Some Random Thoughts for a Monday Morning:

1. We went to see Warm Bodies and Gangster Squad this weekend. (The Latter doesn't have a review up yet, but soon) And I have to tell you, the previews had me either really excited or really underwhelmed.... with the exception of The Call. I don't know how I feel about that one, or if I'll end up seeing it.

2. After a month of living in the apartment, it is certainly looking lived in. I think my work is cut out for me when it comes to getting everything perfectly in order before the end of this month. But everything is fitting well. Dropping 300 sqft was a bit of a worry, especially since we have more furniture now than we did before....

3. I'm not a Superbowl person. I don't even care about the commercials. In fact, all I can tell you about it this year was how annoying it was to have it extend past 8pm and mess with watching Elementary.

4. I had the most incredible headaches this weekend... I'm pretty sure they were all neck tension related, but still.

5. It rained a little this weekend. a small favor I'm always happy for. I love rain. I miss it. I want to sit by a rain pattered window snuggled up in a warm blanket with a cup of tea and a good book. However, it's already getting warm again.

6. Lu got a haircut Friday night and looks like a completely different dog. She goes from ewok to falcor in about an hour.

7. I think Ripper Street on BBC is a keeper. I'll probably be talking more about that later....

Warm Bodies

It’s pretty hard out there for a dead guy.

R is getting by with his afterlife, but he’s unsatisfied. When he eats Julie’s boyfriend’s brains and gains his memories, he starts to feel something and saves her from being eaten as well. But the bonds between a living girl and a dead boy can only go so far… until things begin to change.

My Thoughts:

I actually liked this a little more than I expected. To be completely honest, I really like Zombie movies. We own close to 100 of them. And while it has problems – let’s face it what movie doesn’t – there’s something interesting in the odd take on the genre.

Nicholas Hoult plays a rather remarkable “aware” zombie. And with the exception of a heavy hand when applying the black eyeshadow, I found his entire demeanor very believable. He’s definitely got the shuffle and moan down.

The musical cues were something I’m still not sure about. Though the pretty woman cue was spot on.

Inner-city cow pasture, my new favorite thing. Please someone buy it for me!

The “Boneys” are a little weird. The CGI is iffy, and the SFX is… off, to me. I think they’re explained pretty well, if briefly, but I can’t get over the awkwardness of them visually. And there was a moment where I wondered if they were trying to allude to the fact that the things could fly….?

There were a few plot oddities, but that just felt like they wanted more time than they were given and cutting made it seem a little awkward. 

Dredd 3D

 

On what seems to be a routine drug bust in the Peach Trees Mega Block, Judge Dredd and his on-assessment Rookie Judge Anderson, find their names on the top of Ma-Ma’s hit list. With the mega block in defcon lockdown, the two judges will be their only back up as they work their way through the swarms of gang members on the hunt for them. Pretty soon they realize, their only way out alive is to go for Ma-Ma herself.

 

My Thoughts:

This movie came out feeling like Art -house-goes-Gorehouse. Most of the 3D sequences feel like someone wanted to make the experience of Slo-mo to feel like a surrealist painting… on high saturation. And while I think the fuzz of this effect was a little eye-bobbling, I liked it as a method of immersing the audience in an aspect of the drug – affecting several sensory reactions.

The judge on judge action – and if you pay attention to the credits, you’ll find its Karl on Karl action – was pretty fun, even though it was hard to keep track of who was who (trying to keep track of that perpetual scowl is a little dizzying).

I’m happy to see that skate culture is still alive and well in the future – though their choice of venue is less than desirable. I have a feeling the conceptual artists looked to the suspended tennis court in Dubai for a large part of their inspiration on that.

The techie (Bill Weasley, anyone?) was an interesting character. His eyes were really cool, though they made mine hurt. And after finding out that Ma-Ma basically tore his previous eyes out, it is an interesting idea that he wouldn’t find a way to ignore some things… I would have felt like his character was more of a victim if he’d tried to ignore the fact that Caleb got nabbed… but someone else points it out and he has to tell Ma-Ma or else look like he was trying to hurt her enterprise.

 

I was not expecting them to show Ma-Ma’s death… the actual moment of impact, I mean. There were a few brief seconds, where I thought they were going to show it from the side, and I honestly questioned how they were going to accomplish that and not make it look incredibly cheesy. The face into the camera choice was a better one, imo, and it lent itself to the general Art/Gore feeling the movie has in general.

