TOM WOPAT – NOT JUST A GOOD OL’ BOY TOM WOPAT ON HIS INSP ‘COUNTY LINE’ MOVIES, BEING LUKE DUKE, HIS WESTERNS, AND MUSICALS By Henry C. Parke On Monday, November 28th, at 10 p.m. Eastern time, the second of INSP’s County Line movies starring Tom Wopat, County Line: All In, will play on INSP.  It’s also streaming on Vudu, and is available to purchase on Amazon. No disrespect to Waylon Jennings, there’s nothing wrong with being a good ol’ boy, but fans who know Tom Wopat by his portrayal of rural characters in movies like County Lineand series like The Dukes of Hazzard may be surprised t ..read more

  CELEBRATE ‘THE COWBOYS’ WITH ‘A WORD ON WESTERNS’ TUESDAY AT THE AUTRY! It’s been over two years since Western historian, master interviewer and host Rob Word has held a live A Word on Westerns event at The Autry!  And he returns right on time this Tuesday, May 17th, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the classic John Wayne Western, The Cowboys.   Western fans know that May is the month of the Duke’s birth, and Rob has always found a new Wayne theme for the Word on Westerns celebration, but he’ll have a hard time topping this one.  For anyone who doesn’t know the ..read more

DANIEL RADCLIFFE GOES WEST IN MIRACLE WORKERS: OREGON TRAIL! For two seasons, former Harry Potter portrayer Daniel Radcliffe, and co-star Steven Buscemi have starred as an odd pair of angels in the series Miracle Workers.   It’s about angels that are sent down to Earth to perform miracles, and convince God not to destroy the planet. It’s based on the novel What in God’s Name, by Simon Rich.  It sure sounds to me like It’s a Wonderful Life meets The Horn Blows at Midnight, which are two of my favorite comedies.  The first season was set in heaven.  The second seaso ..read more

  THE TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL IS ON RIGHT NOW! The TCM Festival began today, Thursday, May 6th, at 5 pm Pacific time, 8 pm Eastern time, with West Side Story.  The real one, not the one that hasn’t opened yet.  For the second year in a row the Festival is, of necessity, virtual.  They have a terrific line-up of films, both on TCM itself, and on HBO Max.  HBO Max is doing it as a so-called ‘hub’, which apparently means that they list all of their programming, and you can watch any of it whenever you wish, not just during the four days of the festival, but for the enti ..read more

INSP’S ‘ULTIMATE COWBOY SHOWDOWN’ RETURNS WEDNESDAY On Wednesday, February 24th, season two of The Ultimate Cowboy Showdown returns to INSP.  Some of the best working cowboys from around the country compete in teams and as individuals in a wide range of challenges – riding, roping, driving cattle, and complex relay-races.  Country music legend Trace Adkins is once again the host and, with the input of experts in various specialties, the ultimate judge, and Trace sends at least one competitor home every week. This time the field of competitors is larger – fourteen instead of a doze ..read more

  Bruce Dern, Michael Welch, Cam Gigandet A VISIT TO ‘SIEGE AT RHYKER’S STATION’ - FIRST WESTERN MOVIE SET WITH COVID PRECAUTIONS At first I thought maybe Western films could go on even as the rest of the film industry screeched to a Covid-19 halt.  After all, in a Western, it’s no shock when a gang of masked men burst into a bank with drawn guns. But when the bank tellers are also masked, you know something’s wrong.   So, it’s been a waiting game, and the great news is that the waiting is over, and cameras are, cautiously, rolling again!  Last week I had ..read more

ETHAN HAWKE PORTRAYS JOHN BROWN IN ‘THE GOOD LORD BIRD’ OCTOBER 4! James McBride’s 2013 novel, The Good Lord Bird, about John Brown, the abolitionist firebrand who tried to trigger the Civil War, will reach Showtime as an eight-part limited series beginning October 4th.  Hawke, in addition to portraying Brown, created the series about one of the most fascinating and controversial men in American history.  Considered a great hero by some, a lunatic by others, and a lunatic hero by quite a few, in May of 1856, Brown and his followers went to Pottawatomie, Kansas, and attacked slavery ..read more

KEVIN COSTNER ON “YELLOWSTONE” AND THE APPEAL OF THE DUTTONS On Sunday night, Fathers Day, Kevin Costner returns to the Paramount Network for a third season of Yellowstone, the contemporary Western family drama that pits the Dutton family against the government, developers, American Indians, and anyone else who’d try to wrest away control of their humongous ranch.  It is the most beautifully photographed show on the air today.  Co-created and largely written by Taylor Sheridan, who brought you Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River, it’s a highly entertaining, slick, loud u ..read more

SCORSESE’S ‘KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON’ BITES THE APPLE! Martin Scorsese is no stranger to making Westerns – back in 1998 he produced the Stephen Frears-directed film of Max Evans’ The Hi-Lo Country.   But he’s finally set to direct his first Western, based on David Grann’s book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the F.B.I.  It’s non-fiction, set in the 1920s, and centers around a series of mysterious killing of Osage tribe members.  Marty & Leo in the library (with a candlestick) Set to star Leonardo Di Caprio and Robert DeNiro, the ..read more

GENE AUTRY MOVIES & TV STREAMING WITH SHOUT FACTORY! As fine a businessman as he was a singer and Western star, Gene Autry famously acquired the rights to all of his movies, and his Gene Autry Entertainment saw to their restoration, and release on home video.   Now, just in time for those of us suffering with cabin fever, for the first time ever, Gene’s movies are being made available for streaming!  As of May 1st, South of the Border (1939), Gaucho Serenade (1940), Melody Ranch (1940), The Strawberry Roan (1948), and Blue Canadian Rockies (1952) are available ..read more