"Lone Star"

Watched on Netflix Instant Watch - with earphones (as usual)

Chris Cooper, who plays Sheriff Sam Deeds, is such an interesting actor. He has a great voice, deep and gravelly, but not too much so. I like the way he pronounces his words and I am fascinated by his face. He is what I would call "out of prime handsome". In other words, his face is attractive and has hints of handsomeness, but there's a sort of droopiness to it that keeps him from being too attractive and that's all a good thing. He has a little pot belly too, at least in this movie.

He stars in this very good, very well constructed murder mystery. However, the 40 year old unsolved murder is only the cornerstone of this skyscraper of a movie. Many characters are introduced with all of their accompanying predicaments and stories. Layer upon layer is added. You become totally absorbed up until the ending that has it's own special twist.

All of the acting is good. The love interest for Sheriff Deeds is a Hispanic school teacher well portrayed by actress Elizabeth Pena. Petite and pretty, she and the Sheriff have a past together that comes to play throughout the movie.

There is a lot of skipping around between various "stories", past and present. In a couple of instances this is a little distracting but not so much so that you lose interest.

The old unsolved murder also has an unknown victim for a short time until forensics are completed and the skeletal remain are identified leading Deeds to begin the process of investigation of this death.

Kris Kristofferson plays a really bad guy - a corrupt Sheriff of a prior era who is cruel and has no compunction in shooting people who are brown or black at the slightest provocation. KK is another one with a great speaking voice and although I have never considered him a particularly gifted actor, he does manage to create a very unpleasant and threatening presence on the screen here.

I can't go into much of the plot without giving a lot of it away. You will have to watch this movie to find out what happens.

Oh and a very, very young looking Francis McDormand plays a bubbleheaded ex-wife named Bunny. You've got to see her to believe her. She really gets on your nerves, so it's a good thing she only has a small part.

Oh and Matthew McConaughy is also in this movie. It appears that some of the movie trailers and posters try to make him look like one of the main stars, but actually he is only in the movie for maybe a maximum of 10 minutes. I have to say that he is not one of my favorite actors - he seems like he would be very conceited and careless with other people's hearts, but I could be wrong.

Go the the Internet Movie Database here to see trailers and just about anything else you want to know about this movie and it's stars.

Rating for "Lone Star"

UP (Pixar's latest)

Viewed in3D at our local Metrolux theatre. Brought a drink, but actually bought popcorn although it was, as usual, ridiculously expensive and incredibly salty.

UP was, as all other reviews pretty much unanimously agree, very good. I wouldn't put it in the same category as the Toy Storys, Cars or the Incredibles, but it was very entertaining and great to view - especially in 3D.

That's me there in the second row in my formal laughing hysterically. I just wish I'd worn my hat like the bored blond in the third row who looks like she sucked a persimmon. Ah, dressing up for the movies.......a bit different from attire we typically wear now. I actually saw someone in the furry bathroom slippers one time. America is somewhat more casual now, to say the least.


We were wondering about those glasses, they were not the usual old flimsy paper glasses that were used to view 3D back when, but a newer version in heavier plastic and probably more sophisticated in how they work (though I could be wrong). Anyway, they were comfortable and fit over our glasses. At first, it was a little distracting to wear them, but after about 5 minutes, I forgot they were there.

The best part of this movie is that Disney chose an elderly person as the main character. He's a crotchety old bugger named Carl, but crotchety only because the love of his life left him behind after she died. Ellie, his wife, is depicted at the beginning of the movie in a little mini movie about how they met and loved and lived together. After that the story of UP takes off, literally.

It's an adventure story featuring Carl's old house, carried aloft by jillions of colorful balloons as you've probably seen on posters, tv, etc.. It's part of his clever plan to escape the city and find Paradise Falls, a place where Ellie had always wanted to eventually live. A chubby little boy is introduced into the story as Carl's sidekick.

Together they face danger, a bad guy, an exotic bird and some weird dogs in the land of Paradise Falls. All ends well, as you would expect.

The animation is beautiful with softly bright colors - somewhat like a painting, particularly when the house is floating through the cloud covered sky. Going through the clouds in 3D was especially delightful. The 3D experience was novel at first, but then you get used to it and the way things pop out at you isn't that new anymore. Not that it isn't great, it's just that the newness of the technique becomes natural. Did I feel like it added a lot to the movie viewing experience? No. I could still view Pixar movies without it and like them just as much. Based upon previews we saw, though, it looks like more 3D is on the way. Here's the trailer, simple, but beautiful.