I watched 37 movies in the month of March. 24 of them were new to me. 23 were made before I was born. It was Westerns in March and I watched ten movies with dudes in cowboy hats.
I’m realizing as I do more of these monthly movie themes that I usually start off strong, but then something always happens in the middle of the month that distracts me. Sometimes I have to review some movies that don’t fit the theme, or maybe I want to watch some movies or TV shows with my wife, or we go out of town. When that happens I find it difficult to come back to the theme.
It’s like my little side gig of reviewing Blu-rays for Cinema Sentries. Since it isn’t a paying gig I get to choose when I want to review something. Some weeks I get really excited and request lots of stuff. Then they show up in the mail and I have to watch them. Suddenly, I don’t want to watch those movies I want to watch other movies.
I love Westerns. I love Westerns in March. But then I had to review some film noirs, and then we went on a little trip, and suddenly I wanted to watch something else. Savvy readers will notice that at the end of the month, I started watching a lot of movies from the 1980s in preparation for Awesome ’80s in April.
Not that it matters, the whole point is to have fun. If I’m not having fun, then what’s the point?
Clark Gable remains my top actor this year with six films watched. All those Westerns drove several actors into a tie for second place with four films watched. These include John Wayne, Randolph Scott, and Lee Van Cleef. Burt Lancaster is right there with them.
The director’s race continues to be pretty lame. Umberto Lenzi remains in first place, tied with John Ford, both of whom have three films watched by me. Fritz Lang and Budd Boetticher come in second with two films each.
Rambo III (1988) – **1/2
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – ***
First Blood (1982) – ***1/2
Repo Man (1984) – ****
Trancers (1984) – ***1/2
Curtains (1983) ***1/2
Forbidden World (1982) – ***1/2
Humanoids from the Deep (1980) –
Thieves’ Highway (1949) – ****1/2
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) – ****
Zodiac (2007) – *****
Chain Lightning (1950) – ***
Finger Man (1955) – ***
Evil Under the Sun (1982) – ***1/2
While the City Sleeps (1956) – ****
Spasmo (1974) – ***1/2
Crashout (1955) – ****
City of Shadows (1955) – *
Act of Violence (1948) – ****
And Then There Were None (1945) – ***1/2
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – ***1/2
Nightmare (1956) – ***
Bulldog Drummond’s Peril (1938) – **1/2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) – ***1/2
Bone Tomahawk (2015) – ****
Ride the High Country (1962) – ****1/2
Black Tuesday (1954) – ***
Vice Squad (1953) – ***1/2
The Searchers (1956) – *****
The Whip and the Body (1963) – ***1/2
Ten Wanted Men (1955) – ***1/2
Ride Lonesome (1959) – ****1/2
Comanche Station (1960) – ****
The Professionals (1966) – ****
The Great Train Robbery (1903) – *****
The Faculty (1998) – ***1/2
Deadly Friend (1986) – **1/2
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