LisaBinDaCity

I LOVE Westerns. I have since since I was a little girl. I used to watch them with my father for hours. My favorites are “Red River, “The Cowboys,” and “The Searchers.” Needless to say I am a John Wayne fan. I enjoy the simplicity of the old westerns. More recently, I have been watching an awesome miniseries called “Into The West” on TNT. The EXP, (Executive Producer) is the illustrious Steven Spielberg and the Director is Simon Wincer of “Lonesome Dove” fame, (another one of my favorites – it’s magnificent. If you haven’t seen it is definitely worth renting. Wincer is an Aussie which makes it all the more interesting given his mastery of films about the American West.) Anyhoo, I highly recommend it. The acting is good, the cinematography outstanding, the script unpredictable and it’s without most of the typical “Savage Indians scalp innocent settlers and attack their woman and children” cliche’s. The script also delves into the Lakota tribe and their rituals and symbolism. Frankly, we could all learn something from them… The show is very entertaining and I can’t wait for the next episode. By the by, they run the back episodes prior to the new one if you have yet to see it. It airs on weekends.

Funny story, a few years ago I worked with Bruce Dern on a series of commercials. I worked closely with him and we got to chatting about this and that. I told him – with tongue firmly planted in cheek – that I never forgave him for killing John Wayne in “The Cowboys.” A bit of backstory, in the film Bruce Dern’s character killed John Wayne’s character and in fact not only killed him but adding insult to injury SHOT JOHN WAYNE IN THE BACK. Not only was it the only western that Wayne ever died in but you just don’t shoot an American icon in the back when he is walking away from you! Anyhoo, Bruce Dern got somewhat indignant and I thought for a minute I had made him angry. He said “You know Lisa, I shot that movie over 20 years ago and not a day goes by that someone doesn’t tell me that it was the only time they ever saw their father cry or they can’t believe I actually killed John Wayne. I had no idea at the time it would make such an impact.” I of course apologized profusely but he wasn’t upset at all. He was just totally bemused by the whole situation. FYI, Bruce Dern in “real life” is the nicest guy ever so if anyone out there is still upset with him, remember it was JUST A MOVIE

Must go, as John Wayne said “We’re burning daylight.”