The Big Three: Spaghetti Westerns with Clint Eastwood - free online

A Fistful Of Dollars

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Clint Eastwood's legendary "Man With No Name" makes his powerful debut in this thrilling, action-packed "new breed of western" (Motion Picture Herald) from the acclaimed director of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and For a Few Dollars More. Exploding with blistering shootouts, dynamic performances and atmospheric cinematography, it's an undisputed classic of the genre. A mysterious gunman (Eastwood) has just arrived in San Miguel, a grim, dusty border town where two rival bands of smugglers are terrorizing the impoverished citizens. A master of the "quick-draw,"the stranger soon receives offers of employment from each gang. But his loyalty cannot be bought; he accepts both jobs...and sets in motion a plan to destroy both groups of criminals, pitting one against the other in a series of brilliantly orchestrated setups, showdowns and deadly confrontations.

Release date: 1967
Running time: 1:40:05
Audio: English
Subtitle: English [CC]

Actors:
Clint Eastwood
Marianne Koch
Gian Maria Volontè
Wolfgang Lukschy
Mario Brega

Director: Sergio Leone

Producers:
Arrigo Colombo
Giorgio Papi

Writers:
Victor Andres Catena
Jaime Comas
Sergio Leone

Genres: Western

 

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 "I saw this in 1967 at the age of ten years old.  Watched it in the theater and was letting my red licorice hang out of my mouth like a cigar Clint was smoking lol. An Iconic classic. One of my favorite westerns.."
-- Eric Walker

"Every western by Clint Eastwood is a much watch for anyone into action movies. I watched this in the early 2000s as a recommendation from my Dad, I still get just as excited as I did as a kid when I watch them.
- The Good the Bad and the Ugly
- A Fistful of Dollars
- For a Few Dollars More
- The Outlaw Josey Wales
- Pale Rider
- High Plains Drifter
- Unforgiven
- Hang ‘em High
Everybody has to watch these at least once."
-- Universal Wisdom

"Thumbs up for the musical score by Ennio Morricone. It pulls you into the movie right from the opening credits. And gets even better in the trilogy."
-- hackman

"This whole trilogy is one of the finest in any movie genre; from plot to characters to everything else. Can't be duplicated.  Someone said this first of the trilogy had only a $200,000 budget.  Simply unbelievable."
-- Jeffry Hammel

" 'Ya see my mule don't like people laughin. Gets the crazy idea you're laughin at him. Now if you apologize like I know you're going to. I might convince him you didn't really mean it.' Freakin Gold!!!!!!!!"
--  c

 

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For A Few Dollars More

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"The leading icon of a generation" (Roger Ebert). Academy Award® winner Clint Eastwood (including 1993; Best Director – "Unforgiven" and 2005; Best Director; "Million Dollar Baby") continues his trademark role as the legendary "Man with No Name" in this second installment of the famous Sergio Leone trilogy. Scripted by Luciano Vincenzoni and featuring Ennio Morricone's haunting musical score; "For a Few Dollars More" is a modern classic – one of the greatest westerns ever made. Eastwood is a keen-eyed; quick-witted bounty hunter on the bloody trail of Indio; the territory's most treacherous bandit. But his ruthless rival; Colonel Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef; "High Noon"); is determined to bring Indio in first...dead or alive! Failing to capture their prey – or eliminate each other – the two are left with only one option: team up; or face certain death at the hands of Indio and his band of murderous outlaws!

Release date: 1967
Running time: 1:58:32
Audio: English
Subtitle: English [CC]

Actors:
Clint Eastwood
Lee Van Cleef
Gian Maria Volontè
Mara Krup
Luigi Pistilli
Klaus Kinski
Josef Egger
Panos Papadopoulos
Benito Stefanelli
Robert Camardiel
Aldo Sambrell
Luis Rodríguez
Tomás Blanco
Lorenzo Robledo
Sergio Mendizábal
Dante Maggio
Diana Rabito
Giovanni Tarallo
Mario Meniconi
Mario Brega

