Cowboys & Aliens

I went to see Cowboys & Aliens last night. It was a fabulous Western/Science Fiction mix. It's definitely violent, and the aliens are disturbingly gross, so watch at your own discretion. It's rated PG-13, and I would stick to that. Don't take younger kids to see this.

The list of names involved with this movie is impressive, but I wouldn't normally care. I like a movie to stand on its own, not on names. But I think it's worth mentioning some of them this time. Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, and Harrison Ford star. Noah Ringer, the star of The Last Airbender, plays a part. There are about nine writing credits, one of which is Damon Lindelof of TV's Lost. There's a whole page of producers, including Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Damon Lindelof. Altogether, it's quite a crew, but Daniel Craig (known as the new Bond) and Harrison Ford really make this movie.

As for plot, don't go in expecting Inception. The plot is relatively simple, and the story is more about the characters' interactions and defeating seemingly monstrous odds. If the title intrigues you, you will enjoy the movie. If you think the title is ridiculous, you will think the same of the movie. But if you like incongruous pairings, this is an interesting one. TV's Firefly (which carries the same characters as the movie Serenity) paired Westerns and Scifi with fantastic results, despite running only one season. I guess it just goes to show that the pairing isn't for everyone, but those who love it really love it.

So, basic plot: a man (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the desert and can't remember anything, even his name. But he wears a strange, metal armband that won't come off. He rides into the nearest town, gets some clues about his identity, and then discovers that his armband can blast other, larger metal contraptions out of the sky. He joins a retired, surly Colonel (Harrison Ford), a band of outlaws, and a tribe of Indians to retrieve the people stolen by the gold-hunting aliens. It's pure Western fun with lots of shooting, punching, stabbing, and general fighting.

Good popcorn movie. Good romp. And Daniel Craig is an amazing specimen of masculinity, what can I say. Great casting. Three and a half stars out of five.

True Grit on DVD

Normally, I like Westerns okay, and True Grit is very Western, but it was just a little too strange for me. The characters were fascinating but perhaps overdone. The whole premise of the movie was kind of dark, although from a certain standpoint, it was lawful and right. Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross hires a marshal, and gets a Texas ranger in the bargain too, to hunt down the man who killed her father. Her stipulation: she goes along to make sure justice is served. Her obsession borders on revenge but seems to mostly be about justice when it comes right down to it.

Why is it that every Western is in shades of brown? I guess that's how the far American West is, even today, but it's such an iconic image: a horse and rider traveling over a vast, treeless expanse of brown grass. Of course, True Grit takes place near the beginning of winter, I believe, so that affects the scenery.

The ending of this movie could have turned my viewpoint toward it slightly had it been different, but I found it rather sad and not entirely satisfactory. The title of the movie, however, says it all. There couldn't be harder people in this story than these.

The movie stars Jeff Bridges as the marshal and Matt Damon as the Texas ranger. I didn't really recognize either of them, although I wondered, briefly, if Damon's character was a famous actor. His face was different enough that I couldn't pinpoint him. Hailee Steinfeld is the 14-year-old actress who plays Mattie, and she does an excellent job.

True Grit is a remake of a 1969 John Wayne film and is based on a 1968 novel by Charles Portis. It's rated PG-13 for Western violence, including hangings, shootings, and stabbings.