The Old West is new again

After a long quiet spell, the Hollywood Western is coming back, both guns blazing.Brad Pitt as Jesse James

September will see the release of two good-old-fashioned Westerns, "3:10 to Yuma" on Sept. 7 and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" on Sept. 21.

"Jesse James" stars Brad Pitt and the always-enjoyable Sam Rockwell. It's a Warner Bros. release from New Zealand-born director Andrew Dominik.

"3:10 to Yuma," interestingly enough, is being released by the independent studio Lionsgate. And yet, it boasts bigger names: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale and Peter Fonda. It also has a more experienced director at the helm, James Mangold of "Walk the Line" and "Cop Land" fame.

Both films look very promising and I don't plan to wait and catch them on DVD. I'm catching them at the theater — voting with my dollar, as they say — in hopes that we'll see even more big-screen Westerns soon.

I suppose "Brokeback Mountain" was technically a Western, and it was a well-made film. But, I prefer movie cowboys that are a bit more ... um ... traditional.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)