In bookstores now and available on Horsebooksetc.com, American Cowboy’s new book “The 100 Greatest Western Movies of All Time: Including Five You’ve Never Heard of” is our definitive—if controversial—ranking. Westerns are our favorite movie genre, of course, and we worked with publishers Globe Pequot to do it justice. No two people would ever agree on this list, and our staff debated the rankings ad nauseum. But that’s why we did it! A line in the sand needed to been drawn, because we’re eager to hear your thoughts. We all love Westerns, yet why we love one movie over the other is very personal and tough to explain. The essays in this book that accompany make the case for each movie’s greatness and ranking. How did we do? Sound off at AmericanCowboy.com.
The Old West was a tough place to live, as the stories of many a silver screen hero, heroine, and villain will tell you. Making Westerns wasn’t always easy either, and the genre has been given up for dead many times over the last 100 years. But there’s something visceral and noble about Western movies and the timeless themes they depict, and every so often a new Western will break out to huge success. The Coen brother’s remake of True Grit was certainly proof of that, and the upcoming Cowboys & Aliens with Harrison Ford may surprise us all. Even the new Michelle Williams vehicle Meek’s Cutoff is a solid if eerie contribution.
Meanwhile, spring is upon us and the horses are frisky. See you at the corrals! Or maybe just the movie theaters … “The 100 Greatest Western Movies of All Time” should help you decide what to queue up next on Netflix, at least.
