A genre nearly as old as filmmaking itself, the western thrived throughout the years of the studio system but has zigzagged across rough terrain for the past forty or so years. For the last fifteen-ish years, the struggling, commercially unfriendly genre was either manifested in a neoclassical nostalgic form limited in potential mass appeal (Appaloosa, Open Range) or in reimagined approaches that ran the gamut between contrived pap and inspired deconstructions (anything from Wild Wild West to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). But last December, True Grit – a bona fide western remake that relied on the opportunities available in the genre’s conventions rather than bells, whistles, or ironic tongues in their respective cheeks – became a smash hit. Did this film reinvigorate a genre that was on life support, as the supposed revitalization of the musical is thought to have done a decade ago, or are westerns surviving by moving along a different route altogether? Three westerns released so far this year – Gore Verbinski’s Rango, Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff, and, as of this weekend, Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens – suggest mixed directions for the dusty ol’ genre.

Meek’s Cutoff hit the festival circuit hard and received a strong amount of praise for its visual style and its look at lives on the line in the desert of 1845 Oregon. Michelle Williams leads a fantastic cast including Paul Dano, Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Kazan, Neal Huff, and Will Patton in what appears to be Oregon Trail: The Movie if everything went wrong and you couldn’t trust the person you depended on the most. Check out the trailer for yourself:

Kevin Carr reviews this week’s new movies: Star Trek and Next Day Air.

Robert Fure wraps up his trifecta of Trek interviews with a chat with Bruce Greenwood, the new Captain Christopher Pike.

The folks at Paramount Pictures just won’t give up on this new Star Trek movie — it is as if they want this thing to make hundreds of millions of dollars or something.

This evening our own Cole Abaius had the opportunity to join a small group of journalists in New York City for a special presentation by director J.J. Abrams. The footage: four big clips from Star Trek. The result: an “epic” and “awesome” experience. Check out the full report inside.

The direct-to-DVD market is filled with mid-list action films, and more keep on coming. In the past couple weeks, three films have caught our eye. Let’s look at how they stack up against each other.

It has been a long time since I have seen the former Kelly Kapowski in anything significant. As well, it appears that she isn’t getting any help from the wardrobe department.