"Radical experiment from Hellman, taking the makings of a traditional Western and repurposing them into a cocktail that’s as unexpected as it is intoxicating: One-part existential descent into inevitable desperation; one-part portrait of the destructive wingspan of revenge; and one-part slow dismantling of Equipoise Incarnate. The resulting highball is jarring in the haze of surface-level expectations: A man of supreme levelheadedness and composure being constantly tested by an invalid partner, an illogical woman, and an enigmatic lunatic, marching deeper and deeper into the unforgiving desert. Assumptions are formulated, tensions are invariably high - ”I’m gonna blow your face off” - and as the sun gets hotter and the landscapes grow oppressively wider, the story transitions its literal, external search to one of figurative introspection, the culmination of which, paradoxically, is signposted by something that works in both a literal and figurative sense: That Coign is Willett’s brother operates as a thread of possible motive for seventy-some minutes until the final three, where the revelation that he’s an identical twin dissects the motif into not just a literal one of genealogical preservation, but a figurative one wherein Willet and Coign represent a bifurcation of human nature, the “good” and the “bad,” so to speak, the charitable crossed with the wicked, and, in several ways, Mr. Gashade has essentially been hunting for himself. At the end, who wins and who loses, and what was all of this for? Not much, sadly, and the film’s dismal non-resolution might be off-putting to some, but I find the subversive fruitlessness both thrillingly perverse and strikingly “real” in its theoretical positing. Formally, things don’t get much better: The early shot of Coley traversing the background as the camera orbits Willet’s face is an early indication that Hellman is in absolute control, the discordant piano score hinting that this won’t be your typical Western. There’s another instance where Willet is peering at a faraway plateau and gets momentarily distracted by a squawking bird in the sky, only to glace back and see a full silhouette standing there. The film kind of snuck up on me that way; I hadn’t realized what an abstract meditation it was until it was too late—that’s precisely when I fell in love."

• A Broski

i just looked up The Shooting and what the f*** is an “acid Western”???

Like I said the craft is there, very clearly. its bursting with style in every shot. If your looking at visuals alone OUATITW is clearly better. But as a whole The Shooting is superior in its experimentation with the genre, pushing it in a direction that most westerns dared not go. The fact it was done on a shoe string budget is all the more impressive.

if your in a western mood and stoned I guarantee you havent seen a joint like The Shooting before. Then take in the terrain and the directors ambition to conjure something up like that ending

Never understood why the rappers of the 90s wanted so badly to have a skit of them f***ing some chick as a skit. Nobody wants to hear that

dudes were a different kind of h**** back in the 90s

the big pun s***skit where the 2 girls are fighting

Did a nice post-midnight 50 minute bike ride, was perfect 15 degree weather

"Street Lights" very ethereal in that setting.

saskatchewanian summer

Celsius

Tops aff at 15 degrees

That soul sample.

Well in the prairies, since it's so open, we can hit 40 degrees both ways in their seperate seasons. The heat and cold are that much more extreme when there's no coverage anywhere

Yeah those temperature swings are madness

the Respect outro from Biggie

@Koala @Riffwanker do either of you guys dig Marshall Tucker Band? I love Can’t You See but never checked out any of their albums

never gave their stuff a listen. If they sound like the Allmans I’ve give them a shot.

I think they’re more country leaning than blues leaning. I’m gonna check out their debut soon

@Elric

So yeah Solaris is my least favorite Tark so far, but it’s still really good.

letterboxd.com/hellofidelio/film/solaris

Always heard the name but never peeped broski.. I dig the name tho..

'The Beach Bum' was cool, Hulu's got a pretty decent film selection

Good film