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Sunday, September 19, 2010
I Need To Watch More Westerns
It's been a long time since Westerns were the dominant genre in the movie business. They have become somewhat forgotten now. But I just finished watching The Magnificent Seven, and I've decided that I need to watch more Westerns.
Perhaps it's because the genre has dropped so far outside the mainstream, but when viewed with today's perspective, a Western comes across as a remarkably refreshing experience. It is such a different world view contained in those horse operas; the stock and trade elements of the genre are so alien to modern viewers, the characterizations so foreign, the rituals so different from what we're used to, that watching these old films can come across as discovering something new and exciting. The best of them are delightful and engaging anachronisms, like visiting another time and place and relishing the experience of a country we used to know.
I doubt Westerns will ever catch on again and dominate the screen the way they once did. Our country--indeed, the world--has long since passed that time by. But folks could do worse than to step into that world for a couple of hours every once in a while. Viewers might, if ever so fleetingly, find something they may have otherwise lost forever.
Perhaps it's because the genre has dropped so far outside the mainstream, but when viewed with today's perspective, a Western comes across as a remarkably refreshing experience. It is such a different world view contained in those horse operas; the stock and trade elements of the genre are so alien to modern viewers, the characterizations so foreign, the rituals so different from what we're used to, that watching these old films can come across as discovering something new and exciting. The best of them are delightful and engaging anachronisms, like visiting another time and place and relishing the experience of a country we used to know.
I doubt Westerns will ever catch on again and dominate the screen the way they once did. Our country--indeed, the world--has long since passed that time by. But folks could do worse than to step into that world for a couple of hours every once in a while. Viewers might, if ever so fleetingly, find something they may have otherwise lost forever.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
As Expected
Phillies back in first place, by a game as of this post. Nice. Now they just need to carry through and bring the division home--no jinxing it. It will be nice to see at least a few of my preseason predictions actually come through; at the moment, only the East divisions have held form. But another trip to the World Series for the Phillies will help assuage my feelings of frustration, to be sure.
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