Merry Christmas, pardners!

With a little help from artist Douglas Wodark, we'd like to wish you the happiest of holiday seasons.

'Tis the season

Just to get you in the right spirit for last-minute gift shopping, here's Country star Alan Jackson singing "Let It Be Christmas."

The Black West: Buffalo Soldiers, Black Cowboys and Untold Stories

Billed as the largest exhibition of its kind ever assembled to showcase Western art by African-American artists, The Black West: Buffalo Soldiers, Black Cowboys and Untold Stories will open Saturday, Dec. 20, and remain on display through March 22, 2009 at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia.

Golden boy

Celebrities, take note: It brings you good luck when you're on the cover of Cowboys & Indians. Latest example of this phenomenon: Hugh Jackman, who graced our December issue, has just gotten the plum job of host for the 81st annual Academy Awards.

More Grammy nods for Trisha Yearwood

Congratulations to Trisha Yearwood -- our January 2008 cover gal -- for her latest batch of Grammy Award nominations: Female Country Vocal Performance ("This is Me You're Talking To"), Country Collaboration With Vocals ("Let the Wind Chase You," with Keith Urban), and Country Album ("Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love"). Bravo, and good luck. You can see a complete list of this year's Grammy nominations here. Winners will be announced Feb. 8.

From all of us at C&I.....

Sexiest Cowboy Alive

Congratulations to Hugh Jackman for being named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive." But, of course, Cowboys & Indians readers already knew he had fair claim to that title.

All the wild horses

From the Salt Lake Tribune: The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is struggling to pay for the upkeep of 30,000 wild horses and burros in captivity, and hasn't figured out how to deal with the animals in Utah and across the West. The Government Accountability Office, noting the $21 million spent last year to tend to the wild horses on and off the range, says BLM, to live up to federal law, must start culling the herds through euthanasia, adoption or sale to protect rangelands from overgrazing.

But this story may have a happy ending, according to The Washington Post: Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, has made known her intentions to adopt most or all of the horses and burros now kept in federal holding pens.

Kevin Costner: Making music with Modern West

With his first CD newly arrived in stores, Kevin Costner has started touring with his Country-rock group Modern West. And the CD itself is getting some respectful attention.

Speaking of USA Today... and Nicole Kidman....

The Oscar-winning actress (and wife of Country superstar Keith Urban) talks about Australia. Money quote: "I wanted to make a film for my country. We wanted it to be an Australian Gone With the Wind."

Stars shine at CMA awards show

USA Today offers full coverage of last night's Country Music Association Awards presentation, noting that the ceremony "served as the coronation of Brad Paisley as Country's jack-of-all-trades and master of all." (P.S. Hugh Jackman and Nicol Kidman also were on hand for the festivities.)

Tonight's the night

Ron Wynn of Nashville City Paper previews tonight's 42nd annual Country Music Association Awards telecast -- airing at 7 pm CST on ABC -- and predicts another win for Carrie Underwood.

Australia earns Oprah's seal of approval

Miss Winfrey is raving about the epic romantic drama previewed in the current issue of Cowboys & Indians.

R.I.P:Tony Hillerman (1925-2008)

Tony Hillerman wrote “lyrical, authentic and compelling mystery novels set among the Navajos of the Southwest,” books that “blazed innovative trails in the American detective story,” writes Marilyn Stasio in an obituary in today’s International Herald Tribune. “Hillerman’s evocative novels, which describe people struggling to maintain ancient traditions in the modern world, touched millions of readers, who made them best sellers.” Hillerman died Sunday of pulminary failure, at age 83.

The Good, The Bad and the Weird

Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon impressed audiences at the Hawaii International Film Festival with his wild and woolly "kim-chee Western."

"Locket & Key"

The music of Donna the Buffalo has been labeled as alternative-country, Americana, folk-rock -- and a dozen or so other things. But the group is more than plain ol' country enough for Great American Country. Which is why this video for their terrific new single, "Locket & Key," is set to debut Friday (Oct. 10) on GAC's Edge of Country program. But wait, there's more: The more the video is requested, the more GAC will play it. If you like it, you can visit here and ask for more.

