Russell versus Clive

Friday, Friday, glorious, sensational, wonderful Friday. The preceding was a paid endorsement by the Saturdays Suck Coalition.

Everyone please put your books and notes away. Time for a quiz. Let's see how well you know movies from the past 25 years. Apparently, I've seen too many movies.

100%The Movie Quiz

FilmCritic.com - Movie Reviews

This week I saw two advance screenings for movies opening today-3:10 to Yuma and Shoot Em' Up.

Let me talk about 3:10 first. I posted earlier that this is a remake of a 1957 film. I have never seen the original(and I'm assuming most people under 40 haven't) and honestly have never heard of the film until marketing for the remake began. No one else I've talked to has seen or heard of the film. The film was never mentioned in my History of Film class in college when we covered the Western film. The film is just not part of the classic Western canon of movies. So, does it makes sense to remake a little known film for a new generation to enjoy? Obviously, somebody thought the movie was good enough to warrant a remake. The theme is familiar (and overused). An outlaw leader(Russell Crowe-the bad guy) squares off against a rancher family man(Christian Bale-the good guy). They have a journey together(to catch the train of the title) and discover that everyone has inner layers that belie their outward persona. Does it work? Yes...to a point. And that point comes about 90 minutes into the film. The final minutes of the film doesn't justify the character development of the first hour and a half. It's almost as if the filmmakers weren't sure how to resolve the movie. I can't give you any more details without spoiling it for you. Is it worth seeing? Yes. Crowe and Bale give solid performances. The narrative is smooth and even and the action is well edited and easy to follow. Is it the best Western of all time? No, not by a long shot(that honor still belongs to The Searchers). Some characters are shallow stereotypes, particularly Ben Foster's Charlie Prince and Johnny Whitworth's Darden. Nobody is surprised by their fate. So it would seem this remake will have the same reputation as the original. A good movie, but not good enough to be remembered as a classic.


Ok, now on to Shoot Em' Up. Don't see it!!

Enjoy the weekend!!