Reteaming with his unlikely Proposition screenwriter, Bad Seeds rocker Nick Cave, Hillcoat again delivers a quasi-Western with this true tale of the Prohibition-era’s bootlegging Bondurant brothers in Virginia, played by Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Shia LaBeouf (the Transformers trilogy). When Lawless begins, the Bondurant boys rule Franklin […]
western
Posted inArts & Culture
A Vampire’s Tale
After unpacking his prized oldest obsidian mirror, Jacob inadvertently allows a time-traveling cowboy to cross over into our world, landing right smack in his barn. The cowboy, Phelan (Jonnie Hurn, The Zombie Diaries), is actually a hundreds-year-old vampire, not to mention one who makes references to The Shining, Army of Darkness and, um, City Slickers. […]
Posted inMusic
A Man Called Django! / Django and Sartana’s Showdown in the West / Django Kills Silently / Django’s Cut Price Corpses
The one that isn’t is 1971’s A Man Called Django! (aka Viva! Django), which finds our drifter hero rolling into town to look for the Four Leaf Clover Gang, whose members who murdered his wife. He carries with him her photo in a music box, many sticks of dynamite and his trusty gun. All are […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Zorro
Zorro movies always are better in theory than execution, but this is one of the more enjoyable efforts, because for once, the swashbuckling Spanish superhero is interpreted by the Italians. Therefore, the dish has a slight spaghetti-Western flavor. French screen idol Alain Delon (Le Samouraï) gallops into town as Don Diego, only to see his […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Something Big
Its unconventional, icky premise is that Baker really, really wants to get his hands on a Gatling gun, and black-market man Johnny Cobb (Albert Salmi, Caddyshack) really, really wants to get his hands on a woman, so Cobb proposes a trade: Bring him a woman, and he’ll give Baker a Gatling gun. See, it’s been […]
Posted inMusic
The Wrath of God
As Father Van Horne, Mitchum is part of a small group of non-natives “recruited” by the local military to kill the ruthless leader Thomas De La Plata (Frank Langella, Unknown) in order to end the senseless killing he orders. For doing so, Father and friends (including burly Victor Buono from TV’s Man from Atlantis) are […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Painting the town Greg
The rare detail in this specific print is that, on the building, you can spot a campaign sign for the late David Hood’s unsuccessful congressional bid in 1980. The inclusion of Hood’s sign was once a puzzling detail: “David who?” These days, it’s the name on the milk bottle that might inspire confusion: “Shouldn’t that […]
Posted inMusic
The Five Man Army
The multiculti cast is led by Peter Graves as The Dutchman. For someone who grew up on multiple viewings of Airplane!, seeing Graves as a badass outlaw is something of a trip. At the time, he was about midway through his run on TV’s Mission: Impossible, and like that long-running series, Five Man Army finds […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Spice of life
The Savory Spice Shop, 4400 N. Western, sells more than 400 herbs, spices and hand-blended seasonings. “It breaks down to 250 individual herbs and spices, and 150 proprietary seasoning blends,” said owner Able Blakley. “We have something for everyone and every kind of dish.” This marks the 18th franchise in the Savory Spice Shop concept. […]
Posted inMusic
The way back home
Even superstars of country music need to find good excuses to come home. Trouble is, Norman-born Vince Gill can’t find enough of them. “My mom would probably echo that sentiment,” he said. “But you know, life’s busy: five kids and a career and life and all of that. It is hard to get back as […]