A Fistful of a League of Extraordinary Avengers

Conceived and used with the permission of Matthew Constantine and Brad Gullickson, the original dorks.

Everyone has a “Top 5.”  But Brad and Matt, choosing to walk a different path, amended that to “A Fistful…” over at their blog, In the Mouth of Dorkness.  A film-centric blog where they also discuss comics and books and TV, these two regularly share their top 5, ranging from “Heroic Kids” to “Spies” to “Summer Movies” to “Punches” to all things in between.  Always fun, often insightful, and something I hope to regularly pilfer for Warrior27.  As they say:  If you’re going to steal, steal from those you know relatively well, who will not sue you.

            This latest “Fistful” is in response to the ITMOD guys’ latest podcast, where they came up with their fistful of Avengers (or Revengers) from across the film spectrum that they would bring together to combat Thanos, in a world where the Avengers did not exist.  The guys on the ‘cast came up with a great collection of “toughs.”  Here’s my meager addition to that:

·         “Harmonica”  (Charles Bronson) from Once Upon a Time in the West



He’s all about the long game, and he’s not stopping ‘til you are done with this Earth.

·         Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) in The Searchers



Driven doesn’t properly describe Edwards in this film.  You know he’s going to find and kill whoever wronged him, or die in the attempt.

·         The Bride from Kill Bill



She’s the Bride.  ‘Nuff said.

·         Snake Plissken



Again, what more need be said about Snake Plissken.  Throw him into an impossible situation, it don’t matter, he’s coming out of it.  Though probably a bit worse for wear.

·         “The Wolf” (Harvey Keitel) in Pulp Fiction



The Wolf is the Captain America of this group.  He knows what needs doing, has a plan, and will make damn sure you get it done, and done right.  Because you do not cross the Wolf.

Finally, a John Wayne "4-pack" I can get behind

I grew up during the advent of WTBS - the Superstation!  They showed a lot of classic films, and among those classics was a strong helping of John Wayne films.  These were movies my father and I would watch together.  As a result, I became a devoted fan of the Duke, even enrolling in the John Wayne collection of VHS tapes.

Then things shifted, and VHS tapes fell out of favor with DVDs taking precedence.  I became a father - an adult, one would hope - and fiscal priorities shifted (mortgage, children's clothing, comic books) so that my DVD collection is spare (I prefer curated, but it's all semantics).  I've added a couple of John Wayne films I found cheap - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Red River - and I would check out those 4-packs always offered at Target or W**-***t.  But those always included a lesser war film or The Wake of the Red Witch or some of the oaters Wayne did before breaking through to stardom.  So I never bought one.

Until I saw this one a few weeks back.

The Sons of Katie Elder - the first John Wayne film to become my favorite.  I loved this movie, the comedy with the youngest brothers, Dean Martin's charm, and the introduction of Wayne in the opening of the film, along with the standard shoot 'em up.

El Dorado - Wayne and Mitchum together?  I'm in.  I've seen this a number of times, though it has been years (decades, most likely) since I last watched it.  I can't remember much of the plot; I just know I enjoyed it.

The Shootist - an aging gunfighter (John Wayne) comes to town to get a second opinion from a doctor he trusts (Jimmy Stewart) to confirm that he has "a cancer" that will kill him in a painful manner.  So, Wayne's character decides to go out in a hail of gunfire rather than quietly.  With Lauren Bacall, Richard Boone, and Ron Howard.  This was a fitting end to Wayne's career.

The Searchers - regarded as Wayne's best film, with revered director John Ford, and hailed as his best performance, this is a revenge tale that shows Wayne in a darker light, one that was never explored by the star in any of his other films, that I can recall.  Everything that's been said about this film is spot on.  It's a classic that transcends the genre and should be seen by any fan of film, let alone westerns.

-chris

My Top 5 Westerns

EDIT:  1, 2, 3, 4, 6?!?  What happened to #5, you might ask.  See the post that follows this one for the explanation, because "justice is coming."

Last month I offered up my top 3 casts in a western.  Then, as the Lone Ranger opened in theaters, with Johnny Depp as Tonto (?), my friends at In the Mouth of Dorkness offered up their top 5 westerns:   Matt  Brad.  So, of course, I must follow suit.

I grew up as WTBS, the Super Station!, was first starting its broadcasting.  It carried a lot of old westerns, and a lot of John Wayne westerns.  I was hooked and have been unable to shed that nostalgic sense of awe to truly come around to Clint Eastwood as THE iconic western actor.  I recognize his contribution, but the mythic, almost super-heroic, quality of the western, especially the John Wayne western, is so infused into my DNA that I have to just roll with it.

That said, and with my bias firmly in my sights, I offer my top 5 westerns of all time.

#6 (that's right, SIX)- Unforgiven
The western given a modern bent that, for many, portrays a more honest representation of the times.  This is Clint Eastwood, along with Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, & Richard Harris, creating a distinct coda to his "Man with No Name" films, as he maneuvers through the wilderness he helped bring about, as an old man with all the weight of regret and missed opportunities that entails.  An amazing story that is also a wonderful
commentary on the western film as a mythical "object," this is a timeless classic that rewards with each new viewing.

#4 - Once Upon a Time in the West
Sergio Leone. Charles Bronson. Jason Robards. Claudian Cardinale.  And Henry Fonda, as one of the most unfeeling and vicious villains in all of western cinema - mainly a result of the fact that this was HENRY FONDA, coupled with the insistence of Leone (when Fonda showed up unshaven and with contacts to hide his baby blue eyes for the first day of shooting) that he wanted HENRY FONDA, clean-shaven, blue-eyed, and handsome as his villain.  This is epic filmmaking at its best with a very personal, human story underlying the whole thing to give it a resonance so often lacking in many films.

#3 - The Searchers
John Ford and John Wayne are a legendary filmmaking director/actor duo, and their specialty was the western.  And this is their most brutal, most honest, and best film within their oeuvre.  Wayne is relentless and unforgiving in his quest to find his young nieces, kidnapped by a Comanche tribe.  The end resonates with questions long after the final credits roll, its ambiguity of character symbolized by Wayne's homage to early western star, Harry Carey, as in the final scene, silhouetted by the cabin doorway, Wayne holds his right elbow with his left hand before fading away.

#2 - The Magnificent Seven
Hollywood took one of the greatest films (Seven Samurai) of Akira Kurosawa, considered by many to be the greatest film director of all time, and transferred it to the American west.  And with Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, James Coburn, Eli Wallach, et al. they managed to create an equally compelling film here.  From the opening scene, which reveals Brynner and McQueen's characters with very little dialogue, to the final shootout, this is a great film in the grand tradition of the western genre.

#1 - Lonesome Dove
Yes, it was made for TV, but it was not a regular series like Stagecoach or Gunsmoke, back in the day, nor was it a long-form TV series like Deadwood (which would garner the top spot, easily, if it were eligible within the specific and fluid guidelines I have in my mind)

Honorable mentions:  Tombstone, Red River, Appaloosa (Viggo Mortensen & Ed Harris, come on), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Posse (has, perhaps, the greatest "high noon" shootout I've seen), The Proposition, The Man From Snowy River, and Young Guns.

-chris