Written and directed by Michael Fredianelli, Cowboy Vengeance is a blood-soaked, rough-edged revenge tale that dares to bring old-school western grit back to the screen. It follows Print, played by Aaron Stielstra, a cold-blooded assassin who rides into a desolate frontier town run by a brothel owner with secrets darker than the desert night. What begins as a simple job quickly unravels into a brutal reckoning of conscience, loyalty, and vengeance, all filtered through Fredianelli’s unapologetically raw lens.
Read MoreAmerican Western (2022)
American Western, directed by Gregory Hatanaka, is a lean, 66-minute romp through the Old West that is equal parts earnest attempt at classic Western storytelling and unintentionally hilarious spectacle. At its core, it’s a tale as old as time: a bandit betrayed by his friend is thrown into prison, only to escape five years later and return seeking revenge. But the charm here lies not in originality—it’s in the sheer audacity of its execution.
Read MoreBolero (2024)
Bolero is a whirlwind of cinematic chaos—a sixty-minute experiment in narrative collision that will either mesmerize or utterly confuse viewers. Directed by Nicole D’Angelo and Gregory Hatanaka, with a screenplay by Jamie Grefe, the film follows a woman traveling through dimensions to find a distant man. At its core, the premise is intriguing, hinting at a metaphysical exploration of love and longing, but the execution often feels scattershot.
Read MoreButchered by Sundown (2025)
Jamie Grefe’s Butchered by Sundown is a daring, if uneven, experiment in low-budget western horror. At its core, the film follows a widow, played by Hannah Hueston, who is relentlessly pursued by the man who murdered her husband. Alone in a ghost town of strangers, she must confront not only this physical threat but also the lingering demons of her past.
Read MoreDeadly Western (2023)
Gregory Hatanaka and Geno McGahee’s Deadly Western is a low-budget genre oddity that’s hard to pin down. On paper, the premise has plenty of promise: a sheriff in a dusty frontier town confronts a deadly gang and uncovers a secret that could change everything. The concept even flirts with sci-fi themes—Hatanaka seems interested in using the western setting as a sort of moral rehabilitation experiment, a place where memory, identity, and justice collide.
Read MoreEddington (2025)
Ari Aster’s Eddington is a cinematic fever dream—an apocalyptic Western where cowboy hats are traded for face masks, and six-shooters for smartphones. Equal parts satire, horror, and political cartoon, it is the first major American film to tackle the COVID-19 era with both comedic bite and dramatic heft. While it’s definitely too long and sometimes too pleased with its own chaos, it’s also a rich, immersive, and often hilarious pressure cooker of a movie.
Read MoreYoung Guns (1988) #RetroReview
Growing up, Christopher Cain’s Young Guns was amongst a handful of films that were perennial favorites in my house. August 12th is the film’s 35th anniversary. I still enjoy it, but it’s definitely hit-and-miss, and I wonder how well it would work for anyone who doesn’t already have some nostalgia for it.
Read MoreA Million Ways To Die In The West (2014)
Cowardly sheep farmer Albert has spent his entire life avoiding conflict at all costs, a feat not easily achieved living in the Old West of 1882. When he falls for a mysterious new woman who rolls into town, he catches the ire of the most feared gunslinger in the territory, who just so happens to be married to the very woman that Albert loves. Also, pooping in hats.
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