The Magnificent Seven

It's very unusual for a recrafting of an acclaimed film to match the success of the original - particularly a Hollywood remake of a foreign language film. The transplantation of the semi-mythical Japanese Samurai into the equally mythical old West was the magic stardust, I suppose. Even then, The Magnificent Seven had a slow start and only gained momentum - and profitability - once it was released in Europe. A conflict between flawed good and amoral evil had resonance in 1960: we knew then who would win

I went out after sundown to try to see the seven planets. It will not be possible again until 2040. I'm now in what a friend calls 'the shooting arcade' phase of life - I may easily take a bullet by then. Jupiter and Mars, high in the sky, were easy to find. Neptune and Uranus, well, I could look at where my phone tells me they were, but I don't have the necessary telescope. This is Venus, spotlight-white as always, sunlight reflecting from its acid-cloud atmosphere, but Saturn and Mercury eluded me. They are close together on the western horizon as the sun sets - either cloud or rising ground to the west may have been hiding them. I'll try again in the coming days, if the weather let's me

Later, Mars was on fire off the shoulder of Orion - but that's a different movie