Nice review/warning … this has never appealed to me - I watched maybe the first 20 minutes of it more than 10 years ago, and thought ‘Nah!’
Well done for getting through it, amigo ! LOL
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Day 11:
‘A Taste of Vengeance’ aka ‘I Vigliacchi Non Pregano’ ‘Cowards Don’t Pray’ (1968)
I’d seen this once before, and remember enjoying it … but this time around I found it overlong and overwrought - perhaps I’d had a few calming beers last time!
I like Gianni Garko very much, but his performance here seems a bit method actor, or overly cranked up by the director, who knows!
It has some good things going for it … nice supporting cast and locations - Guadix in Spain … that’s ‘Navajo Joe’ country.
Perhaps the cracks are beginning to show regarding the endurance test !! Only giving this 5/10
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I’m watching Life is Tough, eh Providence now… it’s not that bad, finding it quite laugh out loud in parts. I’ve started it a few times before and never finished it. I have the soundtracks to this and the sequel which I will also watch maybe next week. On the more serious SW side I started Death Sentence the other day which I also need to finish. Enjoying the updates here for Spagvemberfest.
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21: To continue my top 30 countdown, I should have watched El Puro yesterday. However, I decided not to rewatch one of the miserable versions I have of this wondrous movie but to wait for the Arrow Films release announced for December 11 and take the day off.
Next: Giulio Questi’s Se sei vivo spara (1967).
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Day 11 (film 10) - Sugar Colt
8/10
First watch on Blu-ray, and it looked great. The beginning almost had a saturated technicolor feel to it, but then it looked more natural. Still, a vibrant and clean print. On my second viewing, I still really enjoyed it. At 100 minutes it doesn’t drag, the comedy works, and the serious scenes of death and violence are plenty. It helps that Bacalov imbues this with a really strong soundtrack.
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Film #11: The Big Gundown - Rewatch of one of my Top 10 faves 
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Resa_dei_conti,_La
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Grinders no. 10 & 11: …yesterday we had 35mm Double Feature in cinema…
UN HOMBRE LLAMADO NOON
Hombre llamado Noon, Un - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)
Wow, what a pleasure to watch 35mm Technicolor copy in cinema. Probably one of the best cinematopraphy in genre.
Intelligent and interesting story, good acting. Some references to ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN.
I do not really understand why this british co-prodcution mostly gets only average reviews. For me in cinema one of the greatest western experiences so far. Copy was nearly without traces of wear. So much better than watching from DVD
A TOWN CALLED HELL
A Town Called Hell - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)
Brutal Euro-Western. In cinema also way better than from DVD/BD. Copy with good Agfa color and complete German Dub (compared to VHS and DVD). Story is a little bit confusing but all comes clear at the end. Always liked this movie but it`s a shame Telly Savalas only had little screentime.
A few impressions:
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Sounds like a great night ! Authentic viewing.
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Day 11: The Mercenary (rewatch)
Thoughts:
yes
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Day 10: Per Qualche dollaro in Piu
I just rewatched this classic, as there´s nothing like rewatching a Leone film on a Saturday morning. One thing hit me: I was watching on the blu-ray, and although I knew it was noise-reduced on the audio (in addition to it being remixed), but I just tested the 1998 DVD after finishing the movie and oh my! The DVD sounds so much better. It´s almost unbelievable! I find it criminal that such great films get so poor audio on modern releases, but most people aren´t that critical and complain when there´s hiss on their blu-ray (to be fair, I wasn´t as critical of the blu-ray before trying out the DVD). Despite the DVD being cropped to get an even wider screen, the audio is MILES ahead of the modern one. Guess I will stick with my two-and-a-half decade old version for rewatches.
The film is a 10/10 and is only outmatched by Once Upon A time…
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Spagvember Fest 2023 Day 11
First time watch
I Lunghi Giorni della Vendetta
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Lunghi_giorni_della_vendetta,_I
**** 1/2 out of *****
I had a very enjoyable and fun time with this entry in the genre, it was certainly worth waiting to see it in all its original glory. The revenge plot line was very, very well done and had all the right kinds of characters in the mix.
It was quite refreshing seeing Giuliano Gemma playing it straight for the majority of the film and shows he was more than just an athletic and pretty face. He does joke around here and there and it works fine. When he first comes on camera he looked like the perfect model for a statue or portrait of Jesus with the long hair and beard; a cool reveal I will say.
Nieves Navarro is one of my favorite actresses, and she gets a really meaty role as Gemma’s character’s ex lover who still cares about him and wants to help save him. I was a little disappointed they had her play a typical SW female, and not the strong characters she excelled at. There’s a scene where she gets slapped around and I found myself thinking her other characters would’ve held a knife or gun to the guy’s throat or privates and give him a stern warning about touching her - that’s the Nieves Navarro I like to see. Her performance is stellar regardless.
