15 "Must-See Westerns"

Riding on the coattails of 3:10 to Yuma, which will have a nationwide sneak preview Sunday prior to a Sept. 7 opening, Entertainment Weekly offers an on-line list of 15 "Must-See Westerns." And partners, let me tell you: It's a pretty dadgum respectable line-up, ranging from Red River (1949) to Tombstone (1993), with room for at least one Budd Boetticher classic (1956's Seven Men from Now) and an epic miniseries (1989's Lonesome Dove).

Westerns ride again

USA Today sees a renaissance for the Western on the horizon as 3:10 to Yuma, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (with Brad Pitt, above) and No Country for Old Men prepare to gallop into megaplexes. Also in USA Today: A DVD guide to Westerns (including the original 1957 3:10 to Yuma) starring the late Glenn Ford.

Playing Dallas for laughs

If you laughed when you first heard that John Travolta would be subbing for Larry Hagman (above) as Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing in a big-screen version of the 1978-91 TV soap Dallas -- well, looks like the folks making the long-delayed film actually want you to giggle. According to the showbiz trade paper Variety, Betty Thomas, the director who mined two successfully spoofy movies from The Brady Bunch, and a considerably less funny comedy from I Spy, is in discussions to direct. And Pam Brady, who most recently scripted Hot Rod, is writing the screenplay. Travolta remains attached to the project -- for now.

Unemployed? Go West!

Employers are struggling to fill jobs created by a booming economy throughout many parts of the West, according to an Associated Press report. So far, however, it appears that the workforce isn't expanding fast enough to keep pace with the economic growth.

According to the AP: "Record low unemployment across parts of the West has created tough working conditions for business owners, who in places are being forced to boost wages or be creative to fill their jobs... Unemployment rates have been as low as 2 percent this year in places like Montana, and nearly as low in neighboring states. Economists cite such factors as an aging work force and booming tourism economies for the tight labor market...

"'This is actually the biggest economic story of our time, and we don't quite grasp it because it is 15 years in the making,' said economist Larry Swanson, director of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana.

"The U.S. Department of Labor reports the mountain West region — covering eight states along the Rocky Mountains — has the lowest overall unemployment rate in the nation. The region hit an all-time low of 3.4 percent in May."

Will 3:10 arrive even earlier?

First, Lionsgate announced that 3:10 to Yuma, originally set for an Oct. 5 release, would get pushed up for a Sept. 7 opening. Now there's word that the hard-edged Western starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale will get a national sneak preview in theaters throughout North America on Sept. 2. Gee, do you think this means Lionsgate is bullish on the movie's box-office prospects?

Trailer park: The Assassination of Jesse James

The above trailer for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has been available on line for several weeks. But now there's a new trailer on the Internet -- and, to my mind, it's even more encouraging. Can't wait to see this Western when it opens in limited release Sept. 21. Literally: I can't wait. That's why I hope to catch it early next month at the Toronto Film Festival.

Adios to "Western America's Will Rogers"

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that cowboy poet Colen H. Sweeten Jr. was fondly remembered over the weekend at the third annual Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering at Antelope Island State Park in Utah. "We all took our hats off and bowed our heads and said thanks for having known him," said musician Lisa Stubblefield, who organized the Antelope Island event. "He was the type of storyteller that if you were sitting with him and a bunch of people around a campfire, you wouldn't want anyone else to say a word." Once described as "Western America's Will Rogers," Sweeten died of cancer Aug. 15 at age 88.

First rave for 3:10 to Yuma

Todd McCarthy of Variety, the showbiz bible, has weighed in with the first rave review for 3:10 to Yuma.

The verdict: "3:10 to Yuma is a tense, rugged redo of a film that was pretty good the first time around. Reinforced by a strong central premise, alert performances, a realistic view of the developing Old West and a satisfying dimensionality in its shadings of good and evil, James Mangold's remake walks a fine line in retaining many of the original's qualities while smartly shaking things up a bit." McCarthy waxes enthusiastic about the lead performances by Russell Crowe and Christian Bale -- and singles out for special praise "a wonderfully leathery characterization by Peter Fonda as a supremely tough old bounty hunter."

