Synopsis:
Texas 1868. Ethan Edwards finally returns home from the War Between the States. Not long after his return, Comanches attack his brother's home, stealing away the young girls and killing everyone else. Ethan becomes obsessed with finding them and is accompanied by his adopted 'nephew', Martin, who seeks to moderate Ethan's mood. They quest to find a specific group of Comanches led by the man named Scar.
Thoughts:
On its surface, this is a simple 'cowboys vs. indians' type movie. Most all movies classified as Westerns seem to boil down to that point. While that is a plot point to this movie, it isn't as simple as them = bad, us = good. Everything revolves around Ethan as played by John Wayne.
Say what you may about John Wayne's style of acting but I found him fascinating here. Certainly he's still John Wayne, much like Tom Hanks tends to get cast as 'Tom Hanks', but the details of his character and how he plays it is grand. I suppose it either works for you or it doesn't. Certainly the script is solid and the directing is solid, so it can all come together.
Ethan clearly has issues. He returns from the War three years after it ended. When asked where he was all that time, he doesn't answer. His brother notes that Ethan had that desire to leave even before the War. He also refuses to take the Deputy Texas Ranger oath as a man can only hold to one oath at a time, still feeling his oath to the Confederate State of America is active. He also refused to show up to the surrender ceremony that ended that war. This is a man that does not let things go.
Therefore, when it's time to chase down the Comanche, it makes sense that Ethan will pursue them until he no longer can or he succeeds in his quest.
Martin has already identified that Ethan has issues. Martin was saved by Ethan as a child and raised by Ethan's brother. The family has adopted Martin as one of their own. He feels like part of the family and admires Ethan, calling him Uncle. Ethan refuses this title as Martin is no kin of his and is at least part Native American. While they've all moved on, Ethan hasn't. Things are what they were. Martin's obsession become to save the girls he considers family as well as trying to moderate Ethan's excesses.
This quest takes years. Every time they return 'home', Martin will not stay there with the girl he fancies and who fancies him. He HAS to continue with this quest much like Ethan does.
In many ways it's a very grim story. There is no violence as we'd see it today. Certainly guns are fired and they kill people, but there is no blood or gore. All the worst violence is off screen and some of it is more chilling because of it. Ethan, who probably saw some rough stuff during the War, is shaken more than once by the corpses the Comanche leave behind, not allowing the young men to be damaged by seeing them as well, to the point of knocking out Martin with a punch when he resists. Ethan's freakout in the desert is particularly moving as it shows him completely vulnerable, pained, yet fighting to keep the burden to himself and not saddle other with it.
There is humor as well. The Reverend that's also a Texas Ranger is often amusing, as is Old Mose, and Charlie who courts Martin's girlfriend while he's gone. Yet all of these characters are also heroic, setting aside their differences for the greater good when necessary. Even when the characters disagree on methods, they still come together to get the job done.
The ending is happy but not all the ends are tied up tidily. While certainly something positive has occurred and we may see that Ethan can bend, nothing is magically healed or resolved. Some will remain outside.
The movie is visually gorgeous in a way that films no longer seem to be. Everything clicks and works together well. I hadn't seen it for years before last night and I was shocked to see how much of it I found familiar. It's an excellent movie that sticks with you and has depth beyond the standard 'shoot 'em up' Western.
Highly Recommended.
06 March 2010
05 March 2010
A Few Thoughts on Comics from This Week
Busy week, slow week. Really slow week. Slow enough that I talked myself into getting an older book from the rack. Let's talk about them all!
The Amazing Spider-Man #623: Electro breaks the new Vulture out of jail, we learn some of the background of this new version of an old character, and Spidey gets hit with pies. Nothing bad here, some tension and some interesting information, but nothing too exciting either. Perfectly Acceptable Comic-bookery.
