Cowboys and . . .

Cowboys and Aliens

To coincide with this weekend's release of Cowboys and Aliens, in which extraterrestrial beings invade the Old West, here's a look at a few movies that pit cowboys against other fantastic creatures and strange environments.

Mighty Joe Young

Mighty Joe Young - Cowboys vs. Gorilla
Showman Max O'Hara wants a special attraction for his new safari-themed nightclub, so he hires a band of cowpokes to accompany him to Africa in order to capture lions — by lassoing them(!). By chance, they encounter a giant gorilla and attempt to lasso it instead, much to the annoyance of the gorilla and the young woman who raised it. O'Hara convinces the woman to headline at his club, but it soon becomes apparent that neither she nor her gorilla are cut out for the rigors of show biz.

The Valley of Gwangi

The Valley of Gwangi - Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs
In turn-of-the-century Mexico, the owners of a Wild West Show discover a unique attraction — a living Eohippus, the pint-sized prehistoric predecessor to the modern horse. When the animal is stolen and returned to the hidden valley from which it was taken, the show's wranglers give chase — and end up face-to-face with a living dinosaur bent on destruction.

Blazing Saddles

Blazing Saddles - Cowboys vs. Hollywood
The now-famous ending to Mel Brooks' send-up of the Western has a mob of brawling "rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, half-wits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves" and various other black hats breaking through their backlot set onto the Warner Brothers lot and wreaking havoc in the studio commissary before spilling onto Hollywood Boulevard, where Sheriff Bart finally confronts the snidely Hedy — sorry, that's Hedley — Lamarr.

