I like Shane but it isn’t one of my all-time favorites. It’s kind of divisive, with alot of people thinking it’s one of the absolute greatest westerns but a fair number of auteurists fond of citing André Bazin’s dismissal of it as an attempt to make a “super western” “that would be ashamed to be just itself, and looks for some additional interest to justify its existence . . . in short some quality extrinsic to the genre and which is supposed to enrich it.” I’m kinda in the middle regarding what it’s actually trying to do, but there’s alot to enjoy.
If you don’t like Brandon de Wilde, fine, but 1) there’s no way he’s “the most undeserving Oscar Nominee of all time.” There are much worse nominees, not to mention WTF nominations for technical awards that seem to be picked out of a hat.

2) He’s kind of the movie’s raison d’etre, since he’s the audience stand-in who sees Shane as a b-movie Western hero in what turns out to be a 1950s post-My Darling Clementine “adult western” about how the old west needs to die. Which I understand to be what André Bazin was slamming (although that’s only “extrinsic to the genre” in the sense that it’s commenting on it self-consciously).
Weird that you compared it Unforgiven which it doesn’t really make me think of (maybe Elijah junior’s death? Or the insertion of an “audience” character into the story?) because Clint Eastwood actually remade Shane as Pale Rider, a movie that I’ve not been able to convince myself to like.
Other thoughts:
-Disagree on Jack Palance, that’s an aspect of the movie I’m all in on
-But this is also one of Ben Johnson’s most memorable movies
-I don’t think it’s weird that what most stood out to you are the fistfights. When I first saw it they were my favorite part of the movie, now I have kind of a mix feeling about them since they’re so outlandish
-Although the women still have makeup, this is otherwise supposed to be one of the most authentic westerns in terms of costumes and sets. I don’t demand authenticity and this is a somewhat weird movie to turn out to have so much authenticity in it, but it gives the movie a distinct look. It has appropriately muddy streets, instead of the dusty streets we see in most westerns. I’ve seen it pointed out that only Jack Palance has beltloops, which were only a thing on baseball pants back then.
-If you saw it in widescreen, you’re required to rewatch it in 4:3. It played in theaters in both aspect ratios and I’ve streamed it in both aspect ratios. But 4:3 is the “real” aspect ration, the widescreen is a crop and is clearly inferior.
-I hope you didn’t watch the Disney Plus stream that redubs “Robert E. Lee was trash” as “climate change is a hoax.”

I don’t think that many people like Last Tango In Paris much anymore. I thought it was okay, and I bet I would like it less now.

I’ve been listening to alot of Dylan lately in anticipation of seeing him live next week, but I never spent that much time with The Basement Tapes. I like it but it’s neither Dylan nor The Band’s best, and it would seem weaker if it came out when it was actually recorded.

Band Of [Offensive term for Romani People] - Machine Gun is a masterpiece and one of Hendrix’s greatest tracks. The rest of it…I like the sound, but the songs aren’t that good. The band are good musicians, but Miles is obnoxious on vocals. Hendrix thought so too, and cut out alot of his scatting. you can hear the complete versions on the “Songs from Groovy Children” box set. I’m not sure that Hendrix was otherwise unhappy with the music, so much as he wasn’t enthusiastic about working on the album because they didn’t have alot of choice in the matter and it was just to fulfill a contract.
I love “noisy” Hendrix, but recordings like this show that he was amazing even without all the pyrotechnics.

I hadn’t heard much good about it going in anyhow.

I like the album very much but I think that it’s _over_rated. The idea that it’s not very good is one you probably got from Babble/The WRC. It’s generally pretty beloved. On Rate Your Music it’s a 4.00, higher than Axis.