Here is something you probably wouldn’t expect to hear from a guy who was raised in the city. But here goes…I was raised on westerns. Movies played a HUGE part in my development. And my dad, for reasons I never thought to ask and will probably never know, absolutely loved “shit-kickers,” as he often referred to them. So my brother and I grew up watching everything from timeless John Wayne flicks to Clint’s famous spaghetti westerns, to black and white classics like My Darling Clementine and countless others. One of the happiest days in my dad’s life was when a Blockbuster Video opened in our neighborhood and he realized they had a westerns section. For me personally, I will never forget a Christmas present I got him way back in the early `90’s. In the early days of the internet, before DVD’s became the rage, I found him a VHS copy of The Professionals, a 1967 classic starring Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster.

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He was genuinely shocked and happy. A rare show of emotion for someone who was usually pretty shut down. Definitely a proud moment for me. Anyway, after seeing so many of the westerns that my father loved, I was thrilled to find one that I could call my own. That movie was called Silverado. Released in July of 1985, the movie tells the old west story of a group of four cowboys who meet by chance on their way to the town of Silverado. Once they arrive, they are all reluctantly pulled into a fight with the town’s ruthless rancher and corrupt sheriff. It features an all-star cast that includes Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, and Kevin Kline (my favorite character in the movie by the way). The thing that I still love about Silverado, is that it has so many things going on at once. It is a movie that deals with good vs evil, right and wrong, family, friendship, loyalty, and standing up for what you believe in.



And it just happens to be a western. It is also directed by the great Lawrence Kasdan, who a few years earlier gave us the ensemble classic, The Big Chill. That movie will be getting a flashback of it’s own here one day. But for now it is about Silverado. Still one of my favorite movies almost 30 years later. A few years back, my daughter saw me watching it (you can still catch it on cable all the time). Meg was only about 4 or 5 at the time. She sat down with me and the rest is history. Now it is one of her favorites too. She loves Kevin Costner’s character, Jake. For one because it is her cousin’s name. She thought that was cool. Plus he is young, wild and crazy in it. Much like she is. Who would have guessed there would be three generations of cowboy movie lovers in one Queens family? If you've never seen Silverado, I wouldn’t be surprised. But now that you know about it, make it your business to check it out. Last one to the Midnight Star buys.