And if nothing else… I’m really happy in the upgrade from the previous Dredd uniform. (Cod-pieces should never come back into style. EVER.)

Run Time: 95 minutes

The Amazing Spider-man

When Peter Parker discovers his father’s old briefcase, and within it, clues to the research he’d done before his untimely death, curiosity takes him to Ozcorp to find the scientist who worked with him. In his explorations though, he’s bitten by a genetically modified spider, and things… well, things go awry, as they usually do in that sort of instance.

My Thoughts:

Snarky Spidey is what I remember and love as a child of the 90s who watched the cartoon. I appreciate that he’s quiet and seemingly mild mannered without the suit on, but slowly comes out of his shell as the film went on. I did love the direct references and nods to the comic/cartoon. They were complete fan service and I loved every second of it.

Pony Boy! What are you doing on a bridge in NYC? (and thank you for not continuing to dye your hair blond.

The character of Flash kept confusing me, for the simple fact of his name. I kept thinking, tie in to another film, and then remembering that the Flash was from DC and so that would have been an impossible crossover. It was mildly distracting.

Denis Leary is wonderful as Captain Stacy. It felt rather removed from what I’m used to seeing him in, and that was wonderful. And I totally believed him as Emma Stone’s father – and as the daughter of a police officer, I felt like his portrayal was completely spot on.

The funniest part of the movie was when the Lizard shows up at the high school, and Spidey’s just managed to do a full wrap on him to keep him contained for a moment, and he tells Gwen he’s going to throw her out the window. Her reaction (to his words and subsequently being thrown out the window) were hilarious.

I had a problem with the fact that the quest to find Uncle Ben’s Killer is completely forgotten. It’s one of those things, where I know that in real life, you do sometimes set aside something that consumed you for something else, but it felt like a total let down when there was no mention of it after the bridge scene.

One thing that I really appricate about the Lizard as a villain is that his initial motivations are good. He wants to cure people, he wants to help them, but because of corporate greed (and perhaps a bit of inevitable mortality) he’s pushed to do something radical, and then he begins a slow spiral into madness. It’s a classic case of good guy gone bad. However, in that vein, it bothers me that after the bridge scene, the corporate guy disappears from the movie’s plot.

Prometheus

Overall:

It’s a decent enough movie – when removed from the Alien universe – but overall disappointing. I left the theater feeling rather unfulfilled. The cinematography and visual effects are beautiful… but the storyline felt hollow.  I’m not sure what you should expect from the lead writer of Lost… and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by the incoherent feeling of something unfinished.

What It Had Going For It:

It bridged the gap (visually) between this new set of films and the old. There is a distinct “clean” quality to the ship – which makes sense as Vickers says, they did spend a trillion dollars getting there – and it speaks to what I think Human society sees as that best possible future. Clean, crisp and orderly. And as they venture further into the complex, from the rough hewn rock to the engineers’ ship, we start to see more of the classic H. R. Giger inspired architecture. Things aren’t crisp white, they aren’t smooth… they’re organic looking and yet, they’re so far beyond our scope of technology.

The first “alien” on screen was pleasantly creepy, and I’d hoped that the progression would continue on in an escalating manner until we hit the big payoff of the iconic Alien (In the next section, you’ll see I was disappointed.)

Set conceptualization was glorious and would have leant itself to an immense amount of tension building (had it not been for the score).  There is something to be said for creating a setting that is massive… and yet claustrophobic all at the same time.

Michael Fassbender as David. There’s something incredibly beautiful about the childlike portrayal of David. He’s curious – often doing what he’s told not to for no other apparent reason than scientific exploration. He seems to seek acceptance, dying his hair to look more emulate his favorite character, Peter O’toole, in Lawrence of Arabia. He is retaliatory, seemingly punishing a character for being mean to him – though he does ask for permission first. All the while he does this without displaying emotion… or in the case of the latter, remorse. He is eerily human and not human all at the same time.

The Problems:

Smart people making horror-movie decisions. (That’s all I’m going to say about that for now.)

The beginning and end. I feel like the middle of this movie was pretty awesome. But it was dragged down by the bookends. The movie has two pointless beginning scenes including an engineer dying (I guess to create life on Earth? maybe) and an archaeological dig – the gist of which is adequately explained ten minutes later during the mission briefing. It feels almost as though there are three endings: a sacrifice, a vendetta, and an Alien. And I feel that they could have had one shot after Janek and the two other crew sacrifice themselves, to ground the film and ended on a much more poignant note (and still kept the story line open for the sequel they’ve obviously tried to make apparent).

