Posts by wstrnfan

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    I have to say that I always liked Ken Curtis when I saw him in movies with John Wayne, but by far my favorite character is Festus on Gunsmoke. For the first twenty-seven years of my life, I'd never seen a single episode, but I latched on last year, and can now say I've seen (and have compiled) almost every one of the 20 seasons.


    It should be said, despite my love of Ken Curtis, that I watched the Killer Shrews, and could not help but giggle through the whole thing.

    Thanks for the review, Gorch, now I can feel slightly better about the fact that I wasn't all over this when it was published. :)

    Everyone watch out - I'm baaaack! ;P Sorry to have been away for such a long time, but my love for John Wayne has not died - evidenced by the fact that I picked up a mug about a month ago with the quote 'Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway' - which I adore.


    Anyhoo - Just watched Fargo with the family, as my sister's fiance hadn't seen it, and we thought it was about time he had. It was still as odd as ever, but thoroughly enjoyable. Also worth a mention was last night's viewing: The Imagineerium of Doctor Parnassus. I enjoyed it, it had that quirky, Only-Terry-Gilliam feel to it, much like Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

    This is quite possibly my favorite John Wayne film. I loved it so much, in fact, that I somehow ended up with 3 copies at one point - 1 full screen version and 2 wide screen. The cast works so well together, and I love the inclusion of Jerry Van Dyke. And the chase scene at the end always has me rolling on the floor! The only thing missing was a nice part for Ben Johnson. :wink_smile:

    So, despite my having half a dozen unread books on my shelf, I marched my behind to the library, got a library card, and checked out Tex and The Last Picture Show.


    The Last Picture Show was an alright read - having seen the movie a couple of times, I braced myself for the vulgarity - but it was surprisingly less obvious in the book. And there was a lot of humor in it that I think the film missed, and so much more explanation of the characters' actions that I actually understood bits that I'd been left wondering about. For those unfamiliar with it, it is a self-described "coming of age" story in a small town in Texas. I have begun to realize that anything that has "coming of age" in its description is code for: there is a lot of messing around.....I must have missed that part of my teen years :uhoh:

    Stephen King's Rose Red, about a house that 'eats' women and kills men....I'd been hearing it praised by my sister (who nit-picks modern movies to death but adores Mollie Ringwald films...go figure), and so was excited to sit down and watch it. It could have been done much better. What is it about the majority of Stephen King's really good books getting turned into really cheesy films? The only exception that I can think of is "The Shining", though I suspect that was mainly Kubrick's doing... and though "IT" was pretty freaky, it was loaded with cheese, too.


    For tomorrow? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, because the 'rents are spending the night, and the paternal unit wants to catch up on the films before we see the new one in two months. :D

    I love 'em too. One of my favorite films to sing along with is "Calamity Jane" In fact, Doris sings one of my all-time favorite songs in it - one I sang to my "secret" highschool sweetheart.


    I love Calamity Jane, Stumpy! Being a Doris Day fan, you may not have checked out the new re-worked version that popped up on Broadway a little while ago. I didn't care for it much - had a lot of the same tunes, but put a few new ones in that I felt were unnecessary. I like Doris Day, but I love Howard Keel's voice.


    And on a side-note, I recently took a history class solely because the professor's name was Danny Gilmartin! :wink_smile:


    And Mrs. C. - I constantly have to tell the people I work with that they need to give show tunes a try, but I think I scare them when I try to sing 'em!


    Anyhoo - I'm not listening to anything right now, but the CD player in my car has my country mix in it - it's probably on Randy Travis right about now. :teeth_smile:

    I like Tom Selleck. I have seen him in "Quigley Down Under" and in "Last Stand at Saber River". Unfortunately I never had the chance to see "The Sacketts". I never found a version for RC-2 DVD-players...


    I caught it on the Encore Western Channel - a staple for me. :teeth_smile: And they usually replay the same ones a few times. I also liked "The Shadow Riders" - Ben Johnson as Uncle "Black Jack" Traven is one of my favorites he's done.


    Watched "Chisum" Last night. Did I mention I'm on a Ben Johnson kick? Even though I know the facts were fudged a bit, this is one of my most re-watched DVD's. :teeth_smile:

    Haha. What a coincidence, Phantomstranger. I've got "Escape from Fort Bravo" tivo'd to watch. :D


    Just finished watching "Dallas" starring Gary Cooper and Raymond Massey. It was entertaining enough that I saw it through to the end, but not entertaining enough that I would watch it again. :C

    As many have said here, I think Ward was my favorite Duke co-star. As for favorite roles, I'd have to agree with FarmerSteve and say his "Searchers" character (whose name escapes me at the moment). But his "Dakota" character was very well done, too!

    One of the first things I saw Ron Howard in was "The Music Man". I had to giggle the other day when I watched it at his 'lisping' that was very selective and exaggerated during the "Wells Fargo Wagon" song. But he was such a cutie that it's easily forgiven. :D

    It's definitely worth a look for any Ben Johnson fan, FarmerSteve. My only beef with it was that there were way too many long clips from his films (most of which I have!) and not enough (for me, anyway!) interviews with Ben himself. :D

    This was one of the first Jimmy Stewart Westerns I ever watched (the first being "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance") and it's always been a favorite. Just FYI for those of you who don't mind commercials...AMC will be showing "Broken Arrow" next Saturday (May 2) at 6AM.

    Last western I tried to watch was "Pocket Money" with Paul Newman and Lee Marvin and Strother Martin. It was labeled western, probably because it was set mostly in Mexico, but in the 1970's...I couldn't get into it, and turned it off about 20 minutes in...


    Last western I successfully watched was "The Sacketts" mini-series with Ben Johnson (whoo-hoo!), Sam Elliot, Glenn Ford, and Tom Selleck. One of my favorites. :D

    Just watched "Righteous Kill" with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. Somewhat predictable story of two cops tracking down a murder of the bad guys. But it was Pacino and DeNiro, together. And though the entire flick didn't pull me in as much as the single diner scene from Heat, it was entertaining.


    Was also subjected to "Unbreakable" despite my pleas to my sis and her boyfriend that it was almost akin to torture the first time I watched it. Consensus after? "That movie was not executed very well at all." I tried to warn them...

    Basically, I would just be reiterating what everyone has already said about this wonderful guy, so I'll just leave it at this: I watch every Ben Johnson movie I can get my hands on - and can even point him out in Oklahoma! on the train platform. And in Naughty Nineties as the cab driver. :D


    Also, for anyone who is interested, I had to search a long time, but I finally laid my hands on a copy of "Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right", a documentary about Ben with interviews from Charlton Heston, Harry Carey, Jr., James Coburn, and Ben himself. I found it very interesting - learned some things I never knew about him, such as he and Marlon Brando re-worked all the dialogue for "One-Eyed Jacks", and he re-wrote his dialogue in "The Last Picture Show". If anyone is interested, copies are available at Video Editing Services, Inc in Kentucky - they're the ones who put the documentary together, and actually have the master - I paid $15 + shipping, and for about 1 1/2 hours of Ben Johnson clips and stories, it was well worth it! Their number is 859-255-9049.

    Thanks, everyone! Chester7777, tell the Mrs. that the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in LA - an awesome place, btw - has a bounty of Duke merchandise. My mother and I went out last year, and she bought me the blanket for my birthday. :D I jumped up and down when I realized we were flying into John Wayne airport, too. :D