Homage, reference, and free association: Harry Potter edition

With today's release of the last Harry Potter movie, Second Reel presents a look at several memorable moments from the series and their counterparts from other films.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Star Wars: A New Hope Excalibur On his eleventh birthday Harry is visited by Hagrid, a man from the magical world who tells Harry his parents were not Muggles who died in a car crash, but wizards who died fighting the Dark Lord Voldemort. Hagrid tells Harry that he, too, is to be educated as a wizard. Luke Skywalker encounters the Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi — described by Luke's uncle as a "wizard" — who tells Luke that his father was not a space navigator but a great warrior who died fighting a corrupt Jedi named Darth Vader; Obi-Wan invites Luke to accompany him on a rescue mission and to learn the ways of the Jedi. After extricating the legendary sword Excalibur from a rock, young Arthur is confronted by the wizard Merlin, who tells him that his father was actually King Uther, and that Arthur, too, is destined to be king.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Clash of the Titans (1981) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Harry is given a magical cloak that makes him invisible, much like the helmet bestowed by the gods upon Perseus. Frodo's cloak, given to him by elves, has the power to conceal by mimicking its surroundings, at one time looking like a rock in the presence of Sauron's minions.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Clash of the Titans (1981)
Harry must defeat the basilisk, a giant serpent whose stare petrifies anyone who looks it in the eye. Perseus must battle Medusa, a half-woman, half-serpent creature who can turn men to stone with her eyes and which, like the basilisk, can only be safely viewed in reflection. The heroes use severed parts of the creatures to save the lives of their future wives: Harry uses a basilisk fang to vanquish the fragment of Voldemort's soul that threatens to kill Ginny, and Perseus uses Medusa's severed head to petrify the Kraken before it can kill Andromeda.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Cinderella
When school is not in session, orphan Harry lives with his only remaining family — the Dursleys, who never conceal their animosity toward Harry and treat him horribly, all the while lavishing attention on their bratty son Dudley. Lady Tremaine and her cruel, spoiled daughters are just as unpleasant to Cinderella.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Harry looks into Dumbledore's Pensieve, a basin full of the professor's swirling memories. In it, Harry sees a scene from Dumbledore's past which has bearing on Harry's present. Frodo is invited to look into the Mirror of Galadriel, a basin which shows visions of past, present, and possible futures. Frodo sees what things might be like if he fails to destroy the One Ring, and he changes his present plans in response.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
After battling Voldemort at the Ministry of Magic and learning of a prophecy made about him and Voldemort, Harry has a frightening realization. "It means one of us is gonna have to kill the other, in the end." Dumbledore solemnly confirms the fact. After Luke unsuccessfully duels Darth Vader in Cloud City, the spirit of Obi-Wan tells him, "You can not escape your destiny. You must face Darth Vader again," this time to kill him.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	X-Men: The Last Stand
In flashback, Dumbledore meets Tom Riddle — the future Voldemort — for the first time in order to enroll him at Hogwarts. Tom lives at an orphanage where an apprehensive headmistress tells Dumbledore that strange events surround the boy. Acknowledging the unusual abilities that Tom claims to have, Dumbledore tells him, "I'm like you, Tom. I'm different," adding "At Hogwarts you'll be taught not only to use magic, but how to control it." Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr — the future Professor X and Magneto — visit young telepath Jean Grey — the future villain Dark Phoenix — to enroll her at their academy for mutants with similar powers. "We're mutants, Jean," says Xavier. "We're like you." After witnessing her potentially dangerous power, Xavier says, "The question is, will you control that power or let it control you?"
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	The Ten Commandments (1956)
To protect himself and Harry from a horde of Inferi, Dumbledore produces a swirling ring of fire that keeps the reanimated corpses at bay. Moses witnesses a column of swirling fire which prevents the Egyptian army from overtaking the Israelites as they flee across the desert.
Dumbledore then creates a clearing in the fire through which he and Harry escape, much in the same way that Moses parts the Red Sea so he can lead his people to safety.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Harry and Frodo watch helplessly as their wizard mentors fall to their deaths from a great height. Both Harry and Frodo later replay the wizards' deaths in their thoughts or dreams.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
As a provision of Dumbledore's will, Harry's friend Ron is given the late headmaster's Deluminator, a magical device that pulls the light from lamps, "in the hope that, when things seem most dark it will show him the light." Ron later uses the Deluminator to find his way back to Harry and Hermione. The Elf queen Galadriel gives Frodo a magical phial of light, saying "May it be a light for you in dark places when all other lights go out." Frodo's friend Sam later uses the phial to battle the spider Shelob and reunite with Frodo.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Harry and his friends wander the wilderness thinking of how to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes — magical objects the evil wizard needs in order to become all-powerful. Frodo, Sam, and Gollum wander the wilderness en route to destroy Sauron's ring, a magical object the Dark Lord needs in order to become all-powerful.
Along the way, the three are captured by agents of Voldemort and questioned about their possession of the sword of Gryffindor before they are able to escape. Frodo and his companions are also captured and questioned by Gondorian rangers about their possession of the One Ring before they are released.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The friends take turns carrying Voldemort's locket around their necks. The locket has negative personality-altering effects on all three wearers, demonstrated when Ron, under the locket's influence, angrily abandons his friends. While worn on a chain around his neck, the One Ring has a similar effect on Frodo, who attacks Sam after Sam saves him from one of Sauron's Ringwraiths.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
While wearing the locket Horcrux, Harry begins to have visions of Voldemort's activities, clearly seeing the Dark Lord as he quests for the Deathly Hallows. While wearing the One Ring, Frodo has visions of the Eye of Sauron, which is desperately seeking the ring Frodo carries.

See also:
Homage, reference, and free association
Homage, reference, and free association: Round 2

Uncomfortable deception

In these two scenes from very different movies, characters put themselves in awkward situations in order to mislead others.

2001: A Space Odyssey

During a layover at a space station while en route to the moon, American scientist Dr. Heywood Floyd meets a Russian colleague who invites him to sit and have a drink with some friends. After some pleasantries, Floyd is questioned by one man about apparent problems at the American moon base, Clavius. When told that telephone communication with Clavius has been impossible for the past ten days, and that a Russian shuttle was denied an emergency landing there, Floyd claims to be unaware of any problems and becomes silent. When the Russian man persists, asking Floyd about rumors of an epidemic at Clavius, the cornered Floyd sheepishly explains that he is unable to comment on the situation. Floyd's discomfort is palpable, his soft-spoken manner and feeble responses giving the sense that he is being violated, but also concealing something. It is not until his arrival at Clavius that we learn Floyd's manner and answers were part of a deliberate deception to keep Clavius isolated while its crew investigates a discovery of incredible cosmic significance.

