Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

The last day of this year's Legends of Western Cinema Week is upon us!  Accordingly, I had to scramble to get my tag answers written up and posted this morning.  Here, then, they are. ⸻ 2025 Tag Share one or more stories for each prompt: Cliff — a tense cliffhanger I can't remember for sure, but I assume that virtually every episode of The English (2022) ended in a stomach-clenching cliffhanger.  There's a lot going on in that show.  A little too much, actually. Gulch — a cool ambush scene In Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), McCullough manages to ride some of his would-be assassins out of town by booby-trapping the main drag instead of participating in shootouts with them, which could be considered an ambush and which I certainly consider very cool of him. Canyon — a big gunfight Following along in that lighthearted vein, the hostage situation/brief shootout at the bank in The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) is fun.  It always tickles me pink to see the townswomen...

{The Plot} As a child, Nat Love watched notorious outlaw Rufus Buck murder his parents at their breakfast table.  Rufus spared Nat's life but carved the shape of a cross into his forehead.  Years later, Rufus is imprisoned in Yuma and Nat, knowing that he can no longer exact vengeance on Rufus himself, roams the West as a vigilante, trying to content himself with killing as many members of Rufus' gang as he can.  But when Nat learns that Rufus has escaped, and that some of Nat's own partners have unwittingly robbed a coach carrying the fugitive's money, he must scramble to reunite his scattered crew and prepare for a final confrontation with Rufus. NOTE:  Several of the main characters in the film are based on historical figures — e.g., Bass Reeves — but the director has been clear that this is, and is intended to be, a fictionalization of history.  In real life, most of these people didn't know each other and led very different lives than their movie counterpar...

Welcome back to our annual celebration of the Western genre, friends!  Heidi and Rachel and I are stoked to see what you all contribute this year. 😉   Over the course of the next few days, you can expect to see reviews, giveaways, lists, games, and who knows what all?   One of the pillars of this event is the annual tag, a list of questions or prompts that we cohosts share in order to get participation rolling.  This year's tag is below — feel free to publish your answers in your own post, or share them in a comment! 2025 Tag Share one or more stories for each prompt: Cliff —  a tense cliffhanger Gulch  —  a cool ambush scene Canyon  —  a big gunfight Mountains  —  high stakes Valley  —  a beautiful romance Desert  —  a suspenseful plot Forest  —  themes about renewal River  —  traveling to a new home Plains  —  characters who are farmers Mesa  —  an animal centr...

Saddle up, buckos!  In case you were wondering, yes, Rachel and Heidi and I are indeed returning to your blogging spaces with another week of uproarious Western fun this year!   2025's event will take place from August 25-29, and we need your help to round out the event.  We can't wait to read all of your reviews, lists, character studies, thematic analyses, and so forth.  As per usual, you may also expect a tag to fill out, and most likely some games and/or giveaways to add spice to the proceedings. 😉  In the meantime, spread the word with one or two of these delightful buttons made by Rachel! See you there! 

Hey, as long as I get my yearly recap post published during the first quarter of the new year, it still counts, right?  (Even if I squeeze it in at the eleventh hour.  Ahem.) Present tardiness aside, I do usually try to post at least one "top ten" list at the beginning of each calendar year, reflecting on the best of the new-to-me media I consumed the last year.  In 2024, however, it would appear that most of said new-to-me media was . . . unfortunately mid.  Thus, where I would usually select ten favorites in each category, I'm limiting myself to five this time around and just compiling everything into the one post.  But we're also expanding the categories to include music, so I think we'll have plenty of material to cover. 😉 "The hour is late and bed beckons," so without further ado, let's get into it. ⸻ ❧  Best Books #5.   Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton "... details the story of a man who falls in love with his wife's cousin and the trage...

It feels like it's been ages since I've really discussed musical theatre on here, and what better time to remedy that than during my friend Rachel's We Love Musicals week ? As the title of this post suggests, this will be a look at some of my current favorite musicals.  Specifically, I wanted to focus on those musicals that I'll more frequently choose to listen to as I'm going about my day, rather than just the movie musicals that I'll more frequently sit down to watch, as the two groups seldom overlap.   For example, as we all know, the 1964 film version of My Fair Lady is tied for my top favorite film of all time, but will I regularly listen to the soundtrack?  No, because while I do like the music, my adoration of the movie is due more to its non-musical elements.  (Of course, there are exceptions to this rule — you'll find both  Evita and  Newsies in this post, but I probably watch screen versions of both of those almost as often as I listen to the...

God rest ye, merry gentlemen, and God send you a happy new year!  My friend Rachel  tagged me last month with a festive film questionnaire, and while I 100% squandered several golden opportunities to finalize and publish this post on one of the actual twelve days of Christmas, I've decided to fly in the face of convention and share my answers anyway.  Yes, even though Epiphany has passed.  I'm rebellious that way. The Rules Fill out the prompts (expound as much or as little as you like) Tag some friends (however many or few you feel like)* Have fun (this is mandatory) * I would have done this, but since I'm publishing this post after the season is technically over, I've decided not to.  Abject 'pologies, etc., etc. The Questions 1. A favorite funny Christmas movie: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) is low-key hilarious. "She has four fatal diseases!"  "And it only takes one." *terrific crash from overhead*  "Now I remember where I left my other s...