Man, this just looks badass.
Taylor Sheridan’s Landman lands on November 17. They dropped a new trailer a couple of days ago, which is most enticing.
Many years ago, a friend of mine dismissed the movie Legends of the Fall as “soap opera for men.” I mean, she said it like it was a Bad Thing. It annoyed her no end that I fully embraced the label. Oh, HELL yes. This here is gonna be My Oil Patch Soap Opera, which will complement My Cowboy Soap Opera, which will have its final(?) run starting this month.
To be serious about this for a moment… I’ve been battling what I consider to be rank snobbery all my life. Teachers and a number of folks in my youthful orbit sought to shame me for my love of Robert E. Howard and Will Henry. My taste for Blood & Thunder and Pulpy Goodness was downright disturbing to some folks. Don’t know why it even mattered to them, actually, but there it was. Obviously, I remained Zero Foxtrot on the matter for all my days.
The definition of “melodrama” is “a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions.” People use “melodrama” as a slur. Again, I embrace it. I think Story should entertain. Weird, huh? I suppose you could deride Macbeth as over-the-top and melodramatic, but then you’d be a jackass, right? BTW, that’s by far my favorite Shakespeare play because of the witches and prophecy and lunatic behavior.
I won’t extend the rant — I reckon most folks around this campfire have a similar outlook. I’ll just say that it is quite possible to have a serious interest in the grounded complexities of actual history and a savage appetite for wild yarns drawn from that history. Actually, toggling between the two is a lot of fun.
So, I’m in for the ride. Enter Landman.
Matthew says
Melodrama can be done well. I mean aside from MacBeth a lot of Dostoevsky is melodramatic. Yet there is few writers with with his depth of psychology and theme.
That said there are times melodramatic can be done bad. The movie Titanic, despite being based on a real life melodramatic incident, I thought was awful. I know a lot of people love it, but I found it mawkish.
David Wrolson says
I can’t wait. I am highly emotionally invested in this one without seeing yet.
Joe says
I think Landman is filmed in Ft. Worth. Taylor Sheridan is building up quite the operation there, and I’ll give it a shot based on the acting caliber alone.