#MTOS - Sunday 16th November - Westerns

Movie Talk on Sunday

Sunday 16th November - WESTERNS

Tombstone... Monument Valley... Hill Valley circa 1885... The Old West itself. The stark American landscape which saw hard living, hard dying and the births of legend. For this week's #MTOS, we're going to devote our time to the best of the Western genre. Who made it good, who made it beautiful, who made it the foundation of American cinema. Did Eastwood look the best in a stetson? Is it Newman, Morricone or Bernstein you hear when you think of those dusty plains? Was it Ford or Hawks that stirred your passions for the great American frontier? Come on and join the fun as we celebrate, denigrate and generally pontificate over one of the great genres of film.

Starting at 20:00 (GMT) on Sunday 16th November 2014, I'll ask one question every 10 minutes. Just make sure you include the question number and the #MTOS hashtag in your tweets when you answer. That way we can keep track of who says what, making discussion and debate that little bit clearer. For example:

"#MTOS A1. Jonah Hex is the best Western ever. Period."

So, please follow me on Twitter (@PaulCinephile), retweet the link and get folk involved in the event. I look forward to seeing what kind of standoffs and uneasy partnerships develop over the course of the evening.

Saddle up, folks, here are the topic questions:

1. Do you like Westerns? Were they always a part of your movie-watching life, or something you came to later?

2. Violent and gritty or slow and elegiac; lawmen vs. outlaws or settlers vs. the frontier... what type of Western do you prefer?

3. Which director do you think made the best work in the Western genre?

4. Wayne, Cooper, Eastwood, Murphy, or someone else... to you, who is the defining face of the Western genre?

5. Who is your favourite Western hero (or anti-hero)? Who is your favourite villain?

6. Westerns had given us some cracking music over the years, both in song and in score. Furnish us with your favourite piece.

7. Westerns have often been given a twist and combined with other genres (noir, sf, comedy, etc.). What are some of your favourite films to do this?

8. Other countries have taken their own crack at the Western genre. What non-American Westerns do you enjoy?

9. What do you think is the best "classic" Western (pre-1990)? What do you think is the best contemporary Western (post-1990)?

10. What 3 Westerns would you recommend for people who are just beginning their journey into the Western?



Thanks for taking part, cowpoke. Now go set yourself up with a nice sarsaparilla. I gotta be getting along.