[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is the 20 year anniversary of Hidalgo. Perfect.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: Perfect.
[00:00:05] Speaker A: That's what everyone was waiting for.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Everyone was asking for this.
Welcome to five Minute Film Finder, brought to you by Pioneer Library System.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to five Minute Film Finder, a Pioneer Library System podcast where we tell you about movies you can watch for free with your Pioneer Linear Library System library card. I am Tracy and today I am joined by.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Hi, I'm Samuel.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: Hi, Samuel. We've never done one of these together.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. This is our first go at it.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Yes. And we've already basically recorded an entire podcast before we started recording this podcast. So I think it's gonna go well.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. No, I think so. I think so.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: Yeah. I hope that Ben puts in the cold open about us talking about the Way of Water, but if he doesn't, we just spent a good amount of time talking about the Way of Water, which is a film.
The Wild west of Pandora. So we can tie this back in.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: If the Wild west was underwater and in space.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: In space and entirely patronized by blue aliens. Yes. Then it would be exactly like our two films today, which are. One is, I'm gonna like truly a classic western, and one is sort of a western adjacent modern film. Are you a big Western fan, Samuel?
[00:01:37] Speaker B: I don't think so.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: But I love Shane, which we're going to be talking about. So I think maybe I am. Maybe I am a western fan.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Maybe you are. Okay. I wouldn't say I'm a huge western fan either.
My dad is the ultimate Western fam. Like I'm going to say conservatively, my dad has seen McClintock 125 times.
It's dedicated. Yes. He loves John Wayne. He loves Gunsmoke. So I know about a lot of these movies from him, specifically the classic ones.
But they're a huge part of American cinema. And even if they aren't as popular now, like the ideas of, like, the Lone Gunman, the Lone Wolf still, like, kind of fills a lot of American movies today. It's just now it's Jason Statham, who I also love, so I can't complain.
But do you maybe want to go ahead and jump into our first movie?
[00:02:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: Okay, let's do it. So I am going to get us started today if Wilhelm will start the timer. And our first movie today is 2004's Hidalgo.
So this was my choice because I saw this movie in theaters. I talked to my mom about it. It was at the AMC Crossroads in Oklahoma City.
[00:03:00] Speaker B: There you go.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: My whole family went in 2004 to see this movie. And I had fond memories of it, I think mostly because I, at 10 years old and also right now, had a huge crush on Viggo Mortensen and liked to look at pretty horses.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: Yeah. What more do you need in a movie?
[00:03:20] Speaker A: Any truth.
Let's talk about it as an adult would be nice.
So I am obsessed with IMDb plot, synopses. I don't know if you know this about me.
So this is a short one here. It's in 1890. A down and out cowboy and his horse travel to Arabia to complete in a deadly cross country horse race.
You know how you do.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: So Hidalgo stars Viggo Mortensen as this guy named Frank who is allegedly a real person.
He is a real person and he was a huge proponent of saving the American mustang in America.
Basically everything else about him in this movie is completely false down to the fact that in this film he is portrayed as half Lakota. He was not. The Lakota tribe has basically said, no, we want nothing to do. It's that Keke Palmer meme, which he's like, I'm sorry to this man.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:27] Speaker A: I don't know if I saw this man. No, he is not. There's also a good chance that this race didn't actually exist.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: And also he didn't even work for. So part of the story is that he works for Wild Bill in the Western show. He didn't. He worked for Ringling Brothers Circus as a horseman. So that's true.
But basically the plot of this film is that he, wanting to raise money for some people in his tribe, goes to this horse race also to prove that he has a very good horse. The horses named Hidalgo.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:05:09] Speaker A: And races against several sort of purebred Arabian stallions.
[00:05:16] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Across like, I don't remember how many miles it is. Like lots of desert.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: I mean. Well, I mean, they start in the Arabian peninsula and end in Damascus. So you're going through countries.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And all desert, no roads.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: What do you think about this movie, Samuel?
[00:05:39] Speaker B: Well, okay, I as.
As you know, I love horses.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: You're a horse girl.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: I'm a horse girl. And so in this movie, I love the horses. Arabian horses are very beautiful horses and incredible, incredible creatures, as are mustangs. And so it's part of me is like, you know, why do we have to compete? You know, they're both wonderful animals.
But so that part of the movie definitely speaks to me. And also we talked about this a little bit. But like the falconry cool. You know, child Samuel, who saw this movie, this was the coolest thing ever.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: Yeah. So me as an adult watching this yesterday at my house was like, I saw the falcon kill something and I was like, sick. Yeah, love that. And then also all the horse tricks and stuff and I was like, God, I love horse. I respect them. I am afraid of them, but I love their work.