The Mighty Avengers #34: Quicksilver gets mad, Loki gets kicked around, and Hank Pym does something crazy. This was a good book, solid writing and good art. The big entertainment is Loki and his long-term influence on this group. Loki offers the idea that everything may have been a lie, that he may have rigged every influence on them. As it's Loki, it's hard to believe anything he says. Is he speaking the truth now? If so, what does that mean to the team? This combined with Hank Pym's crazy act leads into the wind-up storyline to start next issue, the story that will lead to the end of the book as all the Avenger related books restart or change. The next story looks like it might be quite the whiz-bang ending.
The Invincible Iron Man #24: The reassembly of Tony Stark is complete, but at what cost? The ending to this book is obvious, in hindsight. I didn't see it coming and totally should have done. I don't want to spoil anything but I really enjoyed it. Good stuff.
Colt Noble and the Megalords is a one-shot book that I grabbed off the rack. It's written by Tim Seeley, who also writes Hack/Slash which I enjoy. The premise of the book is pretty simple - relaunch He-Man as a somewhat PG-13 parody of itself. It reads like an Adult Swim show waiting to happen. Story's solid as well as funny and the art is clean, not really as cartoony as it could be. If you grew up watching cartoons in the 1980s, this is definitely worth reading.
Tales of the TMNT #67 is interesting and is as cartoony in its art style that Colt Noble could have been. Our friends the Turtles appear more in sub-plots, at loose ends while they try to work out their directions in life. The focus of this story is on Casey Jones and April O'Neil as they work to get little Shadow into a kindergarten that will feed her young intelligence. They scrape the money together but Shadow manages to get expelled rather quickly standing up for herself. As he brings Shadow home, Casey rants and raves about the money as he will, more out of nerves than anything. He grumps too much, leading to Shadow asking him 'Daddy, do you hate me now?' Then things get mushy for a bit before getting happy again. I don't want to spoil it but, No!, of course he doesn't. This was my favorite from this week. Good solid story that advances a lot of little things. It felt more like moments from someone's life more than a Story.
The Amazing Spider-Man #623: Electro breaks the new Vulture out of jail, we learn some of the background of this new version of an old character, and Spidey gets hit with pies. Nothing bad here, some tension and some interesting information, but nothing too exciting either. Perfectly Acceptable Comic-bookery.
The Mighty Avengers #34: Quicksilver gets mad, Loki gets kicked around, and Hank Pym does something crazy. This was a good book, solid writing and good art. The big entertainment is Loki and his long-term influence on this group. Loki offers the idea that everything may have been a lie, that he may have rigged every influence on them. As it's Loki, it's hard to believe anything he says. Is he speaking the truth now? If so, what does that mean to the team? This combined with Hank Pym's crazy act leads into the wind-up storyline to start next issue, the story that will lead to the end of the book as all the Avenger related books restart or change. The next story looks like it might be quite the whiz-bang ending.
The Invincible Iron Man #24: The reassembly of Tony Stark is complete, but at what cost? The ending to this book is obvious, in hindsight. I didn't see it coming and totally should have done. I don't want to spoil anything but I really enjoyed it. Good stuff.
Colt Noble and the Megalords is a one-shot book that I grabbed off the rack. It's written by Tim Seeley, who also writes Hack/Slash which I enjoy. The premise of the book is pretty simple - relaunch He-Man as a somewhat PG-13 parody of itself. It reads like an Adult Swim show waiting to happen. Story's solid as well as funny and the art is clean, not really as cartoony as it could be. If you grew up watching cartoons in the 1980s, this is definitely worth reading.
Tales of the TMNT #67 is interesting and is as cartoony in its art style that Colt Noble could have been. Our friends the Turtles appear more in sub-plots, at loose ends while they try to work out their directions in life. The focus of this story is on Casey Jones and April O'Neil as they work to get little Shadow into a kindergarten that will feed her young intelligence. They scrape the money together but Shadow manages to get expelled rather quickly standing up for herself. As he brings Shadow home, Casey rants and raves about the money as he will, more out of nerves than anything. He grumps too much, leading to Shadow asking him 'Daddy, do you hate me now?' Then things get mushy for a bit before getting happy again. I don't want to spoil it but, No!, of course he doesn't. This was my favorite from this week. Good solid story that advances a lot of little things. It felt more like moments from someone's life more than a Story.