Willie Nelson in 3-D

Are you ready for The Red-Headed Stranger in 3-D? Stereo Vision Entertainment, Inc. has announced plans to produce Secrets of the Lost San Sabas, a film in which Willie Nelson will play "an Indian guide to afterlife on a 300-year quest for justice. The movie's filled with ghosts and goddesses from the Aztec Nation, along with some of today's most colorful characters, all shot in state-of-the-art, digital 3-D." Cowabunga.

Seven things you may not know about "The Magnificent Seven"

Robert Vaughn tells tales and shares secrets throughout A Fortunate Life, his sharply observed and self-deprecatingly witty autobiography. But we were especially intrigued by those parts of the book -- newly issued in paperback -- that focus on The Magnificent Seven, the classic 1960 Western -- based on Akira Kuroswa's Seven Samurai (1954) -- in which the actor appeared as a self-doubting gunslinger alongside co-stars Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Horst Buchholz -- and Brad Dexter.

Yes, Brad Dexter. Not Eli Wallach.

As Vaughn notes in his autobiography, Dexter "is the 'Bashful' of The Magnificent Seven -- the actor in the group who most people fail to name, just as most people forget Bashful when naming the Seven Dwarfs. Many movie buffs will mention Eli Wallach as one of the Seven, which is wrong. He was great in the picture as Calvera, the leader of the bandit gang that is terrorizing the Mexican villagers we come to rescue."

Six other choice nuggets to savor in A Fortunate Life:

THIS GROUP OF SEVEN WAS A HAPPY ACCIDENT. Long before taking the reins of The Magnificent Seven, filmmaker John Sturges earned his spurs as a director of Grade-A Westerns with Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Last Train from Gun Hill and The Law and Jake Wade. But during the production process for this film, he had to race against the clock: The Screen Actors Guild had called a strike to start in Spring 1960. Vaughn writes that when he showed up at Sturges' office for his audition, on a morning in January, “an ax was hanging over every movie project in Hollywood. Unless the casting for a picture was completed by noon on a particular Friday, production couldn’t begin.” The good news: Sturges had already more or less decided to cast Vaughn on the basis of the actor's Oscar-nominated supporting performance in The Young Philadelphians. The bad news: At that point, Sturges had commitments from only two other actors, Brynner and McQueen. And the clock was ticking.

Sturges told Vaughn: “We don’t have a script, just Kurosawa’s picture to work from. You’ll have to go on faith. But we’ll be filming in Cuernavaca. Never been there? You’ll love it — it’s the Palm Springs of Mexico.” Vaughn told Sturges: "I'm in." Sturges told Vaughn: "Good decision, young man. And do you know any other good young actors? I’ve got four other slots to fill.” As it turned out, Vaughn did indeed know at least one likely candidate: James Coburn, a friend and former classmate who had attracted attention one year earlier in a supporting role opposite Randolph Scott and future Bonanza star Pernell Roberts in Budd Boetticher’s Ride Lonesome. The other three? Sturges managed to round them up on his own.

WHEN YOU'VE GOT TO GO, YOU'VE GOT TO GO. Vaughn discovered fairly quickly after filming began that there was a downside to filming on location in Mexico. He might have passed on the film, he wrote, "[i]f I'd known that I would be spending my three months in Cuernavaca with a stomach-churning case of the Aztec two-step."

THEY MADE IT UP AS THEY WENT ALONG. "There were long periods," Vaughn recalls, "when we didn't work because the script was still being written. We'd be told one evening, 'Tomorrow we'll be doing scene so-and-so.' and that night carbon copies of the script on onion-skin paper would be slid under our doors to learn for the next day."

PISTOL ENVY. Throughout the production, Vaughn writes, Steve McQueen "always was intensely competitive, even to the point of being paranoid." He was convinced that Yul Brynner was pulling every nasty trick in the book to steal scenes, and often complained to Vaughn about what he felt were Brynner's underhanded attempts to upstage him. At one point, he actually went ballistic -- figuratively speaking, of course -- about Byrnner's choice of weaponry. The gun "has a bleeping pearl handle for God's sake," McQueen ranted. "He shouldn't have a gun like that. It's too bleeping fancy. Nobody's gonna look at anything else with that goddamn gun in the picture." Notes Vaughn: "Of course, Steve meant that nobody would be looking at Steve McQueen."

