A Goth’s Month in Review: June 2013

I grew up around people who decorated their sheds with cow skulls. Some even had cow patty clocks – cow manure shellacked with a clock glued in the middle.

Cows were a big part of my community. They were a lifestyle. One of the lines from Monte Walsh, a favourite film of Hacker Renders’ this month, said that as long as there’s one guy out there minding one cow, the cowboy way of life won’t be dead and gone.

A nice thought. I can attest that there are still cowboys in Canada. I know a few, and they are fascinating people.

So, here they are – the picks from this month of time traveling in my mind back to the land of cows and cowboys – my favourite, surprise, disappointment, least-liked, and one chosen from my co-reviewer, the roughest, toughest hombre I ever done met.

Favourite
True Grit (2010) on 2013/06/10

* * * *

“Funny, harsh, suspenseful, entertaining and uncompromising, True Grit reminds me why I love westerns. Perhaps this film will be my favourite teenager’s Miss_Tree’s gateway western. Here’s hoping she’ll hit the trail with me for a few more this month.”

Surprise
Bad Company (1972) on 2013/06/08

* * *

The real interest of this film came from watching Barry Brown, an actor with a genius IQ who died too young of suicide. His portrayal of a bookish, Christian man driven to all sorts of bad acts by desperation and fear was compelling. He narrates the action with his letters home and his diary entries.  Jeff Bridges is an actor I love and he doesn’t disappoint as an arrogant, incompetent leader who can’t catch a break.
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Disappointment
Joe Kidd (1972) on 2013/06/11

* * *

I, like my stepfather, like stories. Very much. Joe Kidd is a pretty good one, told by someone who maybe tended to ramble just a little and didn’t quite understand why the characters were doing what they eventually ended up doing. 

Least-Liked

Bad Girls (1994) on 2013/06/15

* *

“Bad Girls passes the Bechdel test. Unfortunately, that’s the only test it is going to pass on this blog. For those who are unfamiliar with the Bechdel test, a movie can only pass if two or more named women talk about a topic other than a man.”

Show Me
Crossfire Trail (2001) on 2013/06/03

* * *

Overall Crossfire Trail is perhaps a bit simple, straightforward, and predictable. It’s shallow, leaves loose threads, and is occasionally heavy-handed. Nevertheless, it’s a solid shot of fun, and worth checking out, for the visuals as well as for Selleck, assuming you don’t consider them one and the same.