The MoFo Top 100 Westerns: Countdown

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Finally, Red River made my list!! Excellent movie that I in fact nominated for the second Westerns HoF.

Seen: 8/46
- 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)

My ballot:
19. Red River
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Red River in my opinion is Wayne’s best film. Glad it made the list.
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Seeing as there have been a few posts about John Wayne, I just thought I'd chip in and say that he's probably my favourite actor of all time.

It hasn't always been the case, and I definitely watched a few films of his without ever really loving them at the start, but as I have come to watch more and more of him, and rewatch some films, I have come to appreciate his brilliance.

I think it was Stagecoach where I really fell in love with him, and with Ford. For me, that introduction scene for his character was like a proper introduction to him as an actor.

Yes he "plays a lot of the same characters" and there's not always much variation, and it's not very "realistic" but I think we have become accustomed to realistic by the modern-day search to emulate reality with extreme method acting and realistic photography.

Ford and Hawks films, certainly American cinema back then, it's not about reflecting reality. When I watch their films I'm aware that I'm watching a movie and instead of telling the story through extreme realism we get details and mythos packed within the cinematography of the films and the actions/gestures of the characters. The way Wayne talks, the way he speaks, the way he moves, he embodies such great spirit in a way that not many actors can. He has a bravado about him that excites me and keeps my eyes glued to the screen. That's not to say he isn't capable of the subtle or the dramatic, because he definitely is. Sometimes I don't think I felt the depth of some of them until multiple viewings, like The Searchers. Then some of my favourite films from him are more lighthearted like The Quiet Man or Donovan's Reef, even Hatari!.

Here's to many more John Wayne films showing up
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@Daniel M ....well said! I feel the same way about Wayne and his movies. Sometime back I would've said I didn't like him, but I watched a LOT of his films for this countdown and discovered a unique actor who's persona was all important to his films.




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S. Craig Zahler’s feature debut is a Western that, especially in its last third, is successfully fused with the horror genre. The sheriff (Kurt Russell) of the town of Bright Hope and a small search posse (Matthew Fox, Patrick Wilson, Richard Jenkins) set into the mountains to find the savage, cannibalistic tribe that has stolen horses and three townspeople, including the doctor’s wife. The archetypes and structure are a throwback to classic Westerns that might have been directed by Budd Botteicher or Anthony Mann…at least until it gets very graphic and very bloody when they find those almost mythic troglodytes. Released the same year as Tarantino’s equally bloody The Hateful Eight it marked Russell’s return to the genre 22 years after Tombstone. Bone Tomahawk is the first on the countdown to get into double digits vote wise. 11 MoFos had it on their ballots, including an eighth and a ninth place vote.



Winchester '73 is Anthony Mann’s third entry (following #86 The Naked Spur and #84 The Furies) and the first of the five Westerns Mann & Jimmy Stewart made in the 1950s. Stewart is joined by Dan Duryea, Shelley Winters, Millard Mitchell, and a young Rock Hudson as a Native American Chief as we follow the path of one rifle as it goes from hand to hand, often taken by force. It is also the first movie on the countdown to portray Wyatt Earp (Will Geer) as we first see the rifle in Dodge City, KS. Winchester ‘73 was on thirteen ballots, two more than Bone Tomahawk, though without securing a single top ten vote. Being on more ballots is the first tie-breaker so it lands above Zahler’s dusty gorefest. Back to the Future Part III also has 87 points but from only seven ballots.




Bone Tomahawk seems to be quite divisive and I guess I can understand why, personally I quite like it even if it does crawl along at times. I also like the way Winchester '73 follows the titular weapon through its various 'owners'. Both were in with a shot at my list but ultimately neither quite made the grade.

Seen: 25/48 (giddyup Dollor)
My list:  

Faildictions (yee-haw version 1.01):
52. South Of St. Louis
51. Will Penny



Bone Tomahawk was a movie I really enjoyed, particularly in the performance department. All four leads are fine as we get to know them on their rescue mission. Kurt Russell is sturdy as always and Matthew Fox is very good as an unlikable but eventually dependable gunslinger. But Richard Jenkins and Patrick Wilson steal the show for me, especially Jenkins. His smile at the end speaks volumes.

Yes! Winchester '73 is another from my list to make it. I love this movie. James Stewart goes just a bit dark here but not all the way as he hunts down his stolen rifle. Millard Mitchell, one of Stewart's co-stars in The Naked Spur is fine here as Stewart's saddle buddy High Spade. I love some of the names in this movie. Dependable movie heavy Stephen McNally is very good as Stewart's enemy Dutch Henry Brown (another fun name). And Dan Duryea is great as smirking outlaw Waco Johnny Dean (again with the great names!). Love this movie and can never get enough of it. I had it at #20 on my list.

So far:
Hombre Me: 13 The list proper: 88
The Naked Spur Me: 25 The list proper: 86
Ride the High Country Me: 10 The list proper: 63
Winchester '73 Me: 10 The list proper: 53
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Heads up: You accidentally wrote this film's title as "Winchester '57" (instead of "73") in the first page's shortlist, haha.

Excellent work on compiling and formatting all this so far btw!



Updated


Films from my list so far:


11. Red River (1948)

13. Winchester '73 (1950)

14. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

17. The Furies (1950)

20. The Shooting (1966)

25. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
Hate to see Yellow Ribbon, River, and Winchester go so early

Excited for the second half of the list though!



Another from my list, love Bone Tomahawk. The horror element makes it unique, but what I love is that script. I find the film very funny, and that's always a great in to the characters for me.

I can hear Citizen's head exploding from here.
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I am not a Horror fan but I love Bone Tomahawk. It wasn't really close to cracking my top twenty-five, but along with Slow West, The Hateful Eight, and The Revenant it made 2015 the best year for Westerns since the early 1990s. To me it really does feel like Budd Botteicher by way of George Romero. I found it very effective and a lot of fun. And though not a Horror fan even I enjoyed seeing Sid Haig pop up here. And early on, too. Kind of clues you to what you're in for.



I don't think it made my list, but Bone Tomahawk is a great piece of modern western/horror cinema. Was very surprised by how good it was when I watched it. Glad it got this high a spot!

Still need to get into Mann's western films sometime.
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Bone Tomahawk was my #15. I love it when a genre-mix film works for me. And this did. The film was character driven and westernized for most of the runtime, but with something under the surface all the time. And when all hell broke loose, I was all for it! Super fun film and Zahler is definitely a director I’m following closely.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Bone Tomahawk ts a whack western that, though overlong, does get better the whacker and more violent it gets. Gotta love those trogs. Winchester '73 is a basic but well-done saga of human greed done in Mann's expressionistic style. Didn't vote for either.
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