There was no tension. A lot of this was the heavy handed orchestral score. The original movies were very quiet… and the moments of silence served to amp up the tension, where the soundtrack for Prometheus, while stunningly beautiful, doused any chance for push-you-into-your-seat-back tension. Part of the reason there was so little tension is also resultant of my next point.

The “aliens” weren’t scary. When you go back to the original xenomorphs from Alien… you have a super-scary antagonist. If I came across one of those in the middle of a corridor (no matter how well lit), I’d be scared to widdling. The progression to the xenomorph in Prometheus… is alien after alien that would eat me, but not before I’d laughed at it. And that was disappointing. And the “Engineers”… well, they make me think someone from a Tool music Video got lost, wound up on set and the production team rolled with it.

Outside of stylistic choices, the surviving character isn’t going to make it to her destination before she dies of sepsis or internal bleeding. There is a portion of the story where Noomie Rapace’s character gives herself what basically amounts to an emergency cesarean, and while, the surgery itself is believable, and was a decent way to deal with the problem… she goinks the umbilical cord out and the machine doing the surgery does nothing to seal that up before it’s stapling her stomach shut again. She then proceeds to spend the rest of the movie running about, giving herself one pain stim (or at least I assume). While she does exhibit random “ouch, that was painful” faces, nothing else seems to be a problem. And let’s face it: running away from an alien launch pad is bound to knock something loose.

I actually have quite a few more things to say about this film… but the post was getting long, so this is where I’m going to leave you.

Run Time: 124 minutes

Buy the Film

Lockout

Lockout



Source



 Why I saw it: I haven’t been paying much attention, so when Sara Creasy brought it up, I looked into it… and immediately got excited. And frankly, the trailer was entertaining enough to give it a shot (AND IT’S SF, or at least it’s the type of SF I wish more SF movies were. Too many things anymore are muddling the line anymore.

Source

What I thought: Scientific inaccuracies aside, it was a lot of fun. I love movies that are so much fun, I forget to be bothered by things that might otherwise irk me. ALSO THEY DEAL WITH A HACK JOB HAIR CUT THE RIGHT WAY… YOU GUYS! I’m not sure if it’s sad that I’m as excited about that as I am. 

Someone (I think it was io9, and please correct me in the comments if I’m wrong) said this movie is like Escape from New York – In space! and I’m so happy they were not off the mark in that statement.

Run Time: 95 minutes

Buy the Film

Cabin In the Woods

Cabin in the Woods



Source



Why I saw it: Honestly, the main reason I saw this one was because the BF loves anything even hinting at the realm of horror. And I was willing to go because I figured Joss Whedon wouldn’t do me wrong.

Source

What I thought: I was pleasantly not freaked out at any point in the movie… though I’m not sure that’s what they were going for. I’m not the sort who has a super high tolerance for horror. Certain movies (not to be named here) have had me with a vice grip on the BF’s arm that resulted in bruising – he deserved it – I don’t think I flinched once. But to be fair it seemed more like a dissection and homage to horror than anything else. The twist at the end was something that even I (a serial plot ruiner) didn’t see coming.

Run Time: 95 minutes

Buy the Film

Mirror, Mirror

 Mirror, Mirror



Source



 Why I saw it: Okay, so, I don’t like Julia Roberts, she bugs me and the second I saw that Nathan Lane was in the cast, I knew what sort of a movie it was going to be… but I still went and saw it because I love Tarsem. I knew my eyes would be in for a visual candy fest.

Source

What I thought: While it was not the best adaptation of the story I’ve seen, I found it enjoyable enough… and the random bollywood number during the credits is just wacky to bump the movie up a little. There are a few moments of comedic gold, but other than that, I found the story straightforward. I don’t know if it’s this could be considered the worst take on Snow White I’ve seen… and as there are two more coming out shortly (One I’m wary of and one I’m actually kind of excited about) I think I’m going to save my judgment on this front. It followed the base guidelines of the story well enough and while I was not a fan of Army Hammer’s performance, Lilly Collins was decent enough. And I loved the Dwarves… but then, I always love the Dwarves. (I think it’s worth seeing if you like fairy tale adaptations – if you’re looking for something more a mix of this and the next item on the list consider Snow White: A Tale of Terror with Sam Neil and Sigourney Weaver.