NO SMALL PARTS. "It's a sobering thought," Vaughn writes, "to realize I'm the last of the Seven still alive." On the brighter side, however, "Eli is still going strong." Ironically, though, Eli Wallach very nearly turned down the role of Calvera, the bandit chief whose repeated raids on a remote village lead the villagers to hire The Magnificent Seven in the first place. As he recalls in his own autobiography -- The Good, The Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage, also available in paperback -- Wallach was still best known as a New York stage actor, despite his showy turn in Eli Kazan's controversial Baby Doll (1956). He knew full well that exposure in a major Hollywood movie could help his career. At first, however, Wallach was concerned about the relative scarcity of his screen time. He accepted the part only after he realized how he could make every minute count. “After rereading the script,” Wallach writes, “I realized that even though I only appeared in the first few minutes of the film, the natives spoke about my return for the next forty-five minutes – ‘Calvera’s coming.’ ‘When is he coming back?’ – so, I decided to do the part.”

YOU NEVER CAN TELL. After filming wrapped in Cuernavaca, Vaughn admits, "I was convinced that The Magnificent Seven would be a failure. Instead, of course, it became a box-office hit, a star-making vehicle for several in the cast, including Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and Charles Bronson, and a classic Western drama still enjoyed today almost half a century after it was made. It's the second-most frequnetly played movie on American TV (trailing only Casablanca).

"So what the hell do I know?"

Bluegrass champs

The new duo Dailey & Vincent -- that is, Jamie Dailey (above, left) and Darrin Vincent (right) -- dominated the International Bluegrass Music Association awards Thursday in Nashville, winning entertainer of the year, album of the year, vocal group, emerging artist and gospel recorded performance. You can read more about it here.

Redford remembers Newman

"I first met Paul Newman in 1968, when George Roy Hill, the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, introduced us in New York City. When the studio didn't want me for the film — it wanted somebody as well known as Paul — he stood up for me. I don't know how many people would have done that; they would have listened to their agents or the studio powers." More from Robert Redford here.

R.I.P.: Paul Newman (1925-2008)

If you’re going to introduce a younger movie buff to the unique charisma of the extraordinary Paul Newman – well, where do you begin? After all, you’re talking about a superstar who was active on screen over six decades. Here are some suggested movies to use while tutoring the uninitiated.

HUD (1963) – As an anti-heroic heel in Martin Ritt’s anti-Western, Newman is a smolderingly sexy hunk who defies his tradition-bound father (Melvyn Douglas) and disillusions his admiring nephew (Brandon de Wilde) while selfishly looking out for No. 1.

HARPER (1966) -- Newman's self-assured star power has seldom been showcased as effectively as it is in this slick private-eye drama based on Ross Macdonald's The Moving Target. As Lew Harper (the detective known as Lew Archer in Macdonald's great series of crime novels), Newman cracks wise and dodges bullets with all the cynical élan of a classic movie shamus. (A somewhat lesser sequel, 1976’s The Downing Pool, is not without its charms.)

COOL HAND LUKE (1967) -- This is the one that solidified Newman's status as a pop-culture icon of the 1960s. As a rebellious chain-gang prisoner who destroys himself while becoming a legend in the eyes of other inmates (including Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton and Oscar-winner George Kennedy), he combines anarchy, nobility and plain old cussedness in just the right measures. Little wonder that a frustrated warden (the late, great Strother Martin) complains: ''What we got here is failure to communicate!”

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) -- Newman and Robert Redford make the best pair of big-screen buddies since Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy in this tongue-in-cheeky Western written by William Goldman (who also scripted Harper) and directed by George Roy Hill (who would later guide Newman and Redford through the stylish con-artistry of The Sting).

