Western Weekends - Blazing Saddles

I could use some laughs right now. With this in mind, I decided to take a look at Blazing Saddles. Directed by Mel Brooks - which he co-wrote with Richard Pryor - this 1974 comedy relentlessly mocks many of the tropes and cliches used in Western films, but also puts emphasis on the racism which was prevalent in the American West.

The ruthless attorney general Hedy Hedley Lamarr, played by Harvey Korman, is intending to profit off an upcoming railroad as it's diverted to the frontier town of Rock Ridge. His henchman Taggart, played by Slim Pickens, is sent to sack the town in a bid to drive the townspeople away. The townspeople (whose collective surname is Johnson) respond by petitioning Governor William J. Le Petomane, played by Mel Brooks, for a new sheriff. When Lamarr hears about this, he decides to appoint Bart, a black railroad worker played by Cleavon Little, who was due to be lynched for fighting Taggart. He believes that when a black sheriff is appointed, the townspeople will be so offended that they'll leave. After befriending The Waco Kid, an alcoholic gunslinger played by Gene Wilder, Bart slowly overcomes the hostility of the townspeople and moves to foil Hedy's scheme.

Let's be honest; the Western is a very whitewashed genre. In fact, it's estimated that a quarter of cowboys working on the cattle drives were African-American. So it's quite refreshing to see a western film with a black protagonist. Yes, there is hefty use of racial slurs. But it also depicts the racist characters as...well...morons. Those who don't change their attitudes get their comeuppance.

The characters are all a blast to watch. Bart is a quick thinker, and devises all kinds of zany schemes to solve the problems he faces; including taking himself hostage to avoid being shot when he arrives at Rock Ridge. The Waco Kid is battling the personal demons which accompany his mythic reputation, with a tragic backstory that's side-splittingly hilarious. Mel Brooks even steals the show with his cameos: the lecherous, cross-eyed, and incompetent governor; and a Yiddish-speaking Sioux chieftain.

The climax is fantastic. The battle between the Rock Ridge residents and Hedley's private army (which includes Mexican bandits, Ku Klux Klansmen, Nazi soldiers, and according to his demands, Methodists) spills out into a neighbouring set where Dom DeLuise is shooting a top-hat-and-tails musical number, and then into a commissary where it becomes a pie fight.

All in all, it's a funny movie, and worth seeing.

Western Weekends - High Plains Drifter

Content Warning: This post will contain a brief discussion of sexual assault.

Last week I looked at High Noon. This week, I'm going to look at something more in line with the return of Deadlands which inspired me to revive this series. Released in 1973, High Plains Drifter is the first of several western films to be directed by genre icon Clint Eastwood. It combines High Noon, The Magnificent Seven, and A Fistful of Dollars, but also combines a possible weird element.

Eastwood plays a wandering gunslinger known only as The Stranger, who has recently arrived in the frontier mining town of Lago. Not long after arriving, he kills three local toughs who harassed him. Instead of being charged, he is given the job they had; to protect the town from a reprisal by Stacey Bridges and the Carlin Brothers, who are due to be released from the territorial prison where they were sent for murdering Lago's marshal, Jim Duncan. Through a series of flashbacks, it's revealed that the outlaws whipped the marshal to death in the street, in full view of the townspeople (which is only the tip of the iceberg). The Stranger initially refuses to help, until he's offered "anything" and takes the offer literally. He takes over the town and makes peculiar demands, up to and including having the town painted red.

While High Noon and The Magnificent Seven utilised heroic protagonists, this one doesn't. After arriving in the town and killing the three gunfighters, The Stranger rapes a woman who deliberately bumps into and provokes him. That does make it difficult to root for the protagonist, and it doesn't really contribute to the story (although the same woman does later sleep with him willingly as part of a plan to ensnare him when some of the townspeople rebel against his rule). Granted, the whole point of the story is that Lago's residents are all terrible people, but nobody deserves that.

That aside, there is still a lot of speculation about who The Stranger actually is. Some claims are that he's Jim Duncan's brother looking for revenge. It's also strongly implied that he is Jim Duncan, who has come back from the grave to punish the town for their role in his murder. As stated above, they're all terrible people, with only two exceptions: Mordecai, a barbershop employee with dwarfism who's bullied by everyone around him, but is made both the sheriff and the mayor by The Stranger; and Mrs Belding, the hotel owner's wife, who is revealed to be the only person who tried to intervene in Jim Duncan's execution.

The film does feel slow and kind of silly in some places, like The Stranger's initial arrival in town being something akin to the West's biggest staring contest. But I like how The Stranger's demands on the townspeople create an uncomfortable atmosphere. And the eerie soundtrack, combined with the subtle and implied paranormal element work together to present something that's actually quite haunting.

