Hellbent For Letterbox

Pax and Michael tackle another western-comedy.  This one stars George Segal and Goldie Hawn and is directed by White Christmas' Melvin Frank!

Michael and Pax watch the Coen Brothers' anthology movie, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Plus, Pax listens to the 1001 Stories from the Old West podcast and Michael watches The Secret of Convict Lake (1951) and Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949).

Mike and Pax try not to break out into a blood feud when they delve into the History Channel mini-series Hatfields & McCoys starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton.

Michael and Pax return to the world of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove with the chronologically second mini-series in the saga, Comanche Moon, starring Steve Zahn, Karl Urban, Linda Cardellini, Elizabeth Banks, Melanie Lynskey, Wes Studi, and Val Kilmer. Plus: quick thoughts on Robert McCammon's Trevor Lawson books and the movies Station West (1948) and Westward the Women (1951).

Mike and Pax discuss another Clint Eastwood western, Hang em High from 1968!

Michael, Pax, and guest Evan Hanson wrap up their Zorro double-feature with the movie that started it all, the silent classic The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks.

Zorro Double Feature! In this episode we start with The Mask of Zorro from 1998 starring Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Sir Anthony Hopkins.  And we are joined by our good friend Evan Hansen.

Michael and Pax watch the Robert Altman revisionist classic, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie with smaller roles for Shelley Duvall, Keith Carradine, and Rene Auberjonois.  Pax also checks out Sukiyaki Western Django (2008) and Michael watches a couple of older films: Union Pacific (1939) and Gentle Annie (1944).

In this episode Mike and Pax are joined by their friend Jeeg to discuss the South Korean western adventure The Good the Bad and the Weird from 2008.

In this special holiday episode, Michael and Pax watch John Ford's adaptation of Peter B Kyne's Christmas Western novel, The Three Godfathers. Starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Harry Carey Jr. Pax also watches a variety of Christmas episodes of TV Westerns and Michael catches up on a spooky Western, From Hell to the Wild West (2017), as well as Walter Hill's new film, Dead for a Dollar.

For this episode Mike and Pax put on their snow furs and galoshes to discuss this snowbound western by Sergio Corbucci, The Great Silence from 1968!

Michael and Pax stretch the definitions of both Western and Horror in this second Halloween pick, The Valley of Gwangi starring James Franciscus, Gila Golan, and Richard Carlson. And with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen. But their Westernin' picks this month are full on horror-related as Pax reads Tim Seeley, Aaron Campbell, and Jim Terry's vampire comic West of Sundown, and Michael watches Sam Shepard's Western ghost story Silent Tongue and the super cheesy Teenage Monster.

For the first of our spooky Halloween double feature, Mike and Pax discuss the newer cowboys vs witches horror wester, The Pale Door from 2020.

Michael, Pax, and Shawn Robare travel with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford in Robert Aldrich's The Frisco Kid.

On this episode Mike and Pax are joined by Shawn Robare to discuss the Anthony Mann western Tin Star (1957) starring Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins.

Michael and Pax watch the recent Western whodunnit, Murder at Yellowstone City, starring Isaiah Mustafa, Gabriel Byrne, Thomas Jane, Anna Camp, Zach McGowan, and Richard Dreyfuss. It's a mystery and we spoil it, so please watch the movie before listening to our discussion. Pax also reads the next couple of Undertaker comics in his pile while Michael watches a couple of movies: the documentary Bitterbrush and Hell's Heroes, an early adaptation of the Three Godfathers story.   

Mike and Pax delve into the 1963 comedy western 4 for Texas with the crazy good cast of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ursula Andress, Anita Eckberg, Victor Buono, Charles Bronson, and an appearance by The Three Stooges.  

Michael picks a classic that he and Pax have never seen. It's swift justice versus sure justice in William A Wellman's The Ox-Bow Incident, starring Henry Fonda, Harry Morgan, Dana Andrews, and Anthony Quinn. Pax also reads Dead West by Rick Spears and Rob G, while Michael watches The Renegade Ranger (1938) starring Rita Hayworth and Tim Holt.

On this episode Mike and Pax discuss Slow West from 2015 starring Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-Macphee, and Ben Mendelsohn.

Michael and Pax complete their Disney Westerns marathon with Jim Dale, Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, and Jack Elam in Hot Lead and Cold Feet. Pax also watches a bonus Disney Western with The Castaway Cowboy while Michael discovers the Call of Juarez video games with Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.