Hatfeilds and McCoys posterKevin Costner and Bill Paxton head warring families in this post-civil war Western series. There are no cowboys, no indians, and the gunfights are at point blank range and still mostly miss the target.

Commissioned by the History Channel, the award-winning 'Western' helmed by Costner's long time buddy, director Kevin Reynolds, is a low-key, gritty drama that trades the bravura of Deadwood in favour of the Kevin's middle-aged, over-earnest worthiness. A large cast of pretty actors dirty-down as the back-woods Kentuckians and Virginians, with plenty of whisker-acting among the men and little for the women to do.

Based on real events that took place along the banks of the Tug Fork and Big Sandy rivers on the border of West Virginia and Kentucky, this falls awkwardly between drama and documentary. Read more of this post