Oh, bugger! From the movies left in my tub, I was hoping my girl would draw no.11 last as it’s by far my favourite from that final four so I wanted to save it for a grand finish. Still, never mind. Any day’s a good day for Django, Kill… If You Live, Shoot! (Questi, 1967), one of my all-time favourites and, let’s face it, one of the most gleefully bonkers spags of the lot. Talking parrots? Stock footage of bats? Gay cowboy gangs? People being ripped apart for the gold bullets lodged inside them? Yes, sir! Django Kill is a movie which never fails to make me grin from ear to ear and, much as I’d love to have saved it 'til the end, I can’t wait to watch it tonight.
Day 20 - Hands of a Gunfighter Day 21 - A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof Day 22 - God’s Gun Day 23 - The Mercenary Day 24 - Django, Prepare a Coffin
A canon Django movie? I’m with the few that say it makes sense as a prequel. Mercedes and Django must fall for each other at the end–there is quite a stare between them.
Here’s my theory: Django Cassidy’s first wife is Lucy Cassidy, who is summarily the victim of a murderous plot.
But later, he falls in love with Mercedes Ibanez, wife (later widow) of two-faced Garcia Ibanez.
After Garcia’s death, she takes her maiden name once more, becoming Mercedes Zaro, the woman Django must avenge after her off-screen death by the time the next one starts.
Watched this one with the Italian dub as the English dub falls into the “Django” category for me. Chiefly because of the voice given to Franco Nero. The Italian works much better but strangely when watching you realise they shot it in English so the English dub looks better even if it sounds worse. It’s still a good one either way and makes you wish Fulci had made more westerns in their heyday.
When compared to the majority of movies in the genre, this one is a bit strange. In this case though, it isn’t a bad thing as that is one of the things that makes it so memorable. It was an enjoyable re-watch.
The last of the Vengeance Trails box set and another classic. Margheriti’s best western? I would say so, though I do like Vengeance a lot too. And a proper lead role for Kinski too which was far too rare.
Two more to go now. The month has fair skipped by.
Basically a transitional work between the two periods with both comedic and serious ingredients. The issue is that the final result is a bit of a bland pulp which is carried out with just enough verve to justify the viewing, but not enough to stay in memory for too long, especially in view of its dubious originality and its uninspired second half. That is not to say the material does not serve as good entertainment because it does and balances its serious as well as humorous elements quite well for the most part, however, it conspicuously pales in comparison with its preeminent predecessor.
It is essentially a bit of a remake and a bit of a sequel featuring a familiar reformulation of ideas incorporated from other outings. The execution is solid enough to make it a diverting enough watch, notwithstanding, I scarcely cared for any of its story, especially in the latter part of the narration once Martino’s infirm grip on the narrative begins to manifest itself more prominently, producing a slight lack of focus. The flick is somewhat entertaining, moves along well and constitutes a decent mix of comedy and western, furnishing just enough action and occasional laughs to make amends for its salient derivativeness. It is too bad that the vigor of the first forty minutes does not abide past the film’s midpoint.
My girl drew no.29 today and it’s a SpagvemberFest debutante for me. I mean, no, The Savage Pampas (Fregonese, 1966) isn’t a spag in the strictest sense, but I say this: Many of those cheapo spag box sets come with a non-spag or two thrown in for no discernible reason, so why can’t SpagvemberFest? And I’ve not seen this one since I bought the blu-ray almost six years ago, so it’s well past time.
Personally, I can deal with no real story as long as the other elements are good enough. Everything about Kid Vengeance is so generally terrible and that kid is so annoying that I can’t even stand watching it
Day 28: Run Man Run (1968) w/Tomas Milian, Linda Veras, and Donald O’Brien. Cuchillo (Milian), is a peon who knows where the gold stache of Ramirez (a former comrade of Benito Juarez) is hidden. It belongs to the revolution on behalf of the Mexican people. But, that doesn’t stop a bandit, a gunslinger who fought in the revolution (O’Brien), a couple of G-Men, a Salvation Army soldier (Veras), and even Cuchillo’s lady friend from joining the hunt for the gold. Directed by Sergio Sollima and the last installment in his Western Trilogy (i.e. The Big Gundown, Run Man Run). I always enjoy Milian’s versatility as an actor, whether drama, comedy, or thriller. Rating 4.5/5.
This one is is one of my favorites. I always thought it had the right blend of comedy, action, topical themes, and Morricone/Nicolai. Plus, a real sequel is always welcome.
I think Tomas Milian’s Cuchillo is underrated in the pantheon of spag heroes and Milian’s best role. We always here about Django/Ringo/Sartana/Sabata/Trinity spinoffs, but there are a couple Cuchillo characters and a Chaco movie that must have taken inspiration from that name.
Day 25 - 6 Bullets to Hell
An interesting attempt to make a traditional spaghetti western. I applaud the love that went into it, even if it mostly tries plow no new ground where the revenge narrative is concerned.
Day 27 - The English
This one won’t be everyone’s taste. Its opening credits and music are definitely inspired by spaghetti westerns, as is the shotgun-studded stagecoach in the first episode. But the timeline jumps around more than House of the Dragon, and I’d say people who liked The Power of Dog (myself included) will like this more than anyone expecting a traditional western.
I definitely agree with you about Cuchillo being an underrated SW protagonist. He’s definitely got depth and dimension to him that is lacking in other main characters.
Frankly, this is a movie I have to be in the right frame of mind to watch. This morning was that time for the first time in quite some time. I have a real love/hate relationship with this movie as one time I’ll watch it and think it’s great and other times just the thought of sitting through it pisses me off. Fortunately, I wasn’t feeling overly critical today and I made it through with absolutely no anger. Who knows when I will be in that frame of mind again?
It really isn’t the length. I can watch Seven Samurai anytime I have the time and love every single minute of it. It is what is done with that length in this case that irritates me. As with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, I feel that Leone was so concerned with making an epic to appease his ego that it hurt the overall quality of both films. Don’t get me wrong, they are both classics, but both could have been better with some scenes, or portions of scenes, removed that do absolutely nothing to further the story. I don’t think this is the case, but it feels like Leone let the length dictate the story instead of letting the story dictate the length.
That is just my opinion though, and I in no way expect others to share it.
I am surprised with all the warm comments about the film. While the work is not some heinous dross, it is hardly some grand accomplishment either; the movie basically constitutes a patchwork of ideas largely obfuscated by its miniscule budget, sporadically substandard editing and overreaching aspirations. Aside from shaky camera, there is lots of horseriding filler which redounds to the ramshackle appearance of the production and although it features some of Jeff Cameron’s finest moments, the characters turn out half-baked at best either way much like the rest of the underdeveloped, inchoate composition.
The endeavor suffers from some muddled screenwriting, repeatedly flip-flops between different motives without ever outlining the general theme in a comprehensive fashion and eventually climaxes in a manner which feels completely incongruent with narrative’s goals as defined in the prologue. It is definitely more interesting than your cookie cutter sandpit oater in that it supplies some original ideas and apparently strives to transcend the realm of clichés, nevertheless, the great inconsistency of its rendition largely saps the strength of its storyline and the ending is a bit of a joke really.
I watched all the German Blurays I picked up in Berlin but there was also one DVD and this was it. Not a great investment really as it’s no better than the DVDr I already have in terms of picture and sound quality. But what the hey. It’s the Steff! Unfortunately it also features a bloody car which I cannot abide in a western. Ah well. Steff, PLL and Fajardo make up for that and it’s not too bad a flick.
If you really can’t bring yourself to appreciate some of the highest ranked films by the community you’re simply insane…ly healthy. It proves we’re individuals with our own opinions, thoughts and judgement. And let’s face it, we all have that one SW:s in the highest ranked division each which we can’t quite bring ourselves to love, at least not as much as most other fans do.
But I can’t honestly think of an unnecessary scene in GBU. It’s probably the longest film I’ve ever seen that doesn’t feel overlong or could be considerably trimmed without impairing the experience (maybe I could cut it by five minutes at the very most). With OUTATITW, I can at least see why some scenes are slightly outdrawn for some people, but it is, like the title suggests, an epic insight in the old west over a few days. Cutting too many mainly atmospherical scenes would take away that epic feel somewhat (maybe some could be slightly trimmed and it wouldn’t matter).
Hate for Hate (1967) - it seemed pretty decent but my viewing was spread out over a couple nights where I kept falling asleep, so I can’t say for sure. Will have to watch it again next year I suppose. What I caught were some good looking shootouts but seemed a bit lacking in story & character