SLAP SHOT (1977) – Rude and crude with apologies to no one, George Roy Hill’s profanely funny comedy about the misadventures of a third-rate, bush-league hockey team remains a much-quoted favorite of sports-talk radio hosts everywhere. Look beyond the surface hilarity, however, and you’ll better appreciate Newman’s risky and frisky performance as a middle-aged player-coach whose desperation mounts as he become increasingly aware that he won’t have much left when he hangs up his skates.

THE VERDICT (1982) -- Sidney Lumet directed, and David Mamet wrote, this brooding courtroom drama about a malpractice case that brings out the best in an unlikely hero. Newman's masterful portrayal of a boozy, burnt-out lawyer who gets a shot at redemption ranks with his finest work as an actor.

BLAZE (1989) -- Written and directed by Ron Shelton, who also gave us the equally robust Bull Durham, Blaze is a riotously funny and rigorously earthy romantic comedy about life, love and the pursuit of political mandates. Newman gives a big, boldly flamboyant performance as Earl K. Long, the three-term Louisiana governor who infamously romanced Blaze Starr (Lolita Davidovich), a spectacularly endowed Bourbon Street stripper known affectionately as ''Miss Spontaneous Combustion.''

NOBODY’S FOOL (1995) – Everyone has a favorite Paul Newman performance. But if you’re going to choose his very best performance, you’ll be hard-pressed to name one better than his Oscar-nominated turn in this quietly superb comedy-drama from writer-director Robert Benton (Places in the Heart). Based on the well-received novel by Richard Russo, Nobody's Fool is the story of Sully (Newman), an aimless and amiably impoverished construction worker with a banged-up knee, a who-cares attitude and a scolding landlady named Miss Beryl (Jessica Tandy). At age 60, however, Sully finds himself, much to his amazement, on the verge of finally becoming a responsible adult. Like just about everything else in his life, it just happens, without warning, and Sully has to deal with it.

From Captain Jack to Kimosabe

Johnny Depp -- whose maternal grandfather, not incidentally, was Cherokee -- has signed on to play Tonto in producer Jerry Bruckheimer's new version of The Lone Ranger. No word yet, however, on who'll be wearing the black mask and shooting the silver bullets.

R.I.P.: Jerry Reed (1937-2008)

Jerry Reed wrote songs for superstars such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, and scored smash hits on his own with the likes of “Amos Moses” and “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” 70’s chart-toppers distinguished by Reed’s rambunctiously raspy vocals and twangy guitar virtuosity. But it’s entirely possible that most people will remember the Atlanta native best as a scene-stealing character actor who specialized in Southern-fried sidekicks (Smokey and the Bandit, Hot Stuff, Bat-21). He was surprisingly effective as a deadly serious redneck crime lord in Burt Reynolds’ Gator, and a sassy/cynical cop in the short-lived 1977 TV series Nashville 99. He even managed to occasionally upstage Walter Matthau and Robin Williams as a domesticated hit man in Michael Ritchie’s under-rated The Survivors. He'll be missed.

If you like Spaghetti Westerns...

Maybe you'll enjoy the first-ever "Kimchi Western" -- Kim Jee-woon's The Good, The Bad and The Weird, an epic South Korean production described by one critic as a wild and woolly mix "of Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, George Miller’s apocalyptic road movies and a frantic brand of comedy that’s quintessentially Korean..." It won't open until 2009 in the USA, but it's a gala presentation at this year's prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. So I hope to give you a report after I catch a TIFF screening next week. In the meantime, here is what the original South Korean trailer looks like.

Live from Sam Houston State University: The Gillette Brothers!

Debby Carpenter reports on a lively performance by The Gillette Brothers, the very best cowboy poet-musicians ever to hail from Yonkers, N.Y.

Medicine men and medical miracles

From USA Today: At Banner Page Hospital in northern Arizona, traditional Navajo healing is merging with modern medicine.

