This week's Guilty Pleasure movie was The Magnificent Seven. Director John Sturges remade Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai as a western, transporting the themes of change and lost ways of life from feudal Japan to the American west. It was my turn to pick the movie this week and in the wake of True Grit a western seemed like a good choice. I have had a great love of the western genre ever since I took an entire class devoted to it. In that film studies class we watched many classics like Shane and Once Upon a Time in the West (I would have picked the latter if it wasn't 175 minutes long!). We also watched lesser known films like the surrealist Latin American western El Topo, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky (I would have picked this one if it wasn't so weird!).
Hosting at our new apartment, the food theme of the evening was "miniature" and "eat with your hands". There was excellent food, as usual, provided by all attendees: mini veggie sliders, quiche, satsumas, spinach pies, and cupcakes! It was a great night and a great movie!
-Jeff
Thank you, Jeff! Don't write the Western off, they are actually pretty engaging when you give them a chance. True Grit is incredible, it you haven't seen it yet I urge you to go check it out. Take a look at the awesome trailer for The Magnificent Seven and the montage below. It will give you an idea of the intensity of both the acting and the score:
