Pretty good chunk of that was hard to watch and I don’t get squeamish. Good flick though.

I came here to post Hateful 8. The other contribution I’d made is Hell on Wheels. More railroad than western but I think it works.

Simmons had a pretty thorough breakdown of Hackmans career in the Enemy of the State rewatchables Podcast. I don’t remember the particulars but I think they were thinking he lacked the big blockbuster movie.

IMO he’s one of the best actors that’s ever done it.

Man - that's a pretty damn narrow definition of Blockbuster, then.

The French Connection was huge. Hoosiers may have been the pre-eminent mainstream sports movie for a decade. Superman was a worldwide phenomenon. The Poseidon Adventure spent 12 weeks at #1 from 1972 into 1973 and hit #1 again on a re-release in 1974. I think it's probably fair to call him the 2nd lead in Unforgiven, right - anyone wanna argue that's not a blockbuster? Crimson Tide is a Tony Scott tentpole with Denzel at his peak that also opened at #1 and again, it just doesn't work without Hackman.

I dunno - it seems like Simmons is trying awfully hard there to avoid saying "Because people are stupid..."

Because I'm pretty sure that's the answer. People are stupid. If I'm going to avoid saying it's because people are stupid I think I'll say it's because he was a fairly prolific television actor for several years before he made a splash in movies. And back then, TV was just second billing. TV actors might as well have been garbage men. So it took so much 'political capital' so to speak to get over the 'oh he's just a TV actor' hump that there just wasn't enough momentum left to push him into superstardom.

But again, it's probably just because people are stupid.

Definitely didn't get as much copy as the handsome leading men of his time, and he worked in an era when "ethnic" actors like Pacino and Hoffman were in vogue. He was well-respected during his career though. There's never been a more talented character actor to play the role of an Everyman than Gene Hackman.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Once Upon a time in The West
Django Unchained
For a Few Dollars More
The Outlaw Josey Wales
A Fistful of Dollars
The Revenant
The Hateful Eight
High Plains Drifter
Little Big Man
Pale Rider
Unforgiven
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
Tombstone
Young Guns

I may not be remembering Simmons argument very well but that’s how I remember it. Enemy of the State rewatchables is a pretty good listen if you’re interested.

I agree. He’s up there in my book. You want a role shredded? He’s your guy.

I watched News of the World (2020) the other day.

When someone asked about it recently, I said that I had read the book and that it had a bit of an Oprah Book Club election feel to it. I assumed that with Hanks being cast in the lead that the movie would accentuate those qualities and the movie would be a bit sappy and have some light moments. Well, I was completely wrong. The movie is actually kind of dreary. Tom Hanks, a very talented actor, is totally miscast here. His performance is very downbeat and totally without charm or charisma. There was very little chemistry between him and his young costar. An older Robert Duvall would have been ideal casting, imo, if the movie had been made a few years ago.

The plot, centered around a Civil War vet returning a young girl raised by Indians to her white relatives, is very episodic. I don't remember much about it, but I believe that the book flowed more naturally, and had better character development. The movie follows the major plot points of the book for the most part, but it feels like a random set of events.

Coincidentally, it shares a lot in common with an episode of Gunsmoke called "Long Long Trail" in which Matt Dillon has been charged with escorting a young woman across the prairie to a remote fort. There are actually quite a few plot points that are very similar between the two stories. The thing is, Gunsmoke was able to tell a better story in only 50 minutes while using inferior actors and with a (comparatively) minuscule budget.

News of the Word isn't a terrible movie. It's worth watching once, but I don't really feel the need to ever watch it a second time.

He's Michael Caine.

Since this is a fairly recent reference, this video inspired me to revisit an all-time favorite again. Still holds up, and portions, particularly the ending, makes it one of the enduring classics in all of cinema. I've seen it 10+ times and it still stirs and enthrals me.

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I'm going to spoiler the ending, so it doesn't get ruined for those who have never experienced it.

It's a historical classic novel, so it's not a big 'spoiler' in the traditional sense, but the ending as great as it is deserves the full context of the entire film preceding it. But I put it here so those who know what it is can enjoy it again.

Great score, too.

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Mississippi Burning as well. Just an all time great performance there. Maybe his best.

Westerns died off...which is fine with me but now great police vs bad guy movies are dying off.