Hellbent For Letterbox

On this episode Mike and Pax discuss the Walter Hill directed The Long Riders featuring three sets of brothers playing the real life James, Younger, and Ford brothers.

After loving Rio Bravo, Michael and Pax come back for more with the similarly plotted Howard Hawks / John Wayne / Leigh Brackett classic El Dorado. Robert Mitchum steps in for Dean Martin, James Caan subs for Ricky Nelson, and Charlene Holt replaces Angie Dickinson, but how do the films compare?

On this episode of Hellbent Mike and Pax discuss the 1995 western The Tall Men starring Clark Gable, Jane Russell, and Robert Ryan.

Shawn Robare returns to help Michael and Pax discuss the David O. Selznick mess, Duel in the Sun, featuring a legendary cast, but also six directors, a terrible script, and a central relationship that no one (including the movie) cares about. Happily, that makes for a great conversation anyway.

This month Michael and Pax are joined by their good friend Shawn Robare to discuss the 1967 Spaghetti Western Death Rides a Horse starring Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law.

Evan Hanson returns to help Michael and Pax analyze The Sisters Brothers starring John C Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed. (Deep apologies for the audio quality on Michael's microphone this episode. It was a technical issue that we were unable to correct, but we thought the movie and conversation were good enough that we wanted to release it anyway.)

On this episode Mike and Pax are joined by Evan Hanson to discuss 5 Card Stud starring Dean Martin, Robert Mitchum, and Roddy Macdowell.

In this very special Halloween Hitchin Post, Michael and Pax discuss the 1959 Universal Studios horror western, Curse of the Undead, featuring a vampire gunfighter.

Michael and Pax definitely wanted to watch Penélope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Steve Zahn, Dwight Yoakam, and Sam Shepard in Bandidas. Pax also reads the graphic novel Calamity Jane: The Calamitous Life of Martha Jane Cannary by Christian Perrissin and Matthieu Blanchin. And Michael gets in the Halloween spirit with Curse of the Undead.

On this episode of Hellbent Michael and Pax discuss the 1970 dramatic comedy Little Big Man starring Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway.

Michael and Pax follow Pale Rider into town, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Also starring Sydney Penny, Michael Moriarty, Chris Penn, and Richard Kiel. Pax also shares insights from the Pale Rider novelization by Alan Dean Foster. And Michael watches another mountain man movie (Richard Harris and John Huston in Man in the Wilderness) and some Doctor Who.

Pax and Michael watch the first of the Terence Hill and Bud Spencer comedic Trinity movies, directed by Enzo Barboni.

Michael and Pax visit their second Elvis Presley Western with Flaming Star, a movie about racism that also stars Steve Forrest, Barbara Eden, Dolores del Rio, and John McIntire. Before that, Pax talks about vintage Western-themed advertising and Michael makes progress in his Western History film project and reviews the Batman Western comic, Batman: The Blue, the Grey, and the Bat.

On this episode Mike and Pax discuss Cheyenne Social Club starring James Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Shirley Jones.

Michael and Pax watch the Howard Hawks / John Wayne classic Red River featuring Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, and Joanne Dru.    Also: Comics! Pax reads Wild West, Book 1: Calamity Jane by Jacques Lamontagne and Thierry Gloris. And Michael reads IDW's collection of Doug Wildey's Rio: The Complete Saga.

Mike and Pax update everyone on their fancy soap purchases.

Mike and Pax discuss 1959's Rio Bravo starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, and Ricky Nelson.

Michael and Pax watch Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, and Joel Edgerton in Gavin O'Connor's film about a woman defending her home from a gang of ruthless killers. Pax also talks about Yul Brynner and George Segal in Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964), while Michael watches more Zorro and reads the collected webcomic High Moon by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis.

On this episode Michael and Pax discuss The Kid from 2019 starring Ethan Hawke and Dane Dehaan as Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

Michael and Pax revisit the '90s classic about a sharpshooting cowboy (Tom Selleck) who teams up with a troubled woman (Laura San Giacomo) to fight a ruthless land baron (Alan Rickman) over his treatment of Aboriginal Australians. There's also a quick review of the graphic novel The Grave Doug Freshley by Josh Hechinger and mpMann.