Rango
As I was casually flicking the TV channels the other night I came across a truly terrific Sky movie - Rango.
Now this is an animated film - but don't let that put you off - because it's a clever a piece of movie making as I've seen in a long, long time.
Rango is a western - a weird and bonkers western - but sumptious and lovingly crafted.
Not just the wonderful script - but the characterisations are ingenious - so is the quality of the animation which is a good as I've seen.
Rango is a chameleon - voiced by Johnny Depp - who stumbles into a dirt town, aptly named Dirt, before getting swept up into a fantastic, life changing adventure.
The story is a real cocktail of delights - one part Once Upon a Time In the West - one part Rio Bravo - one part The Pale Rider - throw in a double measure of A Fistful of Dollars - add a dash or two of Chinatown - and finish off with a slice of that old cowboy classic - Shane.
Except all the parts are played by animals - which makes for even more fun - though I'd be wary of watching the film while taking any mind-altering substances - you might just lose the plot.
Which includes a chase sequence right out of Star Wars - with the good guys on Road Runner birds of Wile E. Cayote fame - and the bad guys on flying bats.
Rango takes the part of Luke Skywalker - but he is in truth a tame, but fast-talking household pet - a Walter Mitty character who is out to find the true meaning of life - and the Spirit of the West.
Now I know a thing or two about films - but I spotted references to a whole host of famous movies including:
The Odd Couple
Fear and Lothing in Las Vegas
Jason and the Argonauts
Lord of the Rings
Star Wars
The Return of the Jedi
The Three Amigos
Paint Your Wagon
Gladiator
Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark
Blazing Saddles
Hondo
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The plot is simple - the dirt town of Dirt has a water problem (just like Chinatown) - along comes a Jake Gittens/John Wayne/Walter Mitty character - who makes a real mess of things for a while before redeeming himself by the end.
The Mayor of Dirt is a conniving old turtle confined to a wheelchair - and tips his hat to the John Huston character in Chinatown.
The mayor's hired gun is a terrifying rattlesnake - a really bad baddy - in the mould of the Jack Palance character from Shane.
Ray Winstone plays a Gila monster with the aptly monicker 'Bad Bill' - who confronts Rango at the bar in a spoof of the great western film Hondo - starring Paul Newman.
Anyway it's certainly good for what ails you - and worth putting your feet up for a couple of hours.
