dead man Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Cinematical Seven: Best Westerns Since 'Unforgiven'
Filed under: Brad Pitt », Johnny Depp », Cinematical Seven », Western »
Over the past century, the Western ranged from being by far the most popular genre to almost dying out completely. But as often as it has been pronounced dead, it has been resurrected. One of the genre's key resurrections was Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992), which emerged almost instantly as a masterpiece and a landmark film, but, despite that, actually went on to win four Oscars. After Unforgiven (and a previous Oscar-winner, Dances With Wolves), the Western had a minor resurgence; by one count, there were more Westerns produced in the 1990s than in the 1970s and 1980s combined. This year three excellent Westerns have been released, prompting many writers to use phrases like "the best Western since..." or, more specifically, to measure the landmarks. Here, to put the record straight, are the seven best Westerns sine Unforgiven.
1. Dead Man (1996, Jim Jarmusch)
Jim Jarmusch's brutal, black-and-white poem of a movie was, like Unforgiven, as well as Ride the High Country and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a Western death-rattle, but it was something entirely unique as well, like a dream or a primal odyssey. Johnny Depp stars as William Blake, not the poet, who comes to the town of Machine for a job but winds up shot and dying in the woods, aided by an American Indian called Nobody (Gary Farmer). The great Robert Mitchum co-stars -- in one of his final roles -- as a monstrous town boss who sends out a band of killers after Blake.
Indie Weekend Box Office: 'Into the Wild' Soars to #1
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Romance », Thrillers », Box Office », Cinematical Indie », Western »
Something about Into the Wild drove massive amounts of people to see it this weekend, propelling Sean Penn's drama into the #1 spot on the specialty box office charts. Playing at just four locations, Into the Wild earned an impressive estimate of $50,310 per screen, according to Leonard Klady of Movie City News. Cinematical's Kim Voynar described it as "one of the most polarizing films playing at Telluride this year ... even as we feel anger at Chris for hurting his family, or frustration at his choices, or fear for what will happen to him, a part of us has to admire his courage in taking a leap that most of us would never be able to take." James Rocchi had strong feelings as well: "As the credits roll at the close of Into the Wild, you don't feel like you've celebrated a life spent on the road less traveled; you feel like you've just witnessed a slow-motion suicide."
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was the other major limited release; it performed quite respectably with a per-screen average of $29,460 at five locations. I thought the film was glacially paced, incredibly gorgeous visually, and richly detailed in period authenticity and character. James Rocchi wrote: "Anyone looking for beauty and transcendence and a meditation on the West starring a terrific ensemble will be more than rewarded." Jeffrey M. Anderson was even more impressed: "Certainly one of the year's best films, and the best Western to come across the range since Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992) and Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (1996)."
With such fierce, big name competition, other indie films opening this weekend fared less successfully. Larry Fessenden's environmentally-themed thriller The Last Winter played at two theaters for a $4,150 per-screen average, while Ray McKinnon's comedy Randy and the Mob brought in an estimated $3,020 at each of five locations. Ann Hu's drama Beauty Remains snagged just $1,310 per-screen at two screens.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
