Movies I've Seen :: Cowboys & Aliens

We watched this at home on Foxtel this evening.  It stars Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde and Harrison Ford.

Synopsis: A stranger (Craig) stumbles into the desert town of Absolution with no memory of his past and a mysterious, futuristic shackle around his wrist. With the help of mysterious beauty Ella (Wilde) and the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford), he finds himself leading an unlikely posse of cowboys, outlaws and Apache warriors to fight a common enemy from beyond this world in an epic showdown for survival.

I don't think I have seen such a ridiculously simplistic story in a film for a long time!  The aliens were the bad guys and the cowboys were the good guys.  It was as straightforward and uncomplicated as that.  The cowboys got the Indians on side to help them by telling them how good they were and that if the Indians didn't help them, then the aliens would take over the world.  So, the Indian chief said "Oh, OK then".

The love interest for The Stranger was an Indian woman who turned out to be a different kind of alien, so of course she gets killed because we can't allow any inter-racial (inter-planetary?) hanky-panky. Sorry to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet!

Having said that, I have to admit that I enjoyed this film, anyway. The images of space ships flying into town and shootin' up the place was hilarious! The aliens were deliciously ugly and the hero and heroine were gorgeous. The desert battle scene was the funniest I've seen for a while, with the goblin-like aliens jumping onto the cowboys' horses, being shot with arrows by the Indians and spilling green blood. There was also, of course, the obligatory young boy with a dog and a craggy old man who reconciles with his wayward son. All the ingredients for one of the corniest Westerns ever!


I would give this film a 4 out of 10.

Yee HAH!!!

Movies I've Seen :: The Iron Lady

Wayne & I went to see this at the Village Cinema at Knox, with his parents.

Synopsis:  The Iron Lady depicts the compelling story of Britain’s ex-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, a woman who smashed through the barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male-dominated world. The story concerns power and the price that is paid for power, and is a surprising and intimate portrait of an extraordinary and complex woman.

I enjoyed finding out a little more about Thatcher's background and what she had to deal with to get where she did.  The film portrayed her as single-minded and somewhat uncaring of her family, which I wasn't surprised at, but it is a sad fact that it seems you can only really make it in the world of politics if you focus totally on your career.

It was a good reminder of the political and social situation during the seventies and eighties and I enjoyed viewing all the old news footage of the times.

It was interesting, however, that in her old-age, which is where the film is set, Margaret it constantly accompanied by her husband Derek's ghost, as if because she didn't give him enough attention during his life, he was going to ensure she did after his death.

I think Meryl Streep did an amazing portrayal of Thatcher and won't be surprised if she's nominated for an Academy Award for this one!

I would give the film a 7 out of 10.

Movies with Richie

Richie & I went to the movies this afternoon to see the new Scorsese film on the life of George Harrison. It was really long - 3-1/2 hours, with an interval after 1-1/2 hours, but we didn't even notice how long it was. It was a really great documentary that showed his life from his childhood to his death from cancer.

There were interviews with some of his closest friends like Eric Clapton, Eric Idle, Jackie Stewart, Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Yoko Ono, his wife and his son, with heaps of footage, photos and music.  The film went into great detail about his time with The Beatles, the breakup, the Concert for Bangladesh (which I knew very little about), his music after The Beatles, his spiritual journey and relationships with the Hari Krishna movement and Ravi Shankar, and the formation of the Travelling Wilburys with Jeff Lynne (ex-ELO), Tom Petty, Roy Orbison & Bob Dylan (what an eclectic line up!).

I think what I am most grateful for has been the opportunity to get to know more of George's music, especially his album "Living in the Material World", which I hadn't even heard of (amazingly).  It has some really lovely songs, including "Give Me Love [Give Me Peace On Earth]" and a new one for me, "The Light That Has Lighted The World", which is just beautiful!  Some of his words are:

I'm grateful to anyone,
that is happy or 'free'
for giving me hope
while I'm looking to see

The Light that has lighted the world

If you want to hear the song, you can find it here:

http://youtu.be/_Qgf8fYGcmk

This movie is well worth seeing!