To celebrate the 50th episode of Hellbent for Letterbox, Pax and Michael set aside the Pony Express and Whatchoo Been Westernin' to focus exclusively on the two Young Guns movies starring Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and a couple of posses' worth of other '80s Brat Packers.
Michael and Pax are both crazy about Young Guns, but have different opinions about the sequel. It's a great discussion, so make yourself comfortable and settle in for this double-size celebration.
On this episode Michael and I are discussing Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales from 1976.
Michael and Pax raise the corpse of the DC Comics box office flop to figure out if it's as bad as its reputation and maybe even how to fix it. Jonah Hex stars Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, and John Malkovich and was written (in part) by the notorious Neveldine and Taylor.
Pax also talks about the 1985 Jonah Hex comics reboot, Hex, and Michael wanders away from comics completely to review 1952's Bend of the River, starry Jimmy Stewart, Julie Adams, and Rock Hudson.
All this and Pony Express!
On this episode of Hellbent Michael and Pax discuss the 1970 spaghetti western A Man Called Sledge starring James Garner and directed by Vic Morrow.
Michael and Pax talk about Walter Hill's misleadingly titled film starring Matt Damon, Jason Patric, Wes Studi, Robert Duvall, and Gene Hackman.
Also: quick reviews of Rick Geary's The True Death of Billy the Kid and the 1920 silent film, The Daughter of Dawn.
On this episode of Hellbent Mike and Pax talk about the 1986 western comedy Three Amigos starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short. We laugh and quote lines throughout this one, it's a fun show.
Michael and Pax talk at length about the financial and critical disaster that was William Fraker's Legend of the Lone Ranger, starring Klinton Spilsbury, Michael Horse, and Christopher Lloyd. But along the way, they cover other iterations of the masked rider's adventures, including the original radio dramas, the 1938 serial, the Clayton Moore TV show, and a couple of cartoons.
Also in this episode: Pony Express mail featuring two lists of Must See Westerns as compiled by comics writer Chuck Dixon:
This time on Hellbent Michael and Pax are discussing the Coen Brothers' re-adaptation of Charles Portis' novel. We also get in some discussion on the original John Wayne version.
Michael and Pax finally visit the John Ford/John Wayne classic, also starring Claire Trevor, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, Tim Holt, Tom Tyler, and (uh oh?) Andy Devine.
Also: Pony Express mail and quick reviews of McLintock! (1963) and The Great Missouri Raid (1951).
On this episode of Hellbent Mike and Pax discuss the 1971 East meets West western Red Sun starring Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune, Ursula Andress, and directed by Terence Young.
Michael and Pax giggle and groan over Hal Needham's slapstick comedy starring Kirk Douglas, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ann-Margret.
Also: a brief Lone Ranger discussion and mini-reviews of 1967's Hour of the Gun (with James Garner as Wyatt Earp) and Mighty Marvel Western featuring Rawhide Kid, Kid Slade, and Two-Gun Kid.
On this episode Mike and Pax are once again joined by Shawn Robare and this time we are discussing another Raquel Welch vehicle, Hannie Caulder from 1971. We discuss what we thought of the movie as well as the influence it had on Quentin Tarantino.
Michael and Pax are joined by special guest Shawn Robare (Branded in the '80s, Cult Film Club) to talk about the Netflix mini-series Godless starring Michelle Dockery, Jeff Daniels, and Jack O'Connell.
And in "Whatchoo Been Westernin'?" we discuss the '80s cartoon Bravestarr and the movie Hostiles starring Christian Bale and Wes Studi.
Mike and Pax discuss the podcast on its 2nd anniversary, give a few hints as to what's to come and partake in a little Westernin'.
This episode Mike and Pax are talking about the 1975 western, Bite the Bullet starring Gene Hackman, James Coburn, Candice Bergen and Jan Michael Vincent.
On this episode, Michael and Pax take a detour from traditional Westerns and talk about Blake Edwards' murder mystery in which Western movie star Tom Mix (Bruce Willis) and Western legend Wyatt Earp (James Garner) try to catch a killer in 1920s Hollywood.
And as long as we're covering not-quite-Westerns, Michael shares some thoughts about last year's The Hero, starring Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Nick Offerman, Krysten Ritter, and Katharine Ross.
In this Hitchin' Post Michael and Pax recast the 1967 spaghetti western Day of Anger with a modern cast!
This time on the show we are talking about the 1967 spaghetti western, Day of Anger, starring the awesome and manly Lee Van Cleef!
It's cold out there, but Michael and Pax stay warm by talking about one of their favorite Westerns, 1994's Maverick with Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner. And in a special "Whatchoo Been Westernin'?" segment, they discuss some of the episodes of the Maverick TV show that they watched, too.
On this episode of Hellbent for Letterbox Mike and Pax discuss the 1968 western Bandolero! starring Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch and George Kennedy.
Michael and Pax are joined by special guest Evan Hanson to discuss The Outrage, a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Rashômon, starring Paul Newman, William Shatner, and Edward G Robinson.
And in "Whatchoo Been Westernin'": Grit TV (feat. Death Valley Days), a comics adaptation of True Grit, and Jeff Bridges in Wild Bill.
Mike and Pax delve into the 1992 modern classic Unforgiven starring Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman.
Michael and Pax continue their love affair with Lee Van Cleef by talking about this Spaghetti-inspired, American-made thriller co-starring Warren Oates, Forrest Tucker, Kerwin Mathews, Mariette Hartley, and Marie Gomez. And in "Whatchoo Been Westernin'?": DC Comics' Jonah Hex/Yosemite Sam Special and the Billy the Kid episode of Brad Meltzer's Decoded.
On this episode Mike and Pax are discussing the western comedy farce, Support Your Local Sheriff! from 1969 starring James Garner, Jack Elam, Bruce Dern, Harry Morgan and Walter Brennan. We also talk a little bit about the "sequel" Support Your Local Gunfighter from 1971 starring many of the same people but in a completely different story.
Michael and Pax discuss the weird relationships and mega misogyny of Howards Hughes and Hawks' The Outlaw. It's Billy the Kid vs Doc Holliday with Jane Russell and a horse as the prizes (and Pat Garrett kind of crying in the corner, but with a gun in his hand).
Also: Pony Express mail and quick reviews of The Undertaker and Hombre Rosa comics and the movie Three Godfathers (1936).