The Subject Was Movies: Meek's Cutoff
I've been catching up on movies that were released this year or so that I wanted to see after reading a review or two about them.
I thought an American Road Movie around 1845 would be interesting.
"Hey Everybody! Let's pile into the covered wagon and go to Oregon! Because Oregon is There! And full of Canadians! And Brits! And Native Americans! They must have a Big Ball of String---the Biggest in the World! There? Why else is every one else going?"
Give a Yank a Black Friday Christmas Sale or the chance to go somewhere else, and we will go to it. Pass out some Free Land and we will ride the Land Rover or the Mule to it. And Hey! No Banks were involved in Mortgaging This Land.
I like the title card because it is Old Timey Cross Stitch and Meek's Cutoff was an Old Timey Fraud, but without the help of Wall Street and the Banks.
Some Hairy Old Timey Guy named Meeks offered to show some Oregon Wagon Trainers a Better Way to the Oregon Territory.
Yeah, I'd follow this guy to a deserted Restroom on the Trail or down a dark Alley Way or Buffalo Trail.
Three Idiotic Families take him up on his offer and split from the main Wagon Train. This movie is based on a real life incident, but there were many more than three families who were foolish enough to believe his braggadocio. He managed to kill about 23 people on his Trail of Wait a Minute, This Doesn't Look Familiar. Now Where Was I? Now Where Are We?
And he managed to kill a few more from the Stress and Starvation and De-Hydration of his Shortcut after they made it to the Oregon Territory. Mr. Meek skeedaddled quickly away from his clients just before they made landfall. No Bernie Madoff accounting for him. Which was proper because I don't think that Mr. Meeks could read, much less count. The man had NO SENSE OF DIRECTION.
The movie spends a lot of time establishing Mr. Meek's Short Comings and Leavings and Sense of Direction Cut Off and Out of His Brain.
When the Wagon People spot a Native American out for a Sunday ride on his pony, they kidnap him in desperation and offer him a blanket to lead them to water and the Oregon Territory.
The man agrees to do so, or maybe he doesn't. He doesn't speak English and the Wagon Train people don't speak his language. And nobody wants to be alone on the Oregon Trail Cutoff with Mr. Meek who has a Ted Bundy Look in his Eye.
We come in on the last water to be found before the River, "You kids drink up and go to the potty. We are not stopping every fifteen minutes. If you don't go now, you will be sorry."
Sorry Ain't the Half of It.
The movie has long shots, both distance and time. No fast cuts, no sublimation, no close ups until the end. We observe from a distance, the doubts that develop when the Wagon Trainers find themselves lost and in the dark.
Natural lighting and dirty faces from the dust and walking illuminate and be-deck the Travelers.
We also leave the Travelers abruptly. What was the Outcome? Google some History to find out.
The Travelers should have taken that Left Turn at Albuquerque. And dumped Mr. Meek.
I thought an American Road Movie around 1845 would be interesting.
"Hey Everybody! Let's pile into the covered wagon and go to Oregon! Because Oregon is There! And full of Canadians! And Brits! And Native Americans! They must have a Big Ball of String---the Biggest in the World! There? Why else is every one else going?"
Give a Yank a Black Friday Christmas Sale or the chance to go somewhere else, and we will go to it. Pass out some Free Land and we will ride the Land Rover or the Mule to it. And Hey! No Banks were involved in Mortgaging This Land.
I like the title card because it is Old Timey Cross Stitch and Meek's Cutoff was an Old Timey Fraud, but without the help of Wall Street and the Banks.
Some Hairy Old Timey Guy named Meeks offered to show some Oregon Wagon Trainers a Better Way to the Oregon Territory.
Yeah, I'd follow this guy to a deserted Restroom on the Trail or down a dark Alley Way or Buffalo Trail.
Three Idiotic Families take him up on his offer and split from the main Wagon Train. This movie is based on a real life incident, but there were many more than three families who were foolish enough to believe his braggadocio. He managed to kill about 23 people on his Trail of Wait a Minute, This Doesn't Look Familiar. Now Where Was I? Now Where Are We?
And he managed to kill a few more from the Stress and Starvation and De-Hydration of his Shortcut after they made it to the Oregon Territory. Mr. Meek skeedaddled quickly away from his clients just before they made landfall. No Bernie Madoff accounting for him. Which was proper because I don't think that Mr. Meeks could read, much less count. The man had NO SENSE OF DIRECTION.
The movie spends a lot of time establishing Mr. Meek's Short Comings and Leavings and Sense of Direction Cut Off and Out of His Brain.
When the Wagon People spot a Native American out for a Sunday ride on his pony, they kidnap him in desperation and offer him a blanket to lead them to water and the Oregon Territory.
The man agrees to do so, or maybe he doesn't. He doesn't speak English and the Wagon Train people don't speak his language. And nobody wants to be alone on the Oregon Trail Cutoff with Mr. Meek who has a Ted Bundy Look in his Eye.
We come in on the last water to be found before the River, "You kids drink up and go to the potty. We are not stopping every fifteen minutes. If you don't go now, you will be sorry."
Sorry Ain't the Half of It.
The movie has long shots, both distance and time. No fast cuts, no sublimation, no close ups until the end. We observe from a distance, the doubts that develop when the Wagon Trainers find themselves lost and in the dark.
Natural lighting and dirty faces from the dust and walking illuminate and be-deck the Travelers.
We also leave the Travelers abruptly. What was the Outcome? Google some History to find out.
The Travelers should have taken that Left Turn at Albuquerque. And dumped Mr. Meek.
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