The MoFo Top 100 Westerns: Countdown

→ in
Tools    





I like the remake of True Grit quite a bit, and I think it's better than the original, but I still would prefer the Coens not doing remakes. Blazing Saddles is of course brilliant, but neither of these two made my list.
__________________
I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé

Just finished watching Wyatt Earp'94 it was a really good watch, a bit long but overall very entertaining.
Would it have made my ballot? no, do I think it deserves a place in the top 100? F@kk yes! (as Ed would say it )
Giving it a 72/100
+
Almost the same rating I gave Gunfight at the OK Corral'57 (also missing in the top 100 so far).

Wyatt Earp does a lot of things better than Tombstone like the landscape cinematography, the melodrama/romance, camerawork and overall film making. It's visibly the bigger budget movie. It also has a slightly cuter Josie.
Still Tombstone wins it for me on pure machismo, coolness and badass-ness of the cast.
Very happy to see you checked it out and enjoyed it with a 72/100 - - VERY f@ckin nice!
__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
~Mr Minio



The list has progressed nicely since the last time I visited. And Blazing Saddles should have been #1.
__________________
My Favorite Films





Johnny Guitar was my #5.
It was my #2 pick. I feel your pain



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I'm not a fan of either version of True Grit, but I prefer the original to the remake. I like John Wayne more than Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, and I didn't like the ending of the remake.

Blazing Saddles is a fun movie, but I don't like it as much as most people do. It has some great moments, but I'm just not a fan of some of the raunchy humor. But I love the theme song.
__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.




__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra





Terrence Malick has never directed a Western (yet), but if he had it might be something like Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. There are generations worth of cinematic depictions of Jesse James and the exploits of the James/Younger Gang with the famous outlaw played by the likes of Tyrone Power, Robert Wagner, Lawrence Tierney, Robert Duvall, James Keach, Rob Lowe, and Colin Farrell but Brad Pitt may be the best combination of charm and menace. This isn’t the first film to take a look at the legend from Bob Ford’s perspective. John Ireland played Ford in Sam Fuller’s I Shot Jesse James (1949). But Dominick’s film is the most psychologically complex, first showing Bob Ford’s (Casey Affleck) fascination and worship of Jesse, but when he realizes his idol can be as cruel as the rest of the world towards him the worship turns to envy and then to hatred. We also see his life in infamy after the killing, where instead of becoming beloved he is reviled. Certainly one of the most beautifully photographed Westerns ever by the great Roger Deakins, the mouthful that is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was on twenty-one ballots. It got no one’s first or second place vote but somehow FIVE MoFos all independently decided it was the third greatest Western they had ever seen. It also had a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a ninth, and a tenth place vote finishing just shy of 300 points.

The first film on the countdown to break the 300-point barrier is William Wellman’s classic The Ox-Bow Incident. Adapted from Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s novel, Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan are two cowboys who ride into a small town saloon and immediately draw suspicion as being cattle rustlers. There have been rustlers in the area so the town is already on edge. After being convinced they are probably on the level they join the townspeople in a posse when news arrives that a local rancher has been murdered. After a mishap with a stagecoach the horsebound mob finds three men (Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, and Francis Ford) with some of the dead man’s cattle. The town is led by a former Confederate Major (Frank Conroy), and rather than bring the men before the judge they decide to have a makeshift prosecution right there next to a high tree. Henry Fonda witnessed a real life lynching as a teenager in Nebraska and he so wanted to be part of the film that he deferred his normal salary to work for scale. The psychology and inevitability of a lynch mob is sadly as relevant as ever and The Ox-Bow Incident is still effective and made it onto eighteen ballots including three second place, one fourth, three fifth, two sixth, and eighth, and two ninth placers.






