Tag Archives: Clint Eastwood

Now Streaming: 80s and 90s Western Double Feature

Our need for entertainment has never been greater. Let’s check out some of the great television and movies available on streaming platforms.

Tonight’s Genre: WESTERN

Tonight, we dive into a double shot of 1980’s and 1990’s Westerns. There weren’t many during that period, but there were some great ones!

First Pick: Unforgiven (1992)

In this Western drama, two rival bounty hunters come into conflict with each other as they try to be the first to murder a gang of criminals. The film stars and was directed by Clint Eastwood, and it won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1993.

– Yidio Plot Synopsis

To stream this with AMAZON PRIME for a low cost, click this link:

https://amzn.to/3axPCrr

Second Pick: Silverado (1985)

Silverado is an enchanting western comedy. Without giving, too much away the basic plot for the movie is simple, yet it will keep you very entertained for the entire film. Two brothers are heading to California during the late 1800’s and they need to stop in a town called Silverado so they can say goodbye to their only sister. Along the way, they run into several troubling situations like a caravan that needs help and a town that is run by a corrupt sheriff. They get out of one predicament and along come another. During their travels, they meet up with two other men that are in similar predicaments. The four men decide that they should ride together. They become quick friends and soon find out that they have a common goal.

This movie features some well-known actors that are early in their professional careers. It is one of the movie’s that helped launched the career of Kevin Costner. Kevin Costner plays one of the two brothers that is on their way to California. He plays an entertainingly goofy and unpredictable character. The brother playing opposite to Kevin Costner is Scott Glenn. Scott Glenn was an up and coming actor at the time. The other two members of their little group were Danny Glover and Kevin Kline. Kevin Kline was fresh off a hit movie and Danny Glover was an unknown. All four went on to great careers. These four worked perfectly together and they all made very believable characters. The rest of the cast for the movies featured some excellent role players. People like Jeff Goldblum, Rosanna Arquette, Brian Dennehy, and Linda Hunt did great jobs with their characters.

Western comedies that are both well written and funny are rare. Silverado is both of those things. It is a great chance to see some of your favorite actors at the beginning of their careers.

– Yidio Plot Synopsis

To stream this with AMAZON PRIME for a low cost, click this link:

https://amzn.to/2VD85io

Now Streaming: 80s and 90s Western Double Feature

Tarantula (1955)

It was inevitable that one of my first Universal reviews in this new column would be a classic Universal horror picture.

One of the things people forget when revisiting a film like this, be on Amazon Prime, or Svengoolie on Me-TV, or at a revival film series at a local cineplex is these movies were made for kids. At matinees.

So it shouldn’t be a shock that the movie moves along at a breakneck pace. It should be no shock that the love story is subdued in lieu of action (though the leading lady is a knockout for the boys in the audience a little bit older and able to appreciate such details). The characters are stock. The device by which the spider grows and gets out is a little creaky…

But the effects were state of the art for its time. Universal knew this was a B picture…heck, the lead is John Agar, a Chicago born actor that came from a family that sold ham. Think about that. An actor. Coming from a family of ham. His most notable role, frankly, was as the husband of Shirley Temple and from what I read, he wasn’t too invested in that role.

The effects, though, despite some of the goofy looking giant robot spider stuff, mostly was mattes of a real ugly, scary tarantula on small sets and overlayed on the action. Frankly, they almost hold up. They certainly look better than some of the CGI junk we see on the SyFy channel these days.

Leo G. Carroll (TV’s Topper and Chief from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) is a mad scientist type that develops a super nutrient that causes little tiny animals to become big, scary monsters. The titular spider escapes after a mishap in the lab and the customary chaos ensues.

Until I had revisited this, I forgot how much this film shares with one of my favorites, Tremors. The small town setting in a desert, the mysterious loss of cattle and endless debating of the creature by the characters would have fit right into Perfection. I would not be surprised that this film highly influenced that incredible film.

Probably most people know, this is one of two Jack Arnold directed Universal thrillers to feature an unbilled cameo by Clint Eastwood. The longer part was in Revenge of the Creature, the sequel to one of the finest Universal horror films, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. In a turn of fate, Clint Eastwood has used the lead of Tarantula, Mara Corday, in cameos in a number of his films recently in his career. Funny how things turn over the years!

You should check this flick out. It really is the template for a giant monster run amok film and it really holds up nicely over the weight of over 65 years.

Grade: B+

Tarantula (1955)