The Wild Bunch

Well, I'm a month into my project and I've watched 13 movies that I have never seen before that are deemed classics. I now have 11 months to watch 105 more movies. Tonight I saw The Wild Bunch, starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, and many more talented people. It takes place in the early 1900's, I believe around 1913 and concerns a group of aging gunmen who are having trouble adapting to the changing times when outlaws are no longer the norm. They are hunted down by an ex-member, played by Robert Ryan in one of the finest supporting roles I've ever seen. He conveys everything he's thinking just by the llok on his face. That is talent. The film itself is from 1969 and was directed by Sam Peckinpah. I find the theme of the Old West dying out interesting because 1969 was really the last year that the western was an American staple of film. There were other westerns released after 1969, but it has never been a popular genre since then. 1969 was the year that John Wayne won his only Oscar for True Grit, but the Best Picture Oscar that year went to Midnight Cowboy, which is anything but a western. It signaled the beginning of what I consider the greatest decade in film, the 1970's and pushed the genres that had become cliched, such as the western and musical, out of style. This film, however, is great. It is very violent and stylized, which I think was possibly inspired by Bonnie and Clyde(1967). The acting is great, especially from Ryan, but also from William Holden. I have seen Holden in a few things before including The Omen II and Network, and he has a certain quality about him that I like. He seems real, like someone you'd run into in day to day life. This quality serves him well in this role. Ernest Borgnine, however, is a little diffrent. He looks so goofy, that I have a hard time taking him seriously. I am only familiar with his newer roles in lifetime movies playing Santa Claus and I am looking forward to seeing him in Marty. He hasn't quite won me over in this film, so I'm hoping he will wow me in that.The Wild Bunch was a really good movie. It did an amazing job catching the recklessness of the old west life style and there were several scenes that I can't believe wern't really happening. I'd be surprised to hear that no horses died during the filming of this movie. Anyway, I've still got a good deal of westerns on my list. I hope they are as good as this one and High Noon. They've got a lot to live up to.