Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and "Scanners"

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, and Bob Dylan, directed by Sam Peckinpah. I usually don't go out of my way to watch westerns, but when i do manage to catch one, i generally enjoy it. I'm not really familiar with Peckinpah's other films, but this one to me had alot of heart. Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett both have their jobs to do, and alot of times it isn't fun or pretty for them. You get the sense that they're not blood thirsty killers like so many other western characters are. The fact that they usually were well-acquainted with the people they had to kill makes it all the harder. Kris Kristofferson plays the Jim Morrison-looking Billy the Kid, and James Coburn is excellent as usual as the conflicted Garrett, who's forced by circumstances to hunt down his friend. The big cattle ranchers have appointed him sheriff and he's supposed to bring in Billy, dead or alive. Garrett's reasons are simple; he wants to live to see his old age, and fighting on the side of the law seems to be his only way. He spends most of the movie in whore houses and saloons, seemingly trying to avoid a confrontation with Billy. But since he knows he either must catch Billy or give up everything, he eventually goes to him. Excellent performances throughout, Bob Dylan turns up as "Alias", a store clerk who turns in his apron to go running around with the excitement of Billy's gang. He has a noteable "label reading" scene. The soundtrack is also great, Dylan's music is almost perfect for a western and some scenes, such as the one with the song "Knocking on heaven's Door", (written specifically for the movie) were very moving. I enjoyed it more than "the Wild Bunch"

Scanners (1981) Directed by David Cronenberg. The last early 80s Cronenberg directed movie I'd seen, "Videodrome", sapped away any interest i might've had in watching any other of his films which i had yet seen. Where Videodrome was disjointed and at times unintelligable, Scanners seems to be a straight forward, narrative story. The plot is so similar to the typical video game plot, i can't imagine a video game designer who hasn't seen this movie at least 10 times. A'la Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed, etc., an evil corporation has created something (in this case, a drug), that has side-effects on the general population. That side effect is telepathy. People with this mutation are called "scanners". There seems to be one particularly powerful scanner, who can go beyond just reading minds and can actually force people to murder. When he attacks the corporation, they go out and find another powerful scanner to recruit and track down their enemy. As i said before, this movie plays out like a video game plot, but hey, I happen to enjoy those video games... It also seems like a low budget X-men, or some other great 80s comic book, it has alot of those elements. A Jim Shooter-like attention to details. The only complaint i can see against this movie is the acting, which is pretty bad, but i think it might be intentionally bad. The lead actor, the good scanner, seems very wooden, but at one point, the female lead accuses him of being "barely human" which i think means he's supposed to be acting wooden, it's part of his character. The effects are top notch for 1981, and actually, are still really good today. Slightly dated only in that, if this movie were made today, it would all be super fake-looking cgi instead of fake looking latex. All in all, a good horror/adventure/spy movie about people with superpowers. Now to watch "Firestarter" for a comparison....