03 March 2010
'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian' review
It was on sale last week, I picked it up, watched it right away, and then slacked on reviewing it. Shame on me.
Synopsis:
A few years have passed since Larry was a night watchman at the Museum. Now he's a successful inventor and CEO that gets back to visit his friends at the Museum on occasion. Unfortunately, during a Museum refurb, most of the exhibits are to be packed up for storage in the National Archives. The tablet is not meant to go with them but, well, monkeys are monkeys...
Thoughts:
I like Museums and, therefore, I enjoyed the original for what it was, the daydream that I'd often had about the night time activities of the exhibits in the local Museum. This manages to succeed as a sequel while being more of the same and yet something new.
One thing I like about the magic at the center of everything, the Egyptian tablet that brings the exhibits to life, is that the rules of it are defined without being too closely defined. They never sit down and go 'this is how it works' but certain rules can be observed as being in place, such as items brought to life stay active until the sunrise. At the same time, by not being too defined, it allows for the use of imagination. We're also told that this 'life' is merely a 'parlour trick' compared to the full powers of the tablet so there's still some room for manuevering.
The story allows for main character Larry (Ben Stiller) to have another character arc and learn an important lesson about himself before the end of the film. While this arc does make sense given the events of the film, there's still a certain family friendly, happy ending feel to it that's a bit too easy. Most of the characters have a similar arc, where Very Important Things are learned via a Catch-Phrase or a Clever Saying at the Right Time or the Inspiring Speech That Makes You Think. Many of the characters from the original movie either don't appear here or spend much of this movie locked up, appearing briefly so that new characters at the new location can be used.
This would be much more annoying if the rest of the movie wasn't so fun. Thankfully it is a lot of fun. Much of this is due to the vibrant quality of Amy Adams playing the animated Amelia Earhart. She is energetic, positive, sassy, full of dated slang, and all sorts of pretty. She makes herself Larry's companion through the movie and it becomes very easy to cheer for her adventurousness. She is very gung-ho. She rules the picture apart from the bits that Hank Azaria's Kahmunrah character lord over. As head bad guy and Egyptian know-it-all, Hank shines as an over-the-top nogoodnik. When he first appeared, I was confused by his odd manner of speech but after a few seconds I realized he was doing an impression of Boris Karloff! Mummy reference! Excellent!
One of the moments I was most looking forward to, the cameo of both Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch, was a bit of a let down. Oscar's not a 'take over the world' type of character, quickly noted as just grouchy by Kahmunrah and therefore the joke is too forced. It's not funny because it's out of character. The associated Darth Vader moment is almost entirely in the trailer. I like Star Wars related buffoonery but this also falls flat, especially as it comes directly after the Oscar the Grouch moment.
The bulk of the movie is a fun, adventure romp. I felt it held together well enough with no particularly painful plot holes. That said, I'm inclined to think that sneaking into a government building might be more difficult than it is portrayed here. Unless they outsourced the security functions to the lowest bidder in which case it's probably even easier. Just don't worry about it too much and enjoy the mobile Lincoln Monument. It should be a ride at Universal Studios.
Recommendation to watch. Worth renting. If you enjoyed the original enough to buy it, pick this up as well.
Synopsis:
A few years have passed since Larry was a night watchman at the Museum. Now he's a successful inventor and CEO that gets back to visit his friends at the Museum on occasion. Unfortunately, during a Museum refurb, most of the exhibits are to be packed up for storage in the National Archives. The tablet is not meant to go with them but, well, monkeys are monkeys...
Thoughts:
I like Museums and, therefore, I enjoyed the original for what it was, the daydream that I'd often had about the night time activities of the exhibits in the local Museum. This manages to succeed as a sequel while being more of the same and yet something new.
