confessions of a southside catatonic chataholic

...or just stand there and bleed?'
- line from Tombstone

Top 5 western movies I'm totally gutted we don't have in our library dvd collections

Friday is usually my Ms. Cranky McRanty Pants (PMS and a shotgun style) post but, for ages, my cranky mojo has been missing. First it was my book mojo, then my cranky mojo and, of late, my blog mojo. Tonight's subject is not so much a rant as it is a wistful sigh in the form of a list of things I really wish we had in our library collections. To be more specific, 5 western dvds I desperately wish I could find on our shelves. How did this post come about? Err well shoot I wanted to see if we had any of the Josey Wales movies or any of Clint Eastwood's westerns and nada, zip, zero, zilch :( I haven't listed any of those here because *sigh* it would bump this list up phenomenally.



I love our collections and talk about them (books, dvds, cds) every chance I get with family, friends & colleagues. I don't understand people who don't read books/listen to audiobooks/watch movies. We spend enough money on them - surely they're our biggest asset - that our collections warrant a little bragging. Having said that, every now and then I sometimes get to feeling a little err not despondent, but certainly a little down at heart when we don't have certain items or titles. I'm realistic, though, I totally understand that this is not my own personal collection :) We have to cater to everyone's tastes and keep our collections as general as possible. I do get that, even if sometimes I feel that it's not varied enough to suit my tastes (e.g. steampunk titles and m/m titles - did I not predict that those were going to take off and we'd be left behind? Then I see that Publisher Weekly predicted the same damn thing *shakes head* and now it's acceptable/respectable enough to house in our collections - that'll be a post for next week geez I can feel myself getting hot under the collar already). But I still have that, 'Oh, I wish...' feeling about certain titles. There are times I feel like donating my own personal dvd collection to our library just to make up for what I see is a deficit *snorts* But that so ain't gonna happen. So, here's my list of top 5 western movies I'm totally gutted we don't have in our library dvd collections anymore/ever:

Honourable mention:
My name is Trinity (1970) starring Terence Hill & Bud Spencer, directed by Enzo Barboni
A drifter comes to town where his brother is sheriff. His brother is actually a robber who broke the real sheriff's leg and left him for dead. -- IMDB.com

Tosca's note: Total spaghetti western! I grew up watching Hill/Spencer movies and these are, in my mind, a classic. Although, yes, came out in 1970 so extremely dated and yet I wish we had it so others could see the brilliance/silliness of them. Shoot, if I had to choose between this and frickin' 'Carry on' movies I'd take this anytime. Sequel: Trinity is still my name (1971).

High noon (1952) starring Gary Cooper & Grace Kelly, directed by Fred Zinnemann
A marshall, personally compelled to face a returning deadly enemy, finds that his own town refuses to help him. -- IMDB.com

Tosca's note: 'Do not forsake me, oh my darling...' Classic song, classic movie and it won 4 oscars. We did have it at one stage but no longer. I'm guessing maybe it didn't go out all that much but oh, how I wish we'd kept it. That scene at the end where Cooper throws his badge down? Unforgettable.

Young guns (1988) starring Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen & Dermot Mulroney, directed by Christopher Cain
A group of young gunmen, led by Billy the Kid, become deputies to avenge the murder of the rancher who became their benefactor. But when Billy takes their authority too far, they become the hunted.

Tosca's note: As modern westerns go, this was pretty damn cool. Murder, revenge, good looking men (what do you mean 'good looking men' is not enough of a reason to hold on to a dvd??), lynch mob and justice. What more do you want in a cowboy movie? I also remember that two lines in particular went on to be used in the rap song 'Regulators' by Warren G:
* Regulators, mount up!
* Regulators, we regulate any stealing of this property and we're damn good, too. But you can't be any geek off the street, gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean, earn your keep.

Wyatt Earp (1994) starring Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid & Dennis Hopper, directed by Lawrence Kasdan
Wyatt Earp is a movie about a man and his family. -- IMDB.com

Tosca's note: A lot of people rated this as a crap movie but I enjoyed it. Semi-biographical, star-studded cast although outrageously long - something like just over 3 hours long.

Tombstone (1993) starring Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer & Sam Elliott, directed by George P. Cosmatos
A successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona, are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating. - IMDB.com

Tosca's note: Six words, really: Shootout at the OK corral. Amen.

Silverado (1985) starring Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum & John Cleese, directed by Lawrence Kasdan
A misfit bunch of friends come together to right the injustices which exist in a small town.

Tosca's note: Action, adventure, murder, gunfights, robbery, jailbreak, corrupt ranchers, dodgy sheriffs, henchmen & Goldblum as a bad guy - she shoots, she scores!