The MoFo Westerns List

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So far the overwhelming consensus seems to be that we agree Midnight Cowboy is not a Western. Does anybody want to argue in favor of it? I already received a ballot that included it, but I don't know if that person strongly believes it to be a Western or was simply going by the IMDb listing?

Before I call them out I'll give more people a chance give their take.

I'm also happy to open these up to separate polls if there really seems to be a lot of people on either side.
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Just looking at the three primary genres thing a bit more....

Paint Your Wagon
Comedy, Drama, Musical

Surely we can't be disqualifying that one from a Westerns list?
Aha, I see the 'three primary genres' rule has been modified now to eligibility being as long as Western is listed as one of the genres on IMDb



OK, Matt was the person who had Midnight Cowboy on their ballot. Unless Mark_F or somebody can give an impassioned reason why John Schlesinger's film should be included on a Westerns list we'll note that one as being ineligible for this MoFo exercise. It placed tenth on the MoFo 1960s list, it is a great film. It just ain't a Western.


Eligibility Debate
Treasure of the Sierra Madre


Next up, John Huston's Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). For those who don't know the movie, Humphrey Bogart stars as down-and-out American drifter Fred C. Dobbs in 1925 Mexico. He and another American (Tim Holt) wind up teaming with an old prospector named Howard (Walter Huston) who agrees to pool their meager resources and take off on a partnership looking for gold up in the mountains. They find it, but gold fever sets in as do some local bandits, putting their fortune and partnership at jeopardy.

It's a magnificent film, one of my all time favorites. But is it a Western?

This will likely come up with many modern day Westerns. By "modern day" I don't mean those made recently but rather those set decidedly after the turn of the 20th Century and beyond, where some of the familiar tropes and ingredients of the Western are replaced by more modern settings and objects. Some of these will be obvious, as in the Kirk Douglas picture Lonely Are the Brave (1963) which deals explicitly with this subject. Others may be debatable.


What do you all think about Treasure of the Sierra Madre as a Western?



Been too many years since I've seen it but I wouldn't argue strenuously against it being allowed from what I remember.



Originally Posted by Holden Pike;2047743[B
Eligibility Debate[/b]

What do you all think about Treasure of the Sierra Madre as a Western?
I like these debates it keeps people active and the thread bumped. Probably will get more voting list that way too.

For sure Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a western. Both IMDB and Wiki have it labeled as such. It's set in the old west, albeit the Mexican old west, but lots of great westerns were set in the Mexican west. And it's in the time period of the wild west, mid to late 1800s* Oh and there's horses, six shooters and...even cowboy boots





*I know not all westerns are set in the historic old west time period.



I'd say yes, barely. I was starting to write down why, but it occurs to me it might be helpful (or just interesting to others) if I sat down to expound on what I think makes a western a western, and some things about Sierra Madre really tie into all that. I'll let it simmer a bit.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is set in 1925. It's definitely a western. I vote NO on Midnight Cowboy. Others worth considering but not now.
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I'm happy to call it right there and agree Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a Western.


Another one...

Eligibility Debate
No Country for Old Men


Joel & Ethan Coen's Best Picture Oscar winner No Country for Old Men (2007), adapted from Larry McMurtry's novel. It follows Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) who while hunting in the Texas wilderness stumbles upon an undiscovered crime scene, a drug deal gone bad. Moss leaves the drugs among the dead but takes the suitcase full of cash. Realizing whoever belongs to that money will come looking for it, Moss sets off trying to stay one step ahead of the stalking chaos. That chaos is embodied by hired killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) who relentlessly pursues the money, leaving a pile of bodies in his wake. Enter Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), the lawman who seems two steps behind both of them. Taking place on both sides of the Mexican border, the chase is on.

The IMDb lists it as Crime, Drama, Thriller.


Modern day, obviously, cars and trucks instead of horses, but is it enough of a Western in its dusty, bloody DNA to be considered for our list?



Modern day, obviously, cars and trucks instead of horses, but is it enough of a Western in its dusty, bloody DNA to be considered for our list?
I haven't actually seen No Country for Old Men but for me, being a western is primarily about a setting and era so I'm inclined to think no. For the same reason, I wouldn't count something like Outland or Firefly (which as a TV series doesn't really matter here but is still a good example) as westerns either.
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While the IMDb does not list No Country for Old Men as a Western it DOES list Hell or High Water (2016), The Three Burials of Melquaides Estrada (2005), The Hi-Lo Country (1998), All the Pretty Horses (2000), and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) as Westerns, all of them set firmly in the 20th or 21st Century.




Cool. After this it’ll be an all time top 100 right? To make the 10 year anniversary of the last one?

But yeah, I’ll send a list to this one. I’ll do FOR SURE if you can vote for No Country for Old Men



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I don't think There Will Be Blood is a Western. It's a good movie but it won't make my list because I don't classify it as such.



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
No Country For Old Men sits on the fence regarding whether it's a western or not. When I've watched it, I don't "think" Western.
I think for NCFOM it could be mistaken for a Western due to Location and the rest seem to be technicalities aka loop holes. It could also be considered a Noir due to the way things seem to go south very quickly.
I'd go more for some of the other modern day films like Hell or High Water as a western in my eyes. Much like I would consider the Korean film The Good, The Bad, and the Weird. Even though it's set in Korea in the early 20th Century. Or even The Newton Boys.

It's a close call, but I would have to go with: No.
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