Director: Sergio Leone

Producers:
Alberto Grimaldi
Arturo Gonzalez

Writers:
Fulvio Morsella
Luciano Vincenzoni
Sergio Leone

Genres:
Western
Drama
Classics

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"My dad told me he was sixteen years old when he saw this movie.  I’m 48 years old and every time they’re on I can’t wait to see them.  People forget the symbolism and humanity of the characters that the actors play.  It’s just not shoot ‘‘em up bounty killers.  Enrico morrone and sergiobleome created masterpieces full of plot lines and vivid imagery.  Great dialogue with even better one liners that have stood the test of time."
-- Nikolaos Korosiotis

"When my dad got back from Vietnam we watched endless Clint Eastwood movies together. The trilogy was his favorite. My dad is now gone but I'm thankful Clint Eastwood is still here!🙏 "
-- MOJAVEDDESERT SONORADESERT

"No western movies can compare to the Trilogies of Clint Eastwood's western classics of "A Fistful of Dollars" "For Few Dollars More" & "The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly". Everyone involved just happened to be on earth at the right time to make the movies."
-- Peter Xuong

"Worth rewatching every few years.  One of many 2 hour Eastwood movies that have given me dozens of hours in entertainment joy.  I'm gonna cry like a baby when Clint Eastwood passes."
-- Tari Cabot

"My favorite of the trilogy. The ending was one of the best in movie history. No dialogs needed, just a whole lot of silent understandings."
-- IPlayAnExpertOnTheInternet

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Nature Relax

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Italian: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo) is a 1966 Italian epic Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Cleef as "the Bad", and Eli Wallach as "the Ugly". Ennio Morricone composed the film's score including its main theme.

In 1862, during the American Civil War, a trio of bounty hunters attempt to kill fugitive Mexican bandit Tuco Ramírez. Tuco shoots the three bounty hunters and escapes on horseback. Elsewhere, a mercenary known as "Angel Eyes" interrogates former Confederate soldier Stevens, whom Angel Eyes is contracted to kill, about Jackson, a fugitive who stole a cache of Confederate gold.....

 

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I guess you would have to sign in for the two at the top. Of course, go for the big screen..

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'The Eagle' - movie review

The Eagle (2011 film)

The Eagle is a 2011 epic historical drama film set in Roman Britain directed by Kevin Macdonald, and starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Donald Sutherland. Adapted by Jeremy Brock from Rosemary Sutcliff's historical adventure novel The Eagle of the Ninth (1954), the film tells the story of a young Roman officer searching to recover the lost Roman eagle standard of his father's legion in the northern part of Great Britain. The story is based on the Ninth Spanish Legion's supposed disappearance in Britain.

The film was an Anglo-American co-production. It was released in the U.S. and Canada on February 11, 2011, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 25, 2011.

The Eagle is effectively a sequel to the film Centurion, written and directed by Neil Marshall, because Channing Tatum's character in The Eagle is Marcus Flavius Aquila, the son of Titus Flavius Virilus who led the Ninth Legion that was lost in the far north of Britannia, and who was therefore the same person as Dominic West's character Titus Flavius Virilus in Centurion: it continues the story of the disappearance of the Ninth Legion fighting the Picts in what is now northern Scotland, north of Hadrian's Wall by following the leader's son's search to solve the mystery of what happened to his father, and the Legion, and the golden eagle standard that they carried everywhere with them, and to restore his family's honor.

As a historical matter, the purported disappearance of the Ninth Legion in Northern Britain is a subject of debate and dispute (see Legio_IX_Hispana § Theories about the Ninth's disappearance for details.)


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Partial spoiler alert! This review perhaps spoils the first 1/3 of the film....

The premise of the entire movie was the desire of one man, Marcus Flavius Aquila, to put himself at great risk to recapture the lost honor of both the Roman Empire and that of his own family. Since we no longer live in an honor-bound society, this becomes something to really ponder. The symbol of this endeavor was the lost Roman golden eagle standard; a golden Roman eagle which was attached to a pole such as a national flag; a vexillum. Of course, since his own father commanded the 9th Legion, it was both patriotic and personal. The legion contained 5,000 soldiers, a great loss and embarrassment to the empire; similar to the great Roman defeat in the Teutoburg Forest about 130 years earlier.

