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Boris
08-18-2003, 02:01 PM
Seabiscuit. Go see it. Totally awesome flick. I loved it. If Gladiator won the academy award for best picture then Seabiscuit should be a shoe-in.

Open Range: This movie sucks. We snuck into Open Range after Seabiscuit. I would've been pissed if I actually paid to see it. How does Kevin Costner keep getting money to make movies that suck so bad? How does he do it? Is this Hollywood's response to piracy? Make a movie so bad that no one will steal it?

Open Range is supposed to be a western and what is a western? A western is a movie with cowboys and fist fights and gun fights and booze and cattle rustlin and whores.
So what happens in Open Range? Well after the first 15 minutes in which nothing happens, one of the cowboys has to go to town to get supplies. When he's in town he gets the crap kicked out of him by the bad guys, which includes the sherrif. Then he gets thrown in jail. This is all good stuff for a western but what happens in Open Range? Open Range doesn't show this exciting stuff. We just learn about it after the fact. Instead, we get to see another 15 minutes of a stupid little dog sitting in the grass and a scene where the orphaned mexican boy is picking at his stinky feet. I'm not making this up.

Exhibit #2: After the good buys get their beat up buddy out of jail and bring him back to the cattle herd (again, they did this peacefully), they see the bad guys coming to raise trouble. They sneak up on the bad guys at night with the purpose of scaring them out of the area. These are the same bad guys that put the boots their buddy in town. Now you would think that this is a good place for the good guys to lay the smackdown and kick some serious butt. What happens in Open Range? Robert Duvall pulls out a pistol and tells the bad guys to take off their pants! I started getting a little uncomfortable at this point, half expecting a JOEYBITCH type scene. Anyways, I could go on and on about this piece of crap movie. Just do yourself a favor and don't see it.

Ray Zee
08-18-2003, 02:27 PM
boris what do you take to stay awake in a costner movie. you are right this guy is a joke. but he has gooten the best parts in great movies and ruined them or made them marginal. like water world and field of dreams.

Graham
08-18-2003, 03:28 PM
I once had an idea a few months ago about making a western where noone gets shot and noone gets beaten up. Might be possible by using menace and the threat of violence along with some kind of story. But Costner does suck (although I did like Perfect World).

HDPM
08-18-2003, 03:48 PM
I heard Costner interviewed re: the Open Range movie. It was hilarious. He says - in his monotone of course - something to the effect of "People view westerns as kind of illiterate, you know, 'Yup' and 'nope'. But I view them as almost Shakespearean in the language that makes sense when performed." OMFG, I about wrecked the car when I heard that. I think of "The Good The Bad And The Ugly" or "For a Few Dollars More" and drinking a lot while the movies are on and calling it good. But what do I know about the Shakespearean Costner.

John Cole
08-18-2003, 07:13 PM
Boris,

You should title your movie reviews Sneakin' into the Movies. Wait, that's been done already. Or was that Dynasty who last snuck in?

Zeno
08-19-2003, 01:44 AM
Well, since someone did a "Best of sports movies list" someone should do a Best of Westerns (and a worse westerns list?) and run it up the flagpole and stir up some dust (I nominate Ray Zee).

Costner is a bit of a joke. But I do remember a very good Western that came out in the mid 80s or so. Had a good cast that did include Costner (he did fairly well). It was called Silverado. Well done, with some common themes (and uncommon ones too) and a bit of comedy, and even some self-parody. Great gun battles. A Fun Western. Of the Westerns I've seen, I would rate it fairly high.

-Zeno

andyfox
08-19-2003, 02:04 AM
My favorite western is, without a doubt, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. I also love The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. HIgh Noon and Unforgiven get Honorable Mentions, as does (sorry you Costner haters) Dances With Wolves. I'm not sure if Little Big Man qualifies as a western, but if it does, it's on my list too.

Boris
08-19-2003, 12:12 PM
It could definitely be done. Check out some books by Ivan Doig.