The Last Western You Watched? ver.2.0

I often prefer B movies for various reasons.

The older I get, the more disconnected I am from all forms of “A” grade material - which usually just means its backed by big money and all that entails.

Amen to that!!
The A grade material usually means a 2 star movie with 5 star production values. I could create a thread of examples of this.

Not only this, but it comes out of the A grade culture as well, which comes with all kinds of insular cultural attitudes that are often various levels of annoying, and also the restrictions of this culture in not being able to express freely - something which has always been mostly limited to movie makers that work outside the industry

That’s deep! But you are right. Being British I view American film/pop culture differently to my own. Meaning - Corporate culture and influences.
We don’t have Disney, Warner Brothers and MGM. I know there are lots of production companies in Hollywood but many are tied to the super corps.
But more to your point about restrictions, I fully believe that filmmakers are stifled because it does not suit the boardrooms vision. And we the audience suffer from this.

I do think people react to older films and television content made before the mega conglomerates because they have never been exposed to it. Reacting negatively or positively.

Well, Disney basically owns everything… and not just movie production companies… literally everything

But I mean even aside from the money providers, producers, execs, etc… I’m talking the actual social circles of Hollywood, celebs, or even lower level social circles which aspire to be part of everything. These circles self enforce certain cultural ideas.

And on different levels, its somewhat obnoxious to watch films written, directed and acted by rich Hollywood people about so called “normal” people living lives of quiet desperation… such as working class or soul killing office work or whatever… often portrayed by people that do not live this life and never have

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It’s scary, I mean that monopolisation (if that is a word) is dangerous to me. Influencing people beyond the business and controlling thought and opinion… NO THAT IS WRONG.
Anyway whenever I see big name actors doing blue collar roles I can’t help but scoff and roll my eyes. For the reasons you gave. I think the rags to riches generation have pretty much gone. I read a biography of Charles Bronson and his childhood from the mines of Pennsylvania is just one example.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1:

Not at all what I expected from Peckinpah, but I loved it. Beautiful final scene. Basically a perfect example of what I was saying about making characters & story worth my time.

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Love that film!

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You know I feel the need to start re watching the Western films I disliked in my youth. Hogue was one of them. I am less impatient and action obsessed and view them as a grown up.

Basically no action in Cable Hogue. Not the kind of western I’d figure to be a favorite based on description. A good example of why I try to avoid reading much info about movies prior to watching

I suppose it wasn’t what I was expecting from a Peckinpah flick when I was younger.

Boss Nigger (1975) - much better than Joshua in pretty much every way, except for Fred’s outfit which was the same. Didn’t quite hit the mark for me though… suffers from looking like a bunch of 70s people often in bad outfits, and too light hearted. I would have liked a movie like this much more if it had a more serious & dark approach. When its not being comedic, everything is a bit too straightforward for me. Still a worthwhile watch for spaghetti fans.

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I really wish they’d release the Nigger Charley films!

Ya know, I had forgot about those films although I got copies a while back. I guess I have more watching ahead of me

I don’t think it would be easy to release them with those titles these days. I have not seen that one either, but my Sister in law (who black) had her Dad a T shirt made with the Boss N***** artwork on. BossNiggerPoster

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Boss Nigger was released to bluray a couple years back… they used the alternate title Boss on the front cover, reverse side had the original title. The transfer is kinda weak though… would have been greatly improved if they just did a simple levels adjustment on the picture

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13 posts were merged into an existing topic: Blaxploitation

‘THE SPECIALIST’ - Eureka BD.

I watched ‘The Specialist’ last night, for the first time, not knowing what to expect. With a language option of French, Italian, and partial English, I opted for the French dialogue.
First of all, I loved the clarity of the picture - absolutely stunning! The restoration job is phenomenal, and the surrounding landscape with snow-capped mountains was gorgeous to behold.

It took me a while to watch the film, because I kept re-watching scenes, just to see the difference between French, and Italian subtitles. Interesting to see the c*nt word used in the French sub-titles.

I think ‘The Specialist’ will take several viewings, before I can formulate, in my own mind, the pros/cons.
In the mean-time, I enjoyed what I saw. It is possible that, in the future, I may watch with the partial English dialogue - but I’m in no hurry to do so. From what I saw, it would probably become an irritation switching from English language, to French sub-titles.

And, as for the cast…Johnny Hallyday was adequate in the role of ‘Hud’; while Mario Adorf - as usual - stole the lime-light as the bandit, El Diablo. Glamour was added by the beautiful Sylvie Fennec, and bad girl, Francoise Fabian.

One slight disappointment is that I was expecting ‘The Specialists’ to be packaged in the same way as the recent ‘Eureka’ ‘Fistful of Dynamite’, so I was a wee bit crest-fallen when I received the ‘ordinary looking’ packaging.
All in all, though, a very worthwhile purchase.

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Mine came in the cardboard slip case shown in your picture. Had you pre-ordered or purchased on release?