The 9th Legion was to have disappeared in what was called Caledonia by the Romans, or what is now Scotland. The Picts were not Gaels, but usually thought of as being a Celtic people, although may have been a particular Atlanto-Mediterranean people. The strange sounding language used by the Picts in the film was not the lost and unknown Pictish language, but Scottish Gaelic. In any case, the tribes of Caledonia were so fierce that the Romans constructed a great fortified wall to seal them off, called Hadian's Wall.

The film opens with a Roman military unit traveling through Briton by boat via a river system with heavy foliage and trees. Suddenly a small herd of large steers splashed across in front of them, showing a certain backwardness to this society; although it was under Roman rule for about a century at that point. The boat carried Marcus who was to be the new commander of a certain Roman fortification and territory in northern Briton. As he arrives, there's a certain ominous feeling. There are still strong unconquered elements about them.

There were a few references to "the gods." Marcus prayed to one of the Roman gods, possibly Mithras, on a couple of occasions. He was a man on a mission. There were rumors of Druids about as well, although the Druids were thought to have been long ago defeated. Apparently, though not militaristic, the Druids had organized resistance to Rome in the past in both Briton and Gaul. Soon after assuming command, on a gloomy night, Marcus awoke with a feeling of danger. He got up and went along the outer walls, and heard a certain noise. They tried to figure out if it was a noise from cattle or not.

Marcus made a decision to waken all of the soldiers. They dressed and manned the walls, and waited. It could have ended up as a somewhat embarrassing error by the new commander. However, an army of Britons did attack, and the attack was repelled. For this, the young Marcus gained respect from all. The next morning, the army of Britons showed themselves beyond the walls again. As they started a ritual execution of two Roman soldiers, Marcus ordered a preemptive attack. Again, a great battle ensued.

As Marcus fought, visions of his father fighting some unknown enemy was shown; hinting at a psycho-spiritual connection with something which had occurred years earlier. Although the Romans were victorious, it came at a greater loss than the night prior. Marcus was seriously injured in the battle, and was soon taken away to a different part of Briton. I assume that he was relocated to a more southern location of which the Romans had a better grip on things. There he meets his uncle, who is in some form of command, and begins his rehabilitation. At this point there is a reference to an old Roman proverb, cited in the book 'The Eagle of the Ninth':

Eagle lost, honor lost;
Honor lost, all lost.

During some type of life-and-death battle "games," a young Briton named Esca is about to be put to death with the apparent approval of the crowd. Marcus rises and objects, successfully. Esca is allowed to live, and is given to Marcus as a slave. At one point Esca pulls a small dagger on Marcus and tells him that he hates him and everything he stands for; however, due to the fact that Marcus saved his life, swears eternal loyalty to him and puts the dagger down.

When Marcus finally heals, he begins his quest to find the golden eagle beyond Hadrian's Wall. This is beyond Roman Briton, dark harsh highlands and weather, populated by savage tribes, the unknown, more dangerous than northern Briton, the top of the world. He sets out on horseback with only his slave Esca; and that's where the film really realizes it's aim.

There's a parallel to the movie 'Braveheart', however the film takes no pro or anti Roman slant. Much of the rest of the film is about redemption of Marcus, Esca, and others. Somewhat ironically, "Roman Briton" at a much later point became a new Roman Empire itself. I reviewed 'Centurion' (2010), of which 'The Eagle' was the sequel to, on the other blog... Centurion (movie review).

In ancient legends, the eagle was the symbol of oppression; perhaps more to the point... of a hording of power and knowledge. The serpent was the symbol of liberation and freedom; more to the point... of an opening up of forbidden knowledge and truth. However, it's also been challenged that the eagle is really the liberator and that it symbolizes safety and the rule of law... while the serpent is an anarchist.

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Bernardo Bertolucci

TRIBUTE TO BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI

estorilfilmfestival

An inevitable name in the worldwide movie scene and impossible not to mention when talking about the so called modern cinema.

Versatile in his style, but always true to himself and his vision, Bernardo Bertolucci has left his mark with one of the most provocative erotic movies ever, Last Tango in Paris; passing through risky social-political pictures such as the epic Novecento; Hollywood kind of projects like The Last Emperor, winner of 9 Academy Awards; and recently returning to more personal movies like The Dreamers.


