Once Upon a Time in the West this week.  Double Indemnity next week.  As always, follow along on our iCheckMovies list, and be sure to let us know how you’d rank the movies in the comments below.

Once Upon a Time in the West – December 21, 1968

Director: Sergio Leone

Producer: Fulvio Mosella, Bino Cicogna

Writers: Sergio Donati, Sergio Leone

Actors: Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

The course of the conversation:

The influence of the Spaghetti Western.

The boys have trouble starting.

Quick plot synopsis, but the plot’s not really the point.

The Michael Bay version of this movie would not be nearly as interesting.

Which is the main plot?

The sex scene was really awkward.

Cinematography on par with Lawrence of Arabia.

The scenery captures the solitude of the landscape.

Nathaniel had some issues with Leone’s signature sound (or what some might call foley hackery).

Nathaniel also doesn’t care for Charles Bronson’s single expression.

That said, Harmonica is very clearly not the heart of the movie.

Jill and Cheyenne are grounded in the location, where Harmonica and Frank are passing storms.

Michael compares Once Upon a Time in the West to Bonnie and Clyde while the +5 Cat of Podcasting terrorizes the show.

Nathaniel doesn’t feel the plot does enough to raise the movie into the status of the greats.

Jonathan disagrees, but this may just be a placeholder for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, as Raging Bull was a placeholder for Nathaniel until GoodFellas.

Barrier layers.