He's still ready for some football

For an unprecedented 20th season, Hank Williams Jr. will be singing the opening theme for Monday Night Football., starting with ESPN's Sept. 8 double header of Minnesota at Green Bay (7 p.m. ET) and Denver at Oakland (10:15 p.m. ET). Williams first performed "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night" -- based on his hit song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" -- in 1989 during the 20th anniversary season of MNF on ABC. Through the years, the MNF intro segment has featured Williams in a variety of settings -- cruising the highway in a convertible with Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, tapping with famed dancer Savion Glover, even flying through outer space. After performing alongside an all-star band the past two years on ESPN, Williams will be a solo act this fall, welcoming fans to the weekly MNF game with a house party theme.

Galloping soon to a theater near you

I viewed a rough cut of Appaloosa about a month ago, prior to interviewing Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris for our next issue (on sale -- hint, hint! - Sept. 2 at fine newsstands everywhere). The Warners publicists asked me not to comment on the film itself until closer to its world premiere next month at the Toronto Film Festival, so I can't tell you how good it is, and how terrific Mortensen and Harris (and Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons) are in the lead roles, and how it's an even better Western than last year's 3:10 to Yuma remake. But, hey, I can direct you to a trailer, right here.

Trisha Yearwood: Dairy queen

Our January cover gal is singing the praises of a healthy beverage.

Re-enacting the Wild West

Wild West Creations founder Frank Murcek and his gang of Western-clad gunmen aim to make history come to life for fun and profit.

Girls rock!

Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Kellie Pickler and more young female stars are shaking up the country music charts in a big way, according to the cover story in the latest issue of Country Weekly. “Carrie, Taylor and I relate a lot because we each understand what the others are going through,” says Kellie (pictured above). “It’s real good to have close girlfriends in the industry.” Carrie modestly notes: “I’m not really sure about my impact on things. I do think maybe there have been a few of us that have opened the door and shown people what they were missing.” Also featured in the Country Weekly story: Miranda Lambert, Jewel and Julianne Hough.

Take her out to the ball game

When Sheryl Crow sings the national anthem Tuesday at All-Star game in Yankee Stadium -- chances are good she'll be wearing items from her new clothing line.

A week on the range

From the Los Angeles Times: A vaquero's grandson tests his wrangler genes at a dude ranch that promises an "authentic" cowboy experience.

Country comes to Malibu

Nashville may still be Music City, but according to Great American Country, some country music superstars are flocking to Malibu. That's where Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood have found their home away from home.

Not so hot to trot

From The Houston Chronicle, bad news about horse sales:

"I've seen it rough before, but I don't ever think I've ever seen it this bad," said Mark Riley, who has worked as an auctioneer for three decades. "To most people, horses are a hobby or a plaything or a toy. When the economy gets tough, the plaything is the first thing to go."

Proud parents

Congratulations to country superstar Keith Urban and Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman -- proud parents of a baby girl born Monday in Nashville.

Happy Independence Day!

Meanwhile, back at the Hallmark

The Hallmark Channel promises an entire month of rip-snorting, straight-shooting Westerns -- everything from Two Rode Together and Ride Lonesome to Bite the Bullet and Seraphim Falls -- throughout July. Of special note are two world premieres: A Gunfighter's Pledge (July 5) and Every Second Counts (July 12).

Maverick marathon

Great news for fans of James Garner and classic television: You can celebrate July 4th with 12 back-to-back episodes of Maverick on the Encore Westerns cable network. The marathon kicks off at 12 noon EDT on Independence Day. And with all due respect to Mel Gibson -- Garner remains, now and forever, the coolest and craftiest cardshark cowboy to ever ride tall in a tongue-in-cheeky sagebrush saga.

Western wildlife

From the Associated Press: "Governors from several Western states voted Sunday to form a council that will study ways to protect wildlife habitats in the face of ever-increasing demand for energy development in their region."

Wild West Fest

Country music, chili cook-offs and world-class rodeo action are among the main attractions this weekend, June 27-29, at the 2008 New England Wild West Fest in Marshfield, Mass. And it's all for a good cause: This is the signature fundraising event of the Spirit of the American Cowboy Foundation, a Boston-based non-profit organization dedicated to raising money for children’s cancer research. Check out the detailed ticket info here.

Czech out these cowboys

They're shooting straight and riding tall at the Cowboy Action Shooting event in... well, would you believe the Czech Republic?

