Haven’t bought a Koch disc for a while. Maybe I’ll have to splash out on that one.
[b]Spagvemberfest number 26
Day of Anger (Valerii / 1967)[/b]
Another one which slid out of my Top 20 but which I still like a lot. And one which I actually watched quite recently when the Arrow release came out so, to change things up a bit, I watched it in Italian this time. I’ve always only ever watched it in English before because I wanted LVC’s actual voice but I’ve always thought that Gemma’s English dub let the film down a little so was interested to see how the Italian dub would sit. And to be honest I think I preferred it. It certainly makes Gemma’s character less whiney and LVC’s dub over works fine. Either way the film is still very good stuff and the theme music is right up there with the very best. It may work it’s way back up the list a few places but, great music aside, don’t think it will get back into the top 20. Still a very enjoyable ride though, that’s for sure.
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2015 - THE BIG RUNDOWN: NUMBER 25
“You know, Jill, you remind me of my mother. She was the biggest whore in Alameda and the finest woman that ever lived. Whoever my father was - for an hour or for a month - he must have been a happy man.”
At #25 on my list, today’s movie is Once Upon a Time in the West (Leone, 1968). I appreciate that #25 represents a fairly lowly position for what is considered by many to be one of the greatest - if not the greatest - western ever made, let alone merely the humble spags. Indeed, some may consider OUaTitW to be among the greatest movies of any genre ever made. But… I dunno. The craftsmanship is immediately apparent; it’s inarguably one of the best-made westerns in the history of cinema. And many sequences - Henry Fonda and co shooting up Frank Wolff’s place, the entire intro sequence (“You brought two too many…”), the flashback sequence revealing exactly what Frank had done to Harmonica and his brother all those years ago - are unforgettable. But, last time I watched it, all that struck me was how much it seemed to drag, and how all I was really getting was Harmonica’s music, then Jill’s music, then Cheyenne’s music… it was like a superextended episode of Bod[url]bod & the apple - YouTube (with apologies to my European and Transatlantic brethren for that awful English-children’s-programming-from-the-seventies reference there). That’s not to say I don’t like it by any stretch; any spag in my top 100 westerns is a film I find sexier than a trollop with a money-off coupon. But I feel that today’s watch may well either propel OUaTitW back up into the rarified atmosphere to which it is accustomed, or send it tumbling out of my Spag 30 (or even spag 40) altogether.
[quote=“last.caress, post:43, topic:3590”]SPAGVEMBERFEST 2015 - THE BIG RUNDOWN: NUMBER 25
(…) But, last time I watched it, all that struck me was how much it seemed to drag, and how all I was really getting was Harmonica’s music, then Jill’s music, then Cheyenne’s music…[/quote]
Funny. When the film was shown on TV in Belgium a while ago, a citic wrote that, ironically, the Morricone score had become, for him, the weakest link in the affair.
He called the score, among other things, too repetitive. There’s some truth in it, but then again it’s the slow pace and great length which make the score sound a bit too repetitive, I guess.
For me still N°1, by the way
Continued my walk down the Sartana Memory Lane with the second in the series, the first by Carnimeo:
[size=12pt]I AM SARTANA, YOUR ANGEL OF DEATH[/size]
[size=12pt]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/I_am_Sartana,_your_Angel_of_Death_Review[/size]
One that doesn’t improve on repeated viewings. Too episodic, not surprising enough, and with too many card games & tricks
It’s still fun (Wolff is great and I’ll never forget that moment with Mitchell reading the newspaper), but from the two Sartana’s I rewatched so far, this one’s the least interesting.
