Well, as in keeping with my Wild West genre I decided to view and watch the Sergio Leone trilogies with Clint Eastwood (Again). These being the classics; “A Fist Full of Dollars,” “The Good the Bad, and the Ugly,” ”and “For a Few Dollars More.” I then watched his first western for Hollywood which was “Hang En High.” This was the only one on this list that was actually filmed in America. For which I thought would be a breath of relief dude to the fact Leone was an Italian who shot westerns in Spain; hence the notorious term “Spaghetti Western.” Although Eastwood had done episodes of the TV Western "Raw Hide" this film was to be his first Western cinematic debut in the U.S. To my dismay, “Hang En High” was not impressive. The writing and storyline by Leonard Freeman and Mel Goldberg was acceptable, but the cinematic imagery and grit of the old west was too polished as opposed to raw, gritty, and weathered world found in Leone’s vision. Ted Post’s direction clearly does not stand up to the stature of a great classic cinema master as Leone. Although I’m critical, it’s a fun watch and a movie that can be enjoyed. It’s just not the surreal ambiance of tight shots of faces, timeless moments before bullets lash at flesh and bone, and a soundtrack that is perfectly blended into the film’s texture. Eastwood would go on to make great films. Leone would go to America and make a Western shot on location. This one although without Eastwood, would be Leone’s greatest Western; “Once Upon a Time in America.”
It would be hard if not impossible to imagine Sergio Leone‘s Westerns without the haunting sounds of Ennio Morricone‘s scoring. The riffs that cover various scenes in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly..." to this day still can come to my head each time I think about the movie. These go on to other westerns and numerous other films. I went to his site recently and was very happy to read that he is still creating music. It appears that his next concert in the U.S. will be at Radio City Music Hall in February of 2007. Recently he scored the NHK Taiga Drama on the story of Miyamoto Musashi. Some of his American film scores are for "The Mission," "Bugsy" and "The Untouchables."For all the great scenes in film, what gives them so much of the atmosphere is a powerful score. Ennio Morricone is definitely one of the greatest cinematic composers of our age. Below is a link to his page. www.enniomorricone.com
Well, as usual my cinematic tastes always take me back to classic cinema. Now today I want to write about the legendary Akira Kurosawa, no doubt a genius of the 20th Centry. His countless classic no matter how many times watched or viewed are powerful, breath taking, and full of the irony and pains of life. For me since I had been in the mood for Westerns; I watched Sergio Leone‘s "First Full of Dollars." This is in almost every way a tribute and copy of Kurosawa‘s "Yojimbo." A loner enters a town, finds rival gangs have taken over, and clears it up via modes of manipulation, killing, tricks, and gut wrenching suspense. They are both great films, and great directors. Masters and mentors to the likes of so many filmakers like myself. Yojimbo, also went on to inspire films such as "Last Man Standing" with Bruce Willis, and a few others not as worthy to be noted in this posting. I am sure that for ages after now Yojimbo‘s plotline will be used again and again. For Leone to use Kurosawa‘s work is likely the ultimate compliment. It‘s like as if Motzart and Beethoven played with each other‘s works.
Recently, I‘ve been into Clint Eastwood westerns. Most likely because his new film "Flags of our Fathers" was released over the weekend. So in the spirit of dust, grit, sweat, and lead I began last week with a regiment of my favorite Eastwood westerns. For starters I had to get back in view with my personal favorite "The Good the Bad and the Ugly." In which I feel is the best Sergio Leone film that has Clint as an unnamed gun fighter. In keeping to the true spirit of the great master Leon‘s works, I then went on to watch the other classics of this series. These being "A Fist Full of Dollars" which first introduced Eastwood out obscurity. It is also based off of Akira Kurosawa‘s "Yojimbo" which featured a lone ronin samurai who enters a town ravaged by gangsters. Finally came "A Few Dollars More." This film brings you into a world where bounty killers roam for riches and revenge. Sergio Leone‘s cinematic style with the addition of Ennio Morricone‘s haunting music stirs up each many of the scenes into unforgettable momments. Although not filmed in America and known as "Spagetti Westerns" these films are still undoubtably true westerns.
Possibly one of the greatest directors/writers of cinematic comedy of our age, Woody is pure genius. Here are a few classics by him which every film student should view.
Early works include "Take the Money and Run", "Sleeper", "Annie Hall", his later works such as "Stardust Memories", "Mighty Aphrodite", and "Deconstructing Harry."
Woody‘s style combines the classic story telling of Bergman with the ironic twists of O‘Henry. Truely a man with a thousand ways to tell a familiar story.