One thing I like about the magic at the center of everything, the Egyptian tablet that brings the exhibits to life, is that the rules of it are defined without being too closely defined. They never sit down and go 'this is how it works' but certain rules can be observed as being in place, such as items brought to life stay active until the sunrise. At the same time, by not being too defined, it allows for the use of imagination. We're also told that this 'life' is merely a 'parlour trick' compared to the full powers of the tablet so there's still some room for manuevering.
The story allows for main character Larry (Ben Stiller) to have another character arc and learn an important lesson about himself before the end of the film. While this arc does make sense given the events of the film, there's still a certain family friendly, happy ending feel to it that's a bit too easy. Most of the characters have a similar arc, where Very Important Things are learned via a Catch-Phrase or a Clever Saying at the Right Time or the Inspiring Speech That Makes You Think. Many of the characters from the original movie either don't appear here or spend much of this movie locked up, appearing briefly so that new characters at the new location can be used.
This would be much more annoying if the rest of the movie wasn't so fun. Thankfully it is a lot of fun. Much of this is due to the vibrant quality of Amy Adams playing the animated Amelia Earhart. She is energetic, positive, sassy, full of dated slang, and all sorts of pretty. She makes herself Larry's companion through the movie and it becomes very easy to cheer for her adventurousness. She is very gung-ho. She rules the picture apart from the bits that Hank Azaria's Kahmunrah character lord over. As head bad guy and Egyptian know-it-all, Hank shines as an over-the-top nogoodnik. When he first appeared, I was confused by his odd manner of speech but after a few seconds I realized he was doing an impression of Boris Karloff! Mummy reference! Excellent!
One of the moments I was most looking forward to, the cameo of both Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch, was a bit of a let down. Oscar's not a 'take over the world' type of character, quickly noted as just grouchy by Kahmunrah and therefore the joke is too forced. It's not funny because it's out of character. The associated Darth Vader moment is almost entirely in the trailer. I like Star Wars related buffoonery but this also falls flat, especially as it comes directly after the Oscar the Grouch moment.
The bulk of the movie is a fun, adventure romp. I felt it held together well enough with no particularly painful plot holes. That said, I'm inclined to think that sneaking into a government building might be more difficult than it is portrayed here. Unless they outsourced the security functions to the lowest bidder in which case it's probably even easier. Just don't worry about it too much and enjoy the mobile Lincoln Monument. It should be a ride at Universal Studios.
Recommendation to watch. Worth renting. If you enjoyed the original enough to buy it, pick this up as well.
01 March 2010
Music Monday - Madness
It's the early 1990s. I'm watching the Young Ones for the first time on tape. Thank you VHS! Mid episode the band starts and suddenly everything is Madness!
Unfortunately the credits on the tape were three episodes combined. What band was I looking for? In those pre-Internet days, information was difficult to come by. I had a similar problem with the Damned when they appeared on the show. I had no problems deciphering Motorhead.
You'd think I would have known about Madness already but I wasn't tuned into the pop world during the early 1980s. If I had been more inclined in that way, I might have remembered this song.
I'm sure you hate me now. 'Oh that'll be stuck in my head for weeks; why would you do that to me?' Well, for one, it is a great song. For two, well, Dexy's Midnight Runners were also on the Young Ones. Do you want three different versions of 'Come on Eileen'? That might be cruel, not that it's a bad song either.
All that was a long time ago. Far too long ago. Are you aware that Madness reunited a few years ago? You didn't know that, did you? Now you do...
H'ray for 2 Tone!
Unfortunately the credits on the tape were three episodes combined. What band was I looking for? In those pre-Internet days, information was difficult to come by. I had a similar problem with the Damned when they appeared on the show. I had no problems deciphering Motorhead.
You'd think I would have known about Madness already but I wasn't tuned into the pop world during the early 1980s. If I had been more inclined in that way, I might have remembered this song.
I'm sure you hate me now. 'Oh that'll be stuck in my head for weeks; why would you do that to me?' Well, for one, it is a great song. For two, well, Dexy's Midnight Runners were also on the Young Ones. Do you want three different versions of 'Come on Eileen'? That might be cruel, not that it's a bad song either.
