I'm so glad I opted for the BigD view!
"Well, that's a bit blurry, but I'm sure it was pretty on the big screen.
Nice to see the Wicked Witch of the West there in the clouds! "
Yeah, I noticed that when I took this shot, from the online preview.
So maybe she was meant to have flown in from Oz just for me!
"Right place, right time, you mean?"
You got it!
You have to admit it's a pretty odd coincidence that she should be present in this modern Western, filmed in the southwestern USA, and her realm is the West.
I think I was meant to see her, even though I didn't notice her in the movie.
"Sure, sure, I get that.
After all, you were busy paying attention to the story, not looking at the clouds drifting by. "
Yeah, that's right, especially as this was my first time seeing it.
"And just what movie was it this time?"
"The Marksman", the brand-new one with Liam Neeson.
I had expected the usual: someone does him wrong and he goes kicking butt.
However, that's not how this one played out.
Its tone reminded me quite a bit of "Gran Torino".
Here, the 68-year-old actor plays a retired Marine veteran of the Vietnam Conflict, living on a failing ranch in Arizona and helping his Border Patrol step-daughter with illegal aliens along the Mexican border.
The problem arises when he spots a mother and son cross over into the US through a hole in the fence, with the drug cartel hot on their heels.
The mom dies and the widowed rancher is the one stuck with getting the recalcitrant kid to family in Chicago.
In that way, the story parallels "News Of The World", in which 64-year-old Tom Hanks' widower is stuck with transporting a cantankerous girl to distant family.
Surprisingly, the movie tonight really didn't have any more violence in it than that one!
"Yes, that is surprising."
I'm not saying folks didn't die, because they did... but it was all off-camera.
Know what I mean?
Not close-up and grisly and in your face.
"I wonder if that was to keep the rating out of the 'R' range?"
Perhaps, as that would draw a larger portion of the audience.
Both movies paint a pretty vivid, non-romanticized, realistic, portrait of life back in the old West as well as today in the marginalized areas of the current southwest.
You can tell that not much has changed in that region, even though more than a hundred years have past.
"That would make it good for a field trip for a history class."
Or for a social science class, or even geography.
Folks who don't live near deserts or mountain ranges would be unfamiliar with that landscape.
I had thought I'd like to visit out there, especially the Sedona area, but I'd like to make sure it was soon after a rain, so I could see some flowers.
Plus, that would hydrate the air so it wouldn't dry out my sinuses.
I remember how bloody my nose got when I was in Tempe many years ago, and just two years ago in Las Vegas during the summer months.
"I remember that!
You had to breathe through a wet wash rag that first time! "
Yeah, that was pretty hard, but we were there to visit my boyfriend's folks.
Tempe had some pretty cool architecture, seems it has a university for those studies.
I could never live out there, but that's where I got my raspberry unicorn bust.
Definitely some good memories from thirty-seven years ago!
"You have had that ceramic unicorn that long and it's still whole?
That's amazing! "
It really is, given my propensity for breaking such things.
"Well, you must value it quite a bit."
I value the memories that it represents.
Yes, I think that's the truth of it.
David was my last boyfriend from my days in the Navy, and that was all during the last year or so of that time, when I was stationed in Imperial Beach.
Now, that last duty station is not even there anymore, destroyed six years ago.
"The end of an era, dear.
Those huge antenna arrays are not needed and beachfront property is at a premium, especially out there in California. "
You said it!
Now, I have figure skating to watch on tv!
You know one of the reasons I like it so much?
"Because you can dance to the music with them? "
Absolutely!
(smile!)
2 comments:
Just a little fun fact: "The Marksman" is not due to be released in cinemas until Thursday, January 21, 2021...
and, yet...
it's playing here in Savannah already.
Lucky for us!
Oh, and before I forget, there's one more thing.
I don't know when "The Marksman" was filmed, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was in 2020.
No one is wearing masks, so there isn't that tell-tale sign.
However, the number of people in each scene is very small.
The same people are grouped together for the scenes.
Much of the story is told on the road - the old man alone in his truck, the old man with the boy in the truck, the three thugs in the van, lots of drive-time and scenery.
Come to think of it, much of "News of the World" was this way, too.
I'm glad new movies are still a thing of the present, even during a pandemic.
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