JOHN FORD

American lore is full of tales of the lone cowboy, the rugged individualist who will do what needs to be done and ride off into the sunset.

A sunset spectacle featuring towering rock formations that resemble mittens played out this week at Monument Valley on the Arizona-Utah border.

Peter Bogdanovich, the ascot-wearing cinephile and director of 1970s black-and-white classics like “The Last Picture Show” and “Paper Moon,” has died.

“The Harder They Fall" has all of the gunfights, train robberies, saloons, and showdowns you would expect in a Western.

“Concrete Cowboy,” an urban Western about African American riders in Philadelphia starring Idris Elba, is about an often unseen — and persisting — Black cowboy culture. “Concrete Cowboy" is a father-son drama set around Fletcher Street Stables, one of the oldest and last-remaining of Philadelphia's hardscrabble inner-city stables. But through tenacity and improvisation, Fletcher Street has remained a cherished refuge and an ardent pastime for both kids and adults on the streets of Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion. “It didn’t occur to me until the Bob Marley song ‘Buffalo Soldier,’ which opened my interest about Black cowboys. They’re trying to raise money for an equestrian center and to convince Philadelphia government officials that the Fletcher Street heritage is worth preserving.

Lincoln's gentle, gregarious outer demeanor cloaks a fiery, resolute inner passion, played to perfection by Daniel Day-Lewis (Available to stream on Netflix). Double Feature: "Young Mister Lincoln" (1939)Director John Ford and star Henry Fonda's portrait of the president's early days as an attorney with a gift for oratory (Available to stream via rent or purchase on Amazon Prime, Fandango Now and Vudu). Double Feature: "Born On the Fourth of July" (1989)Oliver Stone directs a de-glamorized Cruise as a disabled, disillusioned Vietnam vet in a moving portrait of the human cost of war (Available to stream via rent or purchase on Amazon Prime, Fandango Now and Vudu). Double Feature: "Stripes" (1981)Bill Murray and Harold Ramis lead the military misfits in Ivan Reitman's raucous, raunchy spin on the durable comedy genre (Available to stream via rent or purchase on Amazon Prime, Fandango Now and Vudu). Directed by Rob Reiner with his expected crowd-pleasing panache (Available to stream via rent or purchase on HBO Now/HBO Go).