A Dry White Season

Donald Sutherland plays Ben du Toit, a white South African who discovers the truth about his country under apartheid. After his black gardener is killed while in police custody, Ben seeks justice, alienating his disapproving wife and daughter in the process. He and a small group of cohorts secretly collect affidavits from witnesses to police brutality, which Ben hides in his garage for eventual publication in a sympathetic newspaper. Under constant surveillance by the police, Ben knows he won't be able to deliver the papers in person, so he offers himself as a diversion instead. In a heartbreaking scene, Ben meets with his estranged daughter and asks if she would keep the papers safe for him, knowing she will betray him and take the decoy package to the police — but also counting on her to do so.

Remembering D-Day, Hollywood-style

Saving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg's movie about an army squad sent to retrieve Private Ryan after his two brothers are killed on D-Day opens with a now-famous, very graphic segment depicting the landing on Omaha Beach and closes with a battle between a small American force and a much larger — and better armed — German unit. Sure, what comes between the two battles may be a gimmicky premise (even if it was based on similar real events), and at times Spielberg lays on the tension and emotion pretty thick, but the result is still an engrossing and thought-provoking look at battle. The opening invasion scene is worth the hype, though for details less obvious than the gore: the German machine gunners taking careful aim at the first boats to reach the shore, ready to fire as soon as the ramps are dropped, and the almost too-quiet clinking sounds of German bullets hitting metal obstacles on the beach, making you aware of how literally death is in the air as they measure out the American soldiers' lives like clockwork, the sound of each missed shot another moment's reprieve — and enough time to take another step toward the enemy's guns.

The Big Red One
Compared to Saving Private Ryan, the relatively short D-Day segment of this autobiographical Sam Fuller film seems somewhat sparse. Working with a small budget years before the Private Ryan age of realism, Fuller forgoes a large-scale graphic depiction of D-Day and focuses on one element — the Bangalore relay, in which soldiers are sent running one at a time into enemy fire, each carrying a piece of what will be assembled into a long explosive tube capable of clearing dense obstacles. As we watch each member of the squad get called in turn to make their run up the beach, however, we realize the same truth that Private Ryan conveys perhaps more graphically, but no more convincingly: that an invasion like D-Day requires throwing body after body at the enemy, with the hope that eventually some will get through alive.

Overlord
The one non-Hollywood movie on the list, Overlord follows a British soldier named Tom as he leaves home for service in the army, through his training, and on to D-Day. Throughout, Tom (a stand-in for any British soldier, or "Tommy") ruminates on his fate, imagining his death under enemy fire. The movie combines narrative footage with a diverse assortment of actual combat film — images of London burning during the Blitz, views from fighter planes as they strafe enemy ships, women at work manufacturing parachutes, war machinery being transported across England, new ships being launched, and glimpses of British troops landing at Normandy. The archival materials are fascinating, and the beautifully understated story is woven into them deftly, making a cohesive whole and giving it an authentic feel. It doesn’t show much of the actual invasion, but in this film the emphasis is on getting there, and on what every soldier must have been thinking along the way.

The Longest Day
If you want to become invested in the private lives and back stories of this film's characters, you'd better be quick about it. The Longest Day boasts an international all-star cast, which includes Richard Burton, John Wayne, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, and Red Buttons (?!), but the emphasis is not on character development or emotionally engaging sub-plots. Instead, this film, like many of the large-scale, star-studded war films of its time, is plotted more like a history book, presenting the Normandy invasion from the points of view of an array of characters on both sides, and including lots of historical tidbits along the way, such as the Allies' plan to drop firecracker-laden paratrooper dolls into France to confuse German troops or their use of clicking noisemakers to tell friend from foe. While at times it feels like "The Longest Film," it is nonetheless a generally satisfying overview of the invasion.