Run Time: 106 minutes

Buy The Film

The Three Musketeers (3D)

D’Artagnan sets out for Paris to become a Musketeer, but when he arrives, he finds himself on the wrong side of the Cardinal’s guards and teamed up with the as of now out of work Three Musketeers. When the Cardinal sets out a plot to frame the Queen for treason and take the reins of the country, D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers are the only ones Her Majesty can trust to safely foil his plot.

My Thoughts:

What a great cast! I remember seeing the previews/lead up to this movie and thinking: Ray Stevenson! Milla Jovovich! Matthew MacFadyen! Christoph Waltz! It was one of the main things that made me want to watch the movie, and then, watching it, I was met with more: Mads Mickelson! James Corden! (I was less excited about Orlando Bloom)

And the steampunk element made me doubly excited to see the film, though it’s not quite as steampunky as I was hoping for. I do wish they would have played that up more than they did especially since the original plot line is not deviated from much.

The Hair in this film is pretty tragic. Luke Evens is too greasy for his own good, Logan Lerman either had a very bad wig or the cut has to have been a mistake that they rolled with. Orlando Bloom’s Pompadour/fauxhawk…. I just don’t even know where to go with that one. As a whole the hair was rather distracting.  

I loved that directly after the Queen’s power in a game of Chess is expounded upon, the real-life similarities are shown. And that leads to the beginning of just how adorable the King and Queen are together. I’m glad that they weren’t a large focus of the film, but the little glimpses of their relationship (as needed by the plot) were perfectly delightful.

I am glad that it wasn’t ridiculously 3D gimmicky. With the exception of a few things, noting felt purposefully thrown at the camera. In fact there were several moments where I thought they could have used that method of telling and not had a problem, but didn’t.

The lady in waiting tied to the figurehead did not seem realistic to me, for one thing, it was oddly shown on screen, for another it doesn’t seem like something that could realistically be done and undone in the air.

The fact that this movie left such an open ending bothers me. Since there is no sequel in sight, as far as I can tell, it’s depressing to have it so clearly setting up for one. And I don’t know how I feel about the fact Milady survives. Because herself sacrifice (albeit bluntly done in this film – the dialog after was too clunky) is a huge moment of character redemption that doesn’t seem like she should have survived.

Killer Elite

Out of the game hitman, Danny, is pulled back in for one last job to save his friend’s life. The job isn’t one he’d take if Hunter’s life wasn’t on the line: Killing 3 British SAS officers isn’t going to be a walk in the park for anyone – no matter their skill set.

With the help of two pals from the old days, Danny sets about getting the soldier’s confessions and making their death’s look like accidents. Unbeknownst to Danny, the Feather Men, a society of Ex-SAS, are tracking his movements and trying to save the lives of their brethren. Killing the elite is not a task for the faint of Heart.

My Thoughts:

I haven’t read the novel this is adapted from, and I don’t know that I will. I’m not always a fan of fiction based on true events like this, especially when the author is a part of the story. Also, this is one of those movies, where I don’t really know who to root for. I know Jason Statham’s character is supposed to be the hero (or in this case the anti-hero) but I can’t really find a reason to like him for what he’s doing. Sure, he’s trying to save his friend’s life, but I don’t think that’s enough in this case. You have a dying man who wants his son’s avenged – and I’m of the opinion that in War-time there are unfortunate and often avoidable deaths that can’t be  tried in a normal manner. And I don’t see much of any reason to care who wins on either side.

Making the deaths look like an accident is… odd. Honeslty, the second death – faking hypothermia – is the only one that I think they did right. In the first instance, they took the time to get the tile’s matched and glue them to a hammer… but they didn’t take the time to make the hammer consistent with the shape of the shower’s lip? You have a flat corner… that you’re trying to emulate with a pointed hammer? And the third death, while, sure it looks like an accident. I’ll give you that, it’s an incredibly dick move to put that man’s death on someone else’s conscience. I realize you’re hitmen, but have a little respect.

Dominic Purcell could not have looked more creep-tastic…. Unless maybe if they’d given him pedo tendancies. I know it’s the 80’s when this is taking place, but I feel like his character never left the seventies. It simply feels wrong.  

Runtime: 116 minutes

Blitz

When a killer goes on a spree targeting coppers, London’s least reputable detective, Tom Brant, is put on the case. While “The Blitz” seems to slip through his grasp at each turn, Brant realizes his focus is on his precinct and while he knows exactly who the killer is, his hands are tied by the very law he’s sworn to uphold.

The problems:

There were several points when Statham’s five o’clock shadow looked painted on. I’m not sure if they actually did airbrush it, or what, but it was distracting.

