Rio Bravo

When I first started watching westerns, I mostly stuck with spaghetti westerns. Classic westerns, especially John Wayne westerns, were for old people like my father (nothing personal, dad). It took Howard Hawks' 1959 classic Rio Bravo to show me just how wrong I was. The film, essentially a rebuke of High Noon's politics, finds a diverse group of characters (Wayne's stern sheriff, Dean Martin's recovering drunk, Angie Dickinson's lady gambler, Ricky Nelson's fresh faced cowhand, and Walter Brennan's grizzled yet comical old timer) defending a stronghold and each other. The interplay between the characters is what makes the movie so good, but it also helps that there is plenty of action and comedy, a little romance and even a musical number.

Rating: 95%

(Image from obsessedwithfilm.com)

25 Days or Less of Christmas Songs - #23: I'll Be Home for Christmas

Since I'm in my late twenties and I don't have any kids, Christmas isn't quite as exciting as it used to be. Though, one thing I always look forward to at Christmas time is seeing old friends. Hence today's selection, "I'll Be Home for Christmas." There's got to be at least a hundred versions of the song out there, but I've gone with Dean Martin's version. Only because I'm pretty sure he's the only person to do the song who has both gotten schmammered with Frank Sinatra and taken a swing at John Wayne (in a movie at least).

Rating: Suck on that, Bing Crosby%

(Image from libraryjournal.com)