Hellbent for Letterbox

Michael and Pax return to the world of Larry McMurtry's  Lonesome Dove  with the chronologically second mini-series in the saga,  Comanche Moon , starring Steve Zahn, Karl Urban, Linda Cardellini, Elizabeth Banks, Melanie Lynskey, Wes Studi, and Val Kilmer. Plus: quick thoughts on Robert McCammon's Trevor Lawson books and the movies  Station West  (1948) and  Westward the Women  (1951).

Mike and Pax discuss another Clint Eastwood western, Hang em High from 1968!

Michael, Pax, and guest Evan Hanson wrap up their Zorro double-feature with the movie that started it all, the silent classic  The Mark of Zorro  starring Douglas Fairbanks.

Zorro Double Feature! In this episode we start with The Mask of Zorro from 1998 starring Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Sir Anthony Hopkins.  And we are joined by our good friend Evan Hansen.

Michael and Pax watch the Robert Altman revisionist classic,  McCabe & Mrs. Miller , starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie with smaller roles for Shelley Duvall, Keith Carradine, and Rene Auberjonois.  Pax also checks out Sukiyaki Western Django (2008) and Michael watches a couple of older films: Union Pacific (1939) and Gentle Annie (1944).

In this episode Mike and Pax are joined by their friend Jeeg to discuss the South Korean western adventure The Good the Bad and the Weird from 2008.

In this special holiday episode, Michael and Pax watch John Ford's adaptation of Peter B Kyne's Christmas Western novel,  The Three Godfathers . Starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, and Harry Carey Jr. Pax also watches a variety of Christmas episodes of TV Westerns and Michael catches up on a spooky Western, From Hell to the Wild West (2017), as well as Walter Hill's new film, Dead for a Dollar...

For this episode Mike and Pax put on their snow furs and galoshes to discuss this snowbound western by Sergio Corbucci, The Great Silence from 1968!

Michael and Pax stretch the definitions of both Western and Horror in this second Halloween pick,  The Valley of Gwangi  starring James Franciscus, Gila Golan, and Richard Carlson. And with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen. But their Westernin' picks this month are full on horror-related as Pax reads Tim Seeley, Aaron Campbell, and Jim Terry's vampire comic  West of Sundown , and Michael watches...

For the first of our spooky Halloween double feature, Mike and Pax discuss the newer cowboys vs witches horror wester, The Pale Door from 2020.

Michael, Pax, and Shawn Robare travel with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford in Robert Aldrich's  The Frisco Kid .

On this episode Mike and Pax are joined by Shawn Robare to discuss the Anthony Mann western Tin Star (1957) starring Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins.

Michael and Pax watch the recent Western whodunnit,  Murder at Yellowstone City , starring Isaiah Mustafa, Gabriel Byrne, Thomas Jane, Anna Camp, Zach McGowan, and Richard Dreyfuss. It's a mystery and we spoil it, so please watch the movie before listening to our discussion. Pax also reads the next couple of  Undertaker  comics in his pile while Michael watches a couple of movies: the documentary ...

Mike and Pax delve into the 1963 comedy western 4 for Texas with the crazy good cast of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ursula Andress, Anita Eckberg, Victor Buono, Charles Bronson, and an appearance by The Three Stooges.  

Michael picks a classic that he and Pax have never seen. It's swift justice versus sure justice in William A Wellman's  The Ox-Bow Incident,  starring Henry Fonda, Harry Morgan, Dana Andrews, and Anthony Quinn. Pax also reads  Dead West by Rick Spears and Rob G, while Michael watches  The Renegade Ranger (1938) starring Rita Hayworth and Tim Holt.

On this episode Mike and Pax discuss Slow West from 2015 starring Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-Macphee, and Ben Mendelsohn.

Michael and Pax complete their Disney Westerns marathon with Jim Dale, Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, and Jack Elam in  Hot Lead and Cold Feet . Pax also watches a bonus Disney Western with  The Castaway Cowboy  while Michael discovers the  Call of Juarez  video games with  Call of Juarez: Gunslinger .

On this episode Mike and Pax continue their journey through Disney westerns with 1967's The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin starring Roddy McDowell, Suzanne Pleshette, and Karl Malden.

Michael and Pax watch both of Disney's  Apple Dumpling Gang  movies starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway with costars like Bill Bixby, Harry Morgan, Slim Pickens, and Jack Elam. Pax also checks out the Sergio Corbucci documentary,  Django & Django , as well as the first novel in William R Cox's  Cemetery Jones  series.

Mike and Pax watch another Barbara Stanwyck western, The Furies , this time directed by the great Anthony Mann.

Michael and Pax watch the Western Noir  Forty Guns  starring Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, and Dean Jagger. And Michael also checks out Sam Worthington, Machine Gun Kelly, Heather Graham, and Thomas Jane in 2021's  The Last Son .

Pax and Mike discuss 2021's Old Henry with Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Dorff, and Trace Adkins.

When listener Mathias Skeppstedt sent in the list of his Top 15 Favorite Westerns, Michael and Pax decided to come up with their own lists to compare. Each of the three has a mix of classics and surprises, and we run through all of them in this short(ish) episode.

Michael and Pax finally watch the 2020 Western that everyone's been talking about, Paul Greengrass'  News of the World starring Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel. And Pax looks into what the deal is with  The Hateful Eight Extended Version .

On this episode Mike and Pax discuss the brand new Netflix western, The Harder They Fall.