Not-so-rough riders

The Autry Center, taking advantage of the holidays, is featuring 5 midday movies just this week. Every day at 2pm, they're screening a western, free after you pay the museum's admission ($7.50). Funny thing is, these aren't your dust-blown classics; they're more of the offbeat-slash-forgotten type. Which is kind of cool: the John Ford/John Wayne pic Three Godfathers, the minimal-dailogue Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford, the are-they kidding? Silverado, and ending with the oh yes, they are kidding, City Slickers with Billy Crystal. Which all goes to show that the gay cowboy lovestory is not the first reworking of the genre.

Tough cowboys are just a few steps away, though, at the Autry's Sergio Leone exhibit, which is on until January 22.