Coming soon to a theater near you: Appaloosa

Good news, pardners: Appaloosa, Ed Harris' eagerly awaited film version of Robert B. Parker's popular Western novel, finally has a release date. The movie -- which stars Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Oscar winners Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons -- will gallop into theaters Sept. 19 nationwide. While you're waiting, take a look inside the current issue of Cowboys & Indians -- yep, the one with Tom Selleck on the cover -- to read my interview with Parker (who's very excited about the movie) and see some photos of Mortensen (above, left) and Harris (right) as lawmen Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole.

Viewer alert: Jewel on Great American Country

Recording artist and Nashville Star judge Jewel will invite viewers to her ranch in Stephenville, Texas, when Great American Country showcases the singer on an episode of the cable network’s Origins series at 9 pm EDT Saturday, June 28. According to a network press release, "GAC cameras go on a guided tour of the multi-platinum selling artist’s Stephenville home she shares with rodeo legend Ty Murray, who also appears in the episode. Jewel demonstrates her cowgirl showmanship while riding her horses and she proudly allows the cameras into the couple’s saddle barn and newly renovated home studio."

But wait, there's more: During the program, Jewel will perform acoustic versions of cuts from her top-selling country album, Perfectly Clear, and talk about the strong family influences in her music.

"At the heart of it all,” Jewel says, “ I’m the daughter of pioneers and homesteaders. I was raised on a remote ranch in Alaska, and grew up listening to my father’s cowboy music and songwriting by campfire during our summer cattle drives. That lifestyle became the foundation to everything I’ve achieved in my life since -- and I’ve exceeded every expectation I’ve ever had for myself. It’s such an honor to be able to make a living writing and singing the music that I love. I still work every day to maintain the things I care about and to uphold the proud pioneer spirit of my family.”

Westerns get the White House vote

Will Dean of the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper notes: Only three modern U.S. Presidents -- Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford -- didn't list a Western when each was asked to name his favorite movie of all time. Indeed, three Presidents -- George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon -- placed the same movie atop their personal-fave lists: High Noon. What are we to make of this? Well, Dean wonders whether a perference for romantic comedies might have "drastically altered U.S. foreign policy throughout the 20th century." But, then again, maybe not.

Arthur Penn goes West

Director Arthur Penn likely will forever be best known for Bonnie and Clyde. But as Henry Cabot Beck of True West reminds us, the 85-year-old filmmaker also has three notable Westerns on his resume. Cabot chats with Penn here.

Nashville Star update

Episode 2: Jewel continues her mentoring ways as the competition gets even fiercer.

Shane: No. 1 with a bullet

According to members of Western Writers of America, a nonprofit organization of more than 600 professional scribes, the greatest Western movie ever made is -- drum roll, please! -- Shane, George Stevens' 1953 classic starring the late, great Alan Ladd as a weary gunfighter forced to take sides in a Wyoming land war. The writers also have announced their choices for the all-time Top Ten cinematic sagebrush sagas, a list that also includes:

2. High Noon

3. The Searchers

4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

5. Dances With Wolves

6. The Wild Bunch

7. Red River

8. Tombstone

9. The Magnificent Seven

10. Open Range

"It's not the Top 10 I would come up with," says incoming WWA president Johnny D. Boggs, "but that's the fun of lists like these. It prompts lively debate, and members of Western Writers of America can be as passionate about Western film as they are about literature of the West."

In any event: Congratulations to Kevin Costner for making the final cut with both Dances With Wolves and Open Range -- here is a link to a 2003 Cowboys & Indians interview in which he talks about his high regard for Westerns -- and thanks to WWA for also listing what might be described as 90 runners-up.

From Iron Man to shootin' irons for Robert Downey Jr.?

Fresh from his success as the super-heroic Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. may continue riding tall along the comeback trail as the star of... no kidding... Cowboys & Aliens. Based on the graphic novel by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley, the sci-fi Western centers on a battle between Apache warriors and paleface settlers that is interrupted by the crash-landing of a spaceship near Silver City, Arizona. Downey currently is in negotiations to play Zeke Jackson, a notorious gunslinger (and Union Army vet) who leads an alliance of settlers and Apaches in a counter-attack against invading extraterrestrials bent on enslaving (or destroying) all Earthlings. The movie is tentatively set as a 2010 release.

