A guide to films that express social realism or escapism; and a guide to culturally important films that may reveal a character's thoughts, dreams, or motivations.
Image from The Rider from kinepolis.lu at https://kinepolis.lu/en/films/rider
Western History & Cowboys
The Assassination of Jesse JamesEveryone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. He's the nation's most notorious criminal and is being hunted by the law in 10 states. He's also the land's greatest hero, lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. No one knows of Robert Ford, at least not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. He befriends Jesse and rides with his gang. And if that doesn't bring Ford fame, he will have to find a deadlier way. Friendship becomes rivalry and the quest for fame becomes obsession.
Call Number: MOVIE ASSASSINATION
ISBN: B0010V60XE
Publication Date: 2008
Bone TomahawkFour men from a settlement in the old west must ride to the edge of civilization to find some local townspeople who have been abducted. What they find is an evil beyond imagination and an enemy so brutal, they will never be the same again.
Dead ManOn the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange North American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.
Call Number: DVD MOVIE DEAD
Publication Date: 2018
Django UnchainedDjango, a former slave turned hired gun, heads back to the plantation to free his wife, Broomhilda, from the tyrannical plantation owner Calvin Candie, with the help of a German bounty hunter, Dr. King Shultz.
Call Number: MOVIE DJANGO
ISBN: B005LAIIJY
Publication Date: 2012
The FuriesIn 1870s New Mexico Territory, megalomaniacal widowed ranch owner T.C. Jeffords butts heads with his daughter, Vance, a firebrand with serious daddy issues, over her dowry, choice of husband, and finally, ownership of the land itself.
Call Number: MOVIE FURIES
ISBN: B0016AKSP0
Publication Date: 1950
GiantBased on Edna Ferber's epic novel of a wealthy Texas cattle rancher who marries a strong-willed Virginia woman and the problems they encounter with politics and prejudices of the time. Bonus features include multiple documentaries.
Call Number: MOVIE GIANT
ISBN: B00EF1PKTG
Publication Date: 1956
Heaven's GateA Harvard graduate, turned federal Marshal in Wyoming, learns of a government sanctioned plot by cattle barons to kill the area's European settlers for their land. The resulting battle is based on the Johnson County War of 1892.
Call Number: MOVIE HEAVEN'S
ISBN: B008Y5OWSO
Publication Date: 1980
HostileIn 1892, a legendary Army captain reluctantly agrees to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory.
Call Number: MOVIE HOSTILES
ISBN: B079ZT1TYC
Publication Date: 2018
Meek's CutoffA wagon train of three families has hired mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a shortcut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage. Over the coming days, the emigrants face the scourges of hunger, thirst, and their own lack of faith in each other's instincts for survival. When they encounter a Native American, they must choose between following their guide or an 'enemy.'
Call Number: MOVIE MEEK'S
ISBN: B0057IAPBO
Publication Date: 2011
My Darling ClementineWyatt Earp is the sturdy lawman who sets about the task of shaping up the disorderly Arizona town of Tombstone, with the help of the boozy, tubercular gambler and gunman Doc Holliday. Though initially at cross-purposes, the pair ultimately team up to confront the violent Clanton gang.
Call Number: MOVIE JOHN
ISBN: B00LUSUVUK
Publication Date: 1946
RavenousIt's a recipe for nonstop action and excitement when the inhabitants of an isolated military outpost go up against a marauding band of cannibals in a deadly struggle for survival.
Call Number: BLU-RAY MOVIE RAVENOUS
ISBN: 0826663149999
Publication Date: 1999
The RevenantInspired by true events, an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald. Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption.
Call Number: MOVIE REVENANT
ISBN: B01AB0DX2K
Publication Date: 2016
The RiderAfter suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.
Call Number: MOVIE RIDER
ISBN: B07DRYCV9V
Publication Date: 2018
The Shooting; Ride in the WhirlwindIn the mid-sixties, the maverick American director Monte Hellman conceived of two westerns at the same time. As shot back-to-back for famed producer Roger Corman, they feature overlapping casts and crews. The films - The Shooting, about a motley assortment of loners following a mysterious wanted man through a desolate frontier, and Ride in the Whirlwind, about a group of cowhands pursued by vigilantes for crimes they did not commit, are rigorous, artful, and wholly unconventional journeys.