I'd say it's worth at least one viewing.

The Job Interview

It’s been a while since I’ve had a job interview. I’m not cut out for 9 to 5 life, and kind of disreputable after my spectacular exit from my last job. I’d seen an ad for a company called Kronos and sent them my CV. Now they’re offering a virtual interview.

I’m a little nervous; I can’t find much information about the role, or the company.

I’m all set up for the video conference, and the interviewer’s webcam is misaligned. Their face is out of shot, and focussed on the Persian cat sitting on their lap.

“Good morning Mr Roberts,” he says with a smooth voice and an accent I cannot determine, “I’ve been expecting you.”

“Nice to meet you.” I try to keep a straight face, “Thank you for taking the time to see me. I’ve been intrigued by your employment packages. What kind of company is Kronos? I couldn’t find much while researching you.”

“We diversify into all manner of fields. Our biggest is tourism. We operate companies in London, New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, St Petersburg, and Cairo. If you’re successful, you’ll be based at our head office in the South Pacific.”

“Wow,” I say, “Sounds like an impressive empire. Are you seeking to expand further?”

“Oh, we intend to go worldwide.”

“Considering the political climate, it’ll be nice to get away for a bit.”

“I understand that you were dismissed from your last job, and then took some time out to go to university.”

“That’s correct.”

“Your background is in finance, but your degree is in Creative Writing.”

“Yes, I wanted to expand my creative network and dedicate more time to what I enjoyed.”

“And you’ve listed table-top roleplaying games as your hobbies. I bet you love designing lairs for players to go through.”

I can’t help but laugh.

“You’re a role-player too? Yes, I love designing lairs.”

“I think you’ll fit in nicely,” the interviewer says, “You’re smartly dressed for this interview. Don’t worry; we provide uniforms at the site. Boiler suits, specifically.”

I feel my heart race. It’s looking hopeful.

“One final question, to gauge creative thinking; if you’re a villain and have captured a secret agent, what kind of death-trap would you put them in?”

“I’d probably just shoot them,” I’d say.

The video screen goes black. Something tells me they won’t be in touch.

Western Weekends - High Noon

I've been trying get back into a writing routine lately. Since I've been doing another playthrough of Red Dead Redemption and received early access to the new edition of Deadlands: The Weird West, I thought I might start by reviving my old "Western Weekends" series. The other day, I watched Trumbo, a biopic about screenwriter Dalton Trumbo who was blacklisted for being a member of the Communist Party. With this in mind, I decided to take a look at High Noon. This 1952 classic Western was written by another blacklisted screenwriter, Carl Foreman.

Gary Cooper stars as Will Kane, the marshal serving the frontier town of Hadleyville. It's both his last day on the job and the day of his wedding to Amy Fowler, played by Grace Kelly, and they have plans to move to another town to set up a shop. Unfortunately, the wedding is interrupted by the news that Frank Miller, an outlaw whom Kane brought to justice, has been pardoned and is due to arrive on the noon train. Frank's old gang are waiting for him at the station, and it's clear that he's looking for revenge. Kane is sent away, but since he's still marshal and believes fleeing will delay the inevitable, he opts to stay and confront the past; over the objections of his new wife, who's a devout Quaker and pacifist.

The film takes place in real time, as the clocks tick down towards noon, during which Kane tries to recruit a posse to help him confront Miller's gang. But nobody is willing or able to help him, for every conceivable reason: The judge who sentenced Miller is also fleeing; Kane's own deputy is embittered over Kane not recommending him as the next marshal; some townspeople were Miller's friends, or were bitter that Kane cleaned up the town to begin with; others are afraid that a gunfight would discourage investment in the town; even one person who willingly stands by Kane has second thoughts when he finds out that nobody else has volunteered.

The build-up is great, especially one scene in the church. Kane tries to recruit people from the congregation, and even gets some willing people until someone initiates a debate. By the time the noon train arrives, Kane realises he's fighting alone.

I've read that John Wayne turned down the role because he saw the story as an allegory for the blacklist. Will Kane is going against popular opinion, like many people in the film industry who were dealing with the witch hunts of the Red Scare.

It's not action-packed, and it doesn't need to be. It's all about the build-up.

No Swanwick This Year

Well, I finally received the news today. My annual visit to the Swanwick Writers' Summer School isn't happening this year. I suspected this would be the case for some time, but I'm still saddened by the announcement.

