Formerly "A Movie A Day" :/

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - 1966 - Dir. Leone

I think seeing this with the rest of the trilogy illuminated something for me. I think I like this one the least. I mean, let me just say that it's still miles ahead of most other westerns I've seen. It's great... It really is. But I feel like it has this epic scale and a polished feel that I'm just less about. I mean, it makes perfect sense to me that this is the more popular of the three. No question there. And MAN! That opening sequence is so good. It's a little bit like the HYPER-FAMOUS (sorta, I suppose, isn't it?) opening of Once Upon the Time in the West. Just tough, weird looking guys standing around (ONE OF THE WEIRD GUYS IS THE SAME WEIRD GUY!). Then shooting! Perfect! The first scene with Angel Eyes is also pretty awesome. Lee Van Cleef feels a little underused in the film, but that's mostly because it seems like the movie is more about Wallach and Eastwood and Van Cleef is just the one who keeps moving the plot forward. Leone described him as a robot or a banal professional and I think that's a pretty cool way of looking at him. And let's not fuck around here... Eastwood and Wallach charm the FUCKING pants off of me. The ending is awesome. I guess, I just feel like the movie is a little too long, a little too repetitive, but even the parts that are long and repatative are cool... It just makes for a movie that is too long and sprawling. Like I really want to like the Bridge sequence... Out of the context of the movie. It's an awesome sequence but squeezed into the third act? No, thank you! Anyway, my nitpicking aside. It's a great classic western. Don't be a jerk and not see it. Unless you don't like westerns. Then WHATEVER. Go watch the Voice or something. >:|

http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Good-Bad-Ugly-movie-06.jpg
The Good, the Bad, and the Handsome! (Easiest joke)

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