Hellbent For Letterbox

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.

Michael and Pax welcome back Evan Hanson to talk about Sidney Poitier's directorial debut, Buck and the Preacher, starring himself as well as Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee.

On this episode Mike and Pax are joined by regular guest Evan Hanson to discuss A Man Alone from 1955 featuring Ray Milland doing double duty as star and director!

Wrapping up a Halloween double-feature, Michael and Pax jaw about Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter with returning Hellbent guest (and co-host with the fellas on the new Crestwood House classic horror podcast), Shawn Robare. 

On this spooky episode Mike and Pax are joined by Shawn Robare to discuss the first in a western horror double feature; Billy the Kid vs Dracula! You can listen to Mike, Shawn, and Pax discuss more classic pre-80s horror movies on the Crestwood House Podcast which you can find on the Cult Film Club feed!  Check it out!

Michael and Pax watch the first of only a few Westerns starring Sidney Poitier, Duel at Diablo. Also starring James Garner and Dennis Weaver. 

On this episode Mike and Pax discuss the 1995 TV movie Buffalo Girls based on the Larry McMurtry novel.  The cast is stacked including Angelica Huston, Melanie Griffith, Gabriel Byrne, Peter Coyote, and Sam Elliot.

Michael and Pax discuss the Zellner Brothers' underseen and unexpected Damsel starring Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska. As always, we discuss the whole movie and this one is especially best seen without knowing anything about it, so we highly recommend watching the film before listening to this episode. Pax also reads Bullet Catcher by Joaquin Lowe and Shaolin Cowboy by Geof Darrow, and listens to the How the West Was 'Cast podcast. And Michael watches Jane Russell in Montana Belle (1952).

For this Hitchin Post Mike and I are actually in the same room and we are talking about the newly revised 100 Best Westerns from Cowboys & Indians magazine.

In this episode Mike and Pax discuss the 1958 Arthur Penn western, The Left Handed Gun, starring Paul Newman as Billy the Kid as well as appearances by Dukes of Hazard alums James Best and Denver Pyle.

Following Belle Starr's appearance in The Long Riders, Michael and Pax watch a highly fictionalized biography of the character starring Gene Tierney, Randolph Scott, and Dana Andrews.  Pax also checks out the Italian Western version of The Belle Starr Story while Michael continues watching mountain man movies with Clark Gable in Across the Wide Missouri.

In this episode Mike and Pax are discussing the buddy dramedy Skin Game from 1971 starring James Garner and Lou Gossett Jr.

Michael and Pax watch another much-requested picture, Nicholas Ray's gorgeous Johnny Guitar starring Joan Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, John Carradine, and Mercedes McCambridge as an all-time great movie villain.

In this episode Mike and Pax disuss the original Django from 1966 starring Franco Nero and directed by Sergio Corbucci.

Michael and Pax finish up the Sabata series as Lee Van Cleef comes back to the role for Return of Sabata. Something else that returns is the "Whatchoo Been Westernin'?" segment with Pax reading the comic The Legend of Oz: Wicked West by Tom Hutchinson and Alisson Borges and listening to Zaron Burnett's Black Cowboys podcast. Meanwhile, Michael's been watching the 1998 sorta-Western TV series, Little Men.  

For this episode we return to the East meets Western mash up genre and are joined by good friend Jeeg to disect the 1997 Jet Li actioneer, Once Upon a Time in China and America.

Michael and Pax celebrate their 100th episode with a long-requested classic: John Ford's The Searchers starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, and Natalie Wood.