesteader whose husband and children have just been slaughtered by Comanche raiders. {My Thoughts} Hostiles is a haunting, outstanding, and deeply meticulous Western.  Director Scott Cooper (who, I was delighted to realize, also starred as Heck Gilpin in my beloved Broken Trail ) crafts a profoundly evocative film that conveys exactly what it's intended to convey:  namely that, as the tagline states, we are all "hostiles". From the very beginning, the tone of the film is firmly and irrevocably set.  A woman's children are literally shot out of her hands, leaving her utterly alone, clutching corpses in shell-shocked silence on the floor of a fire-blackened cabin....

{The Plot} For years, Jane and Bill Hammond have been hiding from their past.  When Bill returns home one day riddled with bullets and close to death, he reveals that that past is about to catch up to them in the form of his former employer, outlaw John Bishop and his gang of thugs.  In a race against time and with her own reasons to fear Bishop's return, Jane is forced to enlist the help of a bitter ex-fiance to defend her husband and her home. {My Thoughts} This movie snuck up on me, y'all.  While watching it, my feelings were relatively neutral.  It wasn't great, it wasn't terrible, it just was.  The plot was basic and (with one minor exception) predictable.  The acting was adequate but nothing to get excited over.  Still, I didn't dis like the film.  It just wasn't eliciting much of anything from me on an emotional level.  And that was fine, since I wasn't really expecting it to. In hindsight, however, I've realized that this movie m...

{The Plot} After the Civil War, Captain Jeffrey Kidd makes his living travelling from town to town and reading national news for the citizens.  In between jobs, he stumbles across Johanna, a young girl who has lived with the Kiowa for six years since being abducted by them after they murdered her family.  Following the government's massacre of the Kiowa, she is supposed to be delivered back to her extended family.  Kidd finds Johanna after her escort is lynched, and he decides to transport her himself.   {My Thoughts} Spoilers throughout. The movie is solid; one wouldn't really expect anything different from a Tom Hanks Western.  The dynamic between Kidd and Johanna may not be original, but it's moving nonetheless.  And for the majority of the runtime, the narrative is thoughtfully and compellingly drawn.  (The confrontation with the would-be traffickers, followed by the flight, pursuit, and shoot-out among the hills, is a particularly notable seq...

Mornin', mornin'.  *lifts hat*  Legends of Western Cinema Week begins today!  Rachel and Heidi and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.  I'll be keeping it simple over here with a handful of reviews, but I know there will be games and giveaways and gizmos a-plenty from other quarters.   Sounds like a marvelous time, doesn't it? 😉 As usual, we'll get basic logistics out of the way first thing. This year, the tag is in either/or format, so let's start with that, shall we?  Here's a clean list of the questions: 1) Western movies or Western TV shows? 2) Funny Westerns or dramatic Westerns? 3) Westerns that focus on loners or Westerns that focus on families? 4) Male-centric Westerns or female-centric Westerns? 5) 1930s to 1960s Westerns or 1970s to 2020s Westerns? 6) Westerns that take place in America or Westerns that take place internationally? 7) Family-friendly Westerns or edgier Westerns? 8) Straightforward good guy or conflicted hero? 9...