Comments on: Pale Rider http://www.cineris.org/blog/2007/04/22/pale-rider/ Musings on Electronics and Culture Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:09:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Cineris http://www.cineris.org/blog/2007/04/22/pale-rider/#comment-16821 Cineris Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:37:00 +0000 http://www.cineris.org/blog/2007/04/22/pale-rider/#comment-16821 Agreed on the bit about being a self-conscious choice of stylization. I kind of feel like there's got to be something there, though. I suppose, in retrospect, I did see and enjoy Wyatt Earp. I wonder if that sort of escapes my general apathy towards Westerns by virtue of being biographical -- That perhaps the Western as a genre for telling anything other than a [semi-]historical tale doesn't excite me. Regardless, you're absolutely right about science fiction. Firefly/Serenity comes to mind. That definitely captures the essence of the frontier. Agreed on the bit about being a self-conscious choice of stylization. I kind of feel like there’s got to be something there, though.

I suppose, in retrospect, I did see and enjoy Wyatt Earp. I wonder if that sort of escapes my general apathy towards Westerns by virtue of being biographical — That perhaps the Western as a genre for telling anything other than a [semi-]historical tale doesn’t excite me.

Regardless, you’re absolutely right about science fiction. Firefly/Serenity comes to mind. That definitely captures the essence of the frontier.

]]> By: BeckoningChasm http://www.cineris.org/blog/2007/04/22/pale-rider/#comment-16784 BeckoningChasm Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:56:25 +0000 http://www.cineris.org/blog/2007/04/22/pale-rider/#comment-16784 I've never been much of a fan of Westerns myself, but I do enjoy the Sergio Leone ones. But those are more "exercises in style" than "western stories." Sam Peckinpah made some good ones too, and there are a couple by Monte Hellman with Jack Nicholson that are pretty interesting. I've not seen Pale Rider, but I would probably like that in the same way. The thing is, the Western as a genre hasn't really been a "vital" one; making a Western nowadays is like making a movie in black-and-white--more of a self-conscious artistic choice rather than something dictated by necessity (or the story). Someone once said that most science fiction films were just westerns set in space...certainly Outland (with Sean Connery) took this route rather deliberately. Maybe that's where the westerns have gone... I’ve never been much of a fan of Westerns myself, but I do enjoy the Sergio Leone ones. But those are more “exercises in style” than “western stories.” Sam Peckinpah made some good ones too, and there are a couple by Monte Hellman with Jack Nicholson that are pretty interesting.

I’ve not seen Pale Rider, but I would probably like that in the same way. The thing is, the Western as a genre hasn’t really been a “vital” one; making a Western nowadays is like making a movie in black-and-white–more of a self-conscious artistic choice rather than something dictated by necessity (or the story).

Someone once said that most science fiction films were just westerns set in space…certainly Outland (with Sean Connery) took this route rather deliberately. Maybe that’s where the westerns have gone…

]]>