Update, June 17: Evidently, some folks aren't too happy about the "allegorical" content of this "liberal Hollywood" movie. They're also unhappy about the "blatant foolishness" of the equally offensive Tombstone. No kidding.

Nashville Star premiere

Here's a recap for those of you who missed last night's episode.

A journey from Old Europe to the New West

Donna Rifkin of The Washington Post has high praise for The German Bride, Joanna Hershon's ambitious novel about "a German Jewish woman named Eva Frank who, after a hasty marriage in 1865, leaves her wealthy father's mansion in Berlin to pursue a new life among the 'low mud-cake hovels' of the American West. Accompanied by her husband, Eva journeys across the ocean and then across the United States to set up housekeeping in Santa Fe, a makeshift, dirty, danger-ridden settlement that was just beginning to organize itself into a town." Vanity Fair asked Hershon who she would cast in a film adaptation of her book, and she replies here.

A double dose of Nashville Star

NBC has signed a deal with the Country Music Television cable network allowing CMT to repeat -- er, excuse me, I mean repurpose -- episodes of Nashville Star four days after their broadcast premieres. Nashville Star -- formerly a mainstay at the USA Network -- returns for its sixth season June 9 on NBC, with Billy Ray Cyrus as host.

Readin' and writin' and... ridin'?

Obviously, Tennessee school officials have zero tolerance for students who try to horse around before graduation.

Next stop: Australia

A very pregnant Nicole Kidman appeared on the red carpet (alongside husband Keith Urban) at Sunday's 43rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards. Fans may not get another up-close look at the actress until November, when she'll be seen opposite co-star Hugh Jackman (above) in Australia, an epic drama about a World War II-era cattle drive across hundreds of miles of the most unforgiving land in The Land Down Under.

R.I.P.: Oakley Hall (1920-2008)

From The New York Times: "Oakley Hall, the author of the novels Warlock and The Downhill Racers and a literary heir to fellow California writers like Wallace Stegner, died Monday at his home in Nevada City, Calif. He was 87 and lived in Nevada City, Squaw Valley and San Francisco... Mr. Hall, who began his career writing tightly constructed mystery novels, produced a steady stream of works, most set in the American West, of which the best known is Warlock (1958), a fictional reimagining of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Called 'one of our best American novels' in a Holiday magazine review by Thomas Pynchon, it was made into a film of the same name with Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda." There's more on Hall here and here.

Thank you, C&I readers!

Here at the C&I Corral, we're celebrating our 15th anniversary with an announcement of our record circulation growth. The Premier Magazine of the West is reporting a 22 percent increase in average paid circulation in the second half of 2007, achieving an all-time high circulation level of 147,400 (compared to 121,105 in 2006). All of which means that, using the formula of 5.2 readers per copy, as determined by the Magazine Publishers Association, Cowboys & Indians now has an average of 766,480 readers for each issue. Yippie-ti- yi-yay!

James Stewart centennial

To celebrate the May 20 centennial of James Stewart's birth, Turner Classic Movies will offer a marathon of the superstar's films -- including, naturally, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance -- and Universal Home Video will release James Stewart: The Western Collection, a boxed set of DVDs including Destry Rides Again, Winchester '73, Bend of the River, The Far Country, Night Passage and The Rare Breed. But wait, there's more: Critic Mick LaSalle pays tribute to the great man here.

Curious about curios?

After the 1880 arrival of the railroad in New Mexico, Pueblo and Navajo artisans collaborated with non-Indian dealers to invent artifacts that had no purpose but to satisfy the demand for Indian goods. From its inception, the curio trade comprised cottage industries, retail spaces -- and a vast mail-order business. The rich, complex and controversial story of this phenomenon will be told in From the Railroad to Route 66: The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico, an exhibit scheduled for display from Sunday, May 18, until April 19, 2009 at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe.