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Bernardo Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci; born 16 March 1940) is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky and The Dreamers. In recognition of his work, he was presented with the inaugural Honorary Palme d'Or Award at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

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Bertolucci is well-known to American audiences. He started out as a protege of Pier Paolo Pasolini. He is of Parmesan paternal descent, and his half-Irish mother was born in Australia.

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Federico Fellini on 'Biography'

Biography: Federico Fellini

Pobednik1985

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Federico Fellini

Federico Fellini (Italian: January 20, 1920 – October 31, 1993) was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for his distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness, he is considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of the 20th century.

In a career spanning almost fifty years, Fellini won the Palme d'Or for La Dolce Vita, was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, and directed four motion pictures that won Oscars in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. In 1993, he was awarded an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement at the 65th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

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Federico Fellini was of Romagnol ancestry.

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Famous Cisalpines outside of Padania: Part 4

From the video description: Remembering Diane Cilento, one of Queensland's greatest acting exports, who passed away after a long battle with cancer (2011).




One of Graciano Rocchigiani early tests, against former middleweight contender Mustafa Hamsho (Düsseldorf; 1987; short fight).




An interview with well-known artist and San Francisco native Layla Fanucci.

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Famous Cisalpines outside of Padania: Part 3

The Puppini Sisters singing 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy'. They've performed all over the world. Marcella Puppini in the middle.




B.C. Lions running back Jon Volpe scores a touchdown. From the video description: Often overlooked in lists of the greatest CFL games of all time is this 1991 classic between the Toronto Argonauts and the B.C. Lions.




Funny little interview. Journalist "Paul Lemieux" (Giovanni Ribisi) interviews Kristin Cavallari in another edition of 'One on One'.

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Famous Cisalpines outside of Padania: Part 1

Diane Cilento - probably a Cisalpine

The problem with identifying people of Cisalpine ancestry is three-fold. One, there's often no way to be certain. For example, Olympic gold-medalist Alpine skier Julia Mancuso appears to be Cisalpine from appearance and where she is from. She is actually half Calabrian and half.. Irish, German, something or another.

Two, it's not necessarily all that important anyway. Enrico Fermi was from Rome, and is actually of Piedmontese ancestry. There have been famous and important Cisalpines in the United States far beyond what logic would dictate. However, a community doesn't absolutely need these types of role-models.

Three, with many races or ethnic groups, there can exist a type of ungenuine "cult of celebrity." Certain people will run around trying to "make claim" on as many famous people as possible. Often these celebrities could care less about their ancestry in the first place! I'm tempted to give a few colorful and humorous examples of this, but something tells me that it's not a good idea. Suffice to say that those individuals who you associate with on any concern, are really the important people for that concern.

I thought that I would share just a small sampling of certain well-known people who I have come across or were suggested to me by others as possible Cisalpines. After this, I'm not going to keep track of this subject as a general rule. Just for the record, a "Padanian-American" is a "European-American" with some genuine roots in the former "northern nations." It's safe to say that not all of the following people are of Cisalpine ancestry.

Grammy nominee Francesca Battistelli, from New York City, is a star of the Christian music genre. Attorney, Prosecutor, and Author Vincent Bugliosi, from Minnesota, is most famous as the Prosecutor in the trial of Charles Manson. Graciano Rocchigiani is a former world super middleweight and light heavyweight boxing champion. He was born in Germany of Italian parentage, and looks like a German which makes me think his parents may have been from perhaps Lombardy. Actress Rene Russo, from California, is Italian on both sides, presumably Cisalpine.

Geraldine Ferraro - probably not a Cisalpine

Someone seems to have told me that young actress Brittany Curran, from Massachusetts, has some Cisalpine roots. The late World War II Medal of Honor recipient Mike Colalillo, from Duluth, Minnesota, is an Italian-American. Duluth is an area with deep roots for people of Lombardian and Cisalpine ancestry. Tony Iommi is the former guitarist for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath (lead singer Ozzy Osbourne). Born in Birmingham, England of Italian parentage.. possibly Cisalpine. Actor Jim Caviezel, from Washington state, has some Romansh roots. The Romansh language is of Latin origin, and was once much more prevalent in northeast Italy and Switzerland.

