The Outlaw Josey Wales: they lie horses down and hide behind them, don't they?

Clint Eastwood is obviously a really sweet man. Watching this excellent film (finally!) I kept expecting a dark ending, like the great Jeremiah Johnson or Eastwood's latest (and arguably greatest) Gran Torino. And sorry to semi-spoil all three for you, but this one ends on a good note. As much as I appreciate the poignant bittersweet final thoughts, I'm still a person who likes joy, so whenever things got tense in Josie Wales' gritty world, I found myself tensing along with it, thinking "please, please, please don't turn to shit...". You just cheer for the wounded-and-so-altruistic hero, and you want him to finally have a happy life after toiling for two hours. And Clint certainly is altruistic. Everything I've seen of his tackles issues of human darkness and decency. His films peel back the obvious and talk, instead, about the real issue. They insist that all people are good, at some level, and that things will be okay if we can show some restraint and actually pay attention to one another--even if we all look and act weird, from our own perspectives. That's not a groundbreaking message, but when it is told so purely and wisely (not smashing us over the head, but also not being embarrassed by it, either), it feels really good. And from such an angry, squinting, sneering leather-faced badass... it somehow rings even more true.

And can we hear it for Chief Dan George? I love this man. He's basically playing the same character as in Little Big Man: finding the line between completely hilarious rambling and zen wisdom, and then dancing on that line to remind us that we shouldn't take zen wisdom more seriously than we need to. But there's nothing wrong with that. Micheal Cera always plays the same character, and I can't get enough of that guy. ...Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Buddy comedy starring Chief Dan George and Micheal Cera?! Oh wait he died in 1981. Woah, he died on September 23rd... that's in three days. Godspeed and rest in peace, Chief. You are a wonderful person.

I've really grown to love the shaggy-edged 70's western. The messy camera work, the cluttered composition, the oft-glacial pace. It feels like film. It's warm and fuzzy and blurry and soft. Like Abbey Road. The long hair and shaggy beards. The occasionally confusing action. It's something that turned me off as a little kid, because it was confusing compared to today's simplistic composition. Watch American Beauty and then watch Where the Buffalo Roam and the contrast couldn't be more alarming. I'm not dogging any one style--it's all choice--but it's interesting that as our society becomes more complicated and layered, our films grow closer to cartoons: clearly outlined, with strong colors, and nothing unnecessary left in-frame. It's nice to go the other way and feel bathed in the media of film. And the touchey-feely 70's vibe.

Extra points for Mat Clark as they bartender, which I was like "where have I seen him playing a bartender before...?" It was Back to the Future part III. Rad, right?