News

Westerns often showcase shootouts, but fist fights and brawls are equally iconic and emotionally impactful. Fight scenes in Westerns represent more than just physical confrontations - they convey deeper emotions and philosophies. Some of the best Western fights include intense brawls with personal stakes, brutal duels, and unexpected subversions of audience expectations.

Westerns are known for showcasing some of the best shootouts ever seen, however, plenty of instances have consisted of conflicts in Westerns being resolved with bawled-up fists instead. Known worldwide for their depictions of just and honorable lawmen combating wild and dangerous outlaws during the American frontier, fist-fights, and brawls have become just as iconic in Westerns as their accompanying shootouts. Despite being one of Hollywood's oldest genres, everything from classics to more modern Westerns have featured some brilliantly brutal brawls.

A common criticism of fight scenes in movies is that they often lack any strong emotional weight behind them.

Stuntman Bob Herron, who worked as a stuntman on films such as “Diamonds Are Forever,” “L.A. Confidential” and “Batman Forever” has died on Sunday after suffering for complications from a fall, a family member confirmed to Variety. He was 97.

Herron was one of the founding members of the Stuntmen’s Association in 1961 and a past president.

Earlier this year, the Stuntmen’s Association celebrated 60 years. When asked why he had started the association, Herron said, he had wanted to bring stunt people together. “There wasn’t a network for the stuntmen to organize with each other; we were all separate.”

Herron’s love for stunts began as a young child. In an interview with Variety, the stuntman explained, “My stepfather rented horses to the studios and I started wrangling them for the actors and the stuntmen to ride, and it made more money. I thought, ‘That’s the way I want to go.

Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo, restored and presented in 70mm, will be shown at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland on July 17, 18, and 19. I’ll be there, because this film has a special place in my heart. In 1959 we lived in the small English village of Odiham in Hampshire. 3000 people, 7 pubs, one picture palace—The Regal. I was 13 years old, and for the first time I was allowed to go to the movies on a winter’s night by myself. (My mother was a little over-protective, hence my later flirtation with stunts.) To get to the Regal on the outskirts of town, I had to walk through the cemetery of the Norman-era church. Dark shadows. Wisps of fog. Knowing I was going to see a film crafted by a director dubbed the Master of Suspense made the graveyard all the spookier. Vertigo was on its re-release, making its way through the...