6 Weeks ’till Christmas: Great Gift Ideas

SCREEN DOORS AND SADDLES November 22, 2011

Last night I invited my friend, Sheila, to the movie, Buck. It’s showing in Calgary at the Plaza Theatre through to the end of the month. I was happy to see it at a small, independent theatre – we like to support that genre, though they are sadly, fast disappearing from our landscape.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the trailer of Buck by now, it’s received a good share of publicity, but just in case you’ve been hiding under a frozen waterer, you’ll find it at the end of this post.

Sheila, not a horse owner, loved the film. As did I, and it seemed most of the audience members in the cozy theatre. It’s not a film you absolutely need to see in a theatre, but it’s always a greater experience to see a film on the big screen, isn’t it.

The movie focuses on the life and message of Buck Brannaman, a horseman we in the industry are quite familiar with, but it was nice to see his message reach outside of our circles to the larger mainstream. Buck was recently in Alberta, and we had a chance to get together with him, gathering an interview for a feature we can’t wait to share with you in the March issue of Western Horse Review. 

Buck really is about horses, but his message is quite human. Redemptive, vulnerable, forgiving. Brimming with quiet strength. Buck is a beautiful work of humanity. No great wonder he has the following he has amassed. Just this morning as I browsed my Facebook feed, I noticed a Buck quote on the Natural Leader Facebook page:

“Possess the things horses treasure – peace and comfort; and your horse will always be willing to trade with you. If you are always mindful of that, you “should” have the perfect relationship. Betray that desire and you will be low on credit with your horse.”

Always words to ponder from Buck. He’s the kind of teacher who leaves you to dwell on the questions. But then, there’s no wisdom worth having that isn’t hard won – which is, more or less, the story of his life.

I encourage you to be sure to make Buck part of your Christmas plans, whether in a theatre near you, or on DVD. That said, I’m offering up a DVD of Buck to give away this week. Fact is, I need to stockpile a few western movie suggestions for a future post, so let us know in the Comment section below, the name of a western movie you love, and we’ll enter your name into a draw to receive a DVD of Buck. Contest closes Friday, at midnight, and winner announced Monday.

Enjoy the trailer!

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The Mountie Movie Ticket Giveaway

SCREEN DOORS AND SADDLES June 29, 2011

I’m back from a trip to the U.S., and more than happy to arrive on the prelude to a long weekend. I can’t wait to get out into my 10-day neglected yard and gardens, and begin the weeding, mowing, whacking and watering.

In celebration of the long weekend, we’re giving away tickets to the premier of The Mountie in three major Canadian cities: Winnipeg, Vancouver and Toronto.

If you haven’t heard of it yet, it is a new Canadian film based on the story of a mountie who brings justice and peace to a lawless northern outpost. Fittingly, it’s premiering on July 1st.

We’re going to begin with the west coast and give away two tickets to the premier, showing July 1 at the Empire Granville in Vancouver. All you have to do is let us know – in the Comment section below – what you’re looking forward to doing this upcoming long weekend. Easy!

We’ll randomly choose one winner, announce his or her name tomorrow, and e-mail tickets to the lucky winner.

Contest closes tonight at midnight.

Oh, the other two cities – Winnipeg and Toronto. Watch for our giveaways to these cities tomorrow on Facebook.

In case you missed the trailer of The Mountie on our Facebook page here it is again. It looks like a cool and dark thriller, looking forward to viewing it!

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Buck

SCREEN DOORS AND SADDLES January 26, 2011

In the mainstream media he is known as the man behind the scenes of the Robert Redford movie, The Horse Whisperer. In the horse world we know him as one of the greatest clinicians and teachers of our time.

After attending a Buck Brannaman clinic years ago, director Cindy Meehl was taken with the charisma of the man, and a technique that thrived on gentleness with horses.

“In four days, he taught me more about horses than anyone ever had in all the decades I’d been dealing with them. Even more compelling was watching how he could instill the feeling of power in someone when they were afraid and had given up hope, whether it was about their horse or their life.”

