BAD GIRLS (1994)

Directed by: Jonathan Kaplan Story By: Albert S. Ruddy, Charles Finch & Gary Frederickson Written By: Ken Friedman & Yolande Finch  Cinematography: Ralf Bode  Editor: Jane Kurson Score: Jerry Goldsmith

Cast: Madeline Stowe, Drew Barrymore, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie Macdowell, Dermot Mulroney James Russo, James Le Gros, Jim Beaver, Robert Loggia, Nick Chinlund

When saloon prostitute Cody Zamora rescues her friend Anita from an abusive customer by killing him, she is sentenced to hang. However, Anita and their two friends Eileen and Lilly rescue Cody and the four make a run for Texas, pursued by Graves and O'Brady, two Pinkerton detectives hired to track them. When Cody withdraws her savings from a Texas bank, the women believe they can now start a new life in Oregon. But Cody's old partner Kid Jarrett takes Cody's money when his gang robs the bank, and so the four so-called "Honky- Tonk Harlots" set out to recover the money, with the Pinkertons hot on their trail.

IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE (2016)

Written, Edited & Directed By: Ti West 
Cinematography By: Eric Robbins 

Cast: Ethan Hawke, John Travolta, Taissa Farminga, James Ransone, Larry Fessenden, Karen Gillan, Toby Huss 

A mysterious stranger and a random act of violence drag a town of misfits and nitwits into the bloody cross hairs of revenge.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (2016)

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua 
Based on the Screenplay of THE SEVEN SAMURAI by: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni & Shinobu Hashimoto 
Written By: Richard Wenk & Nic Pizzolatto 
Cinematography By: Mauro Fiore 
Editor: John Refoua 



Cast: Denzel Washinton, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Peter Sarsgaard, Haley Bennett, Byung-Hun Lee, Manuel-Garcia Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Cam Giganet, Matt Boomer, Luke Grimes, William Lee Scott, Sean Bridgers

3:10 TO YUMA (2007)

Directed By: James Mangold 
Written By: Hallstead Welles, Michael Brandt & Derek Haas 
Based on a Short Story By: Elmore Leonard 
Cinematography By: Phedon Papamichael 
Editor: Michael McCusker 
Music By: Marco Beltrami 

Cast: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Logan Lerman, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Vinessa Shaw, Gretchen Mol, Alan Tudyk, Johnny Whitworth, Luke Wilson, Kevin Durand

LAWLESS (2012)

Directed By: John Hillcoat 
Written By: Nick Drake 
Based On the Book “The Wettest County in the world” by: Matt Bondurant 
Cinematography By: Benoit Delhomme 
Editor: Dylan Tichenor 

Cast: Shia LeBouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce, Mia Wasikowska, Dale DeHann, Gary Oldman, Lew Temple, Noah Taylor,

DJANGO UNCHAINED (2012)

Written &Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Cinematography By: Robert Richardson
Editor: Fred Raskin

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Walter Goggins, Don Johnson, Jonah Hill, Dennis Christopher, Zoe Bell, James Remar, Franco Nero, James Russo, Tom Wopat, Michael Bowen, Tom Savini, M.C. Gainey, Robert Carradine,John Jarratt, Bruce Dern, Michael Parks, Quentin Tatrantino, Russ Tamblyn, Amber Tamblyn

POSSE (1993)

Directed By: Mario Van Peebles Written By: Sy Ricahrdson & Dario Scardapane Cinematography By: Peter Menzies Jr. Editor: Mark Conte & Seth Flaum Cast: Mario Van Peebles, Stephen Baldwin, Tommy “Tiny” Lister, Billy Zane, Richard Jordan, Tone Loc, Big Daddy Kane, Pam Grier, Blair UnderWood, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Charles Lane, Melvin Van Peebles, Vesta Williams

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973)

Directed By: Clint Eastwood Written By: Ernest Tidyman Cinematography By: Bruce Surtees Editor: Ferris Webster Cast: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Geoffrey Lewis, Marianna Hall, Billy Curtis (!-- more --> A stranger rides out of the hot desert into a small town in the wild west. The towns people are scared of him, and 3 gunmen try, unsuccessfully, to kill him. He takes a room and decides to stay. Meanwhile, a group of outlaws are about to return to the town and take their revenge - will the towns leaders convince the mysterious man to help ? One of the first few westerns Clint Eastwood is in that I really enjoyed and liked. I surprisingly liked this a lot better than I did most of THE MAN WITH NO NAME TRILOGY. Though here his character doesn’t really have one either. One of the headstones in the graveyard bears the name Sergio Leone as a tribute. The film begins with a spectacular gunfight. Then out of nowhere Clint Eastwood rapes a woman, but then she seems to enjoy it. (Remember he’s the hero) Then throughout the film. Her character keeps flip flopping between hating him and loving him and in another scene a different female character tries to kill him with scissors, He stops her then all of a sudden they kiss and then make love. It’s strange and made it seem like that was the only reason to have females in the film. That is truly the only weakness of the film. I guess in trying to make it an ultra man’s man film. To make his character sensitive and yet savage to a point. The other weakness is it’s predictability which still even though I know where it was going.I was shocked a bit, but still thoroughly enjoyed. Here I can see why Clint Eastwood is an icon. In this film he is dirty, dangerous, Tough and smart, but has a sensitive side. He never shows it physically and if he does. Only around women he trusts. Universal Pictures wanted the film to be shot on the studio lot. Instead, Clint Eastwood had a whole town built in the desert near Mono Lake in the California Sierras. Many of the buildings were complete and three-dimensional, so that interiors could be shot on location. The film even has a little person as his deputy after he is appointed Marshall of the town. The first time Clint Eastwood directed one of his Westerns. I like that the film turns it’s tables making you wonder who is more evil. The evil person who admits it or the person who commits evil acts, but claims to have done it for good reasons and the good of others. Though defining themselves as a good person. The film starts out with us feeling sympathy for those town people and liking them, but by the end through there own actions showing them as truly evil and cowardly. And not knowing if we don’t want to see them massacred. Shortly after the film's release, Clint Eastwood wrote to John Wayne, suggesting that they make a western together. Wayne sent back an angry letter in reply, in which he denounced this film for its violence and revisionist portrayal of the Old West. Eastwood did not bother to answer his criticisms, and consequently they did not work together The only person we root for besides committing the rape which paints him as evil also Personally though the film doesn’t seem to think so. is Clint Eastwood and his deputy are the only one’s with their heads on seemingly straight. O.k. and the hotel owners wife. It’s a must see. I’m not the biggest western fan. I flirt with admiration with the genre, but tend to only like really good ones and feel if it’s just ok, It’s a waste of my time. So me giving this film high marks shows at least to me how special this film is. GRADE: A-

SERAPHIM FALLS (2006)

Directed By: David Von Ancken
Written By: David Von Ancken & Abby Everett Jaques
Cinematography By: John Toll
Editor: Conrad Buff IV

Cast: Pirece Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Anjelica Huston, Michael Wincott, Ed Lauter, Xander Berkeley, Tom Noonan, Kevin J. O’Connor, Angie Harmon, Wes Studi, Jimmi Simpson

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (2007)

Written & Directed By: Andrew Dominik
Based On A Novel By: Ron Hansen
Cinematography By: Roger Deakins
Editor: Curtiss Clayton, Dylan Tichnor

Cast: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Garret Dillahunt, Mary Louise Parker