3:10 to Yuma opens Sept. 7 at theatres and drive-ins everywhere. You can read all about it in the October issue of Cowboys & Indians magazine, which hits newsstands Sept. 4 with a cover story on the eagerly awaited Western.

Roy Rogers rides again (and again and again and...)

Listen up, buckaroos: Roy Rogers will honored Aug. 28 with a day-long retrospective on Turner Classic Movies. Among the attractions: Young Bill Hickok, Young Buffalo Bill and Jesse James at Bay, three sagebrush sagas featuring The King of the Cowboys as Wild West legends; Dark Command, Roy's only co-starring stint with John Wayne; and The Cowboy and the Senorita, the 1944 classic that paired Roy for the first time with a lovely leading lady named Dale Evans. The couple remained together for decades, on screen and off, roaming along many happy trails while making sweet music together.

Gunfights in the Internet corral

Tenderfoot Games has announced plans for Wild West Online, a new Massively Multiplayer Online Game -- or MMOG, to use gamer lingo -- designed to give players the opportunity to create their own Wild West mythology using a wide array of digitalized settings, goods, and weapons.

According to a Tenderfoot company spokewsperson, the new MMOG "will appeal to a diverse player base, with a strong focus on accessibility to mainstream consumers who may never have played an [online game] before. Wild West Online will attract a range of players, from aficionados of Westerns who have long dreamt of immersing themselves in the Old West, to those who simply want a good shootout. Game settings range from frontier camps on the edge of civilization, to prosperously growing towns and cities. "

The game will feature scenarios based on Old West history and myth. Permanent and pick-up teams can join forces to seek wealth and notoriety, but there's also a place for solo play by lone wolves seeking individual fame. But wait, there's more: Players can advance their abilities to open up new game play options. They can buy goods, important objects -- and, while doing so, gain new skills and abilities.

Wild West Online "will be faithful to the Western mystique we all grew up with as kids,” says Mike Reynolds, game designer at Tenderfoot Games. “The American frontier culture is an important part of our history, so we are working hard to re-create that atmosphere and to honor the mythology from which so many modern fiction settings drew inspiration.”

The shooting is set to start in the fourth quarter of 2008.

American Civil War in the West

The on-line "eZine" OldWestNewWest.Com continues to impress with its series of articles devoted to documenting The American Civil War in the West. In the August issue, the focus is on the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwestern Arkansas.

"To some," says OldWestNewWest.Com editor Mike Harris, "America's Civil War and the settling of the American West seem two totally unrelated parts of American history. The Civil War, however, did reach into the American West, and the stories of how the two sides fought west of the Mississippi River are filled with stories of daring and courage.

"The effort by the South to win Missouri effectively ended with the 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge. Keeping Missouri in the Union was critical to President Abraham Lincoln and his generals if federal forces were to control the Mississippi River and divide the Confederacy."

The August issue also includes a look at the Pea Ridge National Military Park, operated by the National Park Service. The park, covering more than 4,300 acres, is one of the nation's most intact Civil War battlefields. "Pea Ridge was a crucial battle in the West," Harris says, "and for anyone interested in the Union-Confederate struggle for the West, they should go experience it."

Coming soon: Appaloosa

Maybe there really is hope for a revival of the Western: Variety, the showbiz bible, reports that Ed Harris, Oscar winner Renee Zellweger and former Cowboys & Indians cover boy Viggo Mortensen will co-star in Appaloosa, an adaptation of Robert B. Parker's novel about two lawmen hired to protect a lawless town from the machinations of a renegade rancher. Filming is set to start Oct. 1 in New Mexico, with Harris doing quadruple duty as director, co-scriptwriter, producer and star. Take it from me: The novel was pretty doggone good. And these folks could turn turn it into a terrific movie.