The Ox-Bow Incident was way high on my list, hanging at number six. I have always thought of it as 12 Angry Men on the high plains, and not just because of the presence of Henry Fonda. An at times stagey morality play about the perils of frontier justice that is sadly perpetually relevant, and it all works. That is largely due to the cast including one of my all-time favorites, Dana Andrews. Filmmakers Clint Eastwood and Samuel Fuller have both identified The Ox-Bow Incident as their favorite Western and it is one of mine, too. I was sure it would make the collective list but before voting began I worried it would be relegated to somewhere in the bottom half. I was ecstatic to see it keep rising and wind up with over three hundred points and finish just inside the Top 20. Thanks, Friends.

That is my sixteenth title to show. All but two of my remaining nine made the countdown.

HOLDEN PIKE'S LIST
5. Little Big Man (#38)
6. The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
7. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (#83)
9. Dead Man (#26)
10. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#52)
12. The Great Silence (#34)
13. My Name is Nobody (#79)
14. The Grey Fox (#66)
16. Hombre (#88)
17. The Big Country (#27)
18. Pursued (#73)
19. Jeremiah Johnson (#37)
21. One-Eyed Jacks (#32)
23. The Professionals (#45)
24. The Revenant (#25)
25. Support Your Local Sheriff! (#89)



Kill ... Bob was in the running for a slot on my ballot but missed the cut in the closing stages. The Ox-Bow Incident did make it though and was my #6.

Seen: 47/82
My list:  

Faildictions (yee-haw version 1.10):
18. Gunfight At The O.K. Corral
17. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance



I forgot all about The Assassination of Jesse James, and I would have considered it for my list, though I probably would have wanted to watch it again. The Ox-Bow Incident, though, did make my list at #12. It's a very powerful movie. It should come across as preachy, yet never does, even when they read the letter. It really is a timeless classic.

My List:

5. High Plains Drifter (#31)
6. Little Big Man (#39)
7. Jeremiah Johnson (#37)
9. The Big Country (#27)
10. The Shootist (#58)
12. The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
13. The Gunfighter (#40)
15. 3:10 to Yuma (1957)(#48)
18. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (#76)
19. The Naked Spur (#86)
20. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (#67)
22. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (#33)
24. Support Your Local Sheriff! (#89)
25. Johnny Guitar (#30)



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
The Ox-Bow Incident is my #19. It's a solemn powerful western about lynching, short at 75 minutes while making its point poetically and with chilling irony. I won't give anything away, but the whole thing is superb, especially Henry Fonda.

My thoughts on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford from 2008.

I watched this film thrice, each time with a different set of people. Most of them liked it well-enough, and my brother was probably the most impressed with it. However, every single person needed me to explain to them, at various points, who some of the supporting characters were and where they were supposed to be at. When my scriptwriter brother needs me to explain to him who is staying with whose relations and why, I think that there are definitely flaws in the storytelling, especially when you have a 160 minute movie where you have plenty of time to make plot points clear.

Now, I understand that some people find "plot" to be a dirty word. In the case of this film, I'll admit that writer/director Dominik was looking for atmosphere and tone, and I believe he produced his desired effect. I just don't understand why someone would make essentially an arthouse western, with what I consider stilted performances and dialogue, make it go on for far too long, and then try to pass it off as a psychologically-deep, naturalistic film. Well, maybe I do; Michael Cimino did it with Heaven's Gate, but I find Heaven's Gate to be the better of the two films.



Before I go on sounding like the curmudgeon I am, I will say that I was impressed with the visuals. Overall, I prefer Deakins' work in No Country For Old Men, but the shot of the train holdup at night, with Jesse James standing in front of it, and the exterior light casting enormous shadows from the train onto the forest is as impressive an individual visual scene as I've seen. The score is good, and parts of the narration are interesting, although the dryness makes me find it less special than it was probably intended to be. There are enough good things here for me to give it a qualified recommendation. I don't feel that I wasted eight hours watching it three times. I admire it more than I did the first time, but I don't like it any more. My rating:
.]

