Have you guys done a sci fi or a decade specific one previously?
Holden Pike will start the actual countdown reveal shortly after the deadline to send in a ballot, The deadline for entries is May 15th, 2020. It will take 55 days to finish the reveal of the Top 100. Then we'll all discuss which countdown will be next. I'm guessing it will be a decades countdown as we alternate between decades and genres. We've already worked our way back to the Silent era, so most likely next up will be the Top 100 movies from the 2010s. Then after that another genre one. We've already done a Sci Fi countdown.
I’m still thinking we’re doing a general top 100 next right?
Yeah, it makes so much sense to do that next: it's been ten years! Nice, round number, and we'll be starting it to kick off the site's 20-year anniversary and all that. It's a natural fit.
Also, so many people watching westerns means a bunch of them have switched to western-themed avatars and I keep thinking they're all Holden Pike while skimming threads.
Also, so many people watching westerns means a bunch of them have switched to western-themed avatars and I keep thinking they're all Holden Pike while skimming threads.
I have a question about whether or not a specific movie is eligible.The movie is Pure Country (1992). IMDb lists "Western" as one of its genres, but I'm not sure if it should actually be considered a western or not?
Is it eligible for the Westerns List?
I would say no.
For those who haven't seen it, or haven't seen it in years, it follows a George Strait-like successful Country music star played by George Strait. He has become artistically disconnected from his music so he ditches it all to anonymously return to the small rural town where he spent part of his childhood. There he gets room and board on a ranch, falls in love with a local girl, and regains his passion for music, all while he fights with his record label and manager over his career.
The rancher is played by '50s Western movie star Rory Calhoun (River of No Return) and there is a subplot of his love interest wanting to save the family spread by doing well at a big rodeo in Las Vegas. But the rodeo element remains a subplot. If the protagonist had decided to truly ditch his music career by buying a ranch of his own, driving a herd of cattle, or the plot focused on HIM winning the rodeo then you could call it a Western. Peckinpah's Junior Bonner which follows a modern day family of rodeo performers, City Slickers where the protagonists become cattle hands, and The Electric Horseman where Bob Redford's fading rodeo star steals an abused prize racehorse to set it free among wild stallions all qualify as Westerns because the Western elements are the main focus of the plot. The ranching and roping in Pure Country never rises to that level. I mean it is certainly more of a Western than say Midnight Cowboy, but that's not saying much. Pure Country is closer to Crazy Heart than it is to Hud.
That's my take on it, anyway. If you feel passionately about it (and you must realize literally nobody else is likely going to vote for it, eligible or not) that is up to you.
Does gbgoodies or anybody else have a reasoned argument for inclusion, other than the random IMDb designation?
And again for any of these eligibility questions, if they are just academic queries I would rather not waste the time on them. Meaning if you just re-watched or thought about Pure Country and you love it and think it will at least be on your shortlist for consideration, definitely we should talk through it. If on the other hand you're just curious about a movie that is on the line or the IMDb lists as a Western but you have no real intention of including it in your top twenty-five, we can probably skip it.
__________________
"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
That was probably the most well thought out response I have seen yet on these forums. It explained everything rather then dismissing it entirely. Well done.
For those who haven't seen it, or haven't seen it in years, it follows a George Strait-like successful Country music star played by George Strait. He has become artistically disconnected from his music so he ditches it all to anonymously return to the small rural town where he spent part of his childhood. There he gets room and board on a ranch, falls in love with a local girl, and regains his passion for music, all while he fights with his record label and manager over his career.
The rancher is played by '50s Western movie star Rory Calhoun (River of No Return) and there is a subplot of his love interest wanting to save the family spread by doing well at a big rodeo in Las Vegas. But the rodeo element remains a subplot. If the protagonist had decided to truly ditch his music career by buying a ranch of his own, driving a herd of cattle, or the plot focused on HIM winning the rodeo then you could call it a Western. Peckinpah's Junior Bonner which follows a modern day family of rodeo performers, City Slickers where the protagonists become cattle hands, and The Electric Horseman where Bob Redford's fading rodeo star steals an abused prize racehorse to set it free among wild stallions all qualify as Westerns because the Western elements are the main focus of the plot. The ranching and roping in Pure Country never rises to that level. I mean it is certainly more of a Western than say Midnight Cowboy, but that's not saying much. Pure Country is closer to Crazy Heart than it is to Hud.
That's my take on it, anyway. If you feel passionately about it (and you must realize literally nobody else is likely going to vote for it, eligible or not) that is up to you.
Does gbgoodies or anybody else have a reasoned argument for inclusion, other than the random IMDb designation?
And again for any of these eligibility questions, if they are just academic queries I would rather not waste the time on them. Meaning if you just re-watched or thought about Pure Country and you love it and think it will at least be on your shortlist for consideration, definitely we should talk through it. If on the other hand you're just curious about a movie that is on the line or the IMDb lists as a Western but you have no real intention of including it in your top twenty-five, we can probably skip it.
Thanks for the info. You won't get any argument from me about its eligibility. I only asked because it came up in an IMDB search of western movies.
Pure Country is one of my favorite movies, and it would probably place high on my list if it were eligible, but I asked because I didn't really think that it should have been eligible, even though IMDB lists it as a western. But I also didn't want to leave it off my list if it were eligible. (I realize that I probably would have been the only person to include it on their list, but I don't care about that. My favorites are my favorites, regardless of whether or not anyone else loves them.)
But it's not a big deal. I have plenty of other movies that are already on my potential list, so I'll just agree with you that it's not eligible. (But I'll keep it in mind if we ever do a musicals list. )
I now officially have a sixth ballot. We are already up to 87 different titles that have received votes and there is one that has crested 100 points (101).