Wild Wild West

I am not really such a fun of the wild western movies. It does not appeal to me much, I’d rather play texas hold em poker on facebook than ogle in front of a western movie, but that is just me, what with my idea on western films extending only to Owen Wilson’s character of the Night at the Museum fame, am sure a lot you would beg to differ.

What makes these films standout amongst other movie genre? Here’s what I gathered so far:

• Those wily western movies tell stories set in the latter half of the 19th century or early as 1896. Good old Mr. Wiki mentioned that these films mostly “portray the conquest of the wilderness and subordination of nature in the name of civilization” and the “confiscation of the territorial rights of the original inhabitants of the frontier.” Popular characters that sprung from this movie genre include or can be a combination of the: a cowboy, a gunslinger or a gunfighter or a tale centering on the life of a semi-nomadic character. I am sure you clearly get the picture, a Stetson-toting macho man, with bandannas, spurs and buckskins. The characters would almost always be seen carrying a rifle or toting a revolver as an everyday survival kit. And who would forget that they would normally do errands or travel from one cattle ranch to the next on steeds. A Most of these characters were part of 19th century famed Western fiction.

• This film genre made John Wayne a household name in the late 1930’s with John Ford’s western adventure, Stagecoach.

• A few notable western films of last year include:

Bunraku – starring Josh Hartnett and Demi Moore
Jonah Hex – with Josh Brolin on the line-up of actors
True Grit – starring Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges, directed by the Coen brothers
Rango – an animated film featuring Johnny Depp and Isla Fisher