There is so much of this movie that unfortunately isn't the horses. Yes, I will say a bunch of it is. And what I really like about it is it is like a huge movie. It had a hundred million dollar budget in like 2003, 2004 when it was being made, which I looked this up. This movie came out three months after Lord of the Rings, Return of the King.
It had like, I think 2 to 3 million more on the budget than Return of the King did.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: So this is like a huge movie.
[00:07:08] Speaker B: That really puts it in perspective.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: Yeah, they spent a ton of money on it. There's a ton of horses, There's a ton of extras. They're like definitely in the dirt, in the sand, in the scenery. And so I really like the feel of that because that was one of the things we were talking about. Part of why we started talking about the Way of Water is that a movie, if it was made in 2024, that was like this, I think would be really CGI heavy.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: And this isn't like there's some really awful CGI panthers that I loved, but otherwise it feels really grounded. And so I really like that. It's a huge action adventure movie that's super grounded. Unfortunately, it is grounded in some real 2004 ideas.
I think we are at 5 minutes, but we can wrap up.
So that is my problem with this movie. So I think that if you go into it, you do have to go in with the grade of like, this is kind of a 2004 movie that feels more like a 1994 movie. Ideals wise.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Yeah, based on a lie.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: Yeah, based on a multitude of lies.
But I took one note on this movie and it was Omar Sharif smiling erases a lot of my sins of this movie because he's got a gap tooth smile. And he's so handsome and he's so charming. And I was just like, oh, I'm so glad Omar Sharif is here. And then I would be fine until something else awful happened.
So.
Yeah. Any final thoughts for you on Hidalgo?
[00:08:42] Speaker B: No. I mean, I think you've captured it. Thank you. I would just say the groundedness of it, I think raises the stakes some, right? It does, because it's a brutal story, and the fact that it's not so dependent upon cgi, There's a groundedness to it. Kind of raises those stakes as a viewer.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's really serious not to drag it out more, but that's what I do. So I will.
Is I read Roger Ebert's review of this movie, and he gave it three out of four stars, and one of his complaints was, like, this was around the time that the first pirates came out.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: And he was like, well, pirates makes adventure movies a joke. And this is not a joke of an adventure movie.
[00:09:28] Speaker B: Yeah. Wow.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: And so I think that's kind of like, fair. Like, if you miss a serious adventure movie like they used to make in the 70s, in the 80s, that kind of thing, Hidalgo will scratch an itch for you.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Just go in knowing that it's got issues. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this movie is on Hoopla, so you can check it out there. But we'll take a second, and we'll come back with our second movie. Awesome.
All right, and welcome back to this episode of Five Minute Film Finder. We're going to move on to our next movie, and Samuel's going to take the lead on this one.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Yeah. So my movie was the 1953 Western classic Shane, which can also be found on Hoopla. Just like Hidalgo.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: And they're exactly the same.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: They're exactly the same. There we go. Wrap it up. No, no.
So I chose this movie. When I saw it on Hoopla. I, like, messaged Ben. I was like, I gotta do Shane. Largely because I saw this movie the first time as a child.
My dad was watching it on tv. I was like, oh, what's this movie? He's like, oh, it's Shane. It's a really good movie. So this one's for the dads out there.
[00:10:48] Speaker A: Yes. It's also one of my dad's favorite movies.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. Dads love this movie. Yes. And I remember watching it as a kid and being like, this movie is awesome. And then I went to college and, you know, had to watch it for a class, and I got told all the ways it's, you know, it's not a great movie, and it's terrible and probably valid, but it's. I. When I watched it again for the podcast, I can't help but watch this movie as a child. And a lot of it is because Joey.
[00:11:21] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: So kind of give some plot background to the movie. There are a bunch of farmers, homesteaders, and they're in conflict with the rancher who kind of came out before them and settled the land. And it leads to violent outbursts between them. And Shane is this sort of drifter, probably a gunslinger, who comes into town, maybe trying to put that, you know, murderous past behind him, but gets drawn into the conflict. And when the rancher brings in a gunslinger, the inevitable conflict occurs. The white hat versus black hat.
[00:12:00] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: And Shane prevails and then rides off. Not into the sunset.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: No. Into the pitch black. Dark. Unfortunately, the end of this movie is quite dark. Yes.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: But the story is largely, I think, told through Joey's eyes.
[00:12:16] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:16] Speaker B: As this kid of one of the homesteader families. And, I mean, this movie was made for a psychoanalyst. Right.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: We did talk about that a little bit, because there is.
So Alan Ladd has.
[00:12:31] Speaker B: Who plays Shane.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Yes. Chemistry with the walls in this movie. Like, we spent at least five minutes before we started officially recording, where I just talked about how handsome he is.
[00:12:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:42] Speaker A: And he has so much charisma with everyone in this movie, including, like, there's a love triangle situation.