As far as the actors and characters go, I'd say that over the course of three viewings, I've warmed to Affleck's performance, but his character still comes across as an underdeveloped cipher who I know little more about at the end of the film than I do when he first opened his mouth. On the other hand, I enjoyed Brad Pitt as a psycho, and I did feel the intelligence behind his character. He seemed all too real to me. I just would have thought that he'd squash Bob Ford like a bug. I even thought Sam Shepard's Frank James should have trusted his judgment and wasted Robert Ford in their introductory scene. Oh yeah, what the heck happened to Frank James? He's certainly a significant character, and then he just disappears. Oh well, I guess Jesse wasn't as smart as he seemed without his big brother. Even though Sam Rockwell also seems a bit affected as Charlie Ford, he is at least recognizable as a real character, but that's because he's actually given lines which someone might actually say in real life.

The film was open to being so ironic about how the characters were in real life compared to how they are depicted in folklore. To me, that would be the reason to make another Jesse James film, but I don't feel the irony here. I just feel a director unintentionally draining the life out of his material with method acting and what seems to be method directing. That is my main critique of this film. For all the artistry, skill, beauty and originality on display, it feels to me like looking at a butterfly collection. It's all very lifeless. Oops, the curmudgeon has resurfaced. Maybe he should shut up and take a hike now. This is all presented in the interest of open discussion. I shall return with my seconds if required.
My List

1. Little Big Man
7. One-Eyed Jacks
8. The Professionals
10. Red River
11. Oklahoma!
12. Hud
13. The Big Country
14. Giant
19. The Ox-Bow Incident
20. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
22. Support Your Local Sheriff!
23. The Revenant
__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



Before I started my western marathon The Assassination of.. was in my top 25 but has since dropped to #28. Amazing first act, one of my favorites within the genre and much stronger than it's final act imho.
The Ox-Bow Incident is #16 on my ballot. I believe it's universal theme speaks to everyone even the non-western lovers.

Seen list 51/82 + ranking on my personal list:
90. Duck, You Sucker! (#53)
85. The Big Gundown (#52)
82. ¡Three Amigos! (#50)
80. The Mercenary (#21)
79. My Name is Nobody (#13)
76. The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean (#27)
75. Pale Rider (#60)
74. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (#58)
72. Maverick (#95)
69. Westworld (#65)
68. Bad Day at Black Rock (#62)
67. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (#18)
66. The Grey Fox (#85)
64. Django (#36)
63. Ride the High Country (#92)
62. City Slickers (#82)
61. Young Guns (#11)
58. Meek's Cutoff (#67)
57. The Shootist (#40)
56. Red River (#78)
55. Back to the Future Part III (#49)
54. Bone Tomahawk (#55)
53. Winchester '73 (#32)
52. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#54)
51. Giant (#53)
48. 3:10 to Yuma (#35)
47. El Dorado (#29)
46. The Proposition (#68)
45. The Professionals (#71)
44. My Darling Clementine (#78)
43. Shane (#90)
42. The Quick and the Dead (#88)
40. The Gunfighter (#8)
39. Little Big Man (#33)
37. Jeremiah Johnson (#4)
36. Open Range (#47)
35. Hell or High Water (#17)
34. The Great Silence (#22)
32. One-Eyed Jacks (#7)
31. High Plains Drifter (#48)
30. Johnny Guitar (#93)
29. 3:10 to Yuma (#57)
28. Tombstone (#12)
27. The Big Country (#15)
26. Dead Man (#24)
25. The Revenant (#26)
24. The Magnificent Seven (#77)
23. Stagecoach (#37)
22. True Grit (#60)
20. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (#28)
19. The Ox-Bow Incident (#16)

My Ballot 13/25:
  1. - Top 2 for sure.
  2. - Will probably end up in the top 5.
  3. - 1000%
  4. Jeremiah Johnson 1972
  5. - Will probably end up in the top 3.
  6. - 100%
  7. One-Eyed Jacks 1961
  8. The Gunfighter 1950
  9. - 100%
  10. - 100%
  11. Young Guns 1988
  12. Tombstone 1993
  13. My Name Is Nobody 1973
  14. - 100%
  15. The Big Country 1958
  16. The Ox-Bow Incident 1943
  17. Hell or High Water 2016
  18. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid 1973
  19. - 75%
  20. - 100%
  21. The Mercenary 1968
  22. The Great Silence 1968
  23. - 100%
  24. Dead Man 1995
  25. - Don't think this one is going to show up..



