In keeping with the John Ford films, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance tells the story of a skilled gunman and the power of the mythical hero.
It Ford’s purest expression of the Old West and a film fit for the quintessential John Wayne character,
Back to the Future Part III (Robert Zemeckis, 1990)
This third installment of the beloved trilogy acts as a hilarious commentary on the sometimes absurd genre. The film features a comical standoff between Doc, Marty, and the most Yosemite Sam'd member of the Tannen clan.
There's no shortage of gags here, especially in the first act. A lot of kicking up dust and a lot of "horsin' around"!
There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
This loose adaptation of "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair centers around the ambitious and greedy Daniel Plainview played by the incomparable Daniel Day-Lewis.
The film brings together the clashes of business and region and business, sanity, and madness into one explosive world. This truly one of the greatest western films in recent cinema history.
Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948)
A typical John Ford portrayal "xenophobic" portrayals of Native Americans. It was 1948, after all. At least we get to see how frontier tradesmen illegally sold weapons and toxic whiskey to the Native Americans.
The final act shows how terrible the decision results in the senseless deaths of men on both sides. A classic and genre-defining film nonetheless.
Django Unchained (2012, Quentin Tarantino)
This is an amazing tale of an African-American slave who does everything in his power to find and recover his slave wife, Broomhilda. During his journey, he partners with a headhunter, Dr. King Schultz, and becomes his student and later, his partner. This gory lovefest is truly one of the best action films of the decade and received numerous awards and nominations.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays the "Monsieur" Calvin J. Candie, a psychopathic plantation owner who owns Django's wife. During one of the more intense scenes of the film, DiCaprio got so into his monologue that he accidentally smashed a glass in his hands and was profusely bleeding for the rest of the scene. Instead of stopping the scene, he not only continued to act but also smeared the blood on actress Kerry Washington's face to make it more intense. Now that’s what intense method acting looks like!