Top 10 Movie Themes - Westerns

Each Monday, I will be posting new Top 10 lists (or maybe Top 11, who knows) of my favourite movie themes/songs/scores based on genres/composers or some other parameter. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. See below this Monday's Top 10 (Mandatory) Movie Themes - Westerns:

1.Django (1966) dir. Sergio Corbucci


2.A Fistful of Dollars (1964) dir. Sergio Leone


3.For a Few Dollars More (1965) dir. Sergio Leone


4.The Good the Bad and The Ugly (1966) dir. Sergio Leone


5.Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) dir. Sergio Leone


6.The Wild Bunch (1969) dir. Sam Peckinpah


7.The Searchers (1956) dir. John Ford


8.Shane (1953) dir. George Stevens


9.Tombstone (1993) dir. George P. Cosmatos


10.Wyatt Earp (1994) dir. Lawrence Kasdan

Second Clip released from Nicholas Winding Refn's "DRIVE"

In lieu of a regular trailer (probably hitting the Net in the following months as DRIVE is scheduled for a September release via Film District in the US) the folks at Twitchfilm have unearthed the second officially released clip from Nicholas Winding Refn's new crime-heist-thriller "DRIVE" starring Ryan Gosling, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, and Carey Mulligan:

Nicholas Winding Refn wins Best Director at Cannes 2011

Well, Cannes 2011 may be over, but the positive buzz around the Danish wunderkind Nicholas Winding Refn's new film DRIVE does not show signs of subsiding. Fortunates ones, who've seen the picture at Cannes this year are liking it to early Michael Mann, cult-classics such as THE DRIVER, and other late 70's and 80's genre classics. Better yet, there have been talks of a sequel (for a movie not even released yet - DRIVE hits theatres September 16 in the US, courtesy of Film District) in which according to Ryan Gosling and Refn - there will be 2 drivers. Refn is looking to use Ryan Gosling in a similar way to which David Fincher "cloned" Armie Hammer in "The Social Network" (for more details on Drive and Refn's upcoming film "Only God Forgives" head over to The Playlist

This past Sunday at the Cannes 2011 Award Ceremony DRIVE's helmer - Winding Refn was awarded Best Director. Congratulations to him and the creative team behind DRIVE. For more on DRIVE click on video interview below with the film's star - Ryan Gosling via Indiewire.

Watch 2 minutes from Nicholas Winding Refn's New Film "DRIVE"

I have been a huge fan of Danish auteur Nicholas Winding Refn ever since I caught PUSHER (1996) on a late night cable channel in the late 90's. The critically acclaimed PUSHER trilogy alongside more recent efforts such as the hellishly extravagant and decadent prison biopic - BRONSON (2008) & the ultra-minimalistic Viking-themed mindfuck - VALHALLA RISING (2009), propelled Refn into indie stardom and it was only a matter of time before Hollywood took notice of him.

DRIVE is a minimalistic thriller starring Ryan Gosling as the nameless Driver, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks and Oscar Isaacs. The film made it in the Official Selection at this years Cannes Film Festival, which in itself speaks volumes about the quality of the flick. I certainly hope so.

Here is a brief synopsis courtesy via Twitchfilm.com/Cannes Film Festival:

DRIVE is the story of a Hollywood stunt driver by day, a loner by nature who moonlights as a top-notch getaway driver-for-hire in the criminal underworld. He finds himself a target for some of LA's most dangerous men after agreeing to aid the husband of his beautiful neighbor, Irene. When the job goes dangerously awry, the only way he can keep Irene and her son alive is to do what he does best - drive.

Here is the first officially released snippet of the film (via Twitchfilm.com):