On episode 238 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to review the latest film releases, Kinds of Kindness and Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, as well as discuss their Top 5 Westerns. While A Quiet Place: Day One was dominating the box office this past weekend, two other releases caught the attention of the AW team, Kinds of Kindness and Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, both of which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. For Kinds of Kindness, we find acclaimed director Yorgos Lanthimos returning to the big screen with his follow up to Poor Things with a nearly three-hour anthology film with an all-star cast lead by Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, Margaret Qualley, and more that focuses on three separate stories that center around the idea of control. In the case of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, we see the big screen return, and gamble, of director Kevin Costner, with a three hour sweeping epic set in the old west that takes place over five different storylines. Ryan and Josh (who saw both films at Cannes) break down their reactions to both films, the pros and cons of both, and whether they think they will dive into the remaining chapters of Horizon and what they hope to see in Lanthimos’ next film coming out next fall. In the back half of the episode, the duo dive into a Top 5 based on the western genre, inspired by the release of Horizon. One of the oldest genres in the history of cinema, the western is one that speaks to the roots and fabric of America, while also being one to speak brilliantly of how our current world can be reflected so bold, brash, and violent as our past. This makes for the perfect conversation to talk about some of the best films in not just the genre, but some of greatest films of all time. Mentioned in this discussion were films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Unforgiven, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Once Upon a Time in the West, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and so many more. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. This podcast runs 2h18m. We will be back next week to talk about latest film from A24, MaXXXine, and discuss their Top 5 films set in Los Angeles. Till then, let’s get into it. Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).