Someone seems to have told me that Canadian actor Enrico Colantoni was of Cisalpine descent. Actress Beverly D'Angelo, from Columbus, Ohio, always has seemed to me to have Cisalpine roots. I really don't know, but I loved 'National Lampoon's Vacation'.. which has an almost cult following even today. The late Geraldine Ferraro is a former vice presidential candidate for the Democrat Party, and an Italian-American from a town about sixty miles north of New York City. Her mother was from Campania in Southern Italy, but it just seems that she may have Cisalpine roots on her paternal side.. perhaps not. The late Jeno Paulucci was an important businessman and entrepreneur from St. Louis County, Minnesota (county seat is Duluth). He founded over seventy companies, including Bellisio Foods, and was likely of Lombardian or Cisalpine ancestry.

The late former Major League Baseball Shortstop and Manager Jim Fregosi was born in San Francisco and raised in San Mateo County. As you can see, he has a long resume with numerous records, and was very likely of Cisalpine ancestry. A few years ago, there was a long article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the history of "San Francisco Italian" Major League baseball players.. which I lost. They were virtually all Cisalpines, and it was quite a history; however, we must admit that the most famous was a Sicilian, Joe DiMaggio. The late Australian actress Diane Cilento was an Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress ('Tom Jones'; British; 1963; with Albert Finney and Susannah York). She was well known to American audiences, and it's a pretty good bet that she was a Cisalpine.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a famous poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He was born in London of Italian parentage, and was very likely of Cisalpine ancestry. The lifelike detail in his art was truly amazing, as well as beautiful. James A. Baffico--born in San Francisco in 1942 when the city was heavily Cisalpine--is a television soap opera director, producer, actor, and script writer. Film composer Marco Beltrami, from New York City, has a very Cisalpine surname. Sabina Magliocco  is a professor of Anthropology and Folklore at California State University, Northridge. Born in Topeka, Kansas to Italian immigrant parents, she may be of Tuscan descent.

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Oscar-winning film star Ernest Borgnine dies in LA at age 95

Borgnine being honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2011

Oscar-winning film star Ernest Borgnine dies in LA at age 95

Ernest Borgnine, who created a variety of memorable characters in both movies and television and won the best-actor Oscar for his role as a lovesick butcher in "Marty" in 1955, died Sunday. He was 95.

Borgnine's longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, told The Associated Press that Borgnine died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with his family by his side.

A prolific and talented character actor, Borgnine was known for gruff, villainous roles such as the heavy who beats up Frank Sinatra in "From Here to Eternity" and one of the bad guys who harasses Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black Rock."

Borgnine, who earned a salary of $5,000 for playing his Academy-Award winning role Marty, once said "I would have done it for nothing."

Borgnine, who was born Ermes Effron Borgnino on Jan. 24, 1917 in Hamden, Conn., began acting after serving in the Navy during World War II. He made his film debut in 1951's "Whistle at Eaton Falls" before winning an Academy Award four years later. He appeared in other notable films including "Jubal," "Flight of the Phoenix," "The Dirty Dozen,""The Wild Bunch," "The Poseidon Adventure," "Johnny Guitar," and "Escape from New York."

"No Stanislavsky. I don't chart out the life histories of the people I play," Borgnine told The New York Times in 1973 when asked about his acting methods. "If I did, I'd be in trouble. I work with my heart and my head, and naturally emotions follow."

Sometimes he prayed, he said, or just reflected on character-appropriate thoughts. "If none of that works," he added, "I think to myself of the money I'm making."

He was also known as the Navy officer in the television series "McHale's Navy," which aired from 1962-66. Younger audiences would know him as the voice of Mermaid Man in "Spongebob Squarepants."

Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series "ER," and was honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2011.

"The Oscar made me a star, and I'm grateful," AP reports that Borgnine told an interviewer in 1966. "But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn't have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life."

The actor was married five times, including to singer Ethel Merman, who became his third wife in 1964. The marriage barely lasted a month.

He is survived by his fifth wife, Tova Traesnaes — whom he married in 1973 —his children Christofer, Nancee and Sharon Borgnine; a stepson, David Johnson; six grandchildren; and his sister, Evelyn Verlardi.

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