The introduction of the friend/partner whose wife has just died isn’t done very well. I didn’t even realize he was a copper until he shows up at the department wanting to get back to work.

Each time they said Barry Weiss’s name I immediately thought of Berry Weiss – the Leinenkuegel beer, and while I found that mildly amusing, I also found it a little distracting.

What I liked:

There's a part in Blitz where Statham's character passes out at his partner’s house and the next morning. He's like.... Did you interfere with me last night? (the partner being gay) and partner looks at him like, really? and says. "I held back". I found that part to be hilarious – mostly the look on the guy’s face. And I thought... I don't know that Statham is many gay men's type...  though really, what would I know about that?

I enjoyed that – in the end – Weiss set himself up so perfectly for his own demise.

Overall:

It’s not a great movie, by any means, but it’s decent enough. There are some very brutal moments, ones that make me glad I’ve not made anyone with a crowbar angry lately; though I do love the line about “A mix between hockey and murder.” And honestly, this movie has a really bad message, but if you ignore that, it’s a decent enough film.

Run Time: 97 minutes

Buy the Film

Conan the Barbarian

Overall:  

You couldn’t really go downhill from the Arnold version, and this one didn’t it’s decently done for a story where the initial source material had as much intelligible dialog as a conversation between infants.

What I liked:

The matte paintings of the cities were pretty freaking gorgeous. I’m a sucker for beautifully done cityscapes, I won’t lie. These places are rough and tumble and I’d likely end up someone’s slave in a little over three minutes, but I still want to go there because they are gorgeous (granted, I’m sure they smell awful).

The sand men were a pretty cool take on a concept that could have come across as tired and worn. They were just unique enough to keep me from being bored with them. I think I would have liked for them to be a bit bigger of a plot device though, not just that one scene.

Rose McGowan’s character was a perfect mix of “I want to please daddy” and creep factor. I’m not sure why, but I have a feeling that might be all she’s going to be good at anymore. It worked for her in this film, and I think it would serve her well to seek out more of this type of roll.

The Problems:

Some of the dialog came across SUUUUUUUUUUUUPER stilted. I realize that they didn’t have contractions back in the day that this sort of thing is set in, and part of it was delivery on the actor’s parts. But it wasn’t awful, just caught me up occasionally.

I felt like it needed more time to tell the story in, as it was it felt rushed for as grand a tale as it is. I think that, had they had a little more time, this movie could have been immensely better.

Other, random thoughts:

Am I the only one who noticed an odd number of Game of Thrones parallels? Conan is Drogo, Artus is Xaro Xhoan Daxos, and Someone dies with molten metal poured over their head… and there are other things that I’m forgetting as I write this… I’ll come back and update once I remember them.

Runtime: 113 minutes

Buy the Film

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Overall:

Not as good as the first, but better than the second.

Things I liked:

Alan Tudyk. I think he may have been one of the funniest parts of the movie, although he may be a very minor part. He is fabulous.

I enjoyed the amount of history they brought into this movie. And, while I feel they could have done it a little better, I’m happy they tried as hard as they did. I especially enjoy movies that broach the subject of Chernobyl and don’t outright demonize it. It was an atrocious event, but these things happen in the never-ending human conquest for furthering our kind. And I felt that the parallels of the “immanent” destruction at the end were kind of fitting.

There’s a point where a building in Chicago is being cut in half more or less by the Decepticons, and its top portion ends up at an extreme angle to the ground, which brought about some rather fun action moments.

I appreciate that these movies aren’t rehashing the same plot over and over again. They really are trying to create separate storylines that encapsulate rather different tonal mediums… but in the end Michael Bay is going to blow stuff up.

And sometimes, you just want a “Michael Bay blowing stuff up” movie.

The Problems:

It does get off to a rather slow start, and I’m not certain why we needed that much back story.

WHY THE HECK ARE THE DECEPTICONS "BLEEDING" ALL OF A SUDDEN? Did I just block that out in the first two? Because let’s face it. They don’t need to bleed or have a blood substitute. It’s just not necessary!

There were some things in the plot that weren't explained enough, so I wasn't in awe at the craziness of it... I was still trying to figure out how that was going to work out anyway. I mean, transporting the planet into Earth’s atmosphere? What? I guess if the planet was hollow and was going to be like encased around Earth it might make sense… but it just wasn’t explained concisely enough to give me any sense of real foreboding.

