On the Western thread Blake said he didn't remember The Long Riders which I listed as one of the ten best westerns. I love that film because it is directed by one of my favorite directors Walter Hill. He also directed the first few episodes of Deadwood which is the best western ever shown on TV. His sensibility informed the rest of the show and is first displayed in The Long Riders. The gimmick in this movie is that he had brothers play the sets of brothers that actually made up the James gang. It is very effective and David Carradine gives his best performance ever as the laconic cool kick ass Cole Younger. The knife fight in the bar is where you can see the future Deadwood series in the flesh twenty years before it was filmed. On reflection the only mistake he made was using the Keach brothers for Jesse and Frank James. He should have used the Quaids who play the Millers in the film. I think Dennis Quaid would have made a great psycho Jesse James when James Keach was just too wooden. But the Quaid's didn't have the power that the Keach's had at the time so I quess he had to compromise.
This weekend will probably be having a Walter Hill mini film festival where we watch three movies of an actor or director.
The second film is The Warriors. The story of a Coney Island Street gang in the seventies who travels to the Bronx to a gang conclave and is forced to flee after they are framed for the murder of the gang leader Cyrus. It is a remake of the story of Xenephons march to the sea which is a famous chronicle of a Greek generals progress after serving in the army of the Persian overlord Cyrus. This movie is a lot of fun. The Subway ride they take brings back some not so fond memories of what New York was back in the day. Check it out.
The last Walter Hill film I really recommend is Streets of Fire. Strangely enough it is a straight rip off of the John Ford's masterpiece The Searchers. Diane Lane is kidnapped by motorcycle gang leader William Defoe in his film debut. And man does he look freaky. The dude from Eddie and Cruisers goes to rescue her. Interspersed in the film is a bunch of great musical numbers that is really strange for an action picture but they sort of work. I think the reason why they do is because they are composed by Jim Steinman who was the guy who wrote Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell. His music is pounding and over the top and fit right in with the crazy comic book violence. This is a great popcorn movie and in my opinion very underrated. Check it out, it's lots of fun.
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I was disappointed in The Long Riders but I was very anti-Western at the time. I do need to re-see it.
The Warriors is a classic, with all the street toughies with dancer's bodies and coordinated outfits. A modern West Side Story. Actually, the best way to see this is with Joe Bob Briggs hosting, as he charts their progress through the subway system.
Streets of Fire--I know the music by heart because I had a sensei who played it constantly. And what you say makes a lot of sense--it sounds like Matloaf. I've only seen a few scenes, tho'.
Sounds like a good weekend.
Walter Hill--not crazy about the wimmenfolk, though, is he?
Think RH Hardin with talent.
lol
William Defoe is a major league freak in this movie. He wears these rubber pants with suspenders when he walks through fire. He fights a duel with Michael Pare with sledgehammers. Cool.
And Diane Lane is about 19 and is the babe in this one. Plus Amy Madigan as a lesbian and the brunette from Ted Baxters old TV series. Lots to see in Streets of Fire.
You know, I like Diane Lane better now? I never really noticed her until she got a few wrinkles.
I've almost watched it about a dozen times. Know the soundtrack by heart--didn't know it was a "Searchers" remake, but that sounds like Hill. He kinda lost a lot of directorial steam after "Supernova".
Check it: Tony Scott (!) is going to remake "The Warriors" and set it in L.A.!
I'm not sure how that's going to work... Are they gonna take the bus?
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