Monday Movie Madness: Quigley Down Under

Hello Posse,

It's time to grab your snacks and settle in for another great Tom Selleck western but this time with a twist. Most westerns are set in the mid to late 1800s to the early 1900s and take place in the American west during the early expansion of the United States. However, this one is set in the Australian Outback.

Quigley Down Under was released by MGM studio in 1990. It was directed by Simon Wincer (who also directed Lonesome Dove) and stars Tom Selleck, Alan Rickman, and Laura San Giacomo. The movie takes place in Australia during the takeover of Aboriginal lands by settlers much like what was happening in the American west with Native Americans.

Landowner, Elliot Marston (Rickman), places an ad in US newspapers seeking cowboys with special skills, men who can accurately shoot at long distances. Mathew Quigley is an American cowboy who sees the advertisement. He uses his specially modified rifle to answer the ad by sending a copy of the advertisement with six tightly spaced bullet holes and the words M. Quigley 900 yards as his job application. Shortly after stepping off the boat in Australia, Quigley gets into a fight with men who are trying to force a woman, Crazy Cora (San Giacomo), onto their wagon. It turns out the men work for the very man Quigley came to Australia to see.

Quigley identifies himself and is taken to see Marston. After demonstrating his rifle skills, Quigley is offered a job. However, when he finds out that the job is to kill off innocent Aborigines, he flatly turns it down and even throws Marston out of his own house to emphasize his refusal. Quigley is attacked from behind by Marston's manservant, who is himself an aborigine, and knocked unconscious. Marston's men beat Quigley and Cora unconscious and take them to the Outback where they are left to die.

The pair are rescued by local aborigines and from here the story takes off quickly. As Quigley and Cora try to survive and get back to town, they encounter Marston's men killing aborigines along the way. As Quigley takes out more and more of Marston's men and saves aborigines, Quigley starts to be revered as a legendary hero among the native people.

There is a lot of great action in this movie and Cora's back story is a heart-wrenching tale of loss and well explains why she acts crazy at times. Eventually, the conflict between Quigley and Marston comes down to a final showdown with a surprising twist. And you could say that "the Calvary" saves the day in the very end, so to speak. But you will have to see the movie to understand what I mean by that. I do not want to give away the ending for you, because it is a good one.

This is a great spin on traditional westerns and the performances by the entire cast make this a must see. Tom Selleck is most definitely one of my favorite modern-day cowboys and, in my book, ranks right up there with likes of Jack Elam, Roy Rogers, and Ward Bond.

Now, go on over to my Facebook page today and check out the post for this week’s Movie Snack or Hack post. I have a recipe for making your own slushies at home.

So, grab your drinks and snacks, it's time to settle in for movie night!

Enjoy,

Stephen

Quarantine Bordem Hack:

If you have kids in the home with you (or just a few really bored adults) and you need to keep them busy for a while, here is a new card game you can teach them.

Pow! Bang! Shoo! Whoo!

This fun, and usually, loud card matching game is suitable for young kids and mixed age groups. It is best with three or more players but can be played with just two. All you need is a standard deck of cards and you are set.

To begin:

Deal all the cards out to players.
Players sort the cards in their hands by rank (all 8s together, all Ks together, etc).
The player to the left of the dealer begins by laying down any card (example: an 8 or K) on the table.
If the next player has a card of the same rank (8-8 or K-K) they place it on top and say Pow!
If they have another card of the same rank (8-8-8 or K-K-K) they lay it on top and say Bang!
Players alternate between saying Pow! and Bang! until they cannot play anymore cards of that same rank.
When the player cannot lay down anymore cards of that rank, they say Shoo! to show that play moves to the next player.
If no one has anymore cards of that rank, the player who laid down the final card of that rank, wins the right to place the next card down for play.
The player then lays down a new card for everyone to play and says Whoo!
The first player to run out of cards wins and gets to shout Whoo Hoo!