He's staying with one of the homesteaders.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: The Starrets. Yeah.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: Yes. And the husband, Joe and him have a very visceral connection. But then also him and the wife are kind of flirty. There's this beautiful scene where they have a 4th of July dance where the two of them dance together.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: And it's one with joestar in the background watching.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Like, watching. And it's shot very beautifully, but it's so beautiful. They obviously have a connection. And then this boy, at one point, Joey, the son is like, I love Shane almost as much as I love Pa. And I'm like, you've known Shane for three days.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: I'm gonna need you to get it together.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: But you get, like, as a child. Right.
I don't know. I remember as a child when I thought I met the coolest person ever, you know, and it happened multiple times. There would be some person. You were like, that person is so cool. I want to be just like them when I grow up. And I feel like that is who Shane is for this kid.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: Well, and the movie makes Shane that for everyone watching the movie, Even the.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: Dad, JoeStart wants to be Shane.
[00:14:02] Speaker A: We all want it. Like, we all want to be Shane. Cause Shane's, like, trying to redeem himself from what is a sort of unspoken, technically, but very well sort of advertised life that he's trying to leave behind him something that feels like it was probably, like, dangerous and wild and he wants to settle down and have this beautiful life, but in the end where it sort of does get kind of heightened, he ends up looking at joy and being like a man. Can only be what he is.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: And for Shane, that's.
[00:14:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: A violent person.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: Yeah. It's almost. Now that I'm thinking about it, it's almost antithetical to Hidalgo. Right. Hidalgo is the guy who can. Who can overcome everything. Right. He makes. He makes his success, him and his horse. Right. Like, they can overcome anything.
[00:14:52] Speaker A: Good horse.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: But Shane, he's. He's Brandon. Right. Like, he. You cannot break out of the mold of the gunslinger.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: And obviously he's. So there's the other gunslinger in the movie, which is played by Jack Palance. Yeah. Eventual Oscar award winner for City Slickers.
He is. Shane's obviously the good gunslinger we are at time, but we're gonna keep going because that's what I do.
But Jack Palance is not in this movie a bunch. But is so obviously so evil.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: Sinister.
[00:15:29] Speaker A: Yeah. He shoots a man and, like, smiles ear to ear at one point. And I went, oh, no.
And it's really kind of like these two ideals against each other. Whereas Shane's still gonna live a violent life, but he's gonna be good. Big air quotes.
[00:15:47] Speaker B: It's like mythic violence. Right. Like, Shane can be neatly violent, take out the bad guy, but then he has to leave because we have to have a peaceful society here.
So he has to get rid of the other violent person, and then he too, has to get on out of here.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: As much as Joey wants him to.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Stay, which is the kind of. It's the end of this movie. And also the thing that's most famous about it is just this little boy crying and screaming, Shane.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Shane. Yeah. Yeah.
I'll just throw in one more thing.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Go ahead.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: If you love.
Well, I don't know. I don't want to say if you love. If you appreciate a very loyal dog, this movie has that for you.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: There's a good dog.
[00:16:30] Speaker B: There's a very good dog in this movie.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: There's a good dog.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: It's very heartbreaking because his owner is the one shot, but he's a very good dog.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: It's a good dog. And a lot of hatred for pig farming.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: That I did not understand.
[00:16:45] Speaker B: Yeah. It is weird. It's like farmers versus ranchers, you know? Yes.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: Which I meant to bring this up while we were talking in the main part, but we didn't get there. This is also technically inspired by a real event.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: The Johnson County War or the Wyoming Range War, which was a conflict in Wyoming between cattle companies who were trying to, like, force out wrestlers in the area and force out homesteaders in the area. That went on for years.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: And that was a huge inspiration for the novel that then inspired this film.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Shane was not there either.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Okay. But so we still have some lies, but.
[00:17:21] Speaker A: Hey, there's still lies, but it is technically inspired by real events of the American West.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Wow, I didn't know that.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: Yeah. So two very loosely western films inspired by stuff that sort of happened on Hoopla that your dad'll like.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah. If you're going home for the holidays, watch it with your dad.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: If you just wanna spend some quality time with your dad, put on either both of these movies and talk about the American west and the mythos of it and the lies that you're being told.
[00:17:54] Speaker B: There we go.
[00:17:57] Speaker A: What a sunny way to end this podcast. If you have any comments on the American west, you can email
[email protected] or if you just want to ask us about any movies that we'd maybe want to watch or give us any suggestions of anything that you'd want us to watch, we'd love to hear from you.
Make sure that your pioneer library system library card is up to date so you can check out all these movies on Hoopla. Thanks for coming to hang out with me today, Samuel.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: This was a lot of fun.
[00:18:24] Speaker A: Yay. Let's do it again.
[00:18:25] Speaker B: Let's do it.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: Okay.