Sartana List (3 to go):
…
- C’è Sartana vendi la pistola e comprati la bara (Carnimeo-Hilton)
- Sono Sartana il vostro becchino (Carnimeo-Garko)
…
No Top 30 spags or favourites here: starting yester-eve with This Man Can’t Die (flawed but enjoyable little SW with a rather interesting cast, visually enhanced by the beauty of Lucienne Bridou) I’m going to watch in random order these 30 movies, with 4 double-features to catch up on lost time
Starblack
A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die
Wanted Johnny Texas
Born to Kill
Fifth (Commandment): You shall not murder
Five Giants From Texas
Go for Broke
Killer Adios
Four Candles for Garringo
Bastard, Go and Kill
El Rojo
The Man Who Killed Billy the Kid
Kill the Poker Player
Seven Pistols for a Massacre
I’ll Sell My Skin Dearly
Chapagua’s Gold
Find a Place to Die
One by One… Without Mercy
Revenge of the Resurrected
Black Killer
Poker with Pistols
The Beast
Cost of Dying
This Man Can’t Die
Clumsy Hands
Four Gunmen of the Holy Trinity
Saranda a.k.a. Twenty Paces to Death
The Stranger and the Gunfighter
A Long Ride from Hell
Shotgun a.k.a. Vengeance Is My Forgiveness
[hr]
A man of the cloth, but a man who’s capable of so many surprises too… 
[quote=“JonathanCorbett, post:46, topic:3590”]Revenge of the Resurrected
[hr][/quote]
Apparently this movie (the English title made me wonder):
http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Dólar_de_recompensa,_Un
[quote=“scherpschutter, post:47, topic:3590”]Apparently this movie (the English title made me wonder):
http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Dólar_de_recompensa,_Un[/quote]
Ha - made me wonder as well, and then checking it out, I noticed that I had quite a lot to say on the forum topic - jeez my goddamn memory! 
Blimey - there’s some odd 'uns in there (as well as one from my current Top 20). I thought it might be difficult doing a spag-a-day marathon, but as it’s the potential top-flighters that I ain’t seen for the most part for many a year, it’s turning into a thoroughly enjoyable experience. But some of those titles Brother Jonathan, and double-bills to boot - that seems like a harsh challenge! Fair play to ya though, and of course there’s interesting stuff to glean from any of these lesser ‘gems’ I’m sure…
(Edit - actually that’s a rather interesting bunch you got there on closer analysis - noticed another 2 that could also break my Top 20 and some other goodies that I’d forgotten about.) 
Tonight’s crespucular offering is muddier n’ swampier than than a saloon gal’s knickers, and up n’ down my top 30 even moreso…
A Man Called Blade - slo-mo squibby, with innocents massacred (including a shot-in-the-back-rev. :o), is interspersed with saloon gals getting their knickers damp in a town that frowns upon such beastliness. This is all rather marvellous… and a woman is whipped - who I don’t think has yet made it to the…
http://forum.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/topic,1366.msg34538.html#msg34538 thread. I’ll check later… (Edit - she did.)
And, thinking fondly now of Brother Romaine (who approved of such things should they be necessary to the plot), there are also some of those “cold, dead eyes” as well that he has been known to remark upon. This is all good stuff.
Whether it makes it back into my top 20 now depends on me cracking the top off another cider and settling in for the final 20 mins, which I don’t fully remember, so that’s all to the good.
I’ll let you’ll know in due course how it went (and how it does potentially in the charts compared to it’s stylistic predeceser Keoma… which I’ve got pencilled in for tomorrow).
(Edit - not so good an ending, the snake song was horrible (I loved the wonky Cohen/Bee Gees stuff being played at 33 instead of 45rpm though).
All in all, It was an enjoyable re-visit, but it won’t be finding its way back in to the hallowed top flight.)
14.5 out of 20 just ain’t sharp enough Mr. Blade.
So no real resurrections? Would’ve been the ideal Easter spagh in that case.
[b]Spagvemberfest number 25
Death Rides a Horse (Petroni / 1967)[/b]
This one used to be in my Top 10 and I’m really not sure how it managed to slip down as far number 25. It contains pretty much everything that made me a fan of the genre in the first place and as this latest viewing proved to me it still packs a punch and benefits from re-watching. It ain’t perfect (particularly towards the end where the whole Mexican village battle a la Magnificent Seven has some major flaws) but it is still thoroughly enjoyable. The soundtrack is a cracker too. I suspect this one will be moving up the table a bit before I’m done but if I genuinely have 24 better spags to watch during this personal festival it’s going to be a hell of a month.