I felt like the addition of the Victoria Secret model was an unnecessary addition... I don't think Sam needs a girl to make the story work. However, she did class the movie up a bit compared to Megan "shove the camera up my a$$" Fox and was a fairly decent actress, considering that she’d only ever done VS commercials before.

Runtime: 154 minutes

Buy the Film

Super 8

When a group of kids sneak out of their house to work on a Super 8 film they plan to submit to an international film festival, they witness a train crash that will turn their quiet town upside down as the air force descends on them to deal with the clean up.

As the kids try to work the crash into their script, they unwittingly start to unravel a conspiracy, and find one of their number taken by the alien entity the government is trying to recapture and cover up. In saving her, they come to realize that not all things alien are inherently bad.

My Thoughts:

J.J. Abrams can be pretty hit or miss for me. But this movie is better than I expected. With all the hype, I was a little worried it was being over sold, and while I don’t believe it’s the best movie I’ve ever seen, it is extremely enjoyable and overall, a good SF/Adventure movie.

I wouldn’t call this movie a Goonies for the new generation, though I can understand why many make that correlation. There’s something very akin to the adventure that group of kids takes, but this movie has something else. Something that feels inherently other. There’s a darkness to this movie that the Goonies didn’t have. And in some ways, I think that makes this a better movie.

Can we take a step back and realize that Elle Fanning is only twelve in this? I’m not sure whether to be impressed by her amazing acting ability… or scared that that little girl is ONLY twelve! She does not look that young.

Run Time: 113 minutes

Bridesmaids

When Annie’s best friend Lillian gets engaged, Annie’s slowly crumbling life is brought into sharp relief by the introduction of the rest of Lilian’s bridal party – especially one rich bitch who wants to hog the spotlight.

My Thoughts:

While I didn’t hate her, the main character teeters on the line of “unlikable” throughout the film. There is a point at which self-pity brings nothing but revulsion. And while yes, a flawed main character is good, a pathetic one is not.

Melissa McCarthy was wonderful, there is something about her unfeminine portrayal of the character that I find incredibly endearing.

The age of the cast was something I was happy about. Not because I think that younger girls getting married is an unfortunate standard society is clinging to, but because I found their range to be something you’d be likely to see.

 “Roy” from the IT Crowd!

I’m not personally a fan of grotesquerie, so the poop humor in the fittings portion was not funny to me. But unlike a lot of comedies coming out anymore, it only had a total of two moments where I felt completely uncomfortable and didn’t care about the rest of the movie. The never ending bridal shower toast was the other.

While I love Wendi McLendon-Covey, her character Rita, the “Cousin,” is a little too jarring to be actually funny (IMO)

The “rich” friend was too over the top, making her eventual redemption a little overly predictable. Also, while I think Rose Byrne is very pretty, I felt like the resounding opinion that she was phenomenally beautiful was a little too pushy.

True Grit

Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Writers: Charles Portis (novel), Ethan & Joel Coen (Screenplay)

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, & Matt Damon
Other notable Cast: Josh Brolin, Barry pepper, Dakin Matthews
Budget: $38,000,000 (estimated)

I’m generally not a fan of remakes or novel adaptations. But that’s usually because I’ve already seen the original or I’ve read the novel and the remakes/adaptations rarely add up. As I had not seen the original version, I wasn’t viewing the movie with a pre-formed bias.

The Good:

Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn – I think every time I laughed in this movie was because of a line this character spat. He’s severely flawed and incredibly relatable.

The animosity between the Marshalls – You have a lot of reasons for these two characters to belly-ache at eachother. One fought for the North, one fought for the confederacy. There’s the whole “I’m from Texas” mentality and then of course you have the old dog vs. the young whippersnapper. Their spats are priceless.

Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney – We don’t get to see Mr. Chaney for long, but he’s definitely a memorable character. Brolin makes you hate him within moments of meeting him, and what more do you want from a murdering scumbag?

The Bad:

Mr. Le Boeuf – Ka-reep-y. Guy comes off very strongly as a creeper with his first lines. I know it was different back then, but Mattie is 14… and the first scene in which she encounters the Texas Marshall was very much a set-up for a romantic relationship.

The Blue Screen at the end – Oh, it was horrible. When I see things like that in a movie (especially one with a budget like this one had) I wonder why no one took the time to do anything about it.

Voice over & ending sequences – I never enjoy voice over narration in these sorts of films. It always seems out of place.

The Final Verdict: Definitely see it. It will certainly have you running the full gamut of emotions.

Run time: 110 Minutes

Buy the Film