RECENT VIEWINGS (Bad Movie Thread!)

[chainsaw midget]

I LIKED Loaded Weapon!

[LilCerberus]

Tonight's Stinker
Adios Compañeros(1971)
https://youtu.be/CmPzeBsyt1w?si=u35uIraWFdJl34S7

The Wild Bunch are lost in the desert, no food, horses or ammo, when the spot another gang on the run...
They kill the gang for their stuff, but Macho plays dead... Later on, Butch Cassidy & Ironhead get in a disagreement over splitting the money, & butch screws him & several others out of their share...
Meanwhile, Macho is taken in by a good Samaritan... After recovering, he heads to the next town, where he wins a new revolver in a game of horse shoes, gets in a bar fight, & wins the respect of Buck, who invites him to join a robbery....
The robbery is planned by Ironhead, who now in the business of sending other people out to do his dirty work, then killing them, while sending bounty hunters to find Butch & Sundance... This puts Macho closer to revenge...

Steady pacing, one riffable moment, with a disco-muzak soundtrack...

[zombie no.one]

But LOADED WEAPON has Tim Curry and William Shatner! 

I LIKED Loaded Weapon!

ah, cool. I just found it so dry. compared to the 'subtlety' of the NAKED GUNs and the craziness of HOT SHOTS or something... we wuz spoiled for spoofs back then 

[M.10rda]

THE OUTLAW (1943):
Do you hate historical accuracy? Then you might love Howard Hughes' THE OUTLAW, the Western that asks: How are gambler & gunfighter Doc Holliday's legacy and legend intrinsically linked to those of Billy the Kid and Sheriff Pat Garrett? Of course the answer is "They're not", because there's no evidence that Holliday ever had anything to do w/ Pat and Billy - but nevertheless this screenplay would have moviegoers (at least those who'd not yet lived to see TOMBSTONE or even 1946's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE) believe that the three old west legends were all in one big lethal bromance together.

THE OUTLAW was Hughes' second film of two, before realizing he wasn't much of a filmmaker and devoting the rest of his life to airplanes, shady Vegas investments, and collecting his own fingernails and urine. It seems like it was better remembered in the 80s - mostly as a low-grade camp/cult item - but it's rarely discussed today, probably because it's not very good but also not Bad enough to be a lot of fun. Some Letterboxd reviews find it rife w/ gay subtext, and yes, Holliday and Billy spend the entire movie arguing over who does a better job riding Holliday's horse.  But I've seen much gayer westerns (unintentional and otherwise) and besides it seems pretty clear that THE OUTLAW was made primarily to showcase Jane Russell, who poonhound Hughes presumably wanted to bang. The movie itself doesn't actually objectify top-billed Jane as much as its poster and promotional photos, which I still remember clearly from early childhood when I spotted them in my Godfather's house.  She does look nice, though, and (at this early point in her career) does a reasonable job w/ a poorly written supporting role that doesn't seem to have benefitted from much direction.

The bigger issue is Jack Buetel (yeah, who?) as Billy the Kid. To be generous you could say that Buetel's blank-faced flat delivery is a fair portrayal of the real William Bonney's reputed low intelligence and sociopathy. It ain't much fun to watch, though.

The good thing about THE OUTLAW are the performances by Thomas Mitchell (IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE's Uncle Billy!) as Garrett and Walter Huston (father of John) as Holliday. Mitchell is likeable and convincing as the well-meaning lawman until the clumsy writing lets him down in the final scenes. Huston is fourth-billed in spite of Holliday really being the main character  and thus THE OUTLAW is one of only two movies I know where Huston plays the lead (the other being DODSWORTH). He gives Holliday some easygoing, humorous highlights that oddly reminded me of Steve Martin at times. But Huston also transitions nicely to more dramatic moments, and would win an Oscar 5 years later for TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. I assume he (like Russell) didn't get much help from Hughes, who was reportedly most interested in technology and sex. Like tech-bros today, really.

2.5/5    But on the tech side, there is some interesting (low-key, semi-realistic) use of visual and/or make-up FX during the final showdown.