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2015 - THE BIG RUNDOWN: NUMBER 24
At #24 on my list, today’s movie is the decidedly American flavoured The Hellbenders (Corbucci, 1967), featuring Joseph Cotton in fantastic form as the patriarch at the head of a small band of rebels who don’t want to surrender the Confederacy despite the war being lost. This is going to come from left field but The Hellbenders reminds me more of The Devil’s Rejects (Zombie, 2005) than of any aesthetically more similar spags (the fact that it barely feels like a spag at all no doubt helps somewhat in this regard). Something about this doomed little bunch, with whom I should have little or no sympathy; I don’t want to see them win, exactly, but I’m fascinated to see them fail. Oddly, that whole concept also puts me in mind of that partial speech by Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979) in which he talks of a snail crawling across a straight-razor. That’s what Colonel Jonas seems to be doing in The Hellbenders too. Colonels, eh?
[b]Spagvemberfest number 24
Arizona Colt (Lupo / 1966)[/b]
I’m a big Gemma fan so anything with him in it is going to be a favourite with me (The White, the Yellow and the Black excepted obviously) but this is another which has slipped down my list over the years and on re-watching this time I can see why. It still has lots to like but Gemma’s character (not the man himself of course) is not one of them and this failing compromises the appeal of the film. The anti hero of the spaghetti world is one thing but Arizona steps too far over the line of cynicism and selfishness and this just doesn’t sit well with Gemma’s normal screen persona. That said, the film is still enjoyable and although it will surely slip further down my favourites list it is still one I will happily go back to. Maybe when a better quality release finally shows up.
Oh, one huge failing it does have…killing Rosalba Neri off so early. She stays the length of the film and it challenges my top 10 on smoking sex appeal alone. My god that woman was gorgeous.
The Hellbenders is one I’m contemplating watching - if FAFDM an TFOJK get a by-in cos I aint gonna rewatch 'em, I got a coupla spare places for some challengers, and…
yeah. I saw Arizona Colt recently and was disappointed…
But… not nearly so much as with tonights choice
Keoma
I’m about an hour in and I’m bored beyond belief despite the good lookin’ness of some of the set pieces. To think I once held this in such esteem as well. I ain’t gonna give up on it though… oh no, I’ll do the decent thing and come back pissed later and watch the rest. 
It’s what it deserves.
I didn’t give a mark for Black Jack from a coupla days ago. I reckon it still holds up well - despite me watching my ol’ vid-rip with burnt in subs, which I’ve grown accustomed to over the years I suppose.
Black Jack Murphy ain’t somebody we can really sympathise with but you still root for the punishment-fits-the-crime revenges that he dishes out. He starts out a dapper sort of psychopath, but ends up completely deranged, and as dust-dappled as his horse.
There are also two rather handsome cactii at the mexi-village, growing up against the whitewashed wall, that deserve some credit.
I wasn’t expecting to have still enjoyed this quite so much - but it gets a 16 outa 20, which puts it on a par with Requiescant. This is borderline territory I reckon for Toptwentiness, so they could both fail in their endeavour, or both slip in, or have to scrap it out between 'emselves.
I’ll drink to that.
Keoma (continued)…
Duly finished off, with a small amount of lubrication to ease its passing, but unfortunately it did improve.
It must’ve been ages ago when I last watched this, and it must’ve been before I’d marinaded myself in ‘real’ spaghetti-juice since. On the basis of that naive viewing it had somehow aquired unquestioning topthirtiness… slowly being edged downwards as others have arrived, until its unmasking yesterday.
According to Castellari, they filmed the beginning and the end, and then tried to make up a story that got to that end-point as they went on. It certainly looked like a film made in a linear way - there’s little story (and even plotholes within this), and it reeks of style over content. In an earlier scene a bloke is shot off a horse and half a dozen squibs slo-mo explode… later on they’ve obviously run out cos equally there-should-be-blood behaviour gets nowt.
And - as for the unrelenting slo-mo acrobatics - it just got beyond tedious I’m afraid to say.
The music was much more painful than the Blade stuff, but at least had some character. 