I can't imagine how stressful it's been for the committee, especially because the ball hasn't entirely been in their court. The Christian Conferences Trust, who manage the Hayes Conference Centre where the retreat is held, had been intending to re-open by July with social distancing measures in place. If the school committee had intended to cancel when the venue was still willing to accommodate them, they could still be charged for the booking. Such a move, combined with having to refund everybody, would potentially result in the school going into liquidation. In other words, no more Swanwick, and another institution to hold a grudge against.

Fortunately, the Hayes have said they wouldn't be able to implement social distancing. That also means they're not invoking the cancellation clause, and there'll still be a Swanwick in 2021.

Swanwick has had a major influence on my life. When I went for the first time in 2016, I left thinking "I just want to write". I've gone back every year since, and it influenced my decision to go to university. In fact, last year it was the highlight of my summer. Pandemics aside, I live in a small town where there isn't much to do, and I don't have a lot of friends who live locally. Even my writers' group was two towns over. Being a mature student means that most of my friends from my school days have already finished with university and are living further afield. Even if they aren't, most are working full-time now. Some have even got kids. I got more social contact in the one week at Swanwick than I did for the whole three months I was home for the summer holidays. In other words, summer gets lonely, and I feel like a kid being told that Christmas is cancelled.

2020 would have been my fifth Swanwick, and I hoped to commemorate this milestone by running a course. Now that my assignments are finished, it would have given me something to work on with an external deadline.

The school's committee have previously stated that in the event of cancellation, those planning to attend had the option of a refund or their booking to be carried over. Personally, I think it's probably better for it to be carried over (this is something most festivals are encouraging people to do).

Well, maybe I'll be able to run my course next year.

Quarantine Life: Jackbox

A couple of weeks ago, I handed in my last assignment for my second year of university. And since the pubs are closed and most people are at home, organising a celebratory piss-up is kind of difficult.

Anyway, something I discovered while quarantining was Jackbox Games, who develop what can best be described as virtual party games. The idea is to run the games off a big screen, and players use a phone or tablet to take part by going to website and entering a four-letter code generated by the host. While the games are intended to be played by people in the same room, the game can be live-streamed via services like Discord or Twitch, allowing the host to share their screen with players elsewhere.

I was introduced to Jackbox by a member of a university society, and promptly picked up Jackbox Party Pack 3 on Steam so I could host my own games (and introduce it to my parents). The pack includes the following games:

Quiplash

This is a Cards Against Humanity-esque game. Players are given two prompts, and have to come up with a funny answer for each. Each prompt has answers from at least two different players, and the other players vote on which answer is the funniest. Points are awarded based on how many players voted for your prompt, with bonuses if everybody voted.  This is usually played for two rounds, and then in the final round, all the players are given the same prompt. This could either be an acronym or a comic with a blank speech bubble. Everyone else votes for their three favourite ones.

While you need a minimum of three players, it's better if you have more.

Trivia Murder Party

When I introduced the game to my parents, this ended up being their favourite. The players have been captured by a serial killer, who wants to host a trivia night. The killer asks questions with multiple choice answers, and any player who gets the questions wrong is forced to partake in a random mini-game. If they lose the mini-game, they die, but their ghosts can still take part. 

Once there is one player left, they must escape. During the escape phase, each round the player is given a topic and two answers. They have to tick which answers fit that topic, whether one, both, or neither. They go forward a space for each correct answer. However, the ghosts join after the second round, and are given a third option for the topic, meaning they can move faster. If a ghost overtakes the living player, they steal their body and become living. The first player to reach the exit wins.

While a lot of the questions relate to American pop culture, I think that can be part of the fun in not knowing the correct answer.

Tee K.O.

This one's a drawing game, in which the players compete to design t-shirts (with a host who sounds an awful lot like Matt Berry). The players draw two sketches, and then come up with as many slogans as possible. These are then shuffled and given to another player, who designs a shirt using the sketches and slogans. The players then vote on their favourite shirts, with points going to the player who designed the shirt.

Again, this is one best played with more than three people.

Fakin' It

I didn't really get this one, and neither did my folks. I think it's one which everybody has to be in the same room for.

Guesspionage

This is one which involves guessing percentages of an anonymous survey. One player gets how many people have done a certain thing, and the others have to guess if the correct answer is higher or lower than the player's guess. The player who guessed scores points if their guess is within 30% of the correct answer, depending on how close they are. The other players get points for correctly guessing if the correct answer was higher or lower.

If you have enough people, the audience can answer the questions in the survey.

Other party packs include Fibbage, in which players have to provide a wrong answer to a question, and then everyone has to determine the right answer, gaining bonus points if someone picked their lie.

It's a fun collection of games, and I definitely recommend giving them a go. You don't have to buy the games to take part, providing you have access to someone who does have them. It's good for a virtual game night.