Seven Men From Now (d: B. Boetticher, 1956)

All Movie Guide:

Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Ben Stride (Randolph Scott, in a role originally slated for John Wayne) trudges stoically through the West, hunting down the seven men responsible for the murder of his wife in a Wells Fargo station holdup. As the film opens, we see him dispatching two of the miscreants during a driving rainstorm. Though the victims are deserving of their fate, the script is careful to detail the moral deterioration of Scott, who'd quit his sheriff's job to go on this unauthorized death hunt. Also turning up is Bill Master (Lee Marvin), not one of the bandits per se but actually a villain from Stride's past who happens upon the situation and sees a chance to make off with some loot. This film marked one of the few Randolph Scott/Budd Boetticher collaborations not released by Columbia Pictures.

Seven Men From Now is one the (now?/cult?) classic team-ups between actor Randolph Scott and director Budd Boetticher. The film involves a cowboy named Stride (R. Scott) meeting up with and leading a married couple, The Greers, southwest towards California. There is an underlying mystery about Stride, mainly "What happened in Silver Springs?", his old hometown. What happened is; bad guys stole some gold and killed Stride's wife.

Lee Marvin wears a very bright green scarf and has a very interesting story/monologue the goes into Stride's past, and intimidates the Greers in doing so. He is as menacing as only Marvin can menace. There cannot be a love interest in this film, as Scott is mourning his dead wife. But he is obviously taken by Annie Greer, played by Gail Russell. Part of Marvin's menace is that he insinuates that she looks like Stride's dead wife.

The end shootout is really interesting because it is not often (to me) where you see the person who has been shot, look like he is really surprised when he is shot so swiftly.


06/11/2007

Across 110th Street (d: B. Shear, 1972)

All Movie Guide:

Plot Synopsis by Yuri German
Across 110th Street is a violent urban thriller about a corrupt, older white cop (Anthony Quinn) and an honest, young African-American cop (Yaphet Kotto) chasing three robbers-cum-murderers who ran away with $300,000 that belonged to the Italian mob. The police must find them before the sadistic Mafia henchman Nick D'Salvio (Anthony Franciosa) reaches them first. The film has reached a cult status; the title song, performed by Bobby Womack, was later used in Jackie Brown, Quentin Tarantino's extended homage to the crime flicks of the 1970s.

Across 110th Street is a lean, tough, crime picture which straddles the line between NYC Urban Crime Drama and Blaxploitation film (it has been labeled as such as long as I can remember, probably due to the cast, the setting in Harlem, and the absolutely brilliant main title theme song.

Yaphet Kotto and Anthony Quinn both star, the former as the new lieutenant on the beat, and the latter as the quick-to-violence, jaded investigator who's been working Harlem for maybe too long. They are both investigating corruption in Harlem stemming from some renegade black gangsters stealing money a causing trouble between the Italian mafia and the other black gangsters.

The film is very brutal and violent.

Antonio Fargas is awesome(as always)!

One of my favorite exchanges is when we see two police officers picking up their dry cleaning. The clerk at the cleaners tells them their total:

With tax,$1.07

The police officer says

Screw the tax, here's a buck!

Pop Matters has a great review and partial analysis of the film. You should also look for the title theme song. I first discovered it on this compilation, but it is also used to great effect in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown.


06/10/2007

Coming Soon...

Let's Launch This Shit

Alright. Here we go. It's time to start this stupid blog shit.

I'm not sure that there is any intent behind starting a blog. I'm not really going to be sharing the more personal details of my life. What I will write will be just observations about movies, music, and culture. I don't think I have any special insight into anything, I'm a constant student. I am just using this forum as a place to practice writing, log films I've watched, and to see if any of you out there have anything to add.

Let me tell you a little about myself. I live in Seattle, Washington. I majored in Film from the University of Tulsa. I am also a musician and play in an up-and-coming Seattle based group.

In a few days, I'll let this site rip. As I learn more about posting pictures, sites, sounds, etc. I will do so. Look forward to comments about Across 110th St, Budd Boetticher's Seven Men From Now, the last season of Lost (does anyone still talk about this show anymore?), teen comedies, martial arts films, current releases, and more...