The mystery of the Arapaho photos

According to the Evening News of Edinburgh, Scotland, long-lost photographs of Native Americans have been uncovered in a file cabinet in the Charlotte Square headquarters of the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust. And thanks to the interest of an Edinburgh archivist who stumbled upon the pictures -- taken in 1921 -- and then pursued the matter rather than let it drop, 7,000 Arapaho people who live on the Wind River Reservation are reclaiming this part of their heritage for themselves

Legacy Art Albuquerque

Lou Diamond Phillips, James Avery and Holly Dunn are among the notables expected to be on hand for the eighth annual Legacy Art Albuquerque charity art auction Saturday, May 10, at the Sandia Resort and Casino in Albuquerque, N.M. This year's featured artist is the acclaimed CJ Wells. As always, all proceeds from the event go to Albuquerque's St. Pius X High School, and the Amando and J.B. Peña “Art Has Heart” educational foundation.

R.I.P.: Eddy Arnold (1918-2008)

Eddy Arnold, the country crooner credited as a pioneer of "The Nashville Sound," died Thursday morning at a care facility near Nashville, just days short of his 90th birthday. The Associated Press obit is here, Great American Country pays tribute here, and Fox News has a guide to Arnold's career highlights here.

They fought the lawyer, and the lawyer won

From the ABA Journal: In the aftermath of a 1869 heist in Daviess County, Mo., Jesse and Frank James stole a getaway horse from a wealthy local farmer. Unfortunately for the brothers, the farmer had a really good lawyer...

Return of The Big Trail

Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail -- the epic 1930 Western that showcases the late, great John Wayne in his first starring role -- has been restored for release as a collector's edition 2-disc DVD.

Coming soon to a computer near you

Wild West Online: Gunfighter -- a spanking new multiplayer computer game developed by Tenderfoot Games, LLC -- has entered its "open beta" testing period, meaning that the game is available to the general public. But take note: Accessibility may be periodically limited while the Tenderfoot team monitors the game's performance under heavy loads, fixes bugs identified by the growing community of players, and adds the final features desired for the game's official launch.

As the on-line intro explains: "In Wild West Online: Gunfighter, you will take on the role of gunslinger in the 19th Century American West. Your calling: To make your way across the country forging a name for yourself at the expense of every two-bit hayseed and cocksure tinhorn in your path. A bright flash, a sharp report... a cloud of acrid smoke. Then it’s on to the next town, the next territory and a new challenger anxious to test their mettle. But lest you get too big for your britches, be forewarned: ahead of you famous gunfighters from history lie in wait, ready to push your skills to the edge — or beyond."

Eager gunslingers can create a free account and try their skills here.

How the West was restored

How the West Was Won, the sprawling 1962 MGM Western epic boasting an ensemble cast that includes Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Gregory Peck and James Stewart, will be released August 26 in three newly restored and remastered versions.

Oh, Miley!

Looks like Miley Cyrus -- who recently graced the cover of Cowboys & Indians (along with her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus) -- isn't very happy about a photo of her that has popped up in another magazine.

Preserving a Wild West relic

From the San Francisco Examiner: A Las Vegas entrepreneur has grand plans to restore a Wild West saloon in the wilds of Goodsprings, Nevada.

Chesney's 11

Superstar Kenny Chesney picked up an impressive 11 nods -- including one for Entertainer of the Year -- during this morning's announcement of nominations for the 43rd annual Academy of Country Music awards. Multiple ACM nominations also went to four acts performing at the 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: Sugarland (four nominations), March 10; Brad Paisley (four nominations), March 15; Miranda Lambert (three nominations), March 17; and Big & Rich (four nominations), March 18. Winners will receive their prizes May 18 during a star-studded Las Vegas extravaganza broadcast on CBS.

Kevin Fowler: At the rodeo, on the tube

Kevin Fowler could attract as many as 65,000 country music fans when he performs Wednesday (March 5) at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. But his brand-new music video, "Best Mistake I Ever Made," already is reaching millions on both the CMT and GAC networks.