Monday, January 29, 2018

Hellbent for Letterbox | Sunset (1988)



On the latest Hellbent, Pax and I take a detour from traditional Westerns and talk about Blake Edwards' murder mystery where Western movie star Tom Mix (Bruce Willis) and Western legend Wyatt Earp (James Garner) try to catch a killer in 1920s Hollywood. It also has Malcolm McDowell and Mariel Hemingway.

And as long as we're covering not-quite-Westerns, I also talk a little about Brett Haley's The Hero, starring Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Nick Offerman, Krysten Ritter, and Katharine Ross.



4 comments:

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Well thats disappointing that this such a mixed bag. At least we can all agree the poster is great.

I know I've seen a lot of Blake Edwards movies, but unlike other directors I can't immediately think of something that ties them together as an artist thumbprint. As far as the Pink Panther goes, thats a series were Peter Sellers as that character is better than the movie that he is in most of the time.

Also I see you're starting a Christmas movies podcast this fall. To think I was going to joke about how your Christmas Carol project would become a podcast in time.

Michael May said...

I agree about the Pink Panther movies. I can connect my love for them to Peter Sellers' performance much more easily than to anything that Edwards brought to them.

Good eyes on the Christmas podcast! I didn't know if anyone would notice that!

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

I'd be curious how often your Christmas podcast would come out (one per year or once a week in December?)

Also which films would be the first on the docket. Would you aim towards older classics like Its a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street?
There's also how nostalgia plats into what makes a good Christmas movie and how that plays into what someone would consider definitive. I'm sure that you and I and David if asked would all give different answers as to not only personal favorite but what we think our peers might answer.

I'm sure the debate over Die Hard will reemerge along with Gremlins, Lethal Weapon, Batman Returns among others.

Michael May said...

It's gonna start in November and come out every few days until Christmas. Planning a total of 12 episodes for the season.

There's going to be a good mix of absolute bona fides and tangential Christmas movies. And by "good mix" I mean mostly bona fides with a few tangential ones sprinkled early in November. It'll get increasingly Christmasy as it goes.

And yeah, one of the fun things will be discussing what makes a good Christmas movie. Like you say, everyone's got a different definition.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails