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The 3 Funniest Wild West Movies

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The 3 Funniest Wild West Movies

The genre of Wild West films usually conjures thoughts of gritty, hard-drinking men facing off against fierce villains, often at ridiculous odds, while saving the damsel in distress and her innocent townspeople. It is that very conceit that serves as fertile ground for comedy.
John Wayne, James Coburn, and many other traditional cowboy types have starred in at least one Wild West comedy, but they often fail. It’s usually the ordinary guys, or the professional comics, who shine in movies that combine cowboys and comedy.

Here are three of the best:

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Ennio Morricone: Beyond Spaghetti Westerns

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It’s impossible to think about Sergio Leone’s classic spaghetti westerns for more than a split-second without Ennio Morricone’s unforgettable scores coming to mind.  His amazing earworms are as much a part of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More as are Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach or Lee Van Cleef.  The music accompanying Once Upon a Time in the Old West plays a pivotal role in creating the movie’s underlying pathos.

However, some people aren’t fans of westerns.  I know.  It’s hard to believe.  Those poor folks (and you might be one of them) may not be interested in sitting through few hours of barren landscapes and gunfights. If that’s the case, they’re missing some of Morricone’s best work.  However, one can still get an idea of why Morricone is one of the all-time greatest movie maestros by watching a few of the many non-western films to which he contributed. [Read more…]