I still thought that the flashbacks were creative, and for this and the “1,2,3…4” bit it gets…
1,2,3…4 points out of 20. Shocking behaviour. :o
[quote=“Reverend Danite, post:55, topic:3590”]Keoma (continued)… In an earlier scene a bloke is shot off a horse and half a dozen squibs slo-mo explode… later on they’ve obviously run out cos equally there-should-be-blood behaviour gets nowt.
And - as for the unrelenting slo-mo acrobatics - it just got beyond tedious I’m afraid to say.[/quote]
But Shirley you’re setting yourself up for a hard ride ahead if you’re going to mark a spag down on its production values, sir? Agree about the say-what-you-see music though. Fupping Jeebus! Those De Angelis brothers must’ve been off their mash on ecstasy pipes, or something. Keoma and Mannaja deserve better.
As with your own situation with this movie, Keoma has been - indeed, is - a big favourite of mine but I haven’t watched it in a long time; last February was its last outing for me, IIRC. I think it was Phil who mentioned how easily one’s “favourites” can become neglected in pursuit of those as-yet-unseen turkeys still out there, and IMO that’s a rather sad truth. I hope it retains its magic for me, though. Keoma’s one of those pics which really grabbed me by the onions right from the off, you know?
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2015 - THE BIG RUNDOWN: NUMBER 23
Ooh, little bit of politics! My name’s Ben Elton, goodnight!
At #23, it’s A Bullet For the General (Damiani, 1966). Strange, I’ve got this one pegged behind Companeros (Corbucci, 1970) and The Mercenary (Corbucci, 1968) yet I’m looking forward to this one considerably more. I haven’t seen it in a long time tbh, and in fairness to Companeros and The Mercenary, those two are films I never really regard with any relish until I’m actually watching them. Maybe there’s scope here for this particular Zapata western to creep back into my Big 20 (probably at the expense of Companeros, funnily enough).
Yep, I know. It wasn’t use or non-use of squibs really, but I would have liked some consistency within the one film. When I first starting watching spags it grated a bit that there weren’t (m)any in use, and it was odd to see a shootout with someone in a nice white blouse not getting bloodied. But I got used to it.
I thought the music in Blade was pretty good except for the snake song - but Keoma’s narration-by-warble was excruciati-gratey…
The problem was that I was simply bored. Shockingly bad production values, as with those of the maestro Sir Fiddler for instance, do not bore me on such a grand scale as Castellari can with his blam-blam-kablooey-bish-bash-bosh toshness. This time Keoma came across as deep and meaningless hokum, and I was greatly surprised as to how my tastes have changed so much regarding it.
What is this blasphemous talk about Keoma? I know it’s number 1 sw that people either love or hate but I’ve never heard anyone complaining about production values. I think it’s a film where the low amount of money have been well used and the deteriorating sets have been used as an asset for the film’s look. For me it’s a film that gets better with each viewing anyway.
I’m a bit behind my schedule at the moment:
5: Marchent: Hands of a Gunfighter[url]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Ocaso_de_un_pistolero[/url] (1965)
-Marchents film with Craig Hill was not as good film as I remembered but it has a very strong ending which will leave you with a good impression. Film has two plotlines, one about Hill’s “adopted” son and one about bunch of murdering bullies he has to get even with. These plotlines don’t really have anything to do with each other. Cast is deliciously full of spaghetti faces, Piero Lulli, Baldassarre, Induni and Lorenzo Robledo as Slim. Why there’s always a character called Slim in westerns? :o
5/10
Umm - was I even criticising production values? I mentioned it’s lack of consistency, some plot-holes and that I found slo-mo sooooo-oooooo-ooooooooooo booooooooooring.
The deteriating sets looked good I agree - and I mentioned some “good lookin-ness” in my dribblings.
Anyway, as “production values” are so important to me I shall be watching Find A Place To Die later. ;D
(Edit - actually I just had to goggle the term 'cos I wasn’t sure what it encompassed - and surely there are a plethora of posts on here that do comment (sometimes negatively) about aspects such as sound, scenery and props. Myself - I’m thrilled by a good plastic cactus, as we all know.)