The Western III Hall of Fame

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I missed the reveal, because I was sleeping. That was a pretty intense race though. Here was my list:

1. Meek's Cutoff
2. Dirty Little Billy
3. McCabe & Mrs. Miller
4. The Grey Fox
5. The Big Gundown
6. Red River
7. Bone Tomahawk
8. The Scalphunters

The first 4 I loved, and the bottom four I didn't particularly like. The Scalphunters was the only one that I strongly disliked. The hardest choice for me was over Dirty Little Billy and McCabe & Mrs. Miller. They were both such great films, gritty and realistic, and unconventional. But I had to choose Billy because it was the biggest surprise in terms of personal enjoyment. Although I would say that McCabe & Mrs. Miller was a better movie objectively, I was more entertained and pleased by Dirty Little Billy. Lee Purcell was so gorgeous, and I have a real soft spot for women who are pretty even when they don't wear make-up. She was pretty even when she was caked in mud. And the tragic way she died really broke my heart. I am a sucker for tragedy.

The Big Gundown was surprisingly entertaining for a style of cinema that doesn't normally appeal to me. I'm kind of disappointed that I didn't watch the full version with the Italian scenes, because the bit I did see when I was looking for links for Siddon was really good. But I only watched the English version, and I did feel a bit odd about some of the cuts. I just had no idea that the reason was because the Italian scenes were removed.

The Grey Fox was an ideal Western for me. It stands out among the sea of Westerns, and is a truly great movie. The competition was just too fierce for it to break higher in my opinion. But I can't find a single flaw in that movie. It's one of my top 25 Westerns for sure!

Red River was a little bit hard to get through. I find the propaganda Hollywood style, and John Wayne's wooden acting, difficult to endure. But it had a good classic vibe, and it was a good story with some very strong elements that were enjoyable. So I had mixed feelings about it.

Bone Tomahawk was a movie that I felt went all out for entertainment value, but because it didn't pay enough attention to the writing of the story, plot, characters, and dialogue, it didn't work for me. This is a movie that I normally would never be interested in watching. But, due it at least being entertaining, and Lili Simmons incredible performance, it at least rose up from the bottom. Lili Simmons actually blew me away. It's too bad her role was a bit small. She was gorgeous, but really just a solid talented actor. No one else felt as authentic as her.

The Scalphunters was a challenge to get through. This was the only movie that I strongly disliked and got no enjoyment out of. It had a similar style to The Big Gundown, but lacked tension and atmosphere. I found some scenes interesting, but there were not enough of them to make the overall experience enjoyable for me. Some scenes were in the so-bad-it's-good variety. And some characters were outright obnoxious. This was the only movie here that actually had elements I found obnoxious.

I had a real joy revisiting Meek's Cutoff, and was actually surprised to find that I enjoyed it even more than my first viewing. It's all Ed's fault that it didn't place higher . But, thanks for putting it up Citizen Rules. This was a rare moment that you and I both loved a movie this much. Many times we're at odds over movies, so it was interesting that you loved one of my favorites so much. I honestly am having a hard time deciding which Western will be my all-time number 1, it's between Meek's Cutoff and El Toppo. I'm going to rewatch El Toppo by Friday night to see how I feel about it since I've only watched it once before.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Ahhhhh, so close!!!!

Congrats to John Connor and to McCabe & Mrs. Miller!

As for my nom, I hope at least I presented a hell of a spaghetti western to some members of the forum and I hope it has a chance of making the MoFo countdown, as I feel it's a subgenre very misrepresented!



McCabe & Mrs. Miller was my first submission, but John-Connor had already submitted it, so I had to choose another. That's why Citizen thought I had tried to submit Meek's Cutoff, because he knew that was a favorite of mine.



Wow what a surprising outcome! (Besides Scalphunters ending last )
Thanks everybody for playing!
Had a good time in this small but great hof before the big Western countdown tomorrow.
Cheers Ed! For an excellent job hosting.


my ballot:



Well, some people did really enjoy Scalphunters.

I like your wall Citizen. A few of those movies pains me, but generally it's a pretty good list. The visual effect is really cool. I like what you did.



...I like your wall Citizen. A few of those movies pains me, but generally it's a pretty good list. The visual effect is really cool. I like what you did.
Awesome! Impressive wall, shame I missed the Looney Tunes HoF!
That's just one of the Hall of Fame Walls in the MoFo Hall of Fame Museum.



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the man IS a beast!

I've always loved his choice of going with a red brick wall
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