All that was a long time ago. Far too long ago. Are you aware that Madness reunited a few years ago? You didn't know that, did you? Now you do...
H'ray for 2 Tone!
28 February 2010
A Few Thoughts on Comics from This Week
Big week so I'll focus on just a few books.
Fantastic Four #576 continues one of the best runs of this book in ages. The FF have had some rough times and some great times. In an era where stories run for six issues at a crack or are tied into some company-wide crossover, this run has seen stories that run for a single issue and have nothing to do with any big crossovers. The stories are interesting and well crafted, adventurous. The art is exceptional and detailed. This may well be the best book that Marvel is producing at the moment.
Three Generation One Transformer related comics were released this week. All managed to be different yet fit together enough. Last Stand of the Wreckers #2 continues a story set in outer space. Autobots and Decepticons continue to battle. Detailed mysteries continue to swirl around the Wreckers and the histories of the individual characters. Interesting stuff. Ultra Magnus appears in this story but is on his way to the subtitle-less Transformers book. Here, on duty and faced with a situation that he finds indefensible, he becomes more strict in his vocal patterns. The focus of the story here is on Hot Rod's breakaway group of Transformers, a mix of Autobots and Decepticons that (at least claim) to understand that the war is over and they need to find a new way. The key to the success of this issue is Thundercracker's observations of human life. At one point he reflects: "Even the youngest of us is thousands of years old. And for as long as we've functioned, we've fought the same battles in the same ways, held the same allegiances, lived the same lives. We call ourselves Transformers. Where's the transformation in THAT?' Fascinating. The Bumblebee series focuses on the earth Autobot group and Bumblebee's ability to make friends with humans, even when he has to do so for the wrong reasons and feels guilty about it. They're all different books and that's a good thing.
Muppet King Arthur #2 continues to feel weird but I think I have it figured out now. The earlier mini- series have been like Muppet movies but this story feels more like one of the themed episodes of the Muppet Show, like when they did 'Alice in Wonderland' with Brooke Shields. It's more silly than character based. This issue is filled with running gags and reality television parodies and really bad puns. That's really quite Muppety when you think about it.
Fantastic Four #576 continues one of the best runs of this book in ages. The FF have had some rough times and some great times. In an era where stories run for six issues at a crack or are tied into some company-wide crossover, this run has seen stories that run for a single issue and have nothing to do with any big crossovers. The stories are interesting and well crafted, adventurous. The art is exceptional and detailed. This may well be the best book that Marvel is producing at the moment.
Three Generation One Transformer related comics were released this week. All managed to be different yet fit together enough. Last Stand of the Wreckers #2 continues a story set in outer space. Autobots and Decepticons continue to battle. Detailed mysteries continue to swirl around the Wreckers and the histories of the individual characters. Interesting stuff. Ultra Magnus appears in this story but is on his way to the subtitle-less Transformers book. Here, on duty and faced with a situation that he finds indefensible, he becomes more strict in his vocal patterns. The focus of the story here is on Hot Rod's breakaway group of Transformers, a mix of Autobots and Decepticons that (at least claim) to understand that the war is over and they need to find a new way. The key to the success of this issue is Thundercracker's observations of human life. At one point he reflects: "Even the youngest of us is thousands of years old. And for as long as we've functioned, we've fought the same battles in the same ways, held the same allegiances, lived the same lives. We call ourselves Transformers. Where's the transformation in THAT?' Fascinating. The Bumblebee series focuses on the earth Autobot group and Bumblebee's ability to make friends with humans, even when he has to do so for the wrong reasons and feels guilty about it. They're all different books and that's a good thing.
Muppet King Arthur #2 continues to feel weird but I think I have it figured out now. The earlier mini- series have been like Muppet movies but this story feels more like one of the themed episodes of the Muppet Show, like when they did 'Alice in Wonderland' with Brooke Shields. It's more silly than character based. This issue is filled with running gags and reality television parodies and really bad puns. That's really quite Muppety when you think about it.
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