so you wanna make a western

appaloosa--
safe to say this one wouldn't have seen the light of day without ed harris' involvement. afterall, he had a hand in nearly every aspect of the production. he, viggo mortensen, and jeremy irons fit right into the western filmscape, all solemn and gritty. renee zellwegger, conversely, sticks out like a sore thumb, in that she looks and acts rather like one. there is admirable work done here, to be sure, yet the script's weaker elements--including hints of trying too hard--simply prove too glaring to overcome.
admirable: 2 stars

what i Haven't been seeing

the simple, succinct conclusion is, of course, Films at the cinema.

haven't been moved. just ain't.

o, there have been several-many days in the past two weeks when i've felt obligated to drag my ass down to the theater to take in one or two ... but i just couldn't do it. i just couldn't get excited, try as i might, about the ruins. or nim's island. or drillbit taylor. or street kings. or prom night. or superhero movie. or even leatherheads.

know what i'm sayin'? do you feel me, dog?

now, leatherheads, in particular, is (yes, remains) a tougher one to leave alone. last fall i was genuinely looking forward to seeing it. scheduled as an end-of-year release, it boasts stars of heft and with verve--george clooney & renee zellweger in a zany feelgood rom-com cary grant-style throwback. stars, hijinx, love, laughs, c'mon...! what's not to love? plus it's about football. early days, leatherhead football, sure, but i Love football. and john krasinski of tv series the office; he's cool too.

but then the release date was bumped, which (ahem) isn't Always bad.... then came whispers of weakness. of tweak-ness. i waited, optimistically.
so the new spring opening came, and i waited. i listened and felt and waited. i'm still listening (which maybe is the problem, if there is indeed a problem), and i still haven't heard anything really Good about it. i hear plenty of Fine's and Okay's and Almost's and such. and i'm curious. i'm certainly curious. you see, i want to like it. i want to. (don't You wanna like george clooney & renee zellweger and hijinx and laughs & love--don't you wanna like laughs & love?!)
i do.
i just can't bring myself to Go.