I really dug the remake of True Grit and the fact I'm a huge Coen Brothers fan didn't hurt. But like I said, nostalgia played a huge part in my picking the original, that and the fact that I still enjoy the original. But I could pop the Coen version in today and still love it. All the acting was great in it. I don't know which version is more faithful to the book so I'll have to read it one day.

Blazing Saddles is a great movie, and I still laugh at it to this day, but I never really considered it for the list, because it's a Mel Brooks comedy and therefore not really a Western in my mind, but a great parody.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one I still haven't seen therefore it didn't make my list. Still want to watch it, though.

The Ox-Bow Incident is an all-time classic and a hard-hitting movie. But another case of cutting when other films just had to stay on my list.
__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."



The movie with the long ass name made my short ass list at #5.

I’ve only seen it once so I didn’t dare put it higher but I really enjoyed it back when I watched it.



I'm not a fan of either version of True Grit, but I prefer the original to the remake. I like John Wayne more than Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, and I didn't like the ending of the remake.
So the original has a different ending? Maybe I should give it a go then at some point.
__________________



I think The Coward Robert Ford is probably better than some of the movies I voted for, but it hasn't stayed with me and I don't view it as a personal favorite.

I think of The Ox-Bow Incident as one of the most flawless movies I've ever seen.

I watched Geronimo: An American Legend and thought it was ok overall but kind of weak when it comes to this countdown. It has a great cast but none of them will be remembered for their role in it. I strongly prefer Walter Hill's much more fun The Long Riders. That'll get me to 100%.

3. Little Big Man (#39)
4. The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)
5. The Big Country (#27)
7. Shane (#43)
9. One-Eyed Jacks (#32)
10. My Darling Clementine (#44)
11. The Shootist (#57)
18. Day of the Outlaw (#77)
19. Red River (#56)
21. The Cowboys (#50)
23. Open Range (#36)
24. The Furies (#84)
25. Winchester 73 (#53)



The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford is a gorgeous film with some strong performances. It also has constant narration that irritates the hell out of me, a snail’s pace, and over two and half hours of Casey Affleck whining. I hate it.

I haven’t seen The Ox-Bow Incident.



I've seen both of these. The Ox-Bow Incident just missed out on my list, but I absolutely loved Assassination and it made my list quite high!!!

Seen: 24/82
- Slow West (#95)
- The Big Gundown (#85)
- The Furies (#84)
- The Shooting (#71)
- The Grey Fox (#66)
- The Great Train Robbery (#60)
- Meek’s Cutoff (#58)
- Red River (#56)
- Bone Tomahawk (#54)
- The Cowboys (#50)
- Rango (#41)
- The Gunfighter (#40)
- Open Range (#36)
- Hell or High Water (#35)
- The Great Silence (#34)
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (#33)
- Johnny Guitar (#30)
- Tombstone (#28)
- The Revenant (#25)
- Stagecoach (#23)
- True Grit (#22)
- Blazing Saddles (#21)
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (#20)
- The Ox-Bow Incident (#19)

My list:
6. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. Blazing Saddles
12. Johnny Guitar
14. Hell or High Water
16. The Revenant
19. Red River
20. The Gunfighter
21. Bone Tomahawk
23. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
24. Stagecoach
__________________
Lists and Projects
Letterboxd



I had The Assassination Of Jesse James... as my #5 and I agree with anyone who thinks it's too long and Affleck is a whiner. However, it looks fantastic and there aren't many films where I felt genuinely impressed with cinematography while watching it. Maybe I was just in the right frame of mind, but I felt very comfortable in its presence for most of its runtime and enjoyed it.
__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.