I finally watched Andy Warhol's Lonesome Cowboys. I was surprised to see it posted on YouTube. The sex scenes were artless and unerotic, which is pretty much how I picture sex in the Old West.
Made for $3,000 in 1968 ($22,000 in today's money). They didn't keep the camera clean and you can see lint along the edge of the frame in places.
The truth is, I turned it off halfway through and I kept falling asleep through the half I watched.
A little better than I expected. It was filmed on what looked like a western set. They rode horses. In Luc Moullet's A Girl is a Gun, the actors walked their horses which seemed wise. Riding a horse is dangerous.
It was a great title, but I think that once they had the title, they figured their work was done.
Lonesome Cowboys could only be taken seriously because it was shot on film. One of Andy Warhol's earlier cinematic achievements was filming the Empire State Building for several hours on 16mm film. A few people on YouTube have duplicated this feat with a video camera, but it just isn't the same. It's not art unless you've squandered a fortune on film.
It makes me think of an episode of The Rockford Files. Angel mentions that he used Campbell's Soup cans and a photocopier and "made my own Andy Warhols."
Well, anyone with a camcorder and a few degenerate friends can make his own Andy Warhol movie.
But, again, it just wouldn't be the same.
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