The Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- 1948 -- NR

This films follows the physical and subsequent psychological struggles of three men who prospect for gold in the mountains, find it, and then have to get it back without being robbed by bandits or each other. 

The three main characters are very well developed, and even the one who is only in a few scenes manages to get enough development to go from a scoundrel to a sympathetic character.

The final act is nothing short of absolute irony as all their worst fears play out, but not in the way they or we would expect. Humphrey Bogart is brilliant is showing the psychological downfall of a man overcome by unfounded paranoia.

This is another classic that goes to show that you can get away with a potentially mundane plot if you have some awesome characters. I will admit to boredom during the beginning of the film, but as the characters unfolded, that was far more interesting than some stupid gold-digging movie. Definitely worth watching.

And as a note of trivia, this is probably where the line "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges." spoken with a heavy Mexican accent originated.

The Great Train Robbery -- 1903

Now here we go. We're finally getting into some good stuff. This one is often called the first Western, but it has a lot of great action elements in it as well. It also has (drum roll...) color! Yup, for little parts, we get some color tinting where someone goes onto the print or something and actually colors in parts of the picture to add a little bit of flair to it.

This one involves a group of robbers who hop a train, rob its passengers, steal the engine, run into the woods, and are finally caught up to by a posse who takes them down. Got a fistfight, several people are shot, one is punched out and thrown from a moving train, and finally, a big shootout. Lots of excitement and a big leap from the simplicity seen so far. And they do it all completely without dialogue or intertitles.

El Mariachi -- 1992 -- R

This is Robert Rodriguez's revered "$7,000 film" that got him into the Hollywood circles. I actually read quite a bit on this before I watched the film, including Rodriguez's book, Rebel Without a Crew.

The plot is very simple: a mariachi comes to town with his guitar looking for work. In fact, he's willing to work just for tips. Little does he know that a thug has recently escaped from jail, dressed in black like our mariachi and carrying a guitar case full of weapons. This similarity creates a mix-up for the bad guys and they believe that our hero is actually the other bad guy they're looking for. Insert chase scene and a little romance from all parties involved and you've got the film.

This is a film that moves very quickly when it has to, and slows down to get to know the characters at least a little better. No one is fleshed out to an extreme here, but we get a sense of who everyone is, and know the names of all the principals, including what they appear to be capable of. The plot flows very smoothly from point to point, and considering I know what went into making it, it's a rather impressive piece of work.

So in the end, it's not that bad. There are some hiccups here and there (especially the opening "escape" from jail), but it works. It's an action film and plays out like an action film.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly -- 1966 -- R

Currently listed as number 5 on IMDB's top 250 movies of all time, this is the first "Spaghetti Western" I recall seeing end to end and pay attention too. This class of movies is called this because it was produced by Italian studios. I also learned that this film is the third in the "Man With No Name" or "Dollars" trilogy which includes A Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollar More (titles you cna be assured will be showing up here in short order).

This film follows three men (can you guess how they're referred to?) who lead dissimilar lives that converge over a single thing: money. A lot of money to be specific, but to tell too much would be to give away too much. Lots of little twists and reversals all over the place, some more minor than others, make it difficult to discuss this film without giving away very much of the plot.

To give some generals, these thre are no buddies by any means. We get introduced to them one at a time as they do what they do in their lives before they converge. The opening seven or so minutes of the film is completely without dialogue and very well done. Little moments that a weaker filmmaker would have put some line in such as "come on, honey" were left fully visual as the dialogue would have given us nothing. Dialogue is given at moments whre it is needed, and left out at all the right moments.

The main three characters are pretty well rounded out and believable, even if we're given precious little info about who they are. We get their personalities and how they would act and they are kept consistent throughout, making it a lot of fun to watch them all go at it.

The plot unravels fairly naturally and logically as they go from place to place. I would say there was only one part where I wished they'd just skipped it and moved on, and this was fairly near the end when they ran across some Civil War soldiers...again. They had quite a few Union and Confederate run-ins and by the time they hit their last one, I was ready for the 3 hour epic to be over. This sequence really didn't add much to the overall tapestry beyond a cool explosion and some very humorous moments.

The ending worked out perfectly with a three-way shoot-out (come on, that's not really a spoiler, is it?), and of course, it ended the mot logical way it could end.

Definitely a classic that deserves the props it's been given. It contains one of the most famous western movie themes ever; here, I'll whistle a few bars. (...) Hear that? Oh, yeah, computer. Sorry. It's very well constructed and a great film to watch. And if you like Taratino films, you'll find he's rather fond of this film too; he homages it a lot. So it's a must see if you haven't and you're a film guru.

Once Upon A Time In The West -- 1968 -- PG-13

What to say about this one. I've been sitting here thinking about this film and (amusingly) thinking about what I think about it. Sounds goofy, but it's the truth. If ever there was a definition of a smooth movie, this one meets that definition head on. It was definitely smooth, but I'm not sure of how memorable it came out.

It starts with a bang. Three guys wait for a train, and the guy they meet shoots them. Next scene, a family prepares for their mother to come home, and a group of guys kills them all. This is the foundation laid. It is out job while watching this film to figure out why all this happened. The story begins from that point with a woman coming to town to find her family was blown away and there is also that stranger from the earlier train platform. How do they relate? What is his interest in her? What's with the harmonica? Everything that happens works to fill in the blanks, but not until we are finally told what the deal is with this and that, which doesn't happen till 2 hours into this 3 hour movie. It's a long wait for an anticlimactic revelation.

Maybe that was my problem. It was anticlimactic. Every scene worked to a peak and was played out very well. The characters were fairly well drawn for the genre and even interesting. Everything seemed to work really well, the plot really doesn't have any holes in it, and I understood the characters and their motivations, but maybe it just wasn't that dramatic to me. I really can't put my finger on it. It wasn't even boring.

I was drawn into the intrigue of these super secretive guys wondering who they are and why they're doing what they're doing. Little by little, their lives were unfolded to us showing us just a bit more, but leaving enough in the shadows to make us want even more. That worked really well.

So in the end, it's a movie without major problems except that it lays really flat for the 3 hour duration. It's not boring. It's not bad. It just didn't do anything. Someday, I will watch it again to figure out what it is I missed when I watched it this time because for the life of me, I can't figure it out.

A Fistful of Dollars -- 1964 -- R

The first of the "man with no name" trilogy by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone was one of the greatest of the "spaghetti westerns" and served to propel Clint Eastwood to a household name.

The plot is deceptively simple. A man rides into a town ruled by rival gangs. He makes offers of employment to both sides and plays both sides continuously for payment until both sides are destroyed. This film shows a gritty, unrelenting view of the American West from the perspective of an Italian who cannot speak English, and it works perfectly.

There were a few times when I questioned what was going on or why his character might do what he is doing, and though it sometimes didn't make sense, it all worked out. My curiosity is whether he would know that it would work out this way given that he would not be able to see the future and know his questionable actions would play out so well.

Though without a name, Eastwood's character is well defined as a well-meaning gunslinger trying to bring a little goodness into a cruel world. He helps where he can help, and kills when he needs to. He shows incredible intelligence, and then arrogance when everything starts going his way. He is beaten to a pulp and then recovers to save the day. A good arc for a character whose name we never get.

The other characters are all there to support the story, and we get just enough to know what they're all up to. Some of them wear a bit thin at times, but for a film of this nature, it isn't all that bad.

It was a very intriguing film and keeps you engrossed for the duration. It is paced very well and the man with no name is almost superhero-like in his gun-slinging prowess. Not a bad film at all.