#211
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Quote:
Do you just see him as an 'action hero' or do you like him in things like The Beguiled, The Bridges of Madison County and Trouble With the Curve? |
#212
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no, i find that he is a good actor in many films, and has a great screen presence. a lot of other action stars are good as well but are very wooden like Chuck norris and the even worse Dolph lungren
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#213
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Couldn’t agree with this more
__________________ If I'm curt with you it's because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you wanna get out of this. So, pretty please... with sugar on top. Clean the ****ing car! |
#214
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For a Few Dollars More (Italian: Per qualche dollaro in più)
For a Few Dollars More (Italian: Per qualche dollaro in più) Well its been a while,but on a hot sweaty day what could more appropriate than watching a Leone western, with its ludicrously sweaty Mexican bandits, who all seem to be the most ugliest actors the director could have found (no offence to any Mexicans or Italian bit actors, I don't suppose anyone would look there best in close up and widescreen).I think what I tend to forget about this film is how much Lee Van Cleef dominates the movie with his presence and overall charisma, and how Gian Maria Volontè seems intent on stealing the movie from under the noses of everyone else but he just can not seem to get past his rather cooler American co-stars. I mean no one chews on a cigar butt quite as cool as Eastwood does, while having that surly look about them, and all this while wearing a poncho, probably one of the less cool pieces of clothing (along with that horrible sheepskin waistcoat) to ever grace our movie screens. Its a classic, some even say its the best in the trilogy, but ill leave that argument to more intelligent folk, who know what they're on about. It is about as good as your gonna get, it never outstays its welcome which is something I sometimes feel when I watch Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and it's not overtly political like Duck, You Sucker! (1971) both are obviously great but nowhere near as lean and mean as his Dollars trilogy. There's no doubt that Eastwood and Van Cleef have a great screen chemistry together, something which is encapsulated by Van Cleef when he copies Eastwood's gun spin back into his holster following the final shootout, much to Clint's amusement as he does a slight double take...German misery guts Klaus Kinski has a hunchback for some reason instead of the usual chip on his shoulder, still makes for a unique cigar lighter....
__________________ Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.. |
#215
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Day of Anger (1967) I giorni dell'ira (original title)
Although it has all the hallmarks of a spaghetti western, guitar twanging soundtrack, an assortment of ugly extra's and a Sherriff called Nigel....eh?? (not to mention an old nag of a donkey called Sartana).The film has the look and feels of your more traditional American western, especially in its tale of a lowly street cleaner who looks up to a new arrival in town played by squinty-eyed gun for hire Lee Van Cleef as Frank Talby. The street cleaner in question is Giuliano Gemma as Scott Mary the towns idiot and general dogsbody and doormat to everybody in Clifton, Arizona that is not Bristol...Of course the cast of nedry wells and villains are played by the usual assortment of Italian actors,and are instantly recognisable from the Leone films,in fact its pretty much a reunion in one scene where Van Cleef confronts an old ally in the shape of Al Mulock as Wild Jack ( the guy Tuco shoots in the bathtub in The Good, the Bad And The Ugly). Again it should be of no surprise that the director Tonino Valerii was an assistant director on Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars,and he obviously learnt from Leone well because Day of Anger is full of great set pieces, most notably when Van Cleef shots a man between Gemma's legs and is later dragged by horses by WildJacks gang until Giuliano Gemma throws Van Cleef a gun and puts an end to the gangs fun and games. Day of Anger is a tale of loyalty, trust and eventually betrayal as the two allies are pitted against each other, which for an Italian western is pretty much par for the course, enemies become allies, then become friends then become enemies again and vice versa. While Day of Anger has many of the traits of your traditional spag western it does feel fresh and different to many of its conterparts of the time.
__________________ Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.. |
#216
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I love this genre I've been collecting various pre certs over the years as well as more modern blu ray releases. The Sartana box set from arrow looks good.
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#217
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Django (1966)
I think what sets the first Django film apart from all the rest of the spag western's of the time, is that its a remarkably cruel film, even for a genre that seems to relish in its cruelness and mean-spirited characters, Django seems to outdo the rest by a mile. Franco Nero isn't just ran out of town, no that would be far too simplistic, and easy, so Sergio Corbucci pretty much drags Django through the mud and grime and then later on just for good measure has his fingers smashed to a pulp just to be on the safe side. Pretty much everyone dies in the film, and those that are not dead are either whipped, maimed, have there ear sliced off or just pummeled into the ground or maybe just for laughs crucified. What helps Corbucci's Django to be different from the myriad of other spag westerns, is that instead of a hot sun-drenched desert or a dusty township with tumbleweed rolling around everywhere (has anyone seen tumbleweed anywhere except a western movie) Corbucci sets his film deep in the mud and dirt. Obviously, there is sand but its the rubbish kind you get from a builders merchant or a quarry or Weston Super Mare and speaking of shit towns. You know you are in trouble when half the town is populated by red hooded murdering racists and the other half is populated by robbing murdering Mexican bandits, id like to see the makers of Location, Location, Location spout their crap in this neighbourhood. For me there is only one Django and that is Franco Nero (alright Tomas Milian was pretty cool in Django Kill! (1967) I know Italian producers would tag any film with Django just to cash-in) but there is something very iconic in seeing Nero drag his coffin along behind him..( I'm sure it would have been easier to carry by strapping it to a mule but hey...).After the Leone trilogy, this is one of my favourite western's.( and I really luv Django's theme song, its got ridiculously upbeat lyrics for a film this bleak)...
__________________ Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.. |
#218
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Preparati la bara!, “Prepare the Coffin!”
Django, Prepare a Coffin.(1968) This is reportedly a prequel to Corbbuci original Django, with Franco Nero being replaced by Terence Hill who does bear a slight resemblance to Nero in a certain light. And not only does Hill fill Nero's cavalry boots assuredly but to be honest is probably the better actor out of the two. He certainly has a lot more range character wise and dares I say is just as good as Eastwood in the dollars trilogy. Django, Prepare a Coffin even has a better plot than the first film, with Django becoming the town's hangman but saving a certain few convicts so he and his gang of the hanged men can get revenge on the man that betrayed him and killed his wife. Also, there is a strikingly young looking George Eastman as surprise surprise a bad guy, although he's not eating people. Terence Hill as Django was a great bit of casting, and it would have been good to have seen him reprise the role, in the absence of Franco Nero of course,(seriously how many actors have played this role, even though they may not have known it at the time due to title changes later on),obviously Hill had his Trinity movies and My Name Is Nobody,but it would have been good to of seen him in a more grittier western rather than the comedy roles he did. I really like the original Django, but Preparati la bara!, “Prepare the Coffin!” is definitely a close second and its original title of Viva Django would have been even better.
__________________ Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.. |
#220
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Rewatching the Dollars trilogy. With Frayling's comms. Informative and illuminating.
__________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] [B] "... the days ahead will be filled with struggle ... and coated in marzipan ... "[/B] |
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