-
"Who are you? Who are you... really?"
For your Saturday night MovieMovie viewing pleasure, we bring you two acclaimed Westerns featuring two of the most celebrated and beloved actor-filmmakers in movie history: Jeremiah Johnson (1972) starring Robert Redford, and Pale Rider (1985) starring Clint Eastwood.
Redford stars as the title character in Jeremiah Johnson, his second of seven collaborations with Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack. After serving in the Mexican War (1846–48), Johnson chooses a life of solitude and heads out west to become a mountain man. He is tasked at every turn by the unforgiving land and its denizens, including bears and the Blackfoot warriros antagonistic toward settlers. Johnson scratches out a living and even manages to find love, but tragedy strikes when the U.S. Cavalry forces him to help them movie through native territory.
Pale Rider not only stars Eastwood, but he produced and directed this highest-grossing Western of the '80s. When the fictional California mining town of Lahood is attacked by thugs in the employ of a rival miner, a little girl prays for help and her prayers appear to be answered in the form of a mysterious stranger in a preacher's collar. Initially skeptical of the "Preacher," the townsfolk eventually accept him and he helps them pan for gold and keep the thugs away. But, the lure of riches is too great for the rival miner and he offers the townsfolk an ultimatum: sell him their claims or lose everything.
jeremiah johnson & pale riderMovies nightly on Reelz, check listings
watch the trailers >> Posted 03.23.13 by BrentJS -
"I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do leaveth my rifle to the next thing who finds it..."
Tonight's MovieMovie is one of the great unsung Westerns of the '70s and the second of seven collaborations between actor Robert Redford and Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack.
Redford stars as the title character, a veteran of the Mexican War (1846–48) who moves out west to become a mountain man. Johnson's life is a difficult one, filled with harsh winters, hungry grizzly bears and ferocious Blackfoot warriors who don't appreciate white men encroaching on their territory, but he manages to find peace, harmony and love with the daughter (Delle Bolton) of a Flathead chief. Unfortunately, Johnson's piece is short-lived. When the U.S. Cavalry force him to help them move through native territory, everything and everyone in his life is put in jeopardy and the peaceful man he once was is consumed by his wild side.
Beautiful, violent, heart-breaking, nostalgic and cynical all at the same time, with a complex lead character played by one of Hollywood's greatest stars, Jeremiah Johnson has something for everyone. Tune in tonight at 10:30PM ET / 7:30PM PT.
jeremiah johnsonMovies nightly on Reelz, check listings
watch the trailer >> Posted 03.09.13 by BrentJS -
"We are rough men and used to rough ways." — Bob Younger
Cowboys, stage coaches, gunfighters, saloons... it's hard to imagine anything more American than the trappings of Westerns, yet many of the most memorable movies of the genre were actually shot in Europe with mostly European casts and crews. In fact, the enduring popularity of Westerns owes a great deal to Italian director Sergio Leone, who not only introduced the world to a then-unknown squinty-eyed TV actor named Clint Eastwood, but started a craze with his "Spaghetti Westerns" that resulted in more than 600 Westerns being produced in Europe between 1960 and 1980 while American movie studios slowed down or stopped producing Westerns altogether.
Whatever the origin of the movie or the nationality of the director behind the camera, a good Western is one that transports us back to a wild, dangerous time, to a place where the people are nearly as harsh as the landscape and there were still amazing discoveries to be made by those with an adventurous spirit. Help us choose those movies that deserve to be called Westerns, those with true grit.
Rate the Top 10 Best Western Movies >>
counting more than bulletsFriday 12:00p ET / 9:00a PT
Posted 12.06.12 by BrentJS