[Blarg]

Try to go through John Ford's movies. He's the iconic western director, and his are the flicks usually pointed out as the best in the genre. The reason everybody knows Monument Valley is because of Ford. Tarantino says he knows whether he's going to get along with a new girlfriend by whether she likes Rio Bravo or not.

Two more good ones are Ride the High Country and High Noon, and, as a sort of closer to the style and belief system of the old westerns in much the way the arrival of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns were, there's Shane. And of course The Wild Bunch and The Magnificent Seven are mandatory. The latter comes with an excellent commentary and supplementary features that add a ton of punch and color.

A fun thing is to pair a couple of these movies with their Japanese inspirations. See them first, then the Westerns that were made out of them. Interestingly, their director was himself inspired by American westerns, so there's a sort of circle of influence and tribute going on. The Magnificent Seven was inspired by The Seven Samurai, and For a Fistful of Dollars was inspired by Yojimbo. A lot of Kurosawa's work, and some older Japanese work in general, gives me the feeling of the western frontier. The world seems wild and harsh, and morality and civilization anywhere from extremely fragile to for all practical purposes non-existent.

There are too many other good ones to mention, but just as a fun treat, I'd like to recommend topping your western viewing off with another Japanese flick, but a modern one, that has been called a "noodle western." It's Tampopo, and is a funny and very likeable flick about a guy who is a sort of ramen soup version of Clint Eastwood's man with no name.