Buck’s own story of rising above the violence of his childhood and his ability to translate his own pain and fear into an understanding of the equine mind is just as inspirational as any I’ll ever know in our life.

The Sundance Film Festival is currently on in Park City, Utah, from now until January 30, and Buck is a featured documentary.

Here’s a trailer for the film. If this is any indication I’d say it’s a winner!

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Duck You Sucker

SCREEN DOORS AND SADDLES November 26, 2010

So, last weekend, we decided to indulge in a retro Saturday night, by watching one of the collection of director Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns.

(For those of you who missed the era, Spaghetti Western is really just a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western film that emerged in the mid-1960′s and early 1970′s, so named because most were produced and directed by Italians, the most famous of which were the series of films Sergio Leone directed.)

I haven’t watched one of these films in a very long time, but last year for Christmas I gifted my boyfriend with the Sergio Leone Anthology, containing, most notably, the three movies in which Clint Eastwood starred, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More, as well as the lesser known Duck, You Sucker (1971).

It was the latter we decided on.

Duck, You Sucker.

Yep.

I wondered about that too. The story is Sergio was mistakenly under the impression “duck, you sucker” was a common slang saying in America. Later, the movie was renamed Fistful of Dynamite, and it’s lengthy two and a half hour span nailed down to under two hours for an American audience.

(I wish they still made movie posters like this, don’t you?)

The edit and re-title didn’t take, and the movie became a bit of a lost film.

That is, until the release of this anthology. For the first time on DVD, the fully restored English-language version of the original 157-minute Italian cut of Duck You Sucker, which was never shown in American theaters, is available for spaghetti western fans in the Sergio Leone Anthology.

And, I’ve got to tell you, I loved it.

The gist of the movie revolves around an Irish explosives expert, James Coburn, with a bad history back in his homeland, who meets up with a Mexican bandit, played by Rod Steiger. Together they become somewhat accidentally – at least on the part of the Mexican bandit – immersed in the Mexican Revolution. It is a story of race, of hardship, of friendship, and of the lessons learned in those friendships.

What with the Mexican Revolution central to the plot, the back-flashes to IRA activity, and even a crazed Nazi-resembling German thrown in, the movie is anything but historically in context.

But it matters not. The filming is ahead of it’s time, the soundtrack incredibly rich, and the story, ambitious and layered.

Don’t expect one of Eastwood’s Fistful’s with this film, but do expect a very unique Sergio Leone experience.

And, enjoy the Anthology, if you happen to find it in your stocking this holiday.

Here’s a sneak peek. . .

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Horses: the Story of Equus

SCREEN DOORS AND SADDLES August 1, 2010

“Six thousand years ago we domesticated horses and brought them back from the brink of extinction. There are now more than 60 million across the world. This is the story of three of them.”

So begins narrator Gabriel Byrne’s narrative in the film Horses: The Story of Equus, out on DVD today. Beautifully filmed, kids and adults will love the 45 minute documentary about three horses all born on the same day: a runaway black colt, a mischievous bay colt and a courageous chestnut filly.

One becomes a race horse and her story takes us into that extraordinary world, where the ancestry of every horse can be traced back to 1791, and where their overwhelming instinct to run is highly valued. The second is trained as a three-day eventer, but this horse is a unique individual, stubborn and temperamental. After a spectacular failure in competition, he is trained again, this time as a stunt horse in the movies and it’s in that world that his capacity for learning and his individual nature triumph. The third horse goes on a completely different journey. He escapes from people and joins the feral herds in the wild. Out there, undisturbed by human contact, the horses revert to natural, herd behavior and this horse becomes our conduit into understanding what horses may have been like before we domesticated them.

Run with the horses on the spectacular journey these three horses embark on in this fascinating tribute to the remarkable animals that have been such an integral part of human civilization. The film is being released by Warner Home Video, with a run time of 45 minutes, and should be available through some local retailers such as Best Buy or online at Amazon.

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