Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child. Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer. Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the
Ha! For a non Western fan I think you did just fine. Haven't seen Bone Tomahawk but I really like 3:10 to Yuma. I also like the original which is quite tense and for once they remade something that was good to begin with and came up with something equally entertaining. Fievel Goes West is a fun choice, you know I'm not an animation fan but this is a cute movie.
ReplyDeleteI love Westerns so this was both easy to come up with choices and hard to decide between them. I decided to go with two that were more male focused and two with prominent female protagonists.
Silverado (1985)-Reformed thief Paden (Kevin Kline), left for dead in the desert is rescued by Emmett (Scott Glenn) who’s passing by on his way to meet his rakish quick draw brother Jake (Kevin Costner) so they can visit their sister in Silverado before heading out to California. Along the way they befriend Mal (Danny Glover) who’s heading the same way. Once there Paden finds the town is run by his old gang led by Cobb (Brian Dennehy) now the sheriff as well as the owner of the saloon operated by the wise Stella (Linda Hunt). There’s a range war brewing and the boys are pulled in leading to a showdown. Solid western directed well by Lawrence Kasdan.
Hannie Caulder (1971)-After she’s been raped, her home burned and her husband murdered before her eyes by three brothers Hannie Caulder (Raquel Welch) is hell bent on revenge. She tracks down bounty hunter Thomas Price (Robert Culp) and pressures him into training her to be a deadly shot then starts her hunt for justice. Tough, violent western with Welch hard as nails in the lead.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)-When Senator Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) arrives in the small western town of Shinbone for old friend Tom Doniphon’s (John Wayne) funeral a curious reporter pursues him and tries to find out why he would travel so far for a man no one knows anything about. Stoddard shares a story of arriving in Shinbone a greenhorn young lawyer years before and how he rose to his current position by being the infamous Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), a notoriously evil outlaw, and what part Doniphon played. A study of myth building and busting is director John Ford’s last great film.
Bonus: River of No Return (1954)-Vigorous tale set in the 19th century Pacific Northwest of widowed farmer Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum), recently released from jail for an honor killing, his young son Mark, the beautiful showgirl Kay (Marilyn Monroe) and her ruthless gambler fiancé Harry Weston (Rory Calhoun) who cross their path and a perilous raft journey down The River of No Return in a quest for gold and redemption. Big stars, standard story and beautiful location filming in the Canadian Rockies make this worth seeing. Marilyn sings several good era appropriate songs well including the title song though Mitchum sings it over the credits.
Side note: Mitchum & Monroe (when she was still Norma Jean Dougherty) knew each other well pre-fame, he worked with her first husband, which adds a bit of background dimension to their interaction in this film.
Yep I saw non of these lol. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteHaha. Guess we are the opposite here, I had to many films to pick from. Bone Tomahawk is a little slow but point b is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It makes it worth it.
DeleteI don't dislike westens, but they are definetly not my favourite genre, and I believe I've seen like 6 in total. And none of your picks is one of them. Maybe I've seen Fievel Goes West when I was a kid but I'm not sure about it.
ReplyDeleteBone Tomahawk I'd recommend at least, it's brutal.
DeleteWesterns isn't my genre, but I've actually liked some western remakes like 3:10 To Yuma, True Grit and the recent Magnificent Seven.
ReplyDeleteTrue Grit I enjoyed immediately after seeing it, then the further I got away from it the more "blah" it seemed.
DeleteI've seen the remake of 3:10 to Yuma which I like a lot while I wasn't fond of Fievel Goes West as it didn't work for me at all. Bone Tomahawk is the only I haven't seen. The fact that you don't like westerns makes me sad.... *cries*
ReplyDeleteLol sorry. I do think An American Tale is stronger than Fievel Goes West.
DeleteI had a feeling this was not your genre but I love it:) you did a great job....I haven't seen the 2nd film but 3:10 to Yuma is good and so is the original. I like that you picked this animate S film because Jimmy Stewart is one of the voices and he was big in the westerns
ReplyDeleteI've never been able to do Westerns. I don't know what it is.
DeleteLove that you picked Fievel heheh love Tiger the cat. Not seen the others but 3:10 to Yuma is cropping up
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI think this is my BTomahawk gif! :) It's so dam underappreciated on tumblr :/
ReplyDeleteIt's made its way to giphy! Lol
DeleteYes, Fievel Goes West! Most inspired pick of the week. Great job. Love 3:10 to Yuma, but I still need to see Bone Tomahawk.
ReplyDeleteLol thank you. I thought I was pushing it.
DeleteAha, well, The Revenant would go wonderfully into this list indeed! It's all good though, I mean, you're looking at a fellow newbie when it comes to western and I feel like we're in the minority this week. Everyone just had such great picks, and I'm sitting here with my Wild Wild West. :D
ReplyDeletelol I'm kicking myself for not thinking of The Revenant.
Delete3:10 To Yuma and Bone Tomahawk are both really underrated films, especially Bone Tomahawk, which I took some time to appreciate.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick three, two would be Tarantino and Leone films. The Hateful Eight and Once Upon A Time in the West. The third would have to be The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
I was really disappointed with The Hateful Eight. Bone Tomahawk got NO marketing. I only heard of that movie when Jenkins turned up on the Independent Spirit Awards nomination list. Severely underrated.
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