Call Number: MOVIE SHOOTING
ISBN: B00MRKX8CS
Publication Date: 1966
Slow WestA sixteen-year-old boy heads west on a journey across nineteenth century frontier America in search of the woman he loves. He encounters a mysterious traveler named Silas, who protects him from the savage elements and outlaws in a lawless land. But is Silas really watching out for him, or is he tied to the band of thieves tracking their every step?
Call Number: MOVIE SLOW
ISBN: B00XK8JK7S
Publication Date: 2015
Sukiyaki Western DjangoIn this action-packed Western, a nameless gunfighter arrives in a town ripped apart by rival gangs and, though courted by both to join, chooses his own path.
Call Number: DVD MOVIE SUKIYAKI
ISBN: 0760137338796
Publication Date: 2007
There Will Be BloodA down-and-out silver miner raising a son, self-made oilman Daniel Plainview, whose voracious appetite for oil turns him into a California tycoon in the early years of the 20th century. Getting the oil from the ground is an intensely physical process that later broadens into Plainview's equally indomitable urge to control land and power. Along the way, Plainview deals with a mighty derrick fire, a visit from a long-lost brother, and the ongoing involvement of Plainview's poker-faced adoptive son, and Plainview's rivalry with Eli Sunday, the local preacher.
Call Number: MOVIE THERE
ISBN: 9781415738931
Publication Date: 2008
El TopoClassic Americana and avant-garde European cinema sensibilities meet Zen Buddhism and the Bible as a master gunfighter and comic mystic must defeat his four sharp-shooting rivals on an increasingly bizarre path to allegorical self-enlightenment and surreal resurrection.
Call Number: ESPANOL DVD PELICULA TOPO
ISBN: 0038781102699
Publication Date: 1970
True GritMattie Ross is determined to avenge her father's blood by capturing Tom Chaney, the man who shot and killed him for two pieces of gold. Just fourteen, she enlists the help of Rooster Cogburn, a one-eyed, trigger-happy U.S. Marshal with an affinity for drinking, and hardened Texas Ranger LaBoeuf to track the fleeing Chaney. Despite their differences, their ruthless determination leads them on a perilous adventure that can only have one outcome: retribution. Special features include featurettes.
Call Number: MOVIE TRUE
ISBN: B003UESJME
Publication Date: 2011
True History of the Kelly GangAfter discovering his family comes from a line of warriors called the Sons of Sieve, the young Australian bandit leads an anarchist army against the oppressive rule of the British.
Call Number: DVD MOVIE TRUE
Publication Date: 2020
Image from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs from thecinematouch.blogspot.com at http://thecinematouch.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-2018-cinema-touch-awards.html
Image from True History of the Kelly Gang from acmag.com.au at https://acmag.com.au/2020/03/01/true-history-of-the-kelly-gang/#jp-carousel-5256
Image from The Revenant from film-grab.com at https://film-grab.com/2017/08/29/the-revenant/#
Image from The Assassination of Jesse James from didyouseethatone.com at https://didyouseethatone.com/2014/10/18/the-assassination-of-jesse-james-by-the-coward-robert-ford/
Image from The Dark Valley from imdb.com athttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt2650978/mediaviewer/rm1652181504
Image from My Darling Clementine from criterioncast.com at https://criterioncast.com/reviews/blu-ray-reviews/my-darling-clementine
Image from Meek's Cutoff from lens-views.com at http://lens-views.com/Index/Meeks_Cutoff.html
Image from True Grit from film-grab.comat https://film-grab.com/2012/12/05/true-grit/
Image from There Will Be Blood from https://www.nyfa.edu/at https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/best-cinematography-look-will-blood/
Image from The Assassination of Jesse James from giphy.com at https://gph.is/1bydWq3
Image from Slow West from cinematicpaintings.com at https://cinematicpaintings.com/post/137325899973/slow-west-2015#_=_
Image from Django Unchained from film-grab.com at https://film-grab.com/2013/05/28/django-unchained/
Image from True History of the Kelly Gang from acmag.com.au at https://acmag.com.au/thotkg_180731_bk_0013/