September 20, 2005
Wayne's World
With the arrival of Bella, the new Llama-cat later this afternoon, the female to male ratio at the Butcher's House will reach 6 to 1. In short, I'm completely surrounded.
Fortunately, Netflix is sending in the anti-estrogen cavalry:
I'm pretty sure that I've seen this movie before, but I have no recollection of it whatsoever. So this counts as a new one for me.
Poking around, I was pleased to see that Roger Ebert understands John Wayne movies:
We go to a classic John Wayne Western not to see anything new, but to see the old done again, done well, so that we can sink into the genre and feel confident we won't be betrayed. To some degree Wayne movies are rituals, and so it is fitting that they resemble each other. "El Dorado" was a remake of Hawks' "Rio Bravo" (1958), and "Rio Lobo" draws from both of them. (It is said that when Hawks called Wayne and offered to send over the script, Wayne replied, "Why bother? I've already made the movie twice.")
Ya got that right, pilgrim. And even with all the fussing and cooing and baby-talk I'm going to have to hear over the damned cat, I reckon that with the Duke riding shotgun (and maybe some Beam and a cigar), I can make it through.
UPDATE: And for those of you wondering how I can go from babbling about Tolkien to babbling about John Wayne movies at the drop of a hat, let's just say that the voices in my head have worked out a pretty good time-share agreement.
UPDATE DEUX: It turns out I had not seen this movie before. Frankly, it's a bit flat compared to El Dorado and Rio Bravo, both of which are among my favorites, but it's still okay.
Posted by Robert at September 20, 2005 04:51 PM | TrackBackYou're my kind of man...you need to set aside a John Wayne weekend..."She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" "Fort Apache" and "The Green Berets"
There will never be anyone like John Wayne!
Posted by: GroovyVic at September 20, 2005 05:10 PMOn the flight to Houston I took along the portable DVD player and watched McClintock!
"I don't give jobs, I hire men!"
While you're at it, grab "The Coeboys" and "The Hellfighters", and you should have enough testosterone flowing around the place to make even the CAT feel butch!
Posted by: Brian B at September 20, 2005 05:44 PMY'know, I've never been as fond of the war movies as I am of the westerns.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at September 20, 2005 06:09 PMWith the arrival of Bella, the new Llama-cat later this afternoon, the female to male ratio at the Butcher's House will reach 6 to 1.
Really? Who is the dude?
Big fan, big fan.
And for a shot of testosterone, Steve McQueen beats John Wayne, for my money. There's something vaguely campy about the Duke, whereas McQueen looks like he's ready to rip off your arm and beat you to death with it, all without breaking a sweat.
Posted by: Bill from INDC at September 20, 2005 06:58 PMWanna borrow a dog? Better yet, a .22?
For the cat, that is. No offense to the Missus Llama.
Posted by: Vinnie at September 20, 2005 06:59 PMOkay, Steve McQueen is pretty cool..."The Great Escape"...watch that, if only for that motorcycle chase when McQueen chases himself!
Brian B: McClintock is one of my favorite Wayne movies!
"Don't say it's a fine morning or I'll shot ya!"
Posted by: GroovyVic at September 21, 2005 06:27 AM"shoot"
Posted by: GroovyVic at September 21, 2005 06:27 AMDifferent kind of tough, but I like them both.
You know what? Aside from the accent issue, Wayne would have made a hell of a Lucky Jack Aubrey.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at September 21, 2005 08:51 AMRemember when George Plimpton was trying out different professions, well "Rio Lobo" was where he tried out being an actor. He gets gunned down by the Duke.
Posted by: Mike at September 21, 2005 10:13 AMYes, I saw that in the credits. But I forgot to pause the movie to try and figure out which one he was. (I assume he was one of the deputies who the Duke whacked in the hotel.)
Posted by: Robbo the LB at September 21, 2005 10:39 AMHe is the one blown back through the window when shot after he says his line. Plimpton did a special on his adventures in acting.
Posted by: Mike at September 22, 2005 03:44 PMHave you seen his movie HORSE SOLDERS? or TRUE GRIT?And his movie FLYING LEATHERNECKS AND FLYING TIGERS,SANDS OF IWO JIMA and well then there many of his greta westerns
Posted by: spurwing plover at September 24, 2005 04:52 PM
