Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

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...

Before we begin, a few notes: #1.  I purposefully decided to go with "heroes" instead of "cowboys" for the title of this post, because not all of these characters fit the "cowboy" job description.   #2.  I also decided to limit myself to one character per given show, hence why Print and Heck from Broken Trail or Vin from The Magnificent Seven don't make appearances. #3.  As usual, I'm none too confident in all of my picks for this list, nor in all of their rankings.  I knew of about six or seven characters who deserved the title "favorite," no question, but the well started to run a bit dry after that.  In other words, to be ruthlessly frank, I was rather scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to rounding out this list.  It's a stretch to call the first few characters in this post "favorites," but one does what one must for the sake of continuity. 😜 Now to it . . .  ⸻ #10.  Billy Hyatt The War Wagon (1967) "Won...

Another Legends of Western Cinema Week has come around the mountain, y'all!  Today marks the beginning of a rollicking summer tradition hosted by Heidi , Rachel , and myself, during which we celebrate all things Western.  We invite you to join in the fun by contributing your own Western-themed posts over the next several days:  reviews, lists, analyses, games, etc. — you name it!   As always, we're starting things off with a fresh set of tag questions — or, in this case, tag prompts.  Following last year's lead, we're providing you all with a list of adjectives to fit to the Western of your choice.  Want to see what I mean?  Read on for my own answers. 2024 Tag Prompts Cozy Gritty Serious Comedic Romantic Lively  Unpredictable Hopeful Joyful Adventurous My Tag Answers Cozy Does it get any cozier than the outrageous Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)?  Not in a conversation about Westerns, at any rate.  Romanticized pioneer lifes...

Happy New Year, friends!   2023 was really the year of Studio Ghibli, for me.  Not one, not two, but three Ghibli films made it onto my top ten list!  Exciting times. Most of the new-to-me movies I watched this year were pretty average; only a few blew me out of the water.  That said, this list was harder to narrow down than I thought it would be.  As usual, I'm not 100% satisfied with the finished product.  But such is life, and as it's already two weeks later than I'd have liked to publish this post, here we are. ⸻ #10.   Bill  (2015)  ● NR A young and ambitious Will Shakespeare leaves Stratford-upon-Avon for the bustling city of London, hoping for a haven of artistic possibility in which to pursue his newest dream of being an author.  Much to his surprise, he soon finds himself embroiled in a plot to kill Elizabeth I. Intentionally anachronistic dialogue and mannerisms set in historical contexts will never not tickle my fanc...

Season's greetings, everyone!   Craving alllllll the Christmas-y movies but finding yourself in a rut?  Hopefully this post can help.  I'm going to share some of the films I most associate with this time of year.  I've mixed in a few that don't really have anything to do with Christmas but that are set primarily or partially during the holiday season, and I'm also including some dramatic/tragic options in case you're looking for something a little less holly-jolly.   I've added a one-line blurb for each story and listed each film's MPAA rating.  We're ranging from the scrupulously clean 'Not Rated's to the adults-only 'R's, so do your own research before popping any of these into the DVD player for family movie night, sight unseen. Caveats concluded and without further ado, then, here they are:  some of my favorite films to watch during the Yuletide.  (Listed alphabetically, 'cause there's no way I'm taking the time to ran...