Francisco Rabal and Conrado San Martin made for some excellent villains as two of the three men involved in sending Gemma to prison. San Martin is great as the despicable land baron Cobb who wants all the land and money he can get his hands on and Rabal surprises audiences with his corrupt Sheriff Douglas who feels no shame in dishonoring his badge.
The Blu Ray from Herr Bruckner’s Explosive Media looked very good to me with the picture quality and audio. The 30 minute interview with Nieves Navarro on her career is informative and entertaining.
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Day 11: Texas, Addio (1966) D-Ferdinando Baldi. Starring Franco Nero, Alberto Dell’ Acqua, Jose Suarez, and Gino Pernice. This was the first time watching ‘Addio.’ I never watched it prior to this because I thought the title of the movie was just another alternative title for Lucio Fulci’s ‘Massacre Time.’ Also, with Franco Nero. Therefore, I was excited to watch this Baldi outing. Though it started out with potential, I became bored with the quest by the two brothers (Nero/Dell’ Acqua) in Mexico to find the mysterious, elusive warlord grandee, Cisco Delgado. By the time Delgado entered the film, a whole subplot involving a revolution against Delgado by the peons came into play. While that’s all fine and dandy, and it’s worked in other genre entries, it didn’t work in my eyes here. I think Baldi was overly ambitious with his vision and tried to awkwardly combine a Zapata spaghetti with a revenge one. Even the surprise in the film didn’t reconcile the otherwise disparate parts of the film. Rating: 2/5.
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20: Giulio Questi’s Se sei vivo spara (1967)
Even after repeated viewings, Se sei vivo spara leaves me with an ambivalent impression: after years and years, I still can’t decide whether to find Questi’s only Western brilliant or ridiculous—which is partly what fascinates me about it. What it is without a doubt: unique. With its allegorical approach, its exaggerated depiction of violence and its bold metaphors, its nihilistic world view and its pessimistic portrayal of society, the film has kept censors as well as critics and commentators busy for decades. There are ten reviews in the Spaghetti Western Database alone, and the relevant literature has dealt extensively with the film. I would particularly like to mention the long essay by @Mickey13, which begins here and continues there.
Next: La resa dei conti (1966), directed by Sergio Sollima.
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- Marchent: Hands of a Gunfighter
-Quite good early sw with Craig Hill and bunch of regulars like Piero Lulli and Raf Baldassarre. 6/10
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**Film #12: Cutthroats Nine - Rewatch out of 5
- I wasnt able to watch Deaf Smith and Johnny Ears due to tech difficulties so I rewatched Cutthroats Nine instead. The last time I had seen it was years ago and it was on a bad VHS blurry transfer. This time it was nice and clear and I have to say, its now one of my faves of the genre (Top 15). I call it a “Grindhouse Western” (it played in 42nd St grindhouses for several years, at one time on a double bill with Duel of the Iron Fist, and even had a promotional gimmick “The Terror Mask”), its got crazy characters, gore and general nastiness and I love the whole desperate criminals trekking across the snowy wilderness aspect. Just a film that held my attn in the best ways.
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Condenados_a_vivir
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What did you think of it?
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Gonna watch it tonight. will post my rating/thoughts tomorrow
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The first time I ever watched this one I was bored to tears so I waited a few years and tried it again with the exact same result. Definitely not Baldi at this best.
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If you are looking for a fun, very pleasant way to spend two hours, then you can do a darn sight worse than lazily ride along with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer on their second ‘Trinity’ adventure, as I did this morning.
Following on rapidly from their first outing, (‘They Call Me Trinity’), T & B are ably directed by Enzo Barboni, while the ever-so likeable, lighthearted soundtrack is provided by Guido and Maurizio de Angelis.
This escapade is more family-friendly, and features ‘Trinity’ and ‘Bambino’ promising their ‘dying’ father (John Ford’s Harry Carey Jr), that they will stick together like crap on a boot, and become thorough-bred bandits of distinction, with an astronomical price on their heads.
As usual, Bambino (Spencer) tries to rein in his younger brother; and, as usual, Trinity (Hill), is determined to have as much fun as humanly possible - as well as savouring the love interest on offer from the beautiful Yanti Somer.
I love this film very much…it is so light-hearted and uplifting that it should be on subscription from your doctor.
It’s one of the first SW’s that I ever saw, and it has remained a favourite through good times and bad.
If you are having a bad day, then I suggest you stick this one on the TV.
Just hope that you never meet the two brothers in a restaurant…Oh boy!
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