See also:
Remembering Pearl Harbor, Hollywood style
Remembering the Doolittle Raid, Hollywood-style

X-Men: First Class

James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender

When we first see the adult Erik Lehnsherr — the super-powered mutant who will become the villain Magneto — in X-Men: First Class, he's a multilingual globe-trotting assassin hunting down the man who tortured him years before in a Nazi death camp. This seems a suitable origin for a character who eventually turns against humans and comes to believe that mutants should rule over them. (George Lucas, take note: this is how you turn a character to the dark side!) What is not so suitable is that in Magneto's own origin story it is revealed that before there was Magneto, there was . . . another Magneto. Perhaps not the Magneto, but an evil mutant named Sebastian Shaw, who has his own dangerous powers, dangerous motives, and a dangerous team of evil mutants similar to the one the aged Magneto commanded in the previous X-Men movies. This is the disappointing thing about X-Men: First Class, because the interesting possibilities of such an origin story — in which the future Magneto befriends and then parts ways with his future rival Charles Xavier — are abandoned in favor of the team-vs.-team formula of the previous three X-Men films.

This is particularly surprising because First Class uses as its backdrop the Cuban Missile Crisis, a historical event weighty enough to provide sufficient threat and conflict for any super team. Given the novelty of the period setting and the possibilities inherent in the blending of history with fiction, it is puzzling why the filmmakers decided to eclipse the drama of Magneto’s supposedly unique origin with a villain who is essentially the character we know Lehnsherr will become, a character we have seen plot against humanity and be defeated before.

The other major figure is Charles Xavier, destined to become Professor X, a man committed to protecting humans regardless of how poorly humans treat mutants. The younger Xavier portrayed by James McAvoy is less restrained than the serene elder portrayed by Patrick Stewart in the other X-Men movies. Because his mutation — the ability to read and influence other peoples' minds — is not readily apparent to the outside world, Xavier effortlessly enjoys human society, winning drinking contests and hitting on women with a practiced pickup routine. Consequently, he is detached from the pain felt by mutants who, like his friend Raven, a scaly blue-skinned shape-shifter, must work hard to conceal their difference in order to be accepted. We see in Xavier a genius with a lot to learn, and though we can assume the events at film's end will humble him somewhat, we never see a true epiphany.

We do get to see Xavier, supposedly a professor in earlier films, actually teach in First Class — he helps Lehnsherr develop his powers of magnetism to astonishing levels, and watching him show a young mutant named Banshee how to fly is the film's highpoint of fun. The role of cool Nazi hunter suits actor Michael Fassbender very well, maybe in part because he played one so well in Inglourious Basterds, though certainly his own multilingual European background and good looks make him a natural for such a role. He keeps Lehnsherr's childhood trauma just under the surface at all times, unpacking it as needed to great effect and making Lehnsherr the most tortured — and most appealing — character of the film.

See also: Iron Men

Triple Feature: Lone Star, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and Touch of Evil

Similarities abound in this trio of films about law, history, and legends in the American West.

Lone Star (1996)

"Forget the Alamo."

In Lone Star, the past of a small Texas border town is dug up — literally, in the remains of Charlie Wade, a cruel and corrupt sheriff who some 40 years earlier controlled the town through intimidation, extortion, and racial hatred until a young deputy named Buddy Deeds confronted Wade and ostensibly ran him out of town. When Wade's skeleton and badge are found barely below ground in a remote spot of desert, though, Sam Deeds — Buddy's son and the current sheriff — soon has reason to believe his late and now-legendary father may have been the killer. Sam continues digging, talking to townspeople who lived through Wade's tyranny and who view Buddy as their emancipator. The closer Sam gets to learning the truth about Wade's death, the more he learns about his own past and what it could mean for his future.

Set in a contentious town along the Texas/Mexico border where parents clash with teachers about the history of the Texas Revolution, Lone Star fills every moment with consideration of the past — certainly the pasts of Wade and Buddy, but also those of Sam, his high school girlfriend Pilar, Pilar's mother and successful businesswoman Mercedes, Wade's surviving deputy Hollis, and the estranged father-and-son pair Otis and Del Payne. Everyone is made to consider the past and to decide if history should be rewritten or if old legends should remain untarnished.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

When prominent senator Ransom Stoddard arrives in the western town of Shinbone to attend the funeral of all but forgotten rancher Tom Doniphon, the editor of the local paper demands to know why. Stoddard unravels a tale of Shinbone's past, of his arrival in the frontier town as a young lawyer eager to bring civilized justice to the West, of a ruthless gunfighter named Liberty Valance who terrorized the town with a gun, and of how Stoddard's showdown with Valance catapulted Stoddard to fame and to Washington, D.C. The more Stoddard reveals, however, the more the reasons behind his now-legendary rise to power are made suspect. When the editor finally learns about the role of Tom Doniphon in these events and of the secret Stoddard has been concealing, he must decide how important the past is to Stoddard's reputation and to the town of Shinbone.

Touch of Evil (1958)

"He was some kind of a man. What does it matter what you say about people?"

Mike Vargas is a Mexican narcotics officer just married to an American woman. Out for a stroll with his new wife, he witnesses a murder-by-car bomb the moment he steps across the border into the US. He is soon joined on the scene by Hank Quinlan, an American cop who bears no love toward Mexicans and who doesn't hesitate to use intimidation and excessive force when interrogating Mexican suspects. Vargas and Quinlan butt heads and end up working the crime separately. To Vargas' surprise, Quinlan arrests the first suspect he finds, claiming to have found conclusive evidence. Vargas does some investigating of Quinlan, though, and what he finds threatens Quinlan's perfect record — and Vargas' life.

Superbear smackdown!

The Contenders
The bear from Grizzly (1976): A 15-foot, one-ton grizzly wandering outside its normal territory during a national park's busy post-season	The bear from Prophecy (1979): A large animal mutated by mercury poisoning, wreaking havoc in the forest near a toxin-spewing paper mill
The location
An unnamed national park somewhere in the contiguous United States	The deep woods of Maine
What makes it a monster
It's larger and stronger than the average griz, able to swat the head off a horse with one easy swipe. Unlike other grizzlies, this one hunts — and eats — people.	A freak of nature created by the reckless pollution of its once-pristine environment, this grotesque creature walks and runs upright and can snap the head clean off a man with one bite of its massive jaws.
Method of attack
Grizzly stalks its prey in point-of-view shots, bursts out of woods or through shelter walls to batter victims with limb-severing force, then finishes with a deadly bear hug.	Prophecy Bear forecasts its attack with heavy breathing, then surprises victims by breaking through trees, cabin walls, or the water's surface. It kills by hitting and biting.
Body count
8 people, 1 bear cub, and 1 horse dead; 1 person maimed	14 people and 1 dog dead
Gore factor
Victims' limbs are bloodily severed, a horse loses its head, human victims are dragged and shaken violently, and one spurts blood from the mouth while being squeezed to death.	A couple victims get badly mangled in the face (one loses his head), but it's the bear's disfigured face and body, as well as the sight and sound of its mutant offspring, that are most repellent.
The hunter
Park ranger Michael Kelly	EPA hired hand Robert Verne, MD
How it's killed
After absorbing several rifle shots, the big bear is brought down by nothing less than a shot from a bazooka, which blows it to bloody bits in a fiery explosion.	The mutant beast is shot several times by rifle and bow, though it's the relentless stabbing in the eye by arrow-wielding Verne that finally does it in.
Judge's decision
It's tempting to declare the gruesome Prophecy Bear the winner on looks alone, for Grizzly, despite its ferocity, still looks like a big cuddly bear. But PB is an environmental avenger, and there is a sympathetic righteousness to its violence in defense of its home, its cubs, and its right to live free of industrial contaminants. Plus, it's killed by a city-slick MD using nothing more than a pointy stick. Grizzly kills for no reason but sport and snacks, and it takes a manly park ranger with